how to write melody

[starr]

how do you guys come up with melody

is there any special tricks you use

[Wayrockin1]

I usually make up a chord progression and then scat sing nonsense over it until something grabs me. Then once I get an idea going, I may change the original chords based on where the melody 'wants' to go. Weird, I know, but it works for me!

[ninjaaron]

i'm a guitarist, so this is guitarmelodie I'm talking about

 

if I do the melody first I think of the melodie, then learn to play it, the figure out the mode or scale and accopany accordingly

 

I already have chords down, I ethier jam over it until I find somthing, or I think of a good melody for the chords, and figure out how to play it.

[WattsUrizen]

The best melodies are simple, flexible and catchy.

 

Unfortunately, they are also hard to find.

[bmeikle]

catchy hooks are quite the trick. In India I noticed pop tunes with

way more jagged melodies than would be acceptable in North America.

I've studied with composition teachers who insisted that the judicious

use of passing notes like 2nds and 4ths, over major triads were the key...

(yesterday by the beatles, has a big 2nd on the YES that resolves later)

If it's a show you're writing and you can put the theme in a few places

subtley up front, I recommend using more jagged complex themes...but

for jingles, or pop tunes you're largely limited by the musical chops of the

audience. (If they can't hum it after one pass then it's too complex) I've

noticed a lot of catchy pop tunes lately that sound a lot like nursery rhymes...

this would make sense...