About this course
Have you composed a melody for an instrument or voice and now want to add a piano accompaniment? Are you unsure how or where to begin? Then this course is for you! We’ll go through the process of writing an accompaniment in two stages – classical and popular song so you can access the course content that’s relevant for you.
You can use whichever notation software or DAW you feel confident with; you can even used good old-fashioned pen and paper!
All musical examples are presented in staff notation and with audio clips, so if you prefer to compose ‘by ear’ simply listen to the examples and get inspired for your own composition.
Who is this course for?
This course is aimed at GCSE (or equivalent) students, but A level (or equivalent) musicians may also find this course useful for generating initial ideas.
Course Summary
You will:
- learn how the piano works
- choose suitable chords (summary – for detailed approach see course: How to Add Chords to a Melody)
- understand how the solo part and piano accompaniment relate to each other
- analyse typical accompaniment patterns for classical style compositions
- discover how to write a broken chord pattern
- learn five ways to use a pedal (harmonic device) note.
- write a piano introduction
- create a particular mood / atmosphere in your piano part.
- use articulation effectively
- explore how to use rhythm effectively in your pop song
- find out how to add fills at the ends of phrases in your pop song
Access all courses for a single price with an I Can Compose Access Plan. Find out more…