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Can I Make Music Without Instruments?

Music is mostly instruments and vocals combined to create meaning. Back in the day, musicians relied heavily on the use of instruments to record and make their music.

Most music production these days is done with a few instruments, this then leaves the question:

“Can I Make Music Without Instruments?”

You can make music without physical instruments, you can solely rely on virtual instruments in your Digital Audio Workstation to help you get the job done. A digital audio workstation is simply software that can help you fully produce music digitally.

Image Line’s “Fruity Loops” Digital Audio Workstation is good starting point if you’re looking to get started making your music without the use of physical instruments.

You can also check out Ableton live or Reason. These are some great digital tools that can help you get started in the music industry. Granted you’ll have to spend a couple of bucks here and there but it will be worth it in the end…if the goal is make music.

Enough with the recommendations, let’s get into some FAQ questions surrounding this topic.

Do I need to Play an instrument to compose music?

Most people work under the impression that you need to be able to play instruments to be able to compose. This is probably because the word “compose” carries so much weight in the music world. This then builds on the assumption that composing means playing live instruments.

Well, you can pretty much compose your own music without using any instruments at all. Composing relies on the artists ability to write and come up with song from scratch.

You don’t always need and instrument for that. Instruments can certainly help your process by providing the needed context of keys, notes, melody etc.  ..but you can still come up with music from scratch.

Most song composers are writers that have the ability to basically come up with song ideas on their own. They can hum harmonies, come up with melodies and so on.

Instruments can then be used after composing to put everything into context and polish up the writing if need be.

So the short answer is this….. you don’t need an instrument to compose music. You can come up with musical ideas from scratch only working with made up melody, lyrics, humming etc.

Is it easy to make music?

This is one of the beginner questions that almost every professional music producer had to answer at one point or another. It is a valid question so please don’t take offense ….. any new career will bring up questions to validate the decision to pursue it. Music is certainly no different.

Making music is not easy, but relatively easy. For someone just beginning their musical journey with no background or any sort of previous music creation work, it can be quite difficult because there’s a lot of things to know and learn before you can even begin to make acceptable music. This is why most people fear this career path and choose not to pursue it.

In as much as making music is not easy, I have to make it a point to say that it is a skill that can be adopted and learned. Your start will more than likely be rocky but you’ll get the hang of things as you work towards getting better.

Musicians that make music for living, develop a process and a passion that accompanies their ability to make music. This then makes it easier for them to make music.

But it’s not always rosy… even great writers to often times face writers block. This happens to musicians and all creators alike.

However, the passion and drive to make it in this industry can make it worthwhile and pretty much easy to thrive in.

Therefore, making music is not easy but through practice and the desire to excel, you will make it. When you become good at making music your process will be much easier and more refined. This will help you grow as a musician therefore, don’t hold back on getting into the industry.

Try it out and see how well it works for you.

Can you be singer without writing music?

Most people have the impression that writing music is the prerequisite for becoming a singer. This may have been true in the olden days but not any more.

To be a singer, you simply need the ability to sing… that’s pretty much it..

I know what you’re thinking… “If all I need to do is sing, then what will I sing about or where will I get lyrics from if i don’t write them myself?”

These days, song writers are literally everywhere and are a huge part of the music industry. So, even if you can’t write music, you can always sit down with a song writer that can write music for you to simply lay out and sing.

So No, you don’t need to be able to write music to be a singer. If you want to be a singer, you need to be able to sing. Songwriters can help provide you with lyrics that you can sing.

Do you need music theory to make music?

Music theory is one of the most important things in music and can really help you excel as somebody that makes music. One of the most asked questions has to be whether you can or cannot make music without music theory.

You can make music without having music theory knowledge. But, knowing music theory can certainly help your process of making music.

Granted you can make music solely relying on your ability to sing or compose with whatever music knowledge you have, however music theory can certainly help.

Do you need music theory to make music?  No.

Is music theory important? Definitely.

Do I need to play an instrument to make music?

You don’t need to play an instrument to make music, you can hire instrument players or simply a produce to compose instrumentation for you.

Can I Make Music Without Instruments?
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