Unlock the Secrets of Emotional Guitar Composition: Essential FAQs

“Guitar composition”, “guitar composing”, “composing on guitar” – you’re probably here because you searched these terms and want to learn more about them. You’ve come to the right place! In this FAQ, I’ll try to answer everything I can based on my experience as a guitar composer and guitar composition teacher. If you have any more questions – comment below, and I’ll update this article with my answers!

What is guitar composition?

Guitar composition is the art and process of creating original music on the guitar. The term can mean composing music for the guitar or using the guitar as the primary instrument for composition. The term composition suggests that it’s mainly for classical guitar and classical music. But in modern times, it doesn’t have to be restricted and can apply to any type of guitar and in any genre.

Do compositions must be notated with software or written on paper?

While you can notate your music, it’s not a must. Moreover, you don’t even have to read music to compose! Some guitar composers don’t know which notes they are playing, especially when using alternate tunings, where every tuning is like re-learning the fretboard. In this guitar composition approach, you let your ear and intuition guide you instead.

Do you have to learn music theory to compose on the guitar?

Learning music theory helps you understand what you play and how to take it further. But it’s not a must! Sometimes, focusing on theory can even slow the creative process by letting our logical and rational minds take the lead. The result might be too structured and predictable music based on formulas. If you agree that creating music is about conveying emotions and feelings, then leading with that can bring more exciting results.

In addition, music theory is usually used to analyse and explain passively. However, “music composition theory” is a more fitting term that focuses on the creative application of theory. This includes uncovering how to use composition tools created by great composers and guitarists, such as permutations, as well as showing how any theoretical concept, like intervals, can be used to create guitar pieces.

Can anybody learn how to compose guitar music?

Absolutely! It doesn’t matter what level, age, and style you’re into or what you believe or think – you can learn how to compose guitar music! There’s a misconception that some people are born with a natural talent to compose or as creatives. Some are indeed born with perfect pitch (not me…), which definitely helps with anything to do with music, including composing. But even Beethoven and the great classical composers learned how to compose!

There are mainly two ways to learn guitar composition:

1. Self study: researching the right resources, like YouTube videos, online courses and books.
2. Working with a mentor: getting professional help and a structured plan to overcome mental, emotional, technical, musical and creative challenges.

When I first picked up the guitar, I immediately composed music on it. Yes, it was mainly based on open strings and probably wasn’t very interesting to listen to, but the act of composing the guitar is that easy and simple. It’s like giving your child a pen and a piece of paper, and you’ll get a piece of art that you’ll hang on the wall with pride.

Even guitar composition students with a strong disbelief manage to do so. Here’s an example:

Where and how to learn guitar composition?

Quite a few teachers and educational institutions teach “guitar” and “composition” as the main subjects, mainly by learning other people’s music and methods.

According to my research, there are very few programmes that teach the guitar as the main compositional instrument that’s not restricted to a specific genre (classical or jazz). Berklee College of Music, for example, offers a course titled “Guitar Composition Techniques for Performers/Composers” (here’s the link), which is part of a wider composition programme.

This gap is the reason for opening my only guitar composition academy, which focuses on artistry more than the techniques, for example, by showing how to be in tune with the guitar and transform emotions into music through it.

What’s the difference between guitar composition and improvisation?

Composition and improvisation are two approaches to creating music on the guitar. A common difference people think is that composition is planned and pre-written, and improvisation is created spontaneously at the moment.

But the lines can be blurry. For example, you can compose on the fly by playing and recording random notes on the guitar. Similarly, you can base your improvised music on musical ideas you have already practised and played in the past. Additionally, sometimes aimlessly improvising music on the guitar (known as “noodling”) can lead to structured compositions at any stage of the creative process.

One more approach is to enable moments of improvisation within a composition. This way, there is a general structure with flexible, non-definitive parts. Here’s an example for a guitar composition with improvised bits:

How to compose music on the guitar?

There are many ways to compose music on the guitar, from how to get inspiration to finding the right structure for your music. A simple way of looking at the creative process is to break it down into 3 steps.

1. Inspiration and ideation: getting inspired and creating a musical idea.
2. Development: expanding and enriching that musical idea.
3. Completion: adding related parts if needed and deciding on the final structure.

Of course, this is a general overview of the process of guitar composition, and each step includes multiple mini-steps.

How to start and get better as a guitar composer?

Like anything in life, to start and get better at guitar composition, you also need to:

1. Learn what to practise.
2. Practise what you learned.

Imagine guitar composition as a muscle you need to train and make it stronger. It can be difficult to compose something instantly as a beginner composer, but the more you hone your compositional skills, the better you’ll be able to compose on the spot!

Nothing should stop you from picking up the guitar right now and creating something new that you never played before. For more inspiration and guidance – check out these guitar composition lessons.

Isn’t it better to compose on a piano?

For many composers, the piano and keyboards are the main instruments for creating music. They have a wider range of octaves (7 plus a few keys), and you can play 10 notes at the same time. The guitar is more limited in that respect, about 3-4 octaves and mostly 6 notes at the same time. But the guitar has other advantages. Here are some of them:

1. If you’re a guitarist, you can compose straight away on your instrument.
2. The guitar has a few positions for the same pitch, giving it richer tone and colour options.
3. The open strings enable diverse and unique combinations of notes, for example Campanelle.
4. The guitar can be very expressive with, for example, string bends, slides, and other creative manipulations.

Is composing music hard?

Composing music can be an easy or hard task, depending on where you are in the creative process. Some guitarists have a lot of self-doubt, so it’s hard for them to begin. Others start but are overwhelmed with too many options to develop their ideas. There are also guitar players who find it easy to create and develop their ideas but struggle with finishing them.

Do you have any more questions? Comment below, and I’ll update this article with my answers!