Composing Music

See also: Making a Note Block Project

Music may need to be composed for a project. This is where this tutorial comes in handy.

Note:

This tutorial requires experience in the basics of music and its notation.

Basics

Notation

The play note () for () beats block can sometimes be tricky to get used to since the notes and rhythms are notated with numbers, unlike sheet music. These diagrams may help:

Notes

The note names are written on the keys. Notes written in the two most common clefs (treble clef and bass clef) are connected to the piano. All notes can be written in an infinite number of ways. The most common enharmonic notes are included. A line going from a long red box means the notes go to the same key on the piano. Even though the drop-down keyboard on each block shows only one octave of notes, a number can be put in manually to get any note. To change octaves, simply add or subtract 12, or click on the arrows at the top of the keyboard.

There are 131 notes on Scratch's keyboard, numbered from 0 (C_-1, about 8.18 Hz) to 130 (B♭₉, about 14917.24 Hz). Each note is 1 number larger than the previous, and the ratio of frequency is always ${\sqrt[{12}]{2}}$ (approximately 1.06), with A₄ being exactly 440 Hz.

Note	Note number	Frequency
C3	48	131 Hz
C♯3/D♭3	49	139 Hz
D3	50	147 Hz
D♯3/E♭3	51	156 Hz
E3	52	165 Hz
F3	53	175 Hz
F♯3/G♭3	54	185 Hz
G3	55	196 Hz
G♯3/A♭3	56	208 Hz
A3	57	220 Hz
A♯3/B♭3	58	233 Hz
B3	59	247 Hz
C4 (middle C)	60	262 Hz
C♯4/D♭4	61	277 Hz
D4	62	294 Hz
D♯4/E♭4	63	311 Hz
E4	64	330 Hz
F4	65	349 Hz
F♯4/G♭4	66	370 Hz
G4	67	392 Hz
G♯4/A♭4	68	415 Hz
A4	69	440 Hz
A♯4/B♭4	70	466 Hz
B4	71	494 Hz
C5	72	523 Hz

Beats

This table shows the beat number values for the most common rhythms in the most common time signatures, interpreted in the most basic way.

or	4	3	2	1.5	1	⅔	0.75	0.5	⅓	0.375	0.25
	8	6	4	3	2	1⅓	1.5	1	⅔	0.75	0.5
or	2	1.5	1	0.75	0.5	⅓	0.375	0.25	⅙	0.1875	0.125

Tempo

Tempo is how fast the notes are played. If the tempo is 60 beats per minute and the time signature is 4/4, there is one quarter note every second, or 60 per minute. Likewise, if the tempo is 120 beats per minute, and the time signature is 4/4, there are 2 quarter notes in a second.

Scales

There are many scales in music. The main ones are the chromatic (all of the 12 notes), major, and minor (natural/harmonic/melodic).

Major

Key	Notes
C	C	D	E	F	G	A	B	C
C♯/D♭	C♯/D♭	D♯/E♭	F	F♯/G♭	G♯/A♭	A♯/B♭	C	C♯/D♭
D	D	E	F♯/G♭	G	A	B	C♯/D♭	D
D♯/E♭	D♯/E♭	F	G	G♯/A♭	A♯/B♭	C	D	D♯/E♭
E	E	F♯/G♭	G♯/A♭	A	B	C♯/D♭	D♯/E♭	E
F	F	G	A	A♯/B♭	C	D	E	F
F♯/G♭	F♯/G♭	G♯/A♭	A♯/B♭	B	C♯/D♭	D♯/E♭	F	F♯/G♭
G	G	A	B	C	D	E	F♯/G♭	G
G♯/A♭	G♯/A♭	A♯/B♭	C	C♯/D♭	D♯/E♭	F	G	G♯/A♭
A	A	B	C♯/D♭	D	E	F♯/G♭	G♯/A♭	A
A♯/B♭	A♯/B♭	C	D	D♯/E♭	F	G	A	A♯/B♭
B	B	C♯/D♭	D♯/E♭	E	F♯/G♭	G♯/A♭	A♯/B♭	B

Minor (natural)

Key	Notes
C	C	D	E♭	F	G	A♭	B♭	C
C♯/D♭	C♯/D♭	D♯/E♭	E/F♭	F♯/G♭	G♯/A♭	A/B𝄫	B/C♭	C♯/D♭
D	D	E	F	G	A	B♭	C	D
D♯/E♭	D♯/E♭	E♯/F	F♯/G♭	G♯/A♭	A♯/B♭	B/C♭	C♯/D♭	D♯/E♭
E	E	F♯	G	A	B	C	D	E
F	F	G	A♭	B♭	C	D♭	E♭	F
F♯/G♭	F♯/G♭	G♯/A♭	A/B𝄫	B/C♭	C♯/D♭	D/E𝄫	E/F♭	F♯/G♭
G	G	A	/B♭	C	D	E♭	F	G
G♯/A♭	G♯/A♭	A♯/B♭	B/C♭	C♯/D♭	D♯/E♭	E/F♭	F♯/G♭	G♯/A♭
A	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	A
A♯/B♭	A♯/B♭	B♯/C	C♯/D♭	D♯/E♭	E♯/F	F♯/G♭	G♯/A♭	A♯/B♭
B	B	C♯	D	E	F♯	G	A	B

Tips

• The music should sound interesting. Try to play the song regularly to make sure it is right.
• If the needed instrument cannot be found, try to approximate it with a similar instrument. If it still cannot be found, try a different instrument.
• To play chords, a broadcast block and one script are needed for each note to be used in the chord(s).
• A broadcast block can be added in the middle of the song. This can be used to add and remove voices in a song; for example to make some parts of the song seem more grand, while others seem weaker. Multiple voices in a song often get desynchonized with each other (e.g. parts of a chord playing too early or late) so broadcasts can also be used to synchonize them.