My assignment in Music Theory II last week was to write a song.

Sounds easy, right? Wrong! I’ve written poetry and attempted writing song lyrics before, but I’ve never written a melody before in my life!

Luckily for me, music on this side of the world is predictable in its makeup, so I could create a simple melody using a simple chord template and general rules about shifting into different keys. Three hours of work later, I managed to produce my first music composition ever, titled “First Try.”

I handed it in to my professor and got it back two days later. I fixed the little mistakes I had using Finale, a score-writing program. It’s pretty cool, once you get used to the controls.

It was amazing replaying it on Finale. I’m not much of a pianist, so it was difficult trying to play my own piece on my keyboard. But to hear my own original piece played on a computer program…I felt highly accomplished. The long hours of work paid off!

I plan on working on a more complex melody with lyrics in my free time. Wish me luck!

My melody was partly inspired by this song. Enjoy, and see y’all next time!

Heather, Class of 2015
English and Music Education double-major