In my opinion, writing good music is really easy once you learn the fundamentals of music and have some experience in writing music. I mean, there are millions of great songs and soundtracks out there that sound amazing. The question now is, why is someone like Hans Zimmer or Austin Wintory so much better than me if we both write "good" music?

Well first of all, of course they have way more skill, talent and experience than me so they are just better than me. But I don't want to focus on that here. What I want to focus on is the ability to write fitting music for a specific scene in a film or a specific level in a game. Because that is ultimately one of the big reasons why they are the composers writing music for these big projects and not me.

Writing fitting music for a project is a crucial skill you have to master in order to become a great composer. I can write the best score in existence but if it's a full on heavy metal action score for a kids film about cute animals then I didn't write fitting music. I did write music that sounds good but it's just so out of place that the music in context with the project I'm writing the music for isn't good. It just doesn't fit.

I know this is an exaggerated example. But I hope this helps to understand why it is so important to write fitting music.

Even though it sounds simple to write fitting music, it can become quite complex and difficult when you start going into the details of your score. If we continue to exaggerate, then every note, every effect and every decision you make should have a reason. 

• Why is the bassline going up and not down?
• Why did you choose a flute for the melody and not a trumpet?
• Why did the melody go up a third and not a fifth?
• Why did you switch from the major to the minor chord and not the dominant 7th chord with an augmented 9th and a flattened 13th?

Great composers may not have an answer to all of these question when they write their score but these are things they're thinking about to ensure that the music fits the current context. 

For example, a reason to write the bassline going down and not up is to show the current development of the main character that just had an rough experience. When he hears good news afterwards, the bassline could start going up to reflect the mood change. 

Maybe the character grew up in a magical forest, so that's why his motif is played by a flute and is accompanied by chimes. When he looses his magical power, the chimes disappear from his motif as well to reflect that change.

The music would sound just as good if there were no chimes in it from the beginning but because you gave meaning to your musical decision, the music in that specific context now sounds exceptional. These are all things you can or cannot think about when writing music for film or games.

Now, how can you start writing fitting music for your projects? In my opinion, it's best to start small and improve from there. Instead of asking yourself after every note you play "why did I play that note and not this one", do the following instead. When you start working on a new project, whether that is a single track or a whole score, think about one musical decision to make your music fit better to the project. This could be "What instrument represents the protagonist best?" or "What rhythm represents the feelings I want the audience to feel in this scene best?". When you're working on your next project, think about two things, then five, and so on.

You might already be doing this, either unconsciously or consciously, especially if you're not a complete beginner and that's great. In that case, you can already start at five or ten decisions. What's important is that you keep being aware of the musical decisions you make so you will not only write good but also fitting music.