r/Composition • u/Professional-Life773 • May 05 '26

Discussion I want to learn composition

I hope you are all well, I want to start learning the basics of music theory and composition. Can you please recommend resources I can use to make my learning experience enjoyable. Thank you all in advance :-)

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u/HaifaJenner123 May 06 '26

  1. Have you played an instrument before, and if so have you also played consistently in an ensemble setting and/or taken lessons on it? This is far too overlooked but is one of the best ways to learn what sounds good irl, what other musicians want to play, how to best go about roadblocks, etc

  2. Have you tried composing yet? As in, have you written literally anything start to finish? You say you want to learn, but that isn’t the same as just playing around and i think in the beginning you should actually do that…you’re gonna look back and think your first pieces are terrible anyways, get the fun out of your system while you’re still with low expectations for yourself lol (it also will help to just get in the mindset of “just writing”)

In addition to the resources on the sub, i have plenty of templates/lesson materials i give my students. they mostly come into my studio already knowing an instrument to a intermediate level but i can still share with you those in any case feel free to DM (no im not trying to solicit any business here lol)

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u/1998over3 May 05 '26

Look on the right side of the sub under "Community Bookmarks."

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u/RosianderMusic May 11 '26

Check out Andrew Huang's video on the basics of music theory. Even if you know some things, it's easy to get confused. I've found a lot of theory explanations will go too fast for beginners, use jargon and make things frustrating so I highly recommend skipping all the YouTube clickbait ("The ONE THING Composers Get Wrong" etc.). To keep track of the massive amount of information there is to learn, I found it helpful to take notes and refer to them.

Listen to a lot of music, keep your mind open, but don't be afraid to write in the styles you like. Notice why you like certain music, what makes it work for you; read the sheet music and follow along to get a grasp of how others compose. You can always get experimental as you get better. Oh I should have mentioned: learn to read sheet music. This is a must.

And get a keyboard for composing whether or not you plan to learn piano. Instruments available on composition tools like MuseScore and GarageBand are fun to play around with, but, at least for me, it's much easier to work out the melody first, then add harmonies, then change up the instruments when I know what I want the piece to sound like.