This is like..the 20th time I've posted this but.....where do melodies come from?

[ShatteredMindofBob]

once again, I find myself without melodies...so, how do you guys do it? do you just magically hear them in your heads? sometimes they come to me...I've got a little tape somewhere of me huming stuff that's just come to me....most of it's crap..I'm usually asending and descending the minor scale...except for one, where I'm humming After The Goldrush....ug

 

sometimes I'll improvise on piano (I'm a terrible pianist, so anything I come up with be singable, I can't play anything complicated) and that works sometimes...

 

I dunno...how do you guys get your melodies?

[boogie]

I usually have a chord progression first. And then I start improvising over that progression. This - and some theoretical background on harmony theory - is how I find my melodies. I'm sorry I can't give you any better tips, but the whole process is largely subconscious for me.

 

Tammo

[Kingnome]

If you have a lyrical hook line that you like, for instance, umm.."The dog ain't got no stink on me" (stop laughing, I'm winging this) just keep singing it in the car, shower, whatever. Most of the time the lyric will lend itself to a rhythmic type of tempo or cadence. Once you have the hook melody line and the tempo, a lot of the rest of the chorus, which is where I usually start, tends to fall into place.

Sometimes what I think would make a good first verse ends up being the chorus, because that's where the point of the song is.

If you're staring at lyrics on a page and you have no music, then you've really only got a poem. Someone once said that poems make terrible songs, or something to that effect.

If you think in terms of a lyrical hook line, and then try out several melodies for that line, the rest should come. If it doesn't come easy, chances are that no one else will find it easy to listen to or follow. The best songs seem to flow naturally from verse to chorus etc. regardless of the style of music.

[Tubesarecool]

Make a solo pick it a part, and take all the cool elements, and see if you can roll it into 1 repetive not shred riff. If you can see how it works as a melody!!!

[b-lance]

Well you see, you have papa Chord and mama Progression. They get together and do alittle bit of the horizontal pokka. But mama Progression is a slut and sleeps around with good friend Improvise. well, the miracle of it all, Chord's notes and Improvise's notes somehow become fused together, and when Progression gives birth, viola! baby Melody!

 

 

bert

 

a joke

[HuskerDude]

but only when Papa and Mama love each other very much, right?

[Sonic Boy]

Hmm...

 

this is what I do...

First I write a poem.

Then I work on chord progresions.

Then I improvise on the guitar over it and tape it all.

I carry the tape in my car and while I'm driving I listen to the chords and improvising over and over again.

I have some lines from the poem in my head and I ajust them to fit the song: remove words, change the order of the verses, change some words etc.., and I sing it or try to sing it.

One week later I record the vocals.

 

My melodies come out really simple so I wouldnt call my self a songwriter.

[undone_sweater5]

Just try to come up with something that flows naturally. Just listen to the music in your head.

[rickenvox]

In my opinion - if you're writing a melody, as opposed to inventing one through singing, then the piano is the only instrument to do it on (any keyboard actually). Guitarists are notorious for their lack of ability at writing melodies (I'm a guitarist BTW) and the ones that do have had to overcome obstacles in the structure and layout of the fretboard and their mental relation to it. Guitarists write riffs and chord progressions and often leave it up to their "lead singer" to improvise a melody over the riffs or chords. THAT'S NOT SONGWRITING and the singer should get 75% credit for the whole song - if he's actually singing more than 3 notes out of a pentonic scale. Here's a test - try and play the melody of your riff-based song on the piano . . . more than 3 notes?? This scenario does actually produce much of the mediocre rock we hear on the radio - so it can be profitable and that may be enough for some people. Chris Cornell is an example of an inventive melody writer over Soundgarden's riff-based music. He probably has that ability because of his past experience at singing other people's music. Songwriting is like writing novels; if you not an avid reader you won't be a great writer, if you're not a player of other people's great music, you're not going to write great music.

 

But great melodies are written on the piano I believe. Just think of McCartney's Hey Jude compared to Helter Skelter (not a bad song either, but no comparison). When you play the melody of Hey Jude on the piano it actually goes someplace and resolves itself in the end. Play the melody of the Do Ray Me song. There is a pattern on the C note, a second pattern on II or D, a repeat of the first pattern on E, and a repeat of the second on F, and then some other pattern ascending until the melody finally resolves itself back to C. It's like a rhyming scheme that could be mapped as ABABCCC . . . If you play any simple melodies by Bach or Mozart you see the same kind of patterns, just more complex. Pop music (all genres of Rock music are pop music - as opposed to "serious" or classical/jazz music) requires much simpler melodies and some of the best rock songs by the Stones or whoever fall into that category I mentioned above of 3 notes or less. I still think that playing or writing the melody on the piano is a test of whether it actually holds up or not.

 

OK, gotta go just because I've gone too long.

[Tedddy]

A good melody doesn't have to have lots of notes, but it does have to have a nice rythm/syncopation. It isn't the notes you choose, it is the timing of when you choose to play the notes.

 

Sit down on a drum set and try to create a melody. This may sound strange. What I am saying is, free yourself from the tyranny of notes. Let rhythm set you free. Tune the drums to differing pitches like a tympani.

[auditorium]

where do melodies come from? some place deep down within the soul. that's why when you get a good one, you really feel it. so i say grab a flashlight and some psychedelics- pry open your third eye

[Kingnome]

 

Originally posted by thriftyshirt listen to the birds. all melodies come from birdsong.

 

 

You mean like "Eight Miles High" ?

[BlueStrat]

 

Originally posted by rickenvox In my opinion - if you're writing a melody, as opposed to inventing one through singing, then the piano is the only instrument to do it on (any keyboard actually). Guitarists are notorious for their lack of ability at writing melodies (I'm a guitarist BTW) and the ones that do have had to overcome obstacles in the structure and layout of the fretboard and their mental relation to it. Guitarists write riffs and chord progressions and often leave it up to their "lead singer" to improvise a melody over the riffs or chords. THAT'S NOT SONGWRITING and the singer should get 75% credit for the whole song - if he's actually singing more than 3 notes out of a pentonic scale. Here's a test - try and play the melody of your riff-based song on the piano . . . more than 3 notes?? This scenario does actually produce much of the mediocre rock we hear on the radio - so it can be profitable and that may be enough for some people. Chris Cornell is an example of an inventive melody writer over Soundgarden's riff-based music. He probably has that ability because of his past experience at singing other people's music. Songwriting is like writing novels; if you not an avid reader you won't be a great writer, if you're not a player of other people's great music, you're not going to write great music. But great melodies are written on the piano I believe. Just think of McCartney's Hey Jude compared to Helter Skelter (not a bad song either, but no comparison). When you play the melody of Hey Jude on the piano it actually goes someplace and resolves itself in the end. Play the melody of the Do Ray Me song. There is a pattern on the C note, a second pattern on II or D, a repeat of the first pattern on E, and a repeat of the second on F, and then some other pattern ascending until the melody finally resolves itself back to C. It's like a rhyming scheme that could be mapped as ABABCCC . . . If you play any simple melodies by Bach or Mozart you see the same kind of patterns, just more complex. Pop music (all genres of Rock music are pop music - as opposed to "serious" or classical/jazz music) requires much simpler melodies and some of the best rock songs by the Stones or whoever fall into that category I mentioned above of 3 notes or less. I still think that playing or writing the melody on the piano is a test of whether it actually holds up or not. OK, gotta go just because I've gone too long.

 

 

Really good advice. I also like to listen to a lot of horn music. I have been playing with horn players for about 9 years, and my playing, soloing, and writing have all become way more melodic. In any event, for me it is listening to music I don't normally play that stimulates melodic development.

[SirGarrote]

i know it sounds too simple.....but i just hear them. I also agree with the fact that melodies will just cmoe from the words themselves.....Sting actually said that once...he writes the words and the melodies just come from them. and hey....Sting is a damn fine songwriter :-)

 

thats my 2 cents...

 

-G

[WattsUrizen]

Being a pianist/guitarist, I'd have to say that I find my best music comes from playing piano. When I play guitar I just tend to noodle, but when I play piano I find I am very productive and create some very usable things.

 

Melodies come from nowhere and everywhere.

 

If you look in one single place, they might not be there. They might jump out behind you in a different place.

 

If you are lucky, you turn around and catch them.

 

If you are unlucky, they scurry away unnoticed.

 

If you look everywhere, they might not be there. But they also might be everywhere.

 

If you are lucky, you make sense of it and catch lots of them.

 

If you are unlucky, you are lost in a cacophony.

 

If you aren't looking, they might come to you anyway.

 

Inspiration is a cruel thing. But it also gives us timeless music.

[zelmobeaty]

Listen to melodic instruments like sax or violin. They can't play chords. Listen to jazz. Hum to yourself when in the car. Maybe even listen to classical. I personally avoid classical because it gets so British. Way too girly.

 

Do not listen to rap or rap-metal if you need melodies. Even blues and rock n roll are pretty weak with regard to melody.

[Kingnome]

Originally posted by zelmobeaty I personally avoid classical because it gets so British. Way too girly.

 

[WattsUrizen]

Originally posted by zelmobeaty I personally avoid classical because it gets so British. Way too girly.

 

Especially Stravinsky, eh