Tips on writing classical music?

To compose classical music, it is not just about notes and scales. You have to think of the wider aesthetics of classical composition whether it is for a small ensemble, or orchestra. Great/successful classical composers know the instruments they are composing for inside out - including every technique that is possible to play, and in which register they should naturally be in. You will need to know about musical form, styles and texture. I highly recommend the book 'the study of orchestration' by Samuel Alder - it will tell you everything you need to know about composing from A to Z.

Although when it comes to scales, I like chromatic/ whole tone scales which is especially associated with serialism. I suggest listening to some Bela Bartok, he really rocks!

Classical Music For Writing

You need to know what classical music is all about before you just start writing classical music. Like anything else, you can't do something if you don't know how to do it or what it's about.

Classical music is usually referred to as music from a period of a long time ago, but by definition there are several requirements. Here are just some of the requirements of classical music.

1. Needs to have some experienced with fast past notes or slow past notes.

2. Must have specific patterns that can't be sung along with.

3. Must be able to be appealing to the ear.

4. Must be written for at least one instrument.

5. Must sound like a language; more than any other type of music.

Considering all of these things, in your classical music composition, make sure your composition follows the basic structure of classical music and sounds classy, has character, and sounds appealing. Start off on your instrument with a melody, and if you play piano, add harmonics later. Make sure you use different patterns in your compositions, which is the definition of classical music and what classical music must have. Make sure it flows and is appealing to the ear as well, not just a bunch of random notes.

With all of this information, good luck composing classical music.

Best regards.

You're are the very start of investigating composing, it seems.

I wouldn't worry much about what genre you're writing: by the nature of your question, it seems you don't yet have the fundamental box of materials you'll need for any kind of writing. I advise getting to those tools first, and doing a little writing using each new learned material.

"Neoclassical" in its first, only and original meaning, is specifically a music modeled after baroque and classical forms, sometimes harmonic procedures, while using a modern harmonic language. It has nothing to do with any kind of pop music, no matter how Inappropriate or cool-sounding the borrowed name is as a sub-genre in pop music.

Scales make the basic materials for harmony. There are major, minor - in its three forms - natural, harmonic and melodic, and a handful of modes, for starters

Ionian (= major)

Dorian

Phrygian

Lydian

Mixolydian

Aeolian (= natural minor)

Locrian

These are but elements of classical music, where really, it is a matter of 'weaving a fabric' of intervals, several melodious lines (not necessarily a melody or tune) all together to make a whole.

Scales, melodies, tunes and a few chords and not much else is more the basis of folk, ergo pop, music, and you'll find lots of music in those genres complying to that usage. That is exactly the bag of tricks from which the pop neoclassical and progressive rock / metal pulls their materials from. (That is also why, to classical fans, all that music is still clearly 'pop' music since it stays with those basics, no matter how 'busy' or 'complex' it gets.)

You should go to some reliable on-line source (or maybe even a hard-bound book!?) for all the basics of harmony. You might want to learn more after that about counterpoint, both the tonal sort (18th century, like Bach) and the modal sort (16th- 17th century).

Generic chord progressions are the basis for so much standard pop music. They are not bad to work with but I have a fundamental objection to learning in or teaching in 'chords' - as being not the best way to learn, nor as making a good thought base for inventing good music. Classical, and really interesting music in other genres, is not first and foremost about a melody, recognizable or 'hummable' theme, a few chords and a bass line.

Then, too, just writing more, with the little you have, will tell you something about music and raise more specific questions, but one way or the other to get serious, you will need to investigate harmony, etc. in a class or on your own.

So that, and maybe not a progression of chords someone else gave you, should be the next few steps.

Best regards.

If you want to write in a particular style you need to study scores and recordings that are in that style.

There's lots of classical music that uses lots of different scales and chord progressions.

There are no shortcuts or gimmicks that will make your music authentically sound like classical music.

FYI Yngwie Malmsteen is a metal artist who sometimes plays classical music. When you take something like Beethoven's 5th and only play the opening motif and then add in standard metal riffs you're just quoting or alluding to classical.

If you want to write classical music, then you must study classical music. You must analyze it to the nth degree. One great way of learning more about a piece is to copy the score by hand.

Bach and Vivaldi were both from the Baroque period. If you like their style, study Baroque music.

There is nothing remotely classical about Yngwie or CoB's music. They just like being pretentious while ignorant people think they are creating some sort of newer styled classical music. Far from it.

My tip would be "find out what classical music is." If you think Malmsteen's incidental references to classical themes constitutes classical music, then you need to broaden your horizons.