You can teach yourself to compose music（自己学习音乐创作）

　　对于更多没有从事过音乐创作的朋友来说，作曲或写歌肯定是件非常神秘的事情，这本小册子从音乐创作牵扯的各个方面做了一些并不复杂的阐述，通过阅读本书的内容或者你就可以去除很多关于音乐创作的神秘感或者可以自己去尝试写作属于自己的音乐。
　　正如书中所说，音乐其实是一种语言，你要写作之前，必须先要去学习它的各种要素，一旦你掌握了表达或构成音乐的一些基本要素，就如你掌握了一门语言的一些单词、语法和简单的句子一样，这时候你就可以尝试去写作属于自己的文章，当然，是否能够写出好的音乐，却往往是要一定的素材积累和对于生活对于情感的一些异于常人的特殊体验及表达需要。
　　内容目录索引(You can teach yourself to compose music)：
PREFACE 5
ABOUT THE AUTHORS 6
Part I
WHERE DO I START? 7
THE BASICS YOU SHOULD KNOW TO WRITE A SONG 7
A song's component parts; Notation; Kinds of notes; Time signatures
DIVIDING YOUR SONG INTO MEASURES 8
IDEA PEOPLE, SONGWRITERS, AND COMPOSERS 8
DEVELOPING YOUR INNER EAR 9
INTERVALS 10
DEFINING THE SCALE 11
"HEARING" A MELODY IN YOUR HEAD 11
Part II
IS THERE ONLY ONE METHOD BY WHICH WE CAN COMPOSE? 13
COMPOSING BY SIGHT 13
STEPS, SKIPS, AND LEAPS IN MELODY WRITING 14
WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN 15
A GOOD PATTERN IS WORTH REPEATING 16
SEQUENCE: IT'S MUCH LIKE A PATTERN BUT HAS A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TWIST 17
WHAT BEGINS MUST END 17
THE NEED FOR A CADENCE WITHIN A SONG 18
Part III
RHYTHM: WHERE COMPOSING MUSIC REALLY COUNTS 21
Determining the pulse of the song; The transfer from pulse to note
AT LEAST ONE MILLION MELODIES WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED 24
Telephone hook number method
Part IV
WRITING THE LYRICS TO A SONG 27
Re-writing the lyrics to an old standard; Finding the syllable pattern; Making the lyric make sense
ARE WE CERTAIN WE UNDERSTAND RHYME? 28
WHAT ABOUT USING FREE VERSE IN LYRICS? 29
ONE OTHER THING: ACCENTED BEAT 29
THE LYRIC AS A TOOL FOR NOTE PLACEMENT 30
COMPOSING BY LYRIC 31
ENLARGING THE SCOPE OF LYRIC WRITING 32
COMPOSING BY USE OF A COUNTERMELODY OR PARTNER SONG 33
How countermelodies and partner songs differ; Why are they used?; How are they written?
COMPOSING BY FOLLOWING A SET PATTERN OF CHORDS AND NOTE VALUES 34
COMPOSING WITH A THEME IN MIND 42
THE BLUES: THE LOOSEST FORM OF LYRIC AND MELODY 46
The form always used; Lyric content
COMPOSING A FUGUE 46
Its basic form
Part V
WRITING THE ACCOMPANIMENT: INTRODUCING THE MODELS
What constitutes a good accompaniment?; Accompaniment and chord structure; Use of passing tones; The added factor of nuance
MODELS: FITTING YOUR SONG IN A FORM SIMPLE ORCHESTRATION: ITS COMPONENT PARTS
TRANSPOSITION: WHAT IS IT?
Common instruments tramposesd; How timbre influences naff position; Vertical and horizontal styles
STARTING TO ARRANGE
COMPOSING AND ARRANGING WTTH THE VOICE (OR VOICES) IN MIND Use of an oldstandardfor S.A. T.B. arrangement; Problems and how to handle them; Working the accompaniment with the voices; Looking ahead for voice leading; Switching the melody around to various parts
SOME GENERAL HINTS FOR VOCAL ARRANGING Voicing conventional harmonies; Voicing dissonant harmonies
APPENDIX A: MUSICALITY TEST
APPENDIX B: CHORDS/SIGNATURES
APPENDIX C: CHORD CHART
APPENDIX D: TIME SIGNATURES
APPENDIX E: MASTER ARRANGING SCORE
APPENDIX F: ANOTHER ACCENT PROBLEM
APPENDIX G: ANSWERS TO MUSICALITY TEST