Anyone can compose music!

Composing Dice? How do I use these? Why are there notes missing?

These are the most common questions I get at conferences where I have my music dice for sale. I wish I could easily and quickly convey how cool these dice are and they are the very reason I started making music dice in the first place.

Composing Pentatonic Dice do not have every note in a scale because there are only SIX SIDES! I commonly get the question why I can’t have every note, but please remember, my friends, there are 7 notes in a scale – 8 if you put the tonic on both ends. The solution is to make it a pentatonic scale (pent=5, 5 notes, plus the tonic at the end.) The notes are these dice are scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 1 (omitting scale degree 4 and 7). There are four different dice available.

1.  A Major in treble clef – perfect for violinists (A, B, C#, E, F#, A) 
2. C Major in treble clef – perfect for pianists and general music (C, D, E, G, A, B) 
3. C Major in bass clef – perfect for pianists and general music (C, D, E, G, A, B) 
4. G Major in bass clef – great for cellists (G, A, B, D, E, G) 
5. Here is a set of 1 of each dice.

Now, let me tell you why I decided to make pentatonic scale dice and why they are so great for composing. Often Jazz music, hymns, and folk tunes are composed using the major pentatonic scale. It is the best scale for improvising and composing simple tunes. The more I know about this amazing pentatonic scale the more songs I realize use this very scale and notes in their melody. Think of the following pieces:

My girl (opening introduction), 

Oh Suzanna, 

Amazing Grace 

The notes in a major pentatonic scale give a nursery rhyme-like quality and are easily remembered. It has a pleasant sound that works great with many chords. It’s easy to compose a pentatonic melody because you don’t have to worry about what to do with the leading tone or the tricky 4th note of a major scale.

Here is what I do with my students to help them start composing:

1. Start with four measures of music. Use staff paper or whiteboards, I personally like using a paper cut into 4ths and using each piece as a measure and then connecting them at the end. 
2. Add a clef (treble or bass, depending on which dice you are using) and a 4/4 time signature. You could use ¾ or 2/4 as well, but let’s just make it easy and use 4/4 this time. 
3. Before you start rolling let’s end the melody on the tonic, so write a half-note tonic note at the end of the piece – a C if you are using the C scale dice, and A if you are using the A scale dice, etc. 
4. Now, let’s add a dominant half-note at the end of the second measure. The dominant is the 5th note of the scale, so for the C scale it would be G, for the A scale it would be E. 
5. It’s time to start rolling and fill in the measures with quarter notes with the notes your roll on the dice. 

When your measures are filled up, voila! You have a simple melody. ANYONE can do this – your most beginner student, your smarty-pants high school student, ANYONE!

Take it to the next step:

1. Now, let’s add another 4 measures to your piece. In measures 5 and 6 copy what you wrote in measures 1 and 2. 
2. Add a tonic half note at the end of measure 8. 
3. Fill in measures 7 and 8 with quarter notes rolled with the dice. 

Voila! You have a phrase.

And now…

1. Here is where you can fancy things up a bit with passing tones and neighbor tones. 
2. Are any of the notes next to each other? Make the first one a barred 8th note with the note above it and create a neighbor tone. 
3. Are there any notes next to each other that skip a note? Make the first note a barred 8th note and pass the tone to the other note. 
4. There are lots of ways you can doctor your melody by adding rhythm, dynamics, articulations, etc. See what you can come up with. 

If you want to try something fun with your students – see if what happens when you compose a “duet” to a common melody. For example, Jingle Bells. Do the same steps as above, but make sure you are following the same rhythmic pattern as Jingle Bells. When you play Jingle Bells in the key you are composing you have just made a simple duet to your common piece.

Here are several downloads that you can use when composing your own melody or teaching your students how to compose:

Basic Composition 1 - 4 measures
A Major (treble)
C Major (treble)
C Major (bass)
G Major (bass)

Basic Composition 2 - 8 measures
C Major (treble)
A Major (treble)
C Major (bass)
G Major (bass)