The composition of songs in both its theory and practical is all about creativity. A musicologist will have better understanding of musical composition than a mere singer and that's why the understanding of theory & rudiments of music is very important.
Apart from the normal songs we compose and sing in churches, there are also music composed and arranged with the use of music theories e.g Art Music.
Musical composition is the act or practice of writing, creating a song or other piece of music. The act of composing may include the creation of music notation, such as a sheet music (score), which is then performed by the composer or other musicians.
Although a musical composition often uses musical notation and has a single author, but this is not always the case; a work of music can have more than one composers.
Musical composition is more than you bringing lyrics, words together and forming a tune or melody. Musical composition is all about how creative you are, and also you knowing how to use the various compositional techniques.
1. Set some restrictions for yourself
Restrictions will help to open up your creativity, and allow you not to go outside what you have in mind. E.g if you want to compose a song with slow beat, you won't end up composing the one with a fast beat.
What to set restriction on:
- Musical form: is it strophic, binary, etc
- The tempo: i.e how fast or slow the song be.
- The time signature: I.e what kind of beat pattern do you desire.
- The key signature: I.e will the song be on one of the major or minor keys. If you are going to perform the song yourself choose a convenient key.
- Instrumentation: This will help you to know the kind of musical instruments to use in accompanying your song e.g Strings instruments, Woodwind instruments, Brass instruments etc.
2. Get a theme for your composition
Having a theme will also allow you not to go out of your aim. You must have a theme (title of the song you want to compose), whether its a voice or instrumental composition. Some composers have their lyrics before the theme which is good, but it might not work out in all your composition.
Song’s theme/ title often makes up the hook or chorus of a song and it can also be (or related to) the song’s main subject. Choosing a good title is a critical part of the lyric writing process because it has to cover what the song is about in very few words, thereby attracting the listeners.
3. Arrange and put your music into structure
Your music must not be without structure. You need to understand the following musical structures: Verse, Chorus, Vamp, Bridge, Hook, Refrain, Pre-Chorus, Intro, Interlude etc
THE VERSE
A verse is a series of lyrics that tell the main story of the song and keep the action or thoughts moving forward. Verses are an important part of a song. A song may have one verse or many. They move almost the same way (almost the same tune) even though the words are different. The lyrics in verses convey the background information needed to understand the emotional or narrative structure of the song.
THE CHORUS
The chorus of a song is meant to be the most memorable part, containing the ultimate message of the piece. In order to do this, choruses generally rely on a series of techniques. The first has to do with the lyrics, the spoken or sung words. The lyrics in the chorus provide listeners with the real message. For this reason, chorus lyrics tend to be simpler and more direct than the lyrics of verse.
BRIDGE
In music, a bridge is a contrasting section that prepares for the return of the original material section. The bridge is often used to contrast with and prepare for the return of the verse and the chorus. The bridge is also the section that provides relief from the repetitive nature of many songs. Not only does it have different lyrics from the verse and chorus, but the music is a little different as well. It usually will start on a different chord from what the verse and chorus starts with.
INTRO
This is found at the beginning and it sets up the song, establishing many of the song's important elements, such as the key, tempo, rhythmic feel and even its energy and attitude. You will find that the intro is often the same music without singing over it as the verse or even the chorus. Sometimes, a song's intro will not have any material found later in the song. In this scenario, the goal is to create interest for the listener and encourage them to keep playing it.
INTERLUDE
This segment is usually found in the ancient music and olden days music. It is done with the musical instruments. This section is usually between a chorus and a verse I.e when you are moving from the chorus to another verse. In some modern music it is used to introduce a new key in the case of modulation. Sometimes, the interlude of a music is the melody of its chorus. But in other cases instrumentalists (either pianists, lead guitarists, or saxophonists) plays any tune that goes inline with the chorus of the music being performed.
REFRAIN
Refrain is the same as chorus, when singing classical songs like hymns they use refrain and also anthems (national anthem, institutions anthem, etc) but for contemporary music we call it chorus.
PRE - CHORUS
The pre-chorus is not a necessary component and is often shorter than a verse or chorus. For the listener, it usually creates a feeling of wanting to be thrusted towards the chorus. I.e it prepares the listeners for the chorus.
HOOK
In music, the word "hook" refers to that part of a song that catches the ear of the listener. In other words, it's a lyrical line or musical phrase that makes the song memorable. The hook is often found in a line in the chorus or a catchy chorus can be the hook.
VAMP
This is part is often improvised accompaniment, under dialogue or awaiting the readiness of a soloist. This structure is not commonly used in all music.
To work out the structure of your composition, you can try any of the following structures:
- Intro - verse - chr - verse (if it more than one verse) - chr - bridge - chr
- Intro - chr - verse - chr - bridge - vers - chr
- Intro - verse - chr - vamp - chr - bridge - verse - chr
If your music have just one verse, you can repeat that verse like 2 to 3 times before singing the chorus.
4. Use your source of inspiration
Your source of inspirations is where you compose and develop your lyrics or words. You must know your source of inspiration. Write down your lyrics (your inspiritions). There are a number of ways to start writing song lyrics, one of which is to jot down several ideas and then try to fit them all together. The truth is when you set out to write a song, a number of ideas are likely to come rushing at you. A good practice is to write them all down and then examine those words that befits your theme/title.
You can have your tilte before having the lyrics and yiu can as well have your lyric before the theme/title.
Build your lyrics using music alternatively, for some musicians, it’s easier to produce lyrics if they can come up with a catchy guitar chord progression or memorable piano chord. If you play the guitar, piano, or any other instrument, you can try playing something and see where it will take you to. Many times, the music will speak to you and you’ll be able to come up with some lyrics to go with what you’re playing. If you don’t play an instrument, you can use instrumentalists and other music samples as the basis to come up with your song lyrics. Either way, be sure to record what you create.
Always have your recorder or ur phone with u. You will have some inspiration u need to record, especially when you are not wit your music notebook.
Remember to edit when the whole lyric is ready, and make sure your lyrics is meaningful to you. You must be able to tell the reason behind every of your lyrics.
5. Work on the harmonization
The understanding of voice and instruments range is essential here. If your music is not all in unison, you can harmonize in two parts, three parts, even in four parts depending on how creative you are.
Always have a unique composition. Don't have the mindset that you can't come up with something new. No two people can have exactly the same composition (the same beat, key, lyric, melody, harmony, arrangement, structure) except if one of them copied another.
