Composer facts for kids

French composer Louis-Nicolas Clérambault composing at the keyboard

A composer is a person who writes music. They create new songs, symphonies, or other musical pieces. Composers are like storytellers, but they use sounds instead of words. They arrange notes, rhythms, and harmonies to express feelings or ideas.

Some composers write their music down on paper. This is called 'written notation'. Composers of classical music often work this way. People who write music for TV shows and movies also use written notation. This helps an orchestra or other musicians read and play the music exactly as the composer intended.

Some musicians are very good at improvisation. This means they make up music as they play it. It's like telling a story on the spot! Some church organists are skilled at improvising. They might play music during a church service to fill time, for example, while people are collecting money or taking communion. Jazz musicians are also excellent at improvising. Because improvisation is not written down, each time it is played, it sounds a little different.

How Composers Write Music

Composers use different methods to create their music. Many pop and rock or soul music writers do not always write music down using traditional notation. Instead, they often compose their songs by playing them on a guitar or piano. Famous composers like Cole Porter and Irving Berlin usually created their songs at the piano.

Working Together to Create Songs

Many songs are written by more than one person. It is quite common for two people to work together. Sometimes, one person writes the music, and another person writes the words, which are called the lyrics. Some songs, like many folk songs, were composed a long time ago. For these, no one knows who the original composer was!

Discover More About Music Composers

• Composition (music)
• Hans Zimmer
• John Williams
• James Newton Howard
• Danny Elfman
• Ennio Morricone
• Ramin Djawadi
• Alan Silvestri
• Howard Shore
• Adam Small
• Ludwig van Beethoven
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Johann Sebastian Bach
• Johannes Brahms
• Richard Wagner
• Claude Debussy
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• Frédéric Chopin
• Joseph Haydn
• Antonio Vivaldi

See also

In Spanish: Compositor para niños

Images for kids

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  Portrait of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov composing at his desk, by Valentin Serov, 1898

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  Nineteenth-century composer and pianist Clara Schumann