5 simple ideas that changed my music forever

If you have ideas and loops but struggle to arrange and organize them into a finished piece of music, here are 5 principles I learned while studying composition that continue to help me make music to this day.
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[@JamesonNathanJones]

For more examples of the things I talk about in this video, here's that free Composition eBook I mentioned➡bit.ly/FREEcompositionguide

[@sharpsbeats]

It didn't arrive in my inbox 😢

[@k.p.4301]

" hypothetical audience I didn't have" 😂. I love that

[@nookroid]

What a video. This translates to other art forms too.

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Thanks! Absolutely agree.

[@ForkySeven]

I'm a composer that struggles with insecurity all the time, even when people give me really positive feedback. Hearing that my process aligns 1:1 with yours really helps with that feeling of insecurity! Thank you!

[@KS-yb1wq]

This video was like a bolt of lightning. It took many years to be standing in the right place to hear and understand the 5 principals. It literally changed the direction of my approach and practice, today. You just never know. Thank you for making your experience available to anyone. I consider it gold.

[@Micah_086]

Trey Parker once said he doesn’t write in a predictable “this happens, therefore this happens, so now this happens” way-instead, he throws in twists like “this happens, BUT THEN that happens, so now, this happens.” Great video!

[@projectzentra4137]

@6:47 I don't know how to write this without sounding all whiney, but for a non music theory person, I wish you and other channels (usually of theorists) would just continue with the sound examples. Seriously just a few more minutes of this and I would understand, but it always turns into some type of reading with my eyes or talking explanation thing. Perhaps I'm in the smallest of minorities here, but if someone would just play the music as sound and identify what each concept is, I would be able to copy without studying a book. And I can't use regular music for this since these days there's so much music to sift through before finding something outside of this "vertical" music that it's just not worth it anymore. So that's the irony of my pickle, all the theorists have the good music, but they all speak in theorist. P.S. I like your stuff, glad you're back.

[@OneManDancing]

This is great man, thank you! I made a video about leaving worries and burnout aside to get lost in the music as a starting point. I see a lot of this applies to it as well!

[@adamrafferty]

G Minor Waltz - lovely theme!

[@lovv731]

great video. ive been really struggling with procrastinating and anxiety toward making music. this really reminded me that it is a process and good things take time... thanks!

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Glad it helped. We all have those days.

[@RandyKalish-s6f]

I have writers block at all times. But then I work through the old chord progressions trying variations and something new pops up every day. Every day. So my perception of myself as a musical identity sloughs off. I’m just a gold miner, I’m not the gold, creating music is uncomfortable but reporting my findings is as addictive as can be.

[@sajiste]

actually helpful, I gave up on "insight" video because all the word salad stuff thats on KZbin lately. I'm glad that I clicked.

[@dawid_dahl]

This video is outrageously important if one strives to become a musician. Hell, it is even important for other crafts as well, like writing, cooking, or programming. Thanks for distilling this for us! 🙏🏻

[@mitchellguido4463]

I've taken a break from composing for a while now, due to time constraints. Unfortunately, as time has passed it's made it harder to go back, as the task seems more and more daunting and I feel nothing I write now compares to my older material. However, this video has already given me some great ideas and made me return to previous short melodies or harmonies that I started and then dropped because I didn't think they were worthwhile. Thank you for the inspiration and the great composing advice!!! As always, keep up the amazing content 🎵

[@RealDavidN]

predictability vs inevitability. Amen. This shows up a lot in Tony Banks' Genesis compositions - he uses half-diminished chords to turn in unanticipated directions. And somehow never gets lost. I get the mechanics, I'd like to learn to stand above the process and guide it. I've been looking for a composition instructor (minored in music at an engineering school, almost 50 years ago) - what I'm going to do when I grow up.

[@Jeoisah777]

A helpful reminder. Thank you!

[@Turtlpwr]

Every video you open my eyes to another thing and I can’t thank you enough for all of this

[@eespecialeventsdj]

I can tell that you have immense for your instructor, Mr. Z. The algorithm brought me here and I have been blessed by your vid brother. Mr. Z. sounds like a wise man... A good teacher is hard to find!

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Thank you! And yes, Mr. Z is a legend :)

[@jscj2066]

What you’re sharing here is so valuable for anyone wanting to improve their craft, whether it’s writing music, artwork, writing books, etc. I love how you’ve incorporated your own music throughout this video. Mr. Z taught you well, and it’s great of you to pass it along. Thanks! 🎶

[@alessandroamati4579]

Very inspiring, thank you!

[@KCavan]

One trick I utilise is to keep chord progressions & even melody lines playing on a piano sound, until I'm happy with them. Then I assign the voices.

[@regrub.nitram]

You just have the best advice man so good. You transcend from music theory into art! These are the same things I came up after hours upon hours of listening and analyzing great artworks. The thing is that the way we judge the quality of music is subconscious and you phrase these so well!

[@AlanShoesmith]

Really enjoyed this video…these are ideas that I have intuitively been incorporating into my own compositions for many years. Nice to see them summarized into these 5 primary points !

[@AurumNoise]

This was a great video and exactly what i was needing.

[@prisonbread]

First time encountering your content - I found your advice valuable and concise, your speaking manner calm and coherent, and your novel opinion that Better Call Saul may be better than Breakinig Bad unexpected and accurate. Also G-Minor Waltz is lovely. I look forward to watching more of your videos, bravo!

[@Harmonic_shift]

Thank you for sharing!

[@nitefly-music]

Yes!! It is very difficult nowadays to not getting into the swamp of options and technology that allows us to do everything, but never focus and reduce to what we can and should do. A very well educated and trained oboe player will be part of the most intense symphonic orchester concert by just playing and mastering one instrument which can play only one note at a time. The available technology doesn't help. It's only confusing and disorienting. I love the channel!

[@matrazke]

Thanks!!!

[@electraccoon]

In 2016 I got FL Studio and for 4 years I was having fun. Looking back, for some reason I had the confidence and vision in what to do and how, though I now understand that was some basic bedroom ringtones. After those 4 years I started to get frustrated with quality of my compositions and overall sound. Then I've got in the rabidhole of tons of millions different things that i was doing wrong. Now It's 2025, and for these 5 years I've released 0 music, though speaking objectively the level of compositions and sound grew immensely. But I totally lost my mojo and confidence, now it's only fear and feeling of being lost. I still keepin it up trying to get out of this pit to become stronger, though this fight can continue forever honestly Thinking too much sucks I guess

[@Nordischsound]

just let them.comming bro and don't compare with others

[@AlegríadelMundoMusic]

Same :(

[@monosix_music]

I'm following your content, and from time to time, I have an increasing feeling of boredom with my arrangements and the tendency to keep with club-oriented electronic music. It's being more strong over the last year, because it looks like house and etc keeps you so stuck in beats and drums, bass and low end intricacies that there's little space to storytelling, melodies and harmonies. Maybe more people can relate to my feelings about it nowadays.

[@lucasgraeff5391]

I guess club oriented electronic music is more oriented towards energy control and thats more intuitive

[@minimal3734]

This genre has a tendency to end up in the generic zone. The idea of “less is more” is one possible solution. Less material, but less generic and individually of higher quality. This opens up space for subtlety and variation. You can achieve a lot with very little if you create the space for it. The silence is just as important as the sounds. Mike Parker might be a good reference.

[@RandyKalish-s6f]

A club is used to beat an opponent into submission.

[@Varonno]

@@minimal3734It hasn’t changed since the drum circle. The thump and the primal (heart) beat. Even chants repeated are ingrained in our DNA. Like Hans Zimmer movie scores. Pick an oscillator (whether it’s noise collage to a symphony instrument) to putting a personal stamp on it. You’re either copping a style or you’re balancing somewhere between the fringes and your sound which means you can evoke emotions. Techno electronic is rooted in pulses and the math of pairs and quarter notes.

[@vooveks]

There's actually loads of space for all those things, it's just a different sound to those minimal techno club bangers, but you can still use those eIements. I find my problem is I'm always trying to get that low-end sound, instead of just concentrating on the stuff you're talking about - the music and ideas.

[@this.is.shashwat]

This came at the right time when I needed this advice. Thank you so much!

[@Varonno]

No more recreations. Time to go your own way. The universe put me here to tell you

[@BRIGGS2710]

The more you do something, the better you get at it.

[@crosstalkclub]

Beautiful video, fantastic tips, and wonderful advice.

[@cl1xor]

Really useful, I transitioned from techno to more ambient/drone music and am integrating more and more harmonic progression. Not necessarily with chords but evaluation of sounds. So this really helps!

[@andycordy5190]

Thank you. I particularly liked the idea of inevitable over predictable. I'm seeing a different angle on the use of lyrics in my songs even though I value them as the most important part of what I write and the reason I write. Since the advent of hip hop and the percussive delivery of lyrics siding with rhythm, melody is often sideline by a rap in the way that a drum fill might displace a vocal. I think about word setting more freely than I used to do, knowing that my melodic inventions don't HAVE TO carry the lyrics.

[@davidbachy5627]

Very well organized and articulated! Thank you for sharing!

[@josephcopeland6172]

Thank you my friend. This is a game changer for me, through your honesty and straightforward delivery. I have the utmost respect for all of my predecessors, both old and modern, concerning musical compositions that leave one both speechless and moved. Music is the very essence of of expression of all things beautiful. I am both motivated and humbled. God bless you and yours.

[@lackofaffektmusic]

Very helpful wisdom and advice, i need to internalise a lot of this. I want my house/techno to come with a good harmony, melody, and story.

[@SaadFuture]

This is a fantastic video man , keep up the good work. Subbed 🫡

[@ilyandilymusic]

Well described and poignant. Thank you for sharing this brother!

[@future62]

Great video as always. I want to throw out an idea that has been working for me. A lot of my favorite jazz composers seem to build random harmonies. But what I think they do is start with a strong melody, then build a non-diatonic harmony around it. That melodic anchor allows them to have a fixed key signature through nutty chord changes. If anyone is in a rut with interesting chords, start with a good melody and try non diatonic chords that work under it. Like if a melody note is an E and the chord is C major, pretty much any chord with E can work if you voice lead right. Try it

[@derlio2086]

Predictability can sometimes turn you totally away from a song like nothing else. Thank you very much, great insights and I really liked how presented them! -Mainly just a listener

[@CausticCatastrophe]

inspiring stuff man. grounding and important to hear now and again.

[@cloud9savagehenry]

Thank you for the video. So much to say. I've been blessed with a naturally good ear. So i transpose guotar chprds to keyboard or... naturally play lap slide with little effort. You said you're an over thinker. Generally I'm an under thinker. I do put it to papet now and then. I'm definitely diverse. Rock. Ska. Punk. Electronic. 2001 space oddyssey style. It all comea right out of my brain. I appreciate your advice. And will try to put some of the ideas to use. Very few people notice my music. I'm grateful for those that do.

[@andreasmaron1489]

Danke!

[@theorize999]

instant sub, I’ve really been finding myself musically, I’ve been kind of learning a lot of this on my own but I really wish I had this video 15 years ago because I floundered a lot, but recently I kind of figured out to apply what I’ve learned but get that fresh creativity back… all the technical stuff tended to kill it for me but I somehow got the creativity back, and it’s like rediscovering lost knowledge, it’s so weird. Great video, thanks!

[@bananarider69]

4:20 that was beautiful, more Moog Muse! Appreciate the knowledge

[@dougsmith6793]

Very well done.

[@LiamVonOahu604]

Beautiful.

[@Noch-Ili-1337]

Superb video, top notch production. Thank you.

[@johnneiberger]

It's funny that this came up today because I always deal with this and was just dealing with it last night. I almost never complete a song because I have ideas, but I don't know how to develop them and complete the project.

[@DaveDickens]

Thank you, really helpful. Cheers Dave

[@mihinimcjohnson]

Great video! Some good reminders in here.... Thank you!

[@Pizzapinedale]

Thanks for taking the time to make this video, I appreciate perspectives on composition.

[@marcvandoornik]

Yet again you manage to cram a treasure trove of insights and inspiration into less than twenty minutes. Mad props, thank you so much for this!

[@MotoMarios]

I have experienced #2 myself in a very positive way. I play bass in general and I write music by writing a bass line first, wanting to express a mood or a feeling and the changes in it. I don't think in terms of chords. Just the line, the story. Then after I have expreimented with bass note "story" I try to come up with interesting melodies on top of it. And the results are quite refreshing compared to the "chords-based" compositions that we find everywhere today.

[@elevate000]

The greatest art does not come from ideas. It comes from spontaneous insight and genuine expression of the soul.

[@Byron101_]

most prople are not creative. The need presets and readymade loops and chord packs....

[@love-z6c]

@@Byron101_I tink prople are crate 😊

[@ctruett5]

That sure sounds good and makes you appear insightful, but it’s incorrect. All art starts with an idea.

[@Kevinschart]

You can't express your soul without spending plenty of time locking in the fundamentals of your technique. Great art is not random, it is the culmination of preparation and mastery of craft. Michaelangelo didn't randomly throw globs of paint on the ceiling. No, he had a plan and executed that plan after mastering his craft.

[@maarzt]

i love this. and the music you play i feel.

[@frozenmist8873]

What's the song at 12:48? It sounds really good and I'd love to know what it is. Thanks for the video.

[@vvolfflovv]

beautiful melody. i've always struggled but it's AI that helped me get my feet wet and pushed me to take it to the next level to have more control over my vision.

[@michaelegan3522]

Don't use AI, unless you're fine being a fraud

[@vvolfflovv]

@@michaelegan3522 don't use others samples or borrow inspiration from others either then. smh

[@cornersynth]

Amazing Video. Thank you🙏

[@fearitselfpinball8912]

Great advice. Thank you.

[@markmurphy5486]

Really enjoyed this, thanks 🙏

[@ertanin]

I have a folder called "concepts", it is full of 40 sec to 2 minutes ideas/melodies that I have been stuck on. So yeah, I am one of those who need this 😄

[@eagletown8977]

Same. 8-16 bars long “projects” that never went anywhere. 😫

[@1macirone]

great video, thank you for consistent, amazing content!

[@thebreathalyzer]

A really great old school electronic musician talked about a good piece having a beginning, middle, and end. Kind of agrees with what you said about structure.

[@MrBTBusch]

I digg Your approach on, Well most things I saw & heard on this video, Subb'd. Good Stuff, Thanks.

[@slimyelow]

Why are there not more channels like this one.

[@SomeoneUnimportant-j3o]

Great video and got me to do some self-reflection on my current journey back into the fray after not composing for 20 years. Thank you :)

[@wibblewabblewoo6249]

I’m lucky enough to have be taught harmony and counterpoint by Nick O Neil, orchestration by Steven Montague, arrangement by Paul Bartholemew, composition by Alwynne Pritchard. All amazing lecturers… All very different people, with different approaches and opposite opinions, I think I’d suggest the one thing they all taught me, that ties in with what you’re saying, is to work INTO your material. Not to invent new ideas, but to develop new ideas FROM the small fragments you have. It’s amazing that most Bach or Beethoven can be condensed into a tiny fragment of an idea.

[@marcovolpino6377]

Amazing Vid!!!

[@johnnyroadcrew3841]

Nice one, enjoyed the vlog.

[@georgsimon1102]

I say, THE BEST TEACHER for composing and improvisation is J.S.Bach, e.g. when playing his fuges on piano slowly AND freely improvising along all the harmonic steps, playfully sussing out possibilities of the implied scales per each harmonic step Bach takes, i.e. selectively leaving out some of Bach's written notes and instead playing other notes (incl. spontaneously rhythmically added microsteps) that you feel fit in as well... I.e. Bach's fuges in "the well tempered piano" and in the "art of the fuge" As Mozart put it (+I'm paraphrasing +expanding it): Composing and improvising is about hearing and feeling which notes (or rather interval relationships) love each other, or desire to dance or communicate with each other... In the music since Bach there is relatively little harmonic new territory that hasn't already been explored by Bach in some way... Greetings from "Vienna" 🙂

[@b3astmedia173]

enjoyed the movie and tv show analogy. predictability vs inevitability. the stars impel; they don't compel.

[@indiefilmcomposer]

Great video and content, I really enjoy sound design , ambient environments, textures, working on scoring templates to make them better workflow but time passed and really got lost in all of this, working on presets, have to get back to focused music , work on those skills, as you mentioned create a basic statement and expand from there , thx !

[@ethnomusicgeek]

Thank you! Exactly what I am struggling with as a new composer and music student.

[@stenlyspa1325]

thanks!!!

[@StefanSchoch]

Great suggestion to be 'invetable'. I have no idea, what that means, but anyways, it sounds even more compelling than to be just inevitable! 😉

[@GizzyDillespee]

I want playlisters to vet my music. And if it's like "inflammable", then that means I should make invetable music. Of course, it's inevitable that I'll be inveterable, so don't mind me...🤣

[@russ254]

I think he meant, “be invertebrate.” Flexibility is paramount.

[@samprock]

I think it was interstellarable. Fly far away from what you heard million times and be your own star ⭐️

[@RandyKalish-s6f]

Judging from the comments inevitable looks like a worthy challenge to wrap the mind around.

[@oldensad5541]

YES! Form is one of the most important steps. After i learn about sentence and period everything clicked. Not only it helped me to make a cohesive composition, it's also did so much more: It helped me to find chord progression and changes, coz if you know what type of "stroy" you telling, you know how you begin (from root or not) and how you should end different sections (what type of cadence, or skip cadence and merge two parts as one big unit) It helped me to use more consinent\dissonant contrast ideas more intentionally. Again i know what type of composition i working on and where it should be loud and big, where it should be tame and where it should suprise, so using dissonance and consonance at the right time help with it tremendously It helped me to learn modes. Same situation - i know what i want, and where i want. I can use major, minor and their contrast but why stop there? If i have particularly nostalgic mixed-feeling section i can use minor sure, but why not use dorian there? Romantic? Mixolidian maybe or even phrygian depends on the mood. Without such division and structure forms gave me i'd never even touch modes. And ofcourse it allowed me to work faster and that sense it helped me to try more, coz if you work slowly you can just give up at some point. And try more means learn faster, being more confident, and being adventures. Form is a god.

[@ghfjfghjasdfasdf]

You’re a great teacher.

[@user-ff1ez5sy5h]

8:33 that part. but hardly the only part 👏

[@Soundpaintmusic]

Gorgeous playing!

[@jpiekkala]

Thank you for this helpful and well-formulated secrets of the trade. Thanks also for the included snippets from your best musical examples.

[@samprock]

Very cool! I have a request possibly. I’m iPhone musician and analogue synthhead, though trying to learn ….. wait for it …. Piano 😊 I’ll get hammer keys with good piano/grand sound in board, no VST. It would be cool if you make piano GUTS. Simple one hand (memorable) melody, playing two hands basics, hand position, what those Gas and Breaks pedal do….. with less is more , as you know we average bedroom musicians can make 59 tracks Daw project and cannot play Blu Danube 😂 but I like too Your waltz is great! Just great and catchy I like it ❤ and could see GUTS training with it: right hand, left playing chord, two hands in sync, left arping. Just an idea. Thanks!

[@slimyelow]

John Williams said he works on main title themes over and over until a point where every note is inevitable, meaning the notes are set in stone, where they have always lived, since the beginning of time so to speak.And his music sounds just like that.

[@Chrispy01a]

This so true. The composition bit (IE coming up with the idea) is quite often fun and listening back to the initial arrangement can be very satisfying. However the hard work of arranging, recording and mastering the finished piece can be quite torturous. I've often repeatedly listened to one of my productions to the point all pleasure is lost. This is the real sacrifice you make as an artist putting your wares out there for others (hopefully) to enjoy.

[@nicoincertezza5763]

awesome video. thank you very very much!

[@synthplayer1563]

Great video with "what to do". But one problem remains: "How do you achieve this?"

[@meteorheartofficial]

Nuggets of wisdom. Great video.

[@kierenmoore3236]

8:08 … * inevitable …

[@michaelkonomos]

Video idea: Transitions! This came up for me today. I had an A part. I created a B part that had a harmonic relationship with the first, but a different melody (thanks to your previous videos). It's a miracle! Two parts that I like. Whew. Finally. That doesn't happen often. Okay, now when I press play, B slammed up right after A really sounds awful. Just leave a bit of a gap? Not this time. Sounds bad too. Hmm. Bring in another instrument or part to help with the transition? Maybe? But what? I'm sure I'll get unstuck here, but figuring out how to tie these together, different methods for doing that from harmonic, melodic, percussive, textural, or other transitions is something having some methods for would be pretty sweet!

[@edeltobi]

wow the gmin waltz is a beautiful piece

[@freddiesamples]

You have very good teaching skills.

[@indigosnow_]

neat 😊

[@Emma4dfuture]

Thanks for this insightful masterclass. That piece that played while you talked about having a story, is it available to listen? It's really beautiful.

[@Banquet...]

Thank you, this is so useful

[@frankwalders]

Thanks, again!

[@lfarrolas]

Thanks a lot for the video. Really interesting and useful.

[@mrmalonemusic]

SOLID, Grateful

[@slimyelow]

10:02 I adore that kinda shit and do a lot of it myself.

[@CarloDiStanislao]

what kind of chords are those?

[@cykkm]

Huh, I must be dense today. I spent 10 minutes trying to locate ‘INVITABLE’, from the title of part 3, in the dictionaries (no, it's not a word, but sounds damn too much like one!) before realising what I was doing. Also, "don't judge a book and eat it, too" is my favourite pseudo-cliché now. Great video, truly inspiring! The same idea runs through many of Nathan's videos: break boundaries, but make sure to set them first. I'm inventing exercises for myself, like, for example, write a good-sounding variation of the "Itsy bitsy spider" melody, and harmonise it entirely in the Phrygian mode. Oh yeah, that's spider stuff turns out really dark! Behold the power of boundaries, what else can I say!

[@JamesonNathanJones]

Damn it. The guy responsible for editing all my videos is going to get an earful... oh wait a second....

[@DEADLINETV]

Great video and love the insights.