How to Compose Music (Your first piece for complete beginners)

🎵 If you enjoyed this video, make sure to also check out my free training - 'My 3 Secrets to Composing Rich Cinematic Music':

In this video, I will show you how to compose your first piece of music for the piano. Aimed at beginners, I'll walk you through step by step how to compose a four bar melody to a given chord progression and then extend it into a longer piece of music, using structure. I also briefly walk you through the gear you will need, including the differences between a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) and Notation software, and where to find free high quality sounds and samples for you to use when composing. 

00:00 - Intro
01:08 - The software you'll need
01:48 - Getting started
02:37 - Melody vs Harmony
03:27 - Starting with a Chord Progression
05:50 - Composing a melody
08:44 - Extending your piece with Structure
13:20 - Using ostinatos to compose an accompaniment
15:10 - The whole piece
15:51 - Outro

Check out my other two videos below for more examples of chord progressions and ostinatos which you can use:

10 Cinematic Chord Progressions

8 Cinematic Ostinatos

Links to the software used in this video:

Cubase (DAW) 30 Day free trial

Spitfire Audio Labs (Free Soft Piano Instrument)

If you enjoyed this video, make sure to subscribe to the Composing Academy Channel, for more Composing and Music Theory tips and tricks.

Composing Academy is the place to learn how to begin composing your own music.  Here you will find easy to follow videos explaining core Music Theory concepts along with various tips and tricks to help you craft that perfect song of cinematic piece of music.

[droidfan]

At my old age and no formal music education, I practically lost hope of being able to compose this beautiful kind of music. After watching your videos, I am willing to start over. Thank you so much!

[RWA]

I came here after one of my friends insulted me by saying the music i made is just garage band beats, so i came here to learn composition to shut him up. This is actually a good video and helps find me some software i could use that works, thank you.

[bettylyles]

No matter how long you’ve been a musician/composer, it’s good to go back to the basics because there’s always something more to learn. Thanks for this awesome video!

[marekadrspach]

This channel is simply breath-taking! Just a simple, short and yet great tutorial. This channel is very underrated, keep up the good work 🙌.

[nicholaslockepiano]

Hi Simon, I just wanted to say that these videos you're making are so valuable to me, especially the orchestration stuff.
You have a serious talent for this, not sure if you're a teacher/lecturer, but these will help so many aspiring composers out there (like myself). They are really concise and high-quality, I just wish these videos where available when I was in high school, would have saved me a lot of time and student loans.
Subscribed!

[vedmishra]

NO ONE IN THE WORLD LIKE COMPOSING ACADEMY HE TEACHES US IN 10 MINUTES WHICH I COULD NOT LEARN IN 20 YEARS .. GREAT JOB THANKS A LOT

[nickmuzekari]

This channel is the best, hoping to see more videos from you regarding the process, i.e. deeper dives, expanding on the composition, etc.!

[lokigl]

I´m serious when i say this, i have tried to make music myself and couldn´t make it sound good, i saw this video and made a pretty nice song, thanks man!

[micwarren]

I found this channel about a week ago. The content is presented in a clear and very useful way to get started immediately. I'm very happy with my subscription and checked notifications on. He delivers the material in a short period of time where other sites take four times as long and don't cover it as clearly as this site. Thank you

Your channel deserves way more publicity. Great organized content.

[yvanroustan]

HOW TO MAKE SIMPLE SAD, DRAMA, UPTIFTING, ROMANCE simple tracks will be the next ! Thank you very much for sharing your musical knowledge !

[jamescalvey]

Another top quality video! Informative, easy to follow and professionally presented as always!

[erichcuenco]

This channel is one of a kind! the BEst easy to understand! keep it up!

[theLifeOfTae]

Wow this is nice thanks, If you haven't already, could you make a video about composing for already exisiting vocals for example People who do lyrics first then need to come up with a suitable backing track

[rik-keymusic]

I really love to listen to you. Your voice is really good and you talk not to fast like some other content creators do. They often go super fast and that gets me really nervous at times 😅 you doing a great job here! Thank you ! 🙏

[atlassilverbraid]

Hola. Great video. I watched to get help but realised I was doing what you suggest anyway without previously realising. I go back to my DAW with renewed impetus and confidence.

[neargrog]

As a beginner, this was really well put together & easy to understand. I use Dreams - which is a PlayStation game, or rather game creation system but it has a brilliant music creation system. I only play Dreams to create music. I’m going to use this video to help me create something new right now 👍

[sudhanva-bhat]

Amazing, simple and well demonstrated. Thank you for this. I wish I could buy you a coffee :)

[Breeze_of_feb]

Finally i get the best music composing video🤓
Thanks to you sir

[Markrspooner]

In future, I will direct beginners to composition to this video as it is one of the best explainers of the basic principles I have seen. I agree with another comment that the next stage would be to show how you can use these basic principles to create different emotions and energy level of music.