J-Pop Composition Basics

Purpose: write a J-Pop song from zero; look up composition workflow steps; look up basic theory (intervals/degrees/chord construction/functional harmony/cadences/rhythm patterns).

Sources: 《できる ゼロからはじめる作曲 超入門》 (Hidetoshi Takumi) + 《もっと！思いどおりに作曲ができる本》 (Ken Kawamura), Chapter 1. Intended as a working reference while actually writing songs. All examples default to Key=C, 4/4 time; to change key, shift by Roman-numeral degrees (12-key diatonic chord tables in reference.md). Chord progressions are always notated both ways: letter symbols plus Roman-numeral degrees.

1. The Full Composition Workflow (Recommended Order)

Trade-offs between the two starting points:

• Melody-first (メロディ先行): melodies come out naturally singable, and harmony can be tailored to the melodic climax; but beginners struggle to pick chords for a melody, and the connections easily turn awkward.
• Harmony-first (ハーモニー先行): using stock chord patterns (コードパターン) locks in the mood quickly and the connections flow smoothly; but melodic motion gets constrained and easily turns bland.
• Recommended for beginners: lay down a chord progression from stock patterns first, then place the melody on top; the ideal state is conceiving both in parallel.

Mindset: in pop/rock/jazz, thinking about music in terms of chords is itself "small-scale composing" (小さな作曲) — deciding chord order and how to play them, making phrases and rhythm patterns, thinking about arrangement: all of it counts as composition. Not reading notation or playing an instrument is no barrier to starting.

This skill's complete production workflow (minimal "one-person band" instrumentation):