As musicians,

sometimes we feel like we are stuck in a rut. Maybe we lack motivation or inspiration. Maybe we have good melodies, but our chord structures could be stronger at times. Maybe we have good chord structures, but our melodies could be lacking that “it” factor. Maybe we have the desire to compose but we just don’t know where to seek out the knowledge so desperately needed in order to get started!

This article is to share with you advice on solo piano composition that I have learned over the years to help you manage these feelings.

How Do I Start?

First step: Set the mood.

You may have noticed that this page has a dark background compared to the other articles in my About Me section on my website. By doing this, I have already taken the time to set the mood for you…

Notice how this small difference has already made you feel a certain way. Music is all about expressing emotions and feeling. If your music does not make the listener feel emotions while listening to it, then it is not worth creating in the first place.

Setting the mood before composing can either be external, internal, or a combination of both. External examples of setting the mood are dimming the lights, changing the color of the lighting around you, isolating yourself, having your favorite coffee next to you, turning off your phone, etc. Internal examples are imagining yourself in a magical place, taking in deep breaths, reflecting on your life, tapping into your feelings of love, happiness, sadness etc., or even thinking about your favorite song for a moment.

Taking the time to properly shape your head space before you begin composing can make a huge difference on the emotions you draw out of the music that you create. Personally, I dim my lights, compose at night when the world around me is asleep, and I take a moment to reflect before I even press a single note on the piano.

Ok So What’s Next?

Start playing! I know this sounds simple, but that is because for this particular step it truly is that simple. Play anything! Experiment with sounds. Make mistakes. Do not worry about creating the perfect song just yet, that WILL come with time. Right now we are simply letting our creative juices flow. We are “starting our cars” so to speak. Just let your fingers and your musical mind wander freely on the piano. Experiment by playing as many chords as you can in various orders. What does that sound like? How does playing one chord to the next make you feel? Experiment with creating different melodies. There are no right or wrong answers in this process. We are simply experimenting and workshopping various ideas. Enjoy this experience and you will start to discover that, over time, you may come across a musical phrase that sounds interesting, or an idea will come to you which seems intriguing enough to begin working on a full composition.

Should I Start With The Melody or The Chord Structure?

This is an interesting question because there is not a “one size shoe fits all” answer to this. I will start by saying that personally, I more often than not, begin with the chord structure first then create the melody later. Certainly I will explain why this is below. However, I know plenty of musicians who do start with the melody first and work on the chord structure later, which is totally fine. Even with that said, there have been quite a few songs of mine where the idea of the melody did come first, but sometimes it just depends on the song.

Alright, so why begin with the chord structure first?

I want you to imagine the song Happy Birthday.

Start singing the song to yourself…

Now imagine the same song, Happy Birthday, with happy sounding chords surrounding it.

Now imagine the same song but with sad minor chords surrounding it. Feels different right?

Now imagine it with jazzy chords surrounding it.

Now imagine it with ugly, chaotic, tense, dissonant chords surrounding it.

With this quick experiment we have taken a song that we all recognize and changed it to several different variations. In each variation we have kept the same exact melody, but because the chord structure surrounding the melody kept changing it made you feel different each time. That right there is what is so important to me! Music should make you and the listener feel a certain way, and the feelings you create with your songs is such a powerful tool! When a song makes you feel sad, it is not the melody which does that. It is the chord structure of the song in that moment which is making you feel sad. Yes, of course a sad melody certainly helps, but when a song makes you feel happy, warm, calm, tense, etc., the chord structure holds far more weight in creating that experience. Think about it. If you take a sad melody but changed every single chord around it to be happy major chords, your song will just not sound nearly as sad, if at all! Likewise if you take a happy melody and surround it with sad minor chords, your song will just not sound nearly as happy, if at all!

Personally, this is why I always start with sitting down at the piano and spend an excessive amount of time experimenting with various chord structures. I don’t even think about the melody during this time. I just want to know how it makes me feel when I transition from this chord to that chord. Let’s say I like how it makes me feel when I go from the chords C Minor, to F Minor, to G Major, and finally to B diminished. I will then experiment with playing that same chord progression but with with different inversions of the chords each time I cycle through them. An example of an inversion is taking a chord like C Minor, which is spelled out as the notes C, Eb, and G on the piano in that order from the lowest note to the highest note, and simply rearranging the notes to be in a different order. I could just as easily play the same chord of C Minor but spelled out differently as long as I use the same notes, like spelling it as Eb, G, and then C on the piano in that order from the lowest note to the highest note. What I find when doing this process of playing the same overall chord progression (in this example the chord progression goes from the chords Cm - Fm - G - Bdim) but changing each individual chord’s inversion (their note spellings) on the piano every time I cycle through them, it actually starts to form a melody naturally on its own! Now I don’t even have to worry so much about actively creating the perfect melody because I am actually killing two birds with one stone by working so intently on the chord structure in the beginning. It then becomes this fine balance of trying different chord progessions, with different inversions of the chords, all until I hear a chord progression and a melody which formed naturally from the experimenting that catches my attention. Once I have a chord structure that I like, with an interesting enough “default melody” that I like, all I have to do now is fill in that melody and connect-the-dots between the chords. I recognize that this entire process is one that I personally love using and it works wonders for me, and I am certain that it can help you in your composition process as well!

In general, I find it far more difficult to come up with a melody first, then scramble to try and figure out which chords go perfectly with it and at which times. Not that it is impossible of course, since starting with the melody first definitely can be done and for some musicians is actually preferred, it’s just harder to do it that way in my opinion.

How Do I Create The Perfect Melody?

Just remember that the melody is the part of your music that the listener will sing along to or hum in their head. The best melodies are those that get stuck in the listener’s head, and where they can’t help but sing it to themselves throughout the day! However this does not mean to repeat your melody over and over and over and over and over again (which many musicians do) just to get the melody stuck in their head. You want them to sing the song because they want to, because they enjoy it, and because it was actually catchy, not because it was repetitive. A catchy melody is the invisible hand that pulls your listener back to your song again and again.

With that said, here are a few important ideas to consider when crafting your melodies. Is your melody a constant stream of never ending notes, or does it allow room for the listener to “breath”? Yes, some songs benefit from being an impressive display of never ending notes, sure, but a trap many musicians fall into is they think that in order to be impressive they have to constantly play something or else their listener will get bored. This is far from the truth! I argue that the listener actually gets exhausted if the song does not breath properly. When your melody pauses…has moments of silence…when it fluctuates in tempo (speed) and in volume, it creates a far more intimate experience with the music. It leaves your listener room for interpretation of emotion. However, when a song plays constant notes forever and never stops, then the listener will experience emotions that just become one thing: the feeling of “never getting a break”. Of course not all songs with a high number of notes are like this, but let’s say when an entire album or collection of songs hardly has any pauses in its music overall, it becomes taxing and overwhelming.

I know for a fact that you appreciate small breaks in your life, whether it be from work, school, or from the kids etc., so in your compositions definitely give yourself and your listeners a break too!

Furthermore, is your melody interesting? I know this is subjective to the artist and to the listener, but if YOU as the creator of the music do not even find your own melody that interesting, then keep working on it until it becomes catchy enough that you find yourself humming your own melody throughout the day!

Lastly, listen to your melody as you play it. This might sound obvious, but many times musicians get laser focused on “performing” the most impressive song in the whole entire world, all while forgetting what our true goal needs to be in the first place; creating beautiful music. Focusing on using your ears more than your fingers while you play will keep you grounded, and allows you to connect deeply with your music as you create it.

Do I Really Need To Learn Music Theory?

Think of it like art. If you want to be a painter, do you NEED to know that blue and yellow mixed together makes green before you begin painting? Well, no. You can experiment enough with different colors and eventually discover on your own that blue and yellow make green, but if you ALREADY knew that blue and yellow mixed together make green then you could paint your ideas much FASTER!

Music Theory works in large regard the same way. No you don’t necessarily NEED to know that a Major 7th chord is just made up of the notes 1, 3, 5, and 7, of a major scale. You could very much so experiment with playing different notes on the piano until you come across that particular sound. But if you wanted to quickly whip out a chord that sounds like you are “walking on clouds”, then know that music theory gives you the language to spell out that Major 7th chord quickly no matter what key you are in. In short, with a strong understanding of music theory, you get to create the sounds you desire much FASTER!

This also applies to figuring out your favorite songs by ear. Sure you could listen to them blindly and poke at the keys on the piano until you have figured out your favorite tune. But understanding music theory helps to train your ear and figure out that tune much quicker. When there is a song that I am trying to figure out on the piano, and let’s say I hear that it is being played in C Minor for example, then I already know to start trying with chords the musician was more likely to use in the key of C Minor, such as: F Minor, G Minor, G Major, D Diminished, Eb Major, Ab Major, Bb Major, or B Diminished. This has already prevented me from using my precious time to pick the far less likely chords that the musician probably didn’t use, since any chord I did not list earlier is outside the key of C Minor. I will take this one step further and tell you that many chords are actually more likely to change to certain chords over others, which once you learn these relationships between chords, your process of elimination when trying to figure out your favorite tunes as well as creating your own tunes becomes significantly faster.

In summary, having a strong understanding of music theory just makes everything in your music life so much faster and easier, and we all know that time = money!

Choosing The Feel of Your Song

I placed such a strong emphasis on picking the perfect chord structure earlier in this page. While that is super important, let’s also not forget that a song can be customized and structured uniquely by its different patterns and by its different rhythms.

Choosing a song’s pattern or rhythm will definitely play a HUGE role in determining the feel for that song. Imagine that you already have the perfect melody and the perfect chord progression you want to use to create your song. Well simply changing the left hand into a waltzy pattern will shift the feeling of the piece entirely. If you take that same melody and chord progression but instead apply a stride pattern (where the left hand hits a bass note then jumps up an octave to hit a chord, and repeat) then that will certainly change the feel of your song to be dramatically different. While you are in the process of crafting your masterpiece, think very strongly about your left hand pattern, since the left hand is what dictates how your listener will dance along to your music. Is your song going to have a left hand pattern that is going to be waltzy? Stride? Arpeggiated? Double octaves? Single notes? A flow-like pattern of runs? Freely moving?

Once you have decided on the chord structure for your composition, then pick your pattern and rhythm, then fill in the melody. You will have the perfect song in no time! (or if you are anything like me then in a lot of time!)

NEVER Settle • Let Everything Be Natural

Keep working on your composition until you are 100% satisfied with them! Do not settle on something that undercuts your full potential. All that will happen is you will submit that song, and every time you hear it, it will be a permanent reminder of how unfinished you feel! Just take the extra time, no matter how long that is, until the song is just right for you. I will be honest and say that I have scrapped countless songs because they do not meet the standards I have set for myself, or simply because I am not perfectly happy with them. Sometimes I just set them aside and work on them days, weeks, or even years later when the remaining inspiration has returned!

Do not force your compositions out of you. Let the music move you as you create it. Sometimes you may have a certain idea, but the music as you create it tells you to go with it somewhere different. Let that happen. Some of the best songs ever created, including many of my best works, were ideas that sparked from something different than originally intended. Some songs even formed from an accidental mistake I made that luckily sounded nice which led me to create something truly amazing!

Sometimes we get “burnt out” and our well of ideas seems like it has momentarily dried up. This feeling is normal so don’t stress over it. When this happens, again, don’t force the music out of you. Go for a scenic walk, watch a movie, listen to some new music, go to the beach, hang out with some friends, relax…let your mind and body recharge, no matter how long that process takes. Just come back to the music when you are ready to let it flow out of you again!

The Mood Song VS The Melody Song

I can summarize most solo piano music as either mood driven pieces, or melody driven pieces.

A mood piece focuses all of its energy on creating an atmosphere for the listener. It is not worrying so much about the melody, and often times these pieces are improvisations. Mood pieces are generally more difficult for the listener to hum the melody back to you, so it is the atmosphere of these pieces that attracts them to listen to it again and again. Be careful not to create albums or collections of works that are a majority of mood pieces, as your audience will not be able to remember your songs in their heads! I certainly have a few of these types of pieces on my albums, usually around only three of them per album.

A melodic piece is one that spends most of its energy creating a tune for the listener to sing along to. Having a majority of these types of pieces in your collection of works is very important since these are the songs that advertise themselves through the simple fact that your listeners will be singing the tunes to each other!

All Great Things Come To An End

Your songs have to end at some point. Do not let them ramble on for eternity! Create your musical idea, embellish that idea, and conclude the idea. Songs that overstay their welcome do not get played on repeat because they exhaust their audience. Personally, I try to keep my songs between 2min - 4:30min.

Name Your Songs

Naming my songs is easily one of my favorite parts of composing! Properly naming your pieces has many benefits. First and foremost the listener is likely to read the title of your song BEFORE they even listen to it! This is the first step in setting the mood well before a single note has even played. The listener has already begun to craft an experience in their mind and is now anticipating a certain feeling from your songs, especially when they read titles such as Winter Waltz, As Time Passes, Enchanted Waters, or Field of Flowers. Make sure your titles match your music!

Furthermore, naming your composition in its early development stages will help spark creativity as it gives you a visual objective to frame your mindset and your music. Try to name your pieces as early as possible, you can always change the name later when the composition is complete.

Challenge Yourself

In all aspects of your life always work towards getting better. This should be true with your journey as a musician and with your compositions. Do you feel uncomfortable playing in that particular key signature? Then try to make a song in that key! If you continue to only play where you feel the most “comfortable” then you are actually preventing yourself from growing as a musician, and you are limiting yourself from further discovery potential. Let me say that when I actively compose songs in key signatures which I am not fully comfortable with, this often leads my fingers to hit some very incorrect but interesting notes! This in turn sparks more creativity all while allowing me to grow stronger in a key signature that I may not normally play in. Some musical phrases may be difficult to play in a certain key, but by changing the song to a different key signature, all of a sudden that difficult passage becomes easier to play simply due to the changed layout of the scale on the piano. Many times a song might have that perfect melody, but the song just sounds a bit too high pitched…so simply lowering the key signature a few half steps unlocks its true potential!

There are more ways to challenge yourself than by trying to play or compose in different keys signatures. You could try to compose a song that is waltzy, or jazzy, or a song that implements augmented chords, maybe one that uses only high pitched notes or only low pitched notes. Maybe you compose a song that never plays the same chord progression twice, or how about even the same chord twice?! Maybe you compose a song that changes tempos drastically from super slow to super fast, or one that modulates (X) amount of times before the song is over. Tackling challenges like this that are within reason, will help you to explore your music further and will help push you to be greater than you already are.

Believe In Yourself • Aim For The Stars

At some point in your life you may feel discouraged. This could be musically or otherwise. Life is interesting because it moves with its many ebbs and flows. Just as the sun rises to have its highest moments, it also sets for the lowest ones too. The good news is that the sun is sure to rise again in only a matter of time!

With that said, always remember that YOU are your first line of offense and your last line of defense. Simply put, if you do not believe in your own music, or in your own talents, how can you expect someone else to? Know that any feelings of discouragement are normal. We all get discouraged at times, and I certainly am no exception to this. But such feelings, whether they are of discouragement or of excitement, simply do not create masterpieces - our actions do! So put yourself out there! Work hard. Share your music with others. Be open to receiving feedback, criticism, compliments, and praises. Allow others to express their feelings about your works towards you whether good or bad, and this will help keep a healthy and true balance in our world of music. People cannot help how they are moved or not moved by the music in which they hear, and people are certainly allowed to express their opinions, in which they should. My advice is this; do not let people’s words consume you, for better or for worse, or you may find yourself lost in an infinite sea of their thoughts and opinions. Better to just keep on keeping on!

Furthermore, it is important to remain humble at all times. This means being willing to genuinely accept that…maybe…not all of your works are the next Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. This also means that if you are someone who has indeed created the next Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, recognizing that your fellow composers may also have works that too are worthy of praise. Fortunately for us, the sun’s light is so vast that there is enough of it to shine on all of us!

Lastly, dream BIG and aim HIGH! Want to make music for movies? Perfect, work towards that goal! Want to be a concert performer? Awesome, make steps to accomplish that vision every single day. Whatever your dreams may be, aim for the stars and never look back! Do not let fear, pride, jealousy, a bad day, a negative comment, or any other force in the universe prevent you from achieving your greatest goals, or from being the absolute best version of yourself imaginable. All amazing things start first with an idea, then one step forward.

I wish you the best of luck, and above all else, have fun composing!

“Though the piano may be your musical instrument, you are the instrument of the music you create. Stay true to yourself and to your music, and everything else will fall into place.”

- Earl

For those who seek further inspiration, please enjoy this absolutely amazing video from another person whose name also happens to be Earl!