A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Music

A Guide to Writing your First Piece

Charlie Miller
Contents
Preamble 2
Drawing inspiration 3
Coming up with an idea 3
The source of musical ideas 3
Capturing your musical ideas 5
Writing down the idea 5
Writing down the pitch 6
Writing down the rhythm 6
Common Early Pitfalls 6
Originality: The Ultimate Pitfall 6
There is no wrong answer 7
Themes and titles 7
Always new music 7
Outline 8
Repeat, Repeat, Repeat 8
Outline of chunks 8
Stitching ideas together 8
Pitfall: Marrying your ideas 9
Intros and Outros 9
Orchestration 9
Increasing your note resolution 10
Orchestration pitfalls 11
Writing all parts to Piano 11
Counterintuitive Practices 11
Orchestration Tips 12
Your Workflow 12
Work Environment 12
Workflow Pitfall: Listening to your progress 12
Completion 13
Pitfall: Over-editing 13
After Completion 13
Appendix A: On software 14
Appendix B: Some Music theory 14
Intervals 14
Roman Numeral Chords 16
The Basics 16
Inversions 17
7ths 18
Appendix C: Pitch Perfect 18
Thanks 19

Preamble
This guide is long. I highlighted the most important parts.

What does it take to compose music? For some, it doesn't take a lot. One of my favorite pieces was
written in a half-hour. But for many others it takes more than that. It can take months or even years to
write something. With this guide, I hope to reduce that time for first-timer composers from months to
weeks. This is not an all-encompassing guide to writing music. It will not cover drum beats nor lyric
writing. It is meant to offer techniques for writing music and to point out the common pitfalls that slow
progress to a halt. In the end, it’s meant to make composers feel less like Patrick.

Figure 1: Patrick

Nothing in this guide is rigid. Because this guide primarily comes from personal experience, some
suggestions may counter your workflow. Be prepared to recognize such suggestions and stop following
them. The last thing I want is for this guide to hinder someone’s writing ability.

There is one thing all beginners should keep in mind when writing their first piece (or anything creative):
there is a learning curve. It helped me to accept the fact that my first piece will probably not be my best.
It's better to start simple than to be too ambitious. The beauty of music is that almost any music project
is scalable; it’s easy to extend and add complexity to music. This guide will cover how to do that.
In this guide, the music writing process is broken down into 6 steps:

1) Draw inspiration
2) Come up with an idea
3) Capture the idea
4) Write the idea to manuscript/composition software
5) Create an outline for the piece with key instruments
6) Orchestrate
Each of these steps will be covered in detail. Should you become lost in your music writing journey,
remember that you can always do at least one of these steps to keep going.

Drawing inspiration
So how do you start composing a piece? Consume the medium; listen to a lot of music. Stephen King
gives the same advice about writing - read a lot. Listen to your favorite genre. Listen to the music you
find most interesting. Soundcloud is a great resource for listening to a specific genre. Try not to divide
your attention when listening. Take note of the structure, the melody, the harmony, the chord
progressions, and rhythms (but maybe not all at once). What do your favorite pieces do in each of these
fields? When you expose yourself to a lot of music, your brain creates stronger music-related
connections. As a result, ideas will come to you more frequently.

Coming up with an idea

Writing music is like writing an essay. It’s usually better to have an idea before putting anything on
paper. A musical idea doesn’t have to be a full-fledged piece. It could be a simple riff, melody, chord
progression, or even an outline of a piece. You might even come up with several ideas before settling in
with one you like.

The source of musical ideas

So where do musical ideas come from? The truth is, it comes from different places for different people.
But what is consistent amongst everyone is that ideas come more often when they listen to more music.
Below I list a few methods for creating musical ideas:

1) Exploit Hypnagogia
Hypnagogia is the experience of the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep [Wikipedia]. For some,
creative ideas come vividly right before or right after sleeping. Surreal artist Salvador Dali developed a
technique for capturing these exact ideas. The same can be done for music. The hard part is to not fall
asleep. This method has given me great results when it worked. However, it only does work 25% of the
time.
Article on Salvador Dali’s Hypnagogia capturing technique
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dream-factory/201502/how-dream-salvador-dali

2) Improvise to common chord progressions or pieces - Jam

Here is another way writing a piece is similar to writing an essay: In high school, you’ve probably been
asked to write an essay in an hour or less as part of a test. Improvisation asks a musician to do a very
similar task. Except instead of making an argument on the fly, you are making music on the fly. Be
patient. Try repeating a chord progression alone until you can something you like. Remember to record
yourself.

Try jamming to your favorite piece. Eventually you will create something new from it. There is no shame
in using a common chord progression or a similar theme. Literally every song steals something from
somewhere. More on that later. Below are some links to videos and webpages that play common chord
progressions. Then put them into the chord player below all other links.

Top 12 Most Popular Chord Progressions

https://youtu.be/9YS3YvtY8-E

10 Popular Guitar Chord Progressions

https://youtu.be/GJfWto9dhJM

15 Popular Guitar Chord Progressions for Song Writing & Jamming

https://youtu.be/dsZNku58F6Q

Jazz Chord Progressions

http://www.jazzguitar.be/jazz_chord_progressions.html

Chord player
https://www.hooktheory.com/hookpad/new

3) Experiment with Chords

This method is effective if you have experience with the piano. Get experimental with how notes mix
with each other. I usually start out with triads or 7ths, then modify one or two notes at a time to get a
unique sound. Refer to Appendix B to learn about triads and 7ths.

Below is a link to a website that has the construction of virtually every chord. It groups related chords
together. I have found it particularly easy to create cool chord progressions with this tool.
http://www.pkmurphy.com.au/chordgenerator/

4) Use chords to create arpeggios

Find a chord progression you like, or create your own using method 3. Play each of the notes in the
chords sequentially. Change the order of a few notes. Bam. You have a passage to start on.
Many pieces incorporate a small fraction of some scale. There’s more than just your standard diatonic
scales. Check out this Wikipedia article for a comprehensive list of scales you can use. Check out the
pentatonic scale. Some of these scales alone could give some inspiration.

5) Brute force
Play random notes until something good comes up. This method is hit-or-miss. Try this on your
instrument or on digital sequencers. Try everything, then consider adding a method to your madness.
Try playing notes at only certain intervals.

There are a myriad of free sequencers and music creation toys online. Sometimes putting random notes
down will create something that sounds cool. Don’t forget to record yourself. Audacity is a free program
that will allow you to record the audio output from your computer. The following links have instructions
in these wiki articles: Windows, Mac.

Here are two sequencers online you can use:

https://onlinesequencer.net/

https://soundation.com/studio - Requires flash

Capturing your musical ideas

When a musical idea comes to mind, you must record it somewhere as quickly as possible. Musical
ideas are very easy to forget. Yes, you will have to interrupt what you’re doing, even if it’s sleeping. The
best method for recording is different for everyone. Here are a few ways:

1a) Record yourself playing it on your instrument

1b) Record yourself singing, humming, or whistling
1c) Record the output of your computer
2) Write directly to manuscript or software

There are disadvantages to using only method 1 or method 2. Do both if possible! By using method 1
only, you risk being unable to recall 100% of your idea during playback. By using method 2 only you risk
losing your idea as you write it because it is substantially slower. The music you jot down for method 2 is
equivalent to the scratch notes you write for essays.

Writing down the idea

How do you convert your idea into written music? You will need to recognize the rhythms and pitches of
your idea. This section offers aural techniques and links to make to help recognize the components of
your musical ideas.

Try breaking this task into figuring out the rhythm and pitch separately. Write whichever component
you feel most comfortable with first. Write notes in your drafts that indicate what you might want to
add in the future.
Should you start on manuscript or music software? Software is better in my opinion. Here are some pros
and cons for both:

Manuscript Software
Convenient for writing notes Can be cumbersome in note taking and
notation
You can carry it virtually anywhere - Slow startup time
write anywhere without startup time
Adds an extra step to process; music Offers instantaneous playback of notes -
needs to be in a computer eventually helps select correct note

Table 1: Manuscript vs Software

Writing down the pitch

I find it less likely to lose my idea when I write my pitches first. Having perfect pitch certainly helps (see
Appendix C). Though knowledge in intervals (the spaces between notes; see Appendix B) will help you
immensely to determine your pitches sequentially in your piece. This utility trains your recognition of
intervals:

https://www.teoria.com/en/exercises/ii.php

One technique for memorizing intervals is associating particular piece with certain intervals. For
example, a Perfect 4th is found in the first two notes of Here Comes the Bride, and a Perfect 5th in the
Star Wars theme. More Examples.

What is the actual process? It is somewhat of a guessing game. Write the note down either on software
or manuscript, then verify if the note is correct via software or piano/piano app. Training in intervals
should expedite this process despite its tedium.

Writing down the rhythm

For this task I hum out the music phrase in question while tapping the beat. That helps me determine
the time signature as well as the length of each note (whole, half, quarter, dotted quarter etc.). Then I
verify on software, and make granular corrections as needed. If you’re having trouble with a few notes,
consider that it might be a triplet or duple. Unless you are intentionally creating new rhythms, your
rhythm probably is composed of common rhythms. This tool will help you recognize common rhythms:

https://www.teoria.com/en/exercises/rd4.php

Common Early Pitfalls

Originality: The Ultimate Pitfall
Possibly the most common reason a piece is scrapped is because it is too similar to something that
already exists. There is a very high chance that something that you wrote will resemble something else.
It’s also likely it’ll resemble something you heard recently. DO NOT, throw away everything you’ve
worked on so far!! Keep on writing until your idea is complete. You can change it later. This
phenomenon is called cryptomnesia, and it is not something to be ashamed of. Drum patterns, chord
progressions, and note sequences of notes are stolen all the time. Whole genres of music have been
defined by its chord progression. Symphonic pieces “quote” local folk tunes. Modern artists like David
Bowie did it too.

Everything should be done in moderation, however. Try to avoid an Under Pressure/Ice Ice Baby
situation. There’s a lot you can change to make something original: notes, rhythm,
instrumentation/orchestration, harmony structure, chord progression… A few small changes in any of
these aspects can create something that is new and unique.

There is no wrong answer

Music has more dimensions than just pitch, rhythm, and dynamics. Write whatever comes to mind
without any filters, even if it’s unorthodox. There is no wrong answer in making a melody. Why?
Because people will like anything if you repeat it long enough. At the very least, it will be in their heads.
It’s human nature. That’s why pop songs are catchy. Repetition can also help add length and even depth
to your piece (See Repeat, Repeat, Repeat). To illustrate this point, take a listen to just the first few
seconds to both these pieces:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd1HjBJaB-Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YZJyKuu7ec

The introduction to each piece makes almost no sense…but it gains musical value after it’s repeated.
That’s how powerful repetition is.

A common mistake is trying to fit the rhythm into a 4/4 meter. Consider 6/8 or 3/4. Though if you find
your music having 1 extra beat in 1 or 2 isolated measures, then consider 5/4 or even 6/4! If your piece
changes key or time signatures often, then let it be. Don’t be afraid to do the unorthodox if it feels right
to you.

Themes and titles

Right after you write down your idea, you might want your give your piece a concept or theme that it
will adhere to. This can be great if those concepts invoke a musical/emotional response to you. They can
and should be written about, but not for first-time composers. You should not reject your additions just
because it doesn’t fit into your theme. The same goes for titles. This is a huge pit fall for first-time
composers since can be so frustrating. This will eventually lead to project termination. The best way to
avoid this is to cut your losses and allow non-thematic music into your piece.

Always new music

After you have written down your first idea, you may feel the need to write more unique music just to
continue. Do not wait for the next idea to come to mind before adding to your piece. Instead, try
exploring the idea you just wrote and build upon it. It is possible to create a piece with one musical idea.
Music tracks for dance clubs will often use one idea to create minutes-worth of music. More on how to
do this can be found in the next section. Suffice to say, it's good to have more than one musical idea in
your piece. Write down new ideas only as they come to you, don’t try to force it. Write your ideas
separately if they are hard to incorporate with what you already have.
Outline
Congratulations! You have a musical idea written down. Now it is time to expand upon that idea until
you have a first draft. This section will cover how to expand your piece over time and Orchestration will
cover how to expand your piece over different instruments. There is no particular order to these steps.
Do not force yourself to complete one step entirely if you are struggling to do so. Instead, try going back
and forth between these two steps bit by bit until the piece is complete.

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

Music is an art of repetition. Humans love repetition because they are so attracted to patterns. They
love to hear the same note, phrase, section, and even entire songs over and over. Copy/Pasting is the
most effective tool for expanding your piece. You can copy across different instruments and across
different times in your piece. Pay attention to the next song you hear, and you’ll notice how often this
trick is used.

Here are a few ways you can repeat the same melody to make legitimate music:

● Straight up repeat it
● Modulate the key signature
● Change the scale (major, minor, Dorian etc.)
● Adjust the tempo
● Change instruments
o Change the way the instruments play (attacks, decays, mutes, pizzicato)
● Try making a canon - think Row Row Row Your Boat
● Push the melody a 3rd or 4th or 5th down/up - you may need to adjust some notes to fit the key
o See Appendix B about intervals
● Change the cadence
● Change your embellishments and inflection points

Music writing is an iterative process. Try using the list above as a checklist. Revisit items you think you
could do more with. When you think you’ve fully exhausted your idea, it might be time to come up with
a new idea. Only this time, you have some of your own music as material to listen to. Separate yourself
from what you created and write something that is derivative of your own music. If that fails, revisit The
source of musical ideas.

Outline of chunks
By the time you have an idea written down you may have a vision of how the piece will play out. Write
those visions as they come. If you don’t have a vision, then write down your ideas into separate chunks.
Think about how you want your piece to be structured. Consider reordering and repeating your chunks.
Play one after another on software to get an idea of how it will sound. Do you want your piece to have
an intro, interlude, or outro? Which chunks should be played and in what order? Once you have the
answer to these questions, you can create an outline.

Stitching ideas together

Piecing your ideas together can be almost as difficult as coming up with an original idea. In some cases,
it’s better not to address this issue until you have a better grasp of the direction of your piece - when
more music has been written. Here are a few ways to stitch your ideas together:
 ● Mix elements of both ideas
● Create a phrase that fits in both ideas
● Bridge with a silence
● Bridge with a single instrument or sub-ensemble interlude
● Reorder your ideas
● Exclude one of your ideas from your piece and save it for a different one

If you are slowing down on stitching your ideas together, try orchestrating what you have so far and
come back later.

Pitfall: Marrying your ideas

Be prepared to scrap an idea if it can’t fit anywhere. Artists often produce more material than what
makes it to their final product. Not all is lost though, as you can still save your idea and use it in a
different project.

Intros and Outros

Not every piece needs either of these sections. Though they can make a lasting impression if done right.
Listen to the beginning and end of your favorite songs to get an idea of what you want to do. Here are
some ways to make an intro:

● Use a slightly modified version of your main idea

● Create a unique idea that is related to your main idea - perhaps same chord progression
● Start with a solo of one or few instruments then add instruments every few bars
● En media res – start with your main idea with no introduction

Outros are typically shorter than their counterparts. Pieces typically end in one of three ways:

• With a chord
• Repeating a small phrase with a decrescendo into silence
• Abrupt ending

Almost every piece that ends with a chord ends with a cadence - a musical ending. The most common
cadences are V - I and IV - I. See Appendix B to learn more about roman numeral chords. More on
cadences can be found here:

https://www.musictheoryacademy.com/how-to-read-sheet-music/cadences/

Pieces that end on a chord end on the I chord since that gives a satisfying ending. Whether that chord be
played soft or grandiose is an artistic decision.

Orchestration
It is good to figure out the chord progression of your piece at this point. Try to start your orchestration
by simply spelling each chord with whole and half notes across your instruments. You can fill in the
details later. Increasing your note resolution will cover how to do that. Refer to Appendix B to learn
more about chord progressions and identification.
Most music only has 2 - 4 voices - distinct streams of notes - playing at a time. Pieces with more than 4
voices have a tendency to sound too busy. Writing more than 4 voices is also a pitfall for beginners.
Voices typically fall into one of the four ranges: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Each voice typically stays
in their own range for each phrase. This is the framework that most harmonization is built with.

One voice can be played by many instruments, and one instrument typically plays only one voice.
Because of this relationship, you can create a quick rough idea of your full orchestration by copy/pasting
parts. You can revisit each part to give each instrument their own unique flair later. Not every voice
needs to, or should always be playing - that’s a pitfall. Every musician needs to breathe, even if they are
a string player.

Every voice should be orthogonal from one another. That is, no two voices should be played at similar
frequencies at the same time. Allocate different voices to different registers (range of pitches) so that
each voice can be heard clearly. A collision between two voices can be fixed by changing the octave of
one party. Instruments are designed with a specific range in mind. Take advantage of the instruments
with unique ranges when you can.

Here are some other ways to fill your voices:

● Write instruments with a 3rd, 4th, or 5th off from the melody
o See Appendix B about intervals
● Insert a counter melody - each note goes in the opposite direction of the melody

Figure 2: Counter Melodies

Increasing your note resolution

At some point you may have parts that simply play whole and half notes. This process in orchestration is
better done with multiple passthroughs. Music writing is an iterative process. Here are several ways to
make your piece more interesting:

● Breakup notes into smaller subdivisions. Example: break a half note into 4 eighth notes
o You can replace certain subdivisions with rests for a more interesting beat. See example
below.1

1
This is How and Angel Dies - Zack Schmidt
 Figure 3: Quarter notes split into 8th notes and rests

● Embellish your transitions from note to note. The images below illustrate two simple ways to do
this:

Figure 4: Two half notes. We will embellish this transition

Figure 5: Embellishment beneath second note

Figure 6: Embellishment above second note

● Use trills, tremolos, arpeggios, and glissandos

Orchestration pitfalls
Writing all parts to Piano
A common approach to writing an orchestrated piece is to first write all parts for the piano. I disagree
with this approach because it can be difficult to imagine other instruments after writing to just the
piano. Instead, try to write your idea for all the instrument(s) you have in mind, even if it’s vague. For
example, if you just want a brass instrument to play a particular passage, choose any brass instrument
rather than piano. Despite this pitfall, piano can be a good placeholder when nothing comes to mind.

Counterintuitive Practices
There are several practices that seem not okay in orchestration, but really are. Here are some of these
practices:

● Giving simple parts

● Looping for large portions of the piece
o The Bass even expects looping in their part
● Giving large rest sections to an instrument
● Muting entire voices for a moment
Orchestration Tips
● Consider the special sounds each instrument in your piece can make
o Plucked strings, muted brass, alternate tunings
o Each of these can be considered as new instruments - adding complexity without
requiring more instruments
● If you can, think of a person you know who that plays the instruments you are writing for

Your Workflow
Work Environment
Before beginning your musical journey, plan for your workspace. Choosing the right workspace can
increase your productivity dramatically. Here are a few considerations you should take:

● Obtain a musical idea before sitting down to write

If you sit down at your desk without any ideas in your head, you might stagnate:

Figure 7: The

This is often the hardest part in writing music. See The source of musical ideas.
● Make sure you cannot hear any outside music
This can be the biggest distraction to your work as most people can only listen to one song at a
time. Any workspace without distractions is usually a good one.
● Allocate contiguous blocks of your time for music writing
Spending more time in a writing session increases your chances of achieving flow, where you
will be the most productive.
● Equip yourself with a piano or piano app
This will help you identify notes. If you feel more comfortable, use your own instrument.

Workflow Pitfall: Listening to your progress

It’s nice to listen to your progress in software. However, it’s often tempting to take a full listen of your
piece every time you make a small change. This can take a lot of time away from your writing session.
This is only necessary if you are editing on a broad - phrase or section - level. For smaller changes, try
listening only a few measures back.
Completion
Pitfall: Over-editing
You may never be satisfied with your piece, especially your first piece. There may always be something
that can be improved. Be careful when removing musical ideas. I keep a second file for each piece to put
the ideas that don’t make into the final product. Your first piece may be your worst. It might be better
move on as soon as you have something that can pass as a piece.

After Completion
Music composition becomes easier the more you do it. The production cycle of your first piece will be
slow and dry. Don’t let this deter you from writing more music! Try to write at least two more pieces.
From there, you should be able to tell if music composition is an activity for you.

In the mean-time, find a place to put your pieces. Create a portfolio. You’ll never know when you will
need to show your work. When you are ready, seek out criticism on your piece. A new pair of ears can
give you a new perspective. Peers can also give you advice on parts you feel isn’t quite right.

When your piece is complete, share it for people to hear. This is your opportunity to contribute to the
modern-day zeitgeist. Your piece could make someone’s day, but you’ll never know if you don’t put it
out there.
Appendix A: On software
Like any hobby, a good strategy for finding the right software is to start cheap, and go professional later.
Fortunately, there are many free music composition programs on the internet. I recommend Musescore
because it’s easy to write music down quickly and it’s intuitive. It also has a large enough community
where the most common technical questions are already answered. There are two choices of
professional software: Sibelius and Finale. Sibelius is similar to Musescore - music can be written quickly.
Finale is more powerful, though less intuitive. Before writing any music, you should get a feel for how
your choice of software works. That way you can write you musical ideas down as quickly as possible.

Appendix B: Some Music theory

It is undeniable that knowledge of music theory helps in writing music. This is by no means a complete
music theory reference. Instead, the fundamental concepts for music composition shall be covered:

● Intervals - helps in note recognition

● Roman Numeral Chords - helps fill holes in supporting voices/accompaniment

Knowledge of these concepts will help you write music that makes sense to the listener. This section will
assume knowledge about note values (whole, half, quarter etc.) and the circle of 5ths.

Intervals
An interval is the distance between two notes. The name is determined by the relative position of one of
the notes with respect to the root. The root is usually the lower of the two notes. Take a look at this
example:

Figure 8: M7 - Major 7th

The root here is E and the top note is D#. D# is the 7th note in the E major scale, so it’s a Major 7th or M7.
Obviously, not every note can fit into a major scale. The root’s minor scale is also used for interval
nomenclature. The notes that fall into the root’s minor scale are called minor. Here’s another example:

Figure 9: m3 - minor 3rd

Again, the root is E, and the top note is G. G is the 3rd note in the E minor scale. Therefore, it’s a minor
3rd, or m3. An uppercase M denotes major, and lowercase m denotes minor. There are several notes
which fall into both the major and minor scales of the root. These are called perfect intervals. Below is
an example:
 Figure 10: P4 - Perfect 4th

The root is E and the top note is A. A is the 4th note of the E major and minor scale, so it is a Perfect 4th or
P4. Finally, there is a special interval that is a half-step above P4 and a half-step below P5. It does not
fall in the root’s major nor minor scales. We call this a tritone. It’s particularly useful for creating
dissonance.

Figure 11: Tritone/d5 - diminished 5th

With E as the root, Bb becomes a tritone. Given that there are 12 tones in standard tuning, there are 12
possible intervals for each tone. Intervals are relative. The table below demonstrates this by listing of all
the intervals for C and A.

Interval Name Note with C as root Note with A as root Number of half-steps up
P1/P8 C A 0/12
m2 C# Bb 1
M2 D B 2
m3 Eb C 3
M3 E C# 4
P4 F D 5
Tritone F# D# 6
P5 G E 7
m6 Ab F 8
M6 A F# 9
m7 Bb G 10
M7 B G# 11
Table 2: Interval Names for C and A

A complete chart can be found at the site below:

http://www.socraticmethod.net/music_theory/ch_down.htm

Intervals can also be augmented or diminished. Augmented intervals generally indicate a half-step
above what is normal, and diminished indicate a half-step below. The diminished 5th (d5) is the only
interval discussed in this guide and is a half-step below P5. Indeed, this is in the same place as a tritone.
Though when discussing this interval in the context of a roman numeral chord, it will be referred to as
d5.

Of course, there are other augmented and diminished intervals as well as more complex intervals names
such as 9ths, 11ths, and inverted intervals. But these intervals are out of the scope of this guide.
Writing music becomes much easier when you can identify intervals. This does require some practice,
though it is well worth the time. Below there some links where you can train your ear for intervals:

https://www.teoria.com/en/exercises/ie.php

http://www.musictheory.net/calculators/interval

Roman Numeral Chords

The Basics
The most basic chord is just made up of a note (the root), a 3rd, and a 5th. The official name for this
chord is the triad. Triads are fundamental in creating the roman numeral chords. The most basic roman
numeral chords are made from triads.

Figure 12: C Major Roman Numeral Chords

Roman Numeral chords come from the notion that you can make a triad out of every note of the scale of
a piece. Notice how each triad root in the example above spells a C major scale from left to right. Each
note in each chord stays in the key of C; there are no accidentals in each chord. This results in some
chords like ii, iii, and vi becoming minor - having a m3 - while I, IV, and V becoming major - having a M3.
vii° is a special case where the triad spells a diminished chord - a P1, m3, and a d5.

The number of a roman numeral chord is determined by the position of the root in the key’s scale.
Numerals that spell minor and diminished chords are in lowercase while numerals that spell major
chords are in uppercase. The symbol ° is used for diminished triads.

Let us examine the ii chord from above for an example. It is made of D, F, and A. D is the second note in
the key’s scale, C, so the roman numeral for 2 will be used. Because D, F, and A spell a minor chord, the
roman numeral must be lowercase. Therefore, the roman numeral is “ii”.

Below is a link to a website that will spell chords for you. The key can be changed by clicking on the box
on the bottom-left.

http://www.musictheory.net/calculators/analysis

Chord progressions are typically described in roman numeral chords like the ones you see above. They
serve as the foundation for music to be written on. Many pieces follow the same chord progressions. 12
bar blues is based off the progression I - IV - I - V - IV - I. The video linked below illustrates the usage of
the I - V - vi - IV chord progression by many different artists:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdVurJFMDUI
Review The source of musical ideas to find the tried and true chord progressions you can write you piece
with. You can also attempt to create your own chord progression using the link below. This website
plays every well-established chord.

http://www.pkmurphy.com.au/chordgenerator/

Inversions
Roman numeral chords do not need to conform to a strict form. They only require that the notes that
make up the original triad exist somehow. Roman numeral chords that don’t keep the original order of
the triad are called inverted chords. The I6 chord for the key of C below is comprised of a C, E, and G.

Figure 13: Inverted I6 Chord

However, the root C appears above the other two notes. This is an inversion. Another inversion of the I
chord has the 5th below the other two notes.

Figure 14: Inverted I64 Chord

Because of this, you can let the voices of your piece follow a natural progression. It’s common to see
chords become inverted so that each voice will not have to make an unnatural jump, just so it can fit
into a triad. This process of arranging each voice to create a chord progression is called voice leading.

To see this in action, let’s consider a V - I transition in a C keyed piece:

Figure 15: Plain V - I progression in C

The transition above can sound a bit awkward because each voice is going in the same direction - up.
This can be fixed by making the top voice take the G and embellishing the middle voice to come down.
 Figure 16: V - I Progression with embellishment

Although inverted, the V - I transition is preserved all while making it sound more pleasant. This is also a
good example for increasing your note resolution.

7ths
7ths are just like triads except there are four notes instead of three. They can add a fourth voice to your
piece and can be very powerful in setting the tone. The same concepts of inversions and chord
progressions apply to 7ths.

Figure 17: G Major 7th

Above is a Major 7th chord which consists of a P1, M3, M5, and M7. There are many kinds of 7ths which
lie outside of the scope of this guide. Below is a tool that can play the most well-known chords:

http://www.musictheory.net/calculators/chord

Appendix C: Pitch Perfect

Perfect pitch is not critical to composing, though it is a useful tool. This section aims set you on the right
track for correctly identifying pitches.

To have perfect pitch is to memorize the tone of every note. There are 12 tones in Western music. The
trick is to first memorize intervals and only one tone. If you know what “A” sounds like and you know
what each interval sounds like, you can figure out each note. Intervals are easier to memorize than
tones themselves.

In theory, this strategy should work. However, it might be easier to memorize a few more tones than
one. Try memorizing the tones you hear often. Open strings, tuning tones, and the roots of common
scales are all tones you will hear often if you play an instrument. If you can’t decide on any, try G, D, A,
and E. With more tones memorized, you will have multiple references to the same tone. This means
you will be able to identify each note more confidently and quickly. Try any of the following activities to
become familiar with the tones you choose to memorize:

• Listen to each tone for 1 minute straight

• Listen to pieces that are in the key of these tones
• Use one of the tools below
https://www.teoria.com/en/exercises/ne.php

https://www.teoria.com/en/exercises/ke.php

With the first tool, be sure to adjust the setting “Play notes in groups of” to 2 and “Notes to be used” to
the tones you want to memorize.

Alternatively, you can gradually memorize more tones than intervals. When you are confident in
distinguishing four tones, add another to the mix in the tool above. When you are confident again, add
another tone. Keep adding tones until you can’t handle any more.

Finally, try associating particular pieces with tones just like intervals. What are some songs that you
know that play in a particular key? For example, the iPhone default ring tone is in the key of C minor,
and the classic Tetris theme is in the key of A minor and starts on an E.

Thanks
Special thanks go to Leanne Minkoff and Robert Burton for helping me edit this guide. This document is
free to distribute only if I am attributed to it.
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©Charlie Miller 2018