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ARTICLE - How to Write Music For Comedy.

Updated: Sep 23, 2025

How to Write for Comedy: Telling the Story Through Movement and Music


From Charlie Chaplin to Wallace and Gromit, slapstick to dark humor, music is essential to help the audience decipher the jokes on screen. It's often said that comedy is one of the hardest genres to compose music for, so we have put together a handy collection of tricks to turn any melody into a cheeky and fun accompaniment to any comedy scene.



The Importance of Music in Comedy


Music plays a vital role in comedy. It enhances the visual elements and helps convey emotions. The right soundtrack can elevate a scene, making it more engaging and humorous. Understanding how to use music effectively can transform a simple joke into a memorable moment.


Staccato - The Short King


The first place to start with any ‘funny’ piece is by shortening the notes in the accompaniment to sound bouncy and lively. This technique is called Staccato. It is indicated by a small dot above or below the stave. Staccato is highly effective in an alternating bassline that emphasizes the key notes and beats in that section of the music.


This can be clearly seen in Camille Saint-Saëns’ soundtrack to L’Assassinat du Duc de Guise, a French silent film from 1908. This is one of the earliest examples of film music. The short, alternating notes create a cheeky yet mysterious sound. Even without the images, you can hear what is happening on screen.



In complete contrast to this, in the Wallace and Gromit theme, you can also hear this trick create a lively accompaniment to the main theme. Listen closely to the bass line. When mixed with interesting instrument textures and other techniques mentioned in this article, you can achieve a cheeky, lighthearted sound. Use this across all instruments, but particularly in the woodwind section. Clarinet and bassoon parts come alive with a mischievousness when staccato is used.



Simon Says…


When faced with a blank page, it can be quite difficult to know where to start. For comedy, the scene can almost write itself if we follow the movement and action on screen. Mimicking it through music can lead to a full soundtrack in no time. This technique is called micky-mousing (yes, this is a technical term!) and is highly effective when highlighting important movements for comedic effect.


This requires good initial spotting, which means choosing where and when to place musical cues. It also requires good structure in the music. In the example below, you can hear how the music highlights important movements of the characters. For instance, the cat stepping on the button is accompanied by sound effects within the score, enhancing the images on screen, such as the appearance of the big red button.



Lolloping, Lopsided but Lovingly Crafted Notes


Not only can we achieve a cheeky feel by shortening notes, but we can also use what is called a ‘dotted rhythm’. This occurs when one note steals half of the length value from the one before or after, creating a lopsided and lolloping effect. This technique is used extensively in the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks to make Captain Jack Sparrow’s theme sound lopsided and drunk. Listen to the first few seconds of the ‘He’s a Pirate’ theme and see if you can hear the long-short long-short pattern of stolen note lengths.



When Life Gives You Xylophones…


Texture is an essential part of any composition, especially for comedic scenes. How you use the instruments is incredibly important. We have touched on this in past articles, looking at how to use string instrument sounds to your advantage. However, the main focus today is on pizzicato. This sound is produced by plucking the strings instead of using the bow, creating a shorter, snappier, and more percussive sound.


Pizzicato is great for adding short, cheeky emphasis to melodies or bounce to your accompaniment. Alongside this, percussion is essential when depicting slapstick or speech-free comedy. Tuned percussion can mirror the short and snappy pizzicato, while non-tuned percussion fills the scene with musical sound effects, crashes, bangs, and wallops! You can hear the percussion imitating the ship falling to pieces in this short clip of Wing It!, with frantic percussion, cymbal crashes, and a thick, chaotic texture demonstrating the action on screen through a busy percussion section.



The Sound of Silence


Do not fear silence in your work. Using staccato and dotted rhythms will leave space for silence to creep in. This should be celebrated and emphasized. Silence is just as important as the notes that surround it. It helps create a bounce and an air of mystery that cannot be beaten.


Use Your Words


Finally, one of the more enjoyable things to do—something performing musicians wish composers would do more—is to have fun with the playing instructions on the score. Particularly if the score is intended for recording with live musicians. Below are some examples of instructive, descriptive, but fun playing directions used in scores. Have a bit of fun!




There are many different things you can do to make a piece fun and lively. One of the main things we would say is to ensure you are having fun when writing the music.


Get creative with the rhythms you use, the sounds, and textures. Let the actions on screen guide your creativity. Have a watch of the short Wing It! animation created by Blender Studios, and see how many of these tricks you can spot—they are used extensively!



Music written by Genevieve Fisher, animation by Blender Studios.





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