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by Tom on July 6th, 2009
There are a lot of tips. You should look at some books. Here are a few of the most important. (1)Write within the correct ranges. For vocal music, make sure all four parts can be sung comfortably by a SATB singer. For instrumental music, keep the parts within the practical ranges for each instrument. This would require an knowledge of each instrument you are writing for. (2)Try to have the "moving parts" vary between each of the four parts. Don't put all the movement in part one and then have the other 3 parts just playing chords. (3)Make sure each phrase resolves nicely to the beginning of the next phrase in all parts. The effect is lost if one part has a clever resolution and the other parts don't do anything interesting or important. (4)I like to use contrary motion as opposed to parallel motion. Have the contray motion move from part to part in each new measure. Likewise for parallel motion - don't keep it all in the same parts, move it around. (5)Learn to look at the music "vertically," more so than horizontally. Use interesting harmonic structures (chords) and proper resolutions from one chord to another. (6)Listen to other examples of the type of music you are writing. Analyze what you hear and learn from it.
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