Hip City Music Tips

Find a chord progression you like. Find the most colorful notes in each of the chords. Create melodies using these colorful notes. Ta-da! You have a new song.
Find a melody that you like. Move the chord roots down a major second, minor third, or major third and adjust the chord quality to fit the melody. Ta-da! You have a new set of changes to play over.
When you doing some activity away from your instrument, imagine what kind of music would capture or accompany your mood. Try to sing the parts then write them down.
Write music every day. Keep a file of your musical sketches to pull out when you need some help getting started.
Write your own material, play it with the best available musicians, learn standards to play with other musicians, create your own performance opportunities, build and maintain contact with an audience, support your local scene, and have fun with the process.


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Your New Urban Jazz Label

Home Elvin Jones John Coltrane Steve Griggs Musician Tips Practicing Transcribing Composing Working Catalog Order Links Site Map Contact		Musician Tips - Composing Find a chord progression you like. Find the most colorful notes in each of the chords. Create melodies using these colorful notes. Ta-da! You have a new song. Find a melody that you like. Move the chord roots down a major second, minor third, or major third and adjust the chord quality to fit the melody. Ta-da! You have a new set of changes to play over. When you doing some activity away from your instrument, imagine what kind of music would capture or accompany your mood. Try to sing the parts then write them down. Write music every day. Keep a file of your musical sketches to pull out when you need some help getting started. Write your own material, play it with the best available musicians, learn standards to play with other musicians, create your own performance opportunities, build and maintain contact with an audience, support your local scene, and have fun with the process. © 1999 Steve Griggs, All Rights Reserved.