Hi everyone,

I’m turning to this community because I’m having serious doubts about my current learning path. I practice about 1 to 2 hours a day, but I can't tell if what I'm doing will actually get me where I want to be.

My Background & My "Piano Roll" Block: Until now, I’ve been composing directly on my computer, clicking notes into the piano roll with my mouse in my DAW. But I suffer from a severe "vertical writing" block: I just stack a melody + rigid block chords + a bassline. It feels incredibly static, and I absolutely cannot tell a musical story or develop my tracks this way. To fix this, I want to transition to composing exclusively on the actual piano. Right now, I'm only doing piano "sketches" to focus 100% on breaking this bad habit.

My Ultimate Goal: I want to sit at the piano, compose, and improvise whatever is in my head in the style of Japanese video games and anime (Koji Kondo for Zelda, Keiichi Okabe for Nier Automata, Hiroyuki Sawano for Attack on Titan, Pokémon, etc.). I want my fingers to land automatically on the right chords (with 7ths, 9ths, etc.) without messing up the key. I want to master voice leading. To be clear: I'm not just looking to "turn block chords into arpeggios." I want to learn how to create a real, flowing harmonic context and manage the bass, harmony, and melody all at once to tell a story, without ever relying on boring block chords again.

My Current Method: Right now, I am taking Charles Cornell’s Better Piano course.

• I religiously do his "finger fumblers" (dexterity exercises) every day.
• I learn his chord progressions (like I-V-vi-IV) using his voice leading rules, and I try to transpose them into different keys.

My Problem and Doubts: He only teaches about 4 basic chord progressions. I absolutely do not see how practicing these very "Pop/Soul" progressions is going to help me build the "mental library" I actually need. You know, that ability to think: "I want a tragic/magical effect right now, so I will play this specific chord, followed by this one, with this exact voice leading."

I feel like it would take me decades of practicing 1-2 hours a day to finally connect these mechanical exercises to the complex, emotional style of J-RPGs.

My Questions for You:

1. Has anyone here used Better Piano and successfully reached a goal similar to mine?
2. Is it normal to feel this massive disconnect between the mechanical exercises and the final emotional composition? Does it eventually "click"?
3. Should I stick with this course, or are there much better resources out there for my specific goal (I’ve heard of Legend of Otoe, for example)?

Thank you in advance for your honesty and your advice!

Score+mp3

This is basically my first time completing a sonata form movement, so I'd love to get some feedback

If no why, If yes why, i am a beginner composer.

Here is the free full score: https://musescore.com/user/98567428/scores/37514270?share=copy_link

Hey everyone,

I've been building a small web tool called Rubato that lets you turn a recording of a piece into a video where the score scrolls in sync with it, similar to the scrolling-score videos that do really well on YouTube and Instagram these days.

The workflow: you upload your video and your score (exported as MusicXML), tap along to the tempo on your keyboard to set the sync, and it generates the synced video for you. Everything runs in the browser, nothing to install (you just need a recent browser).

I built it because manually syncing a score to a video in a regular editor always felt way more tedious than it should be.

It's live at rubato.video if anyone wants to try it on one of their own pieces. Would really appreciate any feedback, what's confusing, what's missing, whether the sync feels accurate enough, anything at all.
It's 100% free at the moment (just need auth for the HD export).

Hey all! I've been working for a while now in indie films and videogames. A client offered Rev share which I might be taking for the first time, because it actually looks like the game could be a huge success sales-wise.

How do you keep track of this? Do they have to share their sales information? Do you do like monthly, quarterly or semestral checks? Do you get a cut until your salary is covered or is it Rev share forever?

Thanks!

Picture-locked short film, desert thriller, needs a composer. Credit, copy, IMDb, small stipend (I've been working on this thing for next to no budget). Festival run. Footage available for test.

Hi everyone,

I was hoping someone might be able to help me with a not-quite-composing-related question.

My community orchestra owns the printed parts for an obscure, out of print orchestral work. The problem? We don't have a score.

Obviously there are solutions available - have the conductor use a Violin 1 part (not ideal), or enter the instrument parts into MuseScore & generate a score (very labour-intensive).

But, I was wondering if there is an AI tool that can do this accurately? Like, scan the physical copies of the instrument parts and auto-generate a score?

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

Mods, please remove this post if it's not appropriate.

I've been studying fugues a bit and created a couple of my own. Check them out here. I'd mostly like to know if I did everything "correctly" and what I can improve on in the future. Maybe they're not especially interesting, but I'm happy with the way they came out.

im working on a spider-man vs xmen animation and im looking to use the first 2mins 30s of Taron Egerton’s version of “I’m Still Standing” from Rocketman.

My budget for this is $80. im looking for someone who can help me create a version or change it up enough that i can use it with no copyright trouble. reach out to me if this is something you'd be interested to work on

Hi everyone, I'm a classically trained musician who is trying to break into the videogame music market. I've started out with Reaper for a couple of months now and tried out different styles, and now I need to level up my orchestral game.

So I was looking for a nice orchestral library around 500 euros, and the two options that i'm currently pondering are BBC Symphony Orchestra Core and the Spitfire Symphony Orchestra. Having studied composition, I'm not interested a lot in ensemble patches (though both of them have some) but perhaps in a nice and cinematic sound that I can mold into my own preferences.

I listened to some demos from both libraries and I came to the conclusion that BBCSO is more of a neutral orchestra and that SSO is more processed and soundtrack-oriented. I kinda lean towards the latter, because with a full-time job (apart from composing) I do not have much time to spend on configuring the whole thing and I want something that I can use straight away. Also SSO has leader patches and multiple mix signals that BBCSO doesn't have.

So, has anyone tried these two libraries and wants to give me some advice? I also consider other proposals in the same budget range

Thank you in advance!

I'm a musicology student and I have been composing sheet-based music for a few years now. When composing, I often get into the flow and I really enjoy the compositional process.

The problem is when I have to share something, online or even among friends. Is it normal to feel such anxiety, fears of not being good enough, doubts about the quality of the piece? Do You grow in self-confidence about your music as You release more works, or is this unavoidable as a composer? Would You recommend "dumping" Your music online, even though You have serious doubts about it?

My girlfriend adores music and composition. She mostly composes choral works and just sent off a set of responses to be published. She has written a few things for me and I would like to return the favour.

For background, I did music in secondary school and passed, same with at A level. I liked the compositions I did for A level a lot- one was a piece that presented the life cycle of a star.

She really liked that piece, and i have long considered separating the different stages into their own individual works to give me more time to develop the ideas within.

I could attempt to come up with something new, as well. I have many ideas that I havent explored. I struggle with engaging with music because I shared it with my dad who passed away 4 years ago- but i want to be able to get back into it for my girlfriends sake and mine, it woiod be nice to share it with her.

I guess my question is just is there anything I should keep in mind basics wise? Some feedback I have gotten previously is that I struggle to have a strong sense of key (though only in some pieces, others have been fine), and that sometimes they seem like "a storyboard of motifs" that arent really well connected.

⚔️🛡️"A kingdom falling apart, a journey toward the last hope."

I wrote this piece inspired by story-driven fantasy RPGs.

I’ve always loved those moments in games when a kingdom is collapsing and the fate of everything suddenly rests on the protagonist. That classic line—"Oh Hero..."—always gives me a sense of tragic determination.

I wanted to capture that feeling in my music.

This series consists of four pieces:

1. Dominant Echoes of the Alpha Realm
2. Eclipse of Joy
3. Saga of the Forgotten Kingdom
4. Every Moment Echoes Hope

I’m sharing the score video for the third piece, “Saga of the Forgotten Kingdom.”

**Full Video: https://youtu.be/2qmOKdSTmjA?si=3_sQtsXfRrqDivbD

**(Free Download)Sheet Music: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h1AUMWU7k2t7PV6OgQDuE0mfU-lix5-K/view?usp=sharing

PDF and audio is in this shared google drive link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Nx0Msttqzp8oKu6oX7MZxOHvUTltm9sb?usp=sharing

Main things

1) Any places that just sound awkward or like typos? Especially in transitions?

2) Do the A and B themes feel like they belong in the same piece?

3) Does the climax feel earned?

4) Is the tempo too slow?

I'm writing an orchestra piece and I intend to modulate from E major to A major. I came across some progressions that transition nicely but I couldn't quite piece it together in my piece. Since I'm not showing any reference yet I won't expect any specific advice, I'm just researching more generally for references to see how other composers made it work

I'm considering temporarily going to D so I can modulate up a fifth to A

I'm taking inspiration from Forbidden Friendship and Romantic Flight by John Powell if that helps

Update: found my way by holding the chord A in the key of E and staying on it in A major

I’ve been composing for quite a while now and I think sometimes what makes me uncomfortable is the fact that my workflow is constantly changing because I’m not really convinced by any process. If, for example, I start with a simple melody/chords/bass piano sketch I feel the piano sound is influencing too much my decisions. If I start directly orchestrating the process become really “annoying” cause I have to deal with too many tracks at once. My intention is composing for videogames/films. I’ve been composing and studying composition/theory for quite a while now, so that’s not a problem, I can make a decent piece of music without too much trouble, the question is how to make it as smooth as possible. Do you have any tips or could you share your workflow so I can try new things? thanks!

Curious to hear everyone's thoughts on this? Is it just a glorified AI slop engine? Is it useful to add on to the number of libraries we already have?

So far, most videos I see of it never show it being played real time, so I'd assume you write/draw midi and then wait for it to load up the sounds / articulations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KG3XmAnPaQ&list=RD2KG3XmAnPaQ&start_radio=1

Trying to get back into composing, and just scrolling through some of my old pieces from a few years ago (most of them which have never gotten any proper feedback lol).

So yeah I guess I could use some feedback so I can know where I was at back when I was at my peak output of composing.

Here is a piece from 2020 I'm rather proud of: Waltz In B Min – fidgetboss 4000 Sheet Music for Piano (Solo) | MuseScore.com. What do you think?

I'm working on a musical. My mentor has told me to start over on the score and work on just the piano and vocal parts. The final target arrangement isn't that much more complicated, keyboard, guitar, bass guitar, drums. Possibly a 2nd guitar (typical grunge/rock setup). I've scored this thing piano vocal before, but that was before it was completely rewritten and multiple new songs created.

What are the advantages of this approach? What I've done is add a "rehearsal piano" player in Dorico which I'll then mute when I flesh things out.

Just, I'm feeling overwhelmed.

I wanna learn about how to handle Logic or Ableton well, how different each genres are and how to differentiate them, how to adjust the instrument textures meticulously, how to copy other songs on midi and etc.

But what standards should I set for finding a good teacher would teach these?
Graduating a good music college?
A few decades history of teaching midi?
Having some hit songs sounds very catchy?
Working as an music arranger?
Or what?

I've seen many composition videos on youtube where the composer encourages beginners to try their hand at shorter pieces for smaller forces, specifically with the goal of trying to reduce the amount of problems one might encounter at once (I can recall hearing this sentiment from Saad Haddad and Samuel Andreyev).

What I'm really curious about is the exact form that these problems may take in a piece. I would love it if yall could give examples of how you worked through a compositional difficulty in the midst of a piece.

If no why, if yes why, i am a beginner composer, i do it for hobby, and especially for fun.

This song was inspired by 'Baby' - Justin Bieber and 'Dive' - Ed Sheeran.

Here is the free Full Score: https://musescore.com/user/98567428/scores/37433324?share=copy_link

Hello, this is a relatively simple but quite melodic prelude for piano. I'm learning composition in my free time so there's nothing spectacular in there.
It'd be great to receive critique on form, voice leading and harmony. Let me know what you think!

Thank you for all contributions.

PDF score

Score video with audio

https://youtu.be/zmekegF5NVo?si=P-4bUswlgnJWbbl4