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Music vocabulary · Melody, Form and Songwriting

Compose

Meaning in music, with examples

/kəmˈpoʊz/verbCore term

In music, compose means: To create an original piece of music, especially instrumental or classical music, film music or music written down in notation.

In Turkish: bestelemek, beste yapmak

How it is used

Formal and common in classical, film and media music: 'compose a symphony', 'compose music for a series'. The person is a composer and the piece is a composition. In pop, people more often say 'write a song'.

Example sentences

  1. He composed the music for three feature films and a documentary series.

  2. Composition students must compose a piece for string quartet in their second year.

Common collocations

  • compose music
  • compose a piece
  • compose for film
  • composed by
  • composer
  • arrangementA version of a piece that decides which instruments play which parts, how sections are ordered and how the song builds from start to finish.
  • melodyA sequence of single notes that forms a recognisable musical line, often the part that people remember and sing along to.
  • scoreWritten music that shows all the parts of a piece together, one above the other. It also means the original music written for a film, series or game.
  • lyricsThe words of a song. The person who writes them is a lyricist, and the words are protected by copyright just like the music.
  • music publishingThe business of managing songs as compositions: registering them, licensing them, collecting the royalties they earn and finding new uses for them, such as in films and adverts.

More terms: Melody, Form and Songwriting

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