March 21, 2024

About the Author: Bahaa

Bahaa is our esteemed piano instructor at S&C Music, dedicated to guiding his students towards achieving their highest musical potential. Bahaa is also a composer with numerous of his own piano works.

When you listen to music that has a high feeling and affects you deep down. You must be wondering about the name of the composer of this music and also wondering how he could create such music.

Therefore, I will provide you with a sufficient explanation of music composition on the piano, what inspiration is, and how we can employ it in creating music and piano pieces.

Hand writing on music sheet

Musical composition is the transfer and transformation of impressions, feelings, ideas, and philosophy hidden in the depths of the human self into musical melodies and compositions to be recorded within the musical alphabet until they become a melody and harmonious melodies that come to our ears from any musical instrument that plays this melody, this piece, or this work.

The majority of the great musical works had a deep philosophy and were built on solid and strong musical foundations and rules, as well as the piano pieces, the most important of which told us a story of deep philosophy and feeling.

Therefore, inspiring music inevitably depends primarily on philosophy and linking ideas in a rational, creative, palatable and understandable way with simplicity and sweetness.

Therefore, we will remember the saying of the great piano philosopher and composer Frédéric Chopin, who enriched humanity with the deepest, most poetic and romantic piano pieces when he said: “Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.”

Therefore, simplicity is the highest and ultimate level, as the great painter Leonardo da Vinci also said. Therefore, we can liken musical composition to being like a three-legged chair. The first leg is philosophy and simplicity, the second leg is talent, and the third leg is hard work.

Yanni and Vangelis

If you are a fan of the piano and want to compose musical pieces on it, you must understand what the piano basically is and how the harmony between its different tones occurs. If you are an amateur and do not prefer the academic study of music composition, that is, you want to compose music yourself, I advise you to listen to the music of musician Yanni and musician Vangelis, who are of Greek origin.

These two musicians were able to compose music and achieve international fame without studying academic music. Yes. They were self-taught, but of course they possessed a unique genius that enabled them to achieve all this glory and fame.

Therefore, if you are a music enthusiast and want to compose musical pieces on the piano, listen constantly to all styles and types of music. Enrich your ear by listening to the most wonderful and important world music, whether it is classical, jazz, blues, rock, or new age music.

Be very familiar with the music of the world and the eras, and certainly learn first the musical maqams, which are 15 musical maqams, then learn the musical dimensions, i.e. the intervals, what is the smaller ghamma, the greater ghamma, and the diminished and augmented.

These studies are simple and you can master them because they are the basics of music, and then learn to play both. The hands, for example, are trying to play the melody of a song you like with both hands on the piano. This is called auditory playing, which depends largely on the musical ear.

Then try to find the appropriate maqam on the piano for this melody and how the maqams change according to the change in the melody. This is of course the task of the left hand to set the correct harmony of the melody being played. It is played with the right hand. Thus, your long journey with piano playing and music composition has begun.

However, if you want to learn music composition and piano playing academically, you will certainly resort to a music teacher or join one of the academies and music institutes, and this is definitely a good and rational option.

But to be honest with you, remember, no matter how much you learn academically in music, if you do not have those three legs that I talked about previously, which are: first, philosophy and simplicity. Secondly, talent. Third, work hard, and you will most likely not be able to continue in the field of writing or music in general.

You can perform simple pieces on the piano, and this is natural and beautiful, but to be one of the true original musicians is very rare and requires excellence, great intelligence, and high-level creativity.

George MacDonald and Beethoven

Conclusion

This is my personal experience, knowing that I am a self-taught pianist and composer. It is true that I hold a diploma in piano from the Conservatory, but I began this academic study at a late age, as at that time I had many piano pieces of my own music that were well evaluated by musical experts. It was also performed by distinguished pianists and academics.

Today, I work as a piano teacher in one of the most important music institutes, and I feel very happy when I convey my musical experience to my students in all transparency, simplicity, and clarity.

When I remember Beethoven‘s great saying in which he said that nature is the true teacher and the only inspiration for the masters of art, I feel reassured and comfortable because I used to apply this saying in every step of my life.

I feel proud because I am a human being who created myself and my constant motto was honesty, spontaneity and nature. My philosophy in life is to not… Nothing is worth suffering but the goal and ambition for which I will do my best.

Always remember what George MacDonald said:

“Half of people’s misery comes from trying to show what they don’t have”

Therefore, be extremely honest with yourself first so that you can give and give to everyone around you everything that is valuable, valuable, and meaningful, whether it is in music or any other field. So that you can succeed in its true sense.

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