Topic: Musical composition. What kind of musical composition is there?

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Making music may seem incredible at first glance. difficult task. And the first question that arises for those who want to create their own melody is “Where to start?” But the beauty of musical composition is that there are no clear rules, no restrictions that tell you where to start and how to finish your work. But, of course, there are several methods that will help you jumpstart the creative process.

While there are several approaches to composition, you should keep three things in mind:

Harmony
Melody

These are the three fundamental musics. You can put them in any order you like, mix some of them up, or ignore some of them altogether. Many composers experiment without considering harmony and/or melody or timing.

You can add one more element - swing. And although swing is usually classified as jazz and improvised music, you should not discard it if you create music of a different style.

It's also worth remembering that you must have some skills to create music:

1. Ability to read music.

This is the first and most important point. Even if you use some programs that write sheet music for you, you should be able to sight read. And of course you should know musical literacy. This is the most basic thing a musician should be able to do. You should know what a pause sign looks like, which symbols indicate different effects (staccato, tremolo, piano, forte, etc.).

2. You must know different musical styles

You may think it's pointless to study other styles of music than the one you like, and that's a huge mistake. Don’t think that it’s not appropriate for a harsh metalhead to listen to the classics - many rock stars have repeatedly said that they love classical music and listen to her; a jazz lover should not ignore the simpler ones musical styles, and a sophisticated classical listener should not turn up his nose at rap and hip-hop. And not because all the music is worthy of attention, although it is. Listening various styles, you expand your horizons and learn new techniques in music. Also try not just to listen to music for pleasure, but to literally “disassemble” it in your mind into individual instruments. Analyze what you hear. Try to understand how to create a particular sound.

3. Know what instruments sound like

Strive to know what every existing instrument sounds like (at least the most common ones). You should know how certain effects, “gadgets” and so on sound. Of course, you can say that you are not going to create complex pieces of music, but still, knowing the sound of instruments will help you at least develop your ear and broaden your horizons. Well, maybe in the future you will want to add others to one of your instruments.

Preparation

Listen to all your favorite songs and try to see if there is a pattern, something in common. Are there any contrasting passages? How many are there? How long are they? Are any techniques repeated? Does the rhythm of the melody repeat? What mood do these compositions create? How do they do it? Do they follow the same tone?

Analyze and take notes, which will later serve as a source of ideas for you.

Step 1: Style

Decide what style you want to create music in. Listen to the songs in this style and analyze what techniques are used, how often the entire composition adheres to the same meter (4/4, for example). Consider whether you will do something similar or experiment.

Step 2: Shape

Decide on the shape of your composition. Most musical compositions consist of equal sections (repeating sections) or different sections from each other (contrasting sections). Decide on the length of the composition and how many sections it will have. Remember that every style has its own own set general forms, such as the 32-bar AABA form in jazz or the blues period, consisting of three phrases, each containing 4 bars. You can use one of the existing ones or come up with your own. Just try not to make it too complicated.

Step 3: Create your idea

Use a device to record your ideas. Play a few tunes that come to your mind. Or sing them. These melodies don't have to be perfect, no one can hear them but you.

Step 4: First musical motive

Now listen to what you recorded. Is there anything you like that you could develop into a full melody? If you can't choose something that you really like, you can always turn to existing rhythms and notes. Remember that this sketch you are creating at this stage does not have to be complex. Your job is to create a foundation that you can build on.

Step 5: Transform Your Motif

Now that you have a motive, you can do the following: you can expand it, shorten it, play it backwards, repeat. You can change it a little, or you can change it beyond recognition. By doing this, you create a musical phrase—a more complete thought or idea.

Step 6: Contrasting Section

Almost all styles of music have a contrasting section that adds flavor to the piece. This function is performed by the bridge in a pop or rock song, section B in jazz, development in classical sonatas. To write a contrasting section, repeat steps 4 and 5, trying not to play your main motif. You can do it in a different rhythm, give it a different mood, and so on.

Step 7: Putting it all together

On this moment you have a couple of contrasting sections, now you need to combine them. Think about the form you wanted to create your melody in, will what you end up with fit it? Don't be afraid to change things up. See if your melody looks complete, or if something else needs to be added. Do you think it is necessary to add anything else?

Step 8: Arrangement

Turn the melody into a full-fledged musical composition by adding embellishments and supporting it with a left-hand melody, for example (if you play the piano). Consider whether you need to add other instruments or vocals. Overall, do everything to make your composition sound the way it should. You can ask your familiar musicians for help so that they can add something interesting to your composition.

The topic I want to talk about today is important for arrangers, composers and performers. On the one hand, it is quite simple to understand, but very difficult to master. The problem is complicated by the fact that despite the abundance of textbooks on the subject, the number of books that consider this problem holistically is simply scanty. The most popular book is probably “The Logic of Musical Composition” by Nazaikinsky. And as you understand, what I want to talk about is musical composition.

What is a musical composition?

Here is one of the definitions of composition in any art - construction work of art, organization, structure of the form of the work.

Still - essence compositional techniques thus comes down to the creation of some complex unity, a complex whole, and their meaning is determined by the role they play against the background of this whole in the subordination of its parts.

That is, it is the structure and form of a work that has a certain logic at all levels and layers of the musical composition.

How does this manifest itself?

To describe this as simply as possible, it is best to go from the opposite, that is, look at when the composition falls apart. This is a fairly common mistake even among experienced authors. How does a violation of the laws of composition manifest itself in music of any style?

First of all, this manifests itself in the disruption of connections between the levels of composition.

Let me clarify what is meant by composition levels.

There is a micro level - this is intonation. Usually good composition, relies on several basic intonations.

The melody level is the main theme or any period level construction.

How are the micro level and the melody level related?

The basis of any even long melody will be the main intonation, which will be guessed even in the most veiled form - this ensures the listener’s interest, and on the other hand, empathy and recognition.

The most popular mistake is the presence of a large number of intonations and a lack of connection between levels.

The third level is the macro level - the level of a small work or part complex shape(in this case, we can also talk about the supra-macro level - but the concepts are conditional, here everyone can use the terminology convenient for them).

A well-built composition combines a constant process of renewal with repetition of certain elements - this is one of the most important rules compositions.

And although contemporary music is very often based on repetitions, you can see that competent producers and arrangers provide continuous non-linear changes in musical material through automation, small modifications, variations, etc.

It is the nonlinear change that is important here.

As a rule, inexperienced composers add any fresh idea at the junction of the form, for example after 4-8, etc. bars. To create a cohesive composition, it is much more valuable to introduce changes in the middle of bars and formations. And although there is a large number of music of the square type, even among the classics, you can almost always see a nonlinear component in one form or another.

I think about the laws and tricks of musical composition, I will write a separate article, but for now we will continue.

So, logic manifests itself at all levels and layers, as I wrote above - this means that it will be not only in the melody, but also in harmony, bass line, etc.

Let me clarify once again that by logic here I mean, first of all, intonation connections. Since intonation can also be rhythmic, very often a rhythmic pattern will organize the construction.

Composition as a process covers all levels of the work. From the beginning of work on a work to its completion, each composer, in one way or another, follows a certain logic of composition. Some people use schemes that have already proven themselves, others simply copy those that they know - but perhaps there is only one approach that a musician should strive for - this is the creation of a unique compositional structure based on existing templates. Moreover, the template here implies some well-known scheme musical form, which is used by the composer as a starting point for work. In this case, the structure can be immediately recognized by the composer or manifest itself as he progresses in compositional work.

In the form of a developed and complete musical work, an “opus”, in contrast to the fluid variability of the folk art process, from improvisation (in ancient, oriental, folk, jazz music, some types of music of the 20th century).

Composition presupposes: the presence of an author as a person (composer); his purposeful creative activity; an existing work separable from the creator and further independent of him; embodiment of the content in a precisely established objectified sound structure; a complex apparatus of technical means, systematized by musical theory and presented in a special field of knowledge (in a composition course). Writing down a composition requires perfect musical notation. The consolidation of the category of composition and the status of the composer is associated with the development in the Renaissance of the concept of a free human personality - a creator, creator (indicating the name of the composer became the norm since the 14th century; the culmination of the personal and authorial principles in composition - in the 19th century).

The composition as a musical and artistic whole is stable. It overcomes the continuous fluidity of time, and always establishes an equally reproducible uniqueness of the main components of music - pitch, rhythm, arrangement of material, etc. Thanks to the stability of the composition, it is possible to reproduce the sound of music at any arbitrarily large intervals of time after its creation. At the same time, the composition is always designed for certain performance conditions. Compared to applied folklore forms(songs, dances) and actions (ritual, religious, everyday), directly included in the life process, the composition is more of a work of art.

Since ancient times, the idea of a compositionally unified musical whole has been associated with a textual (or dance-metric) basis. The Latin concept of composition was historically preceded by antique concept Melopea. Verb componere and its derivatives (including compositor) are found in many medieval treatises, starting from Hucbald of Saint-Amant and his school (IX-X centuries). In the 11th century, Guido Aretinsky in his “Micrologue” (c.) understood composition (componenda) mainly as the skillful composition of a chorale. John de Groqueio (“On Music”, ca.) attributed this concept to polyphonic music (“musica composita”, that is, complex, composite music) and used the word "compositor". During the Renaissance, John Tinctoris (“Determinant musical terms”, ) highlighted the creative moment in the last term (composer - “who wrote some new cantus”); in “The Book on the Art of Counterpoint” () he clearly distinguished notated counterpoint - “res facta” (equivalent to “cantus compositus” in the “Determinant”) and improvised (“super librum cantare”, letters sing over a book).

Studying new composition methods in the music of the second half of the twentieth century - beginning of the XXI centuries over the past 15 years has emerged as an independent scientific and academic discipline - theory of modern composition, which includes the study of such new methods of composition and musical phenomena as

We come across the term “composition” almost every day. To a greater extent it has to do with various industries arts: music, painting, literature, etc. And now we will learn in detail what composition is in its various forms, what aspects define it and how it is created.

Literature

In this branch of beauty, composition is defined as follows. This is the construction, distribution and relationship between parts, various episodes, characters, their actions and other means of artistic expression within the framework of one work. When we talk about what composition is in literature, it is important to remember that all its elements are connected into a single whole. A literary work may consist of landscapes, still lifes, portraits, dialogues and monologues, lyrical digressions, metaphors and hyperbole, exaggeration and understatement and so on. All this as a whole adds up to a story, novel, poem or just a small poem.

Music

Speaking about what composition is in music, as an example you can take absolutely any work, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s an etude for the third grade or a whole symphony consisting of several parts. In this case, composition is an objective comparison, distribution and expression with a certain intonation of sounds. The main difference between this type of art and folklore is the lack of improvisation. Musical compositions (more often called “opuses”) are written on a musical staff. Moreover, notes indicate not only sounds, but also shades, strokes, dynamics, rhythm and tempo.

History and modernity

As mentioned above, musical compositions are characterized by their stability and immutability due to extremely accurate notation. The second important component of any opus is its author. The composer must perfectly know not only his instrument, but also solfeggio, as well as musical canons related to the style in which he creates. In the old days, the term “composition” was used to refer only to those works that were maintained in a single rhythm, tempo and tonality. They were short-lived, but very beautiful and melodic. First recorded on stave musical compositions appeared during the Renaissance. At that time, the standards for writing music were mandatory for everyone: maintaining the mode, rhythm and size. With the advent of the era of romanticism, modulation came into fashion - a transition from one key to another. Composers of the 19th and 20th centuries began to change not only the mode, but also the size and tempo during the course of a work. So the musical compositions became more rich and vibrant. Today there are no clear frameworks for music authors. The main thing is that the resulting work should be pleasant to the ear.

Painting

Fine art allows us to most accurately understand what composition is. In their paintings, artists always convey to the viewer their idea, mood, and some specific atmosphere. The types of pictorial compositions are known to everyone - these are landscapes, portraits, still lifes. Among the works of artists of the 20th century and our contemporaries there are expressionist canvases, surrealist and others. A drawing, whatever it may be, always conveys a mood to us through color, light and shadows, shapes (angular or rounded), as well as through the main characters or persons. For example, a graphic composition from geometric shapes is a set of various cones, pyramids, balls and cubes that have light and shadows and are always drawn in volume. A drawing based on this geometry can be more complex: houses, trains, churches. In a word, everything that goes into perspective. In painting prominent representatives Those who depicted non-standard compositions are the artists Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch and others.

Souvenirs as part of art

Unique and one of a kind are New Year's compositions. These are a variety of bouquets, arrangements, wreaths, mini-Christmas trees and much more. Such creations look, frankly speaking, fabulous. They consist of spruce branches, cones, ribbons, bunches of rowan. Often candlesticks are attached to them, and the candles themselves are placed in them. Also, a New Year's composition can consist of fake gifts (foam plastic wrapped in gift paper), bells, balls, bows, etc. Such creations can be bought in stores, or you can make with my own hands. It is only important to take into account the main rule of composition - all elements must be combined with each other. This applies to shapes, colors, and sizes.

Making New Year's compositions with your own hands

The simplest New Year's craft- wreath-stand for candles. It has a round shape and consists of the main attributes of this holiday - fir branches, cones, etc. Therefore, we will need the following components: base - a circle of the required diameter made of thick cardboard or plastic; thin pine branches; cones; bunches of rowan (optional), miniature balls in red color scheme(or mini gifts with bows). We focus on red because there is rowan in the composition. Place candles in the center of the base and secure them tightly. Then we glue all the elements in a chaotic order. The main thing is that it looks beautiful. Voila! Our New Year's bouquet is ready!

Get inspired and create something beautiful

You can make such compositions with your own hands for any holiday or just to suit your mood. For example, on Halloween something like this New Year, is constructed from small pumpkins, ghost figures, witch hats and cobwebs. It’s just that for the Autumn Festival you can make stunning compositions from autumn leaves, and take as a basis not only a round wreath, but also plain paper A4, making interesting applications on it. A summer composition can contain fruits, berries, leaves, red and green ribbons. Well, marine-themed motifs are easily created thanks to turquoise color, shells and fishing nets.

Lesson objectives:

Musical material lesson:

Ø L. Beethoven.

Ø M. Ravel. Water game. Fragment (listening).

Ø L. Dubravin, poetry M. Plyatskovsky. Snowflake (singing).

Additional material: