melody writing

[unccrombie]

so my downfall as a musician is that i cant write a vocal melody, i was wondering if anyone out there wanted to give me a handy if i posted a clip?

[Voittaa]

I used to have the same problem...what I usually do now is just hum along to my song, while playing the chords, until you find the right melody. Also, sing whatever words comes to your head and something shape.

Hope that helps a little

[Voittaa]

double post my bad

[unccrombie]

I used to have the same problem...what I usually do now is just hum along to my song, while playing the chords, until you find the right melody. Also, sing whatever words comes to your head and something shape.

Hope that helps a little

well i always seems to following the picking pattern (which is what this is) so it's just a repeat of the riff and it sounds boring

[bennettr]

I would suggest trying to use intervals. for example, 3rds and 5ths are the usually the most satisfying intervals. 4ths are good too. and 7ths have a really strong pull to want to go back to the root. the way to figure what interval you are at is by starting with the root (not that is fully satisfied when you get back to it) and work your way up the major scale (or whatever scale you are in) counting.

[lestat1600]

so my downfall as a musician is that i cant write a vocal melody, i was wondering if anyone out there wanted to give me a handy if i posted a clip?
not a downfall, that in and of itsself is another creative art form. your not alone on that either, there are shitload of signed bands out there that have members that cant do it, vocalist included

[UnLearnYourself]

yeah i write music, and sing, but dont know HOW. basically i do the same. i hum. or certain words pop in my head.

basically just wing it. forget that you're writing and sing what you FEEL.

[imalazypup]

That's my weakest attribute. What I started doing was playing my guitar as the melody, then singing what I played on guitar. It's helped, but I'm not satisfied with it yet.

Maybe it'll work for you?

[unccrombie]

well i guess i need to make my words flow more, they seem to inhibit the music

[twostep721]

I would suggest trying to use intervals. for example, 3rds and 5ths are the usually the most satisfying intervals. 4ths are good too. and 7ths have a really strong pull to want to go back to the root. the way to figure what interval you are at is by starting with the root (not that is fully satisfied when you get back to it) and work your way up the major scale (or whatever scale you are in) counting.

Sorry, but could you perhaps explain this a little differently? I've been having the same problem, and I'd like to try your suggestion.

[chr35919]

hum...a lot.

[unccrombie]

hum...a lot.
that hasn't really worked yet

[Voittaa]

maybe you could post ur song so one of us could help out and spark some ideas for you

[bennettr]

Sorry, but could you perhaps explain this a little differently? I've been having the same problem, and I'd like to try your suggestion.


Sure thing. I started thinking about this when I had the same problem of my melodies always following the exact thing my guitar was doing. I took a music theory class freshman year in college and one of the really neat things was that they explained (as a matter of fact, not preference or anything) that certain notes, when played in certain contexts, will make you anticipate notes to follow. So if you are playing a C chord, and then you move to a F chord, it is a fact that if you move to a G chord, it will make sence to your ear and you might even anticipate it. This is how sometime when you have never heard a song before you can anticipate things happening next or things can catch you off guard.

So the reason why it is most natural for people to make melodies that follow the exact thing that the guitar is doing is because that is technically most satisfying or easiest to anticipate. and what I was getting at in my earlier post is that you can find other notes that are technically satisfying or easy to anticipate.

In your major scale you have your root , 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and then the octave above the root (same note, just higher pitch). the notes are numbered in relation to the order they come in the major scale. So if you are playing in the key of C (meaning that C is your root/tonic/ not that is most satisfying to the ear when playing the other notes in the scale) Your ascending notes for the major scale are..

C (root), D (2nd), E (3rd), F (4th), G (5th), A(6th), B (7th), C (8th/octave above the root)

Getting back to the music class... (i don't have my book in front of me so i might be a little off)

The reason why you naturally want to have a melody sound the same as the guitar part is because it has the most natually satisfying sound to it. But it obviously doesn't creat any movement with the music. you want your music to feel like its going somewhere, to make people want to dance or feel the song. So want to have notes/meolodies that create that draw, tension, pull or whatever you want to call it.

A 5th and a 3rd both have a strong natural draw back to the root. SO if you are going to play an C, then an F then a G, your ear will want you to go back to the C, because you just played a 5th (G.)

Other than the root itself, a 7th has the most strong pull or desire to be satisfied by going back to the root. So in terms of making melodies, I like to use this when I am coming back to a chorus or end of chorus when I want the listener to really feel satisfied by the end.

So try to really learn the major scale and understand how it works and such. Then you can figure out what key you are in (which note is the root) and what the 3rds and 5th are. or 4th or whatever you feel like using.


The really neat thing about this, is that its just the way it is. Our society has been pumping the major scale to our ears so much that we get used to this kind of thing happening and it just sounds right. Although this can get really repetitive and people can surely have different opinions for reasons why they don't like music that is as simple sounding as a major scale, it still sounds right.

I hope that helps. let me know

[Voittaa]

Thats good stuff bennetr :thumbsup

[bennettr]

thanks, Did you just get into dmb?

[unccrombie]

i sort of follow that, kind of hard without a musical background

[bennettr]

so my downfall as a musician is that i cant write a vocal melody, i was wondering if anyone out there wanted to give me a handy if i posted a clip?

those are some nice pictures.. You were like 10 feet from dave annndd trey.. I envy you regardless of your melody skills, lol

[bennettr]

i sort of follow that, kind of hard without a musical background

I never had any musical background before I started playing, and I probably learned what the major scale was about 3 years or so into playing (ive been playing for 4 and a half i think). I would really recomend learning the major scale pattern in at least one position, I wish that was the first thing I had learned when I started.

[unccrombie]

those are some nice pictures.. You were like 10 feet from dave annndd trey.. I envy you regardless of your melody skills, lol
haha, thanks, i was quite happy too ;)

[unccrombie]

I never had any musical background before I started playing, and I probably learned what the major scale was about 3 years or so into playing (ive been playing for 4 and a half i think). I would really recomend learning the major scale pattern in at least one position, I wish that was the first thing I had learned when I started.
that i know

[bennettr]

what part is troubling you then?

[unccrombie]

i guess just voicing things note wise, i'm not use to singing or hearing things

[bennettr]

Yea, I was horrible at that at first. (I sucked at everything.) I would suggest trying to hum or sing, to some degree, as you do scales. Or just practice learning songs that you can sing to. and if you can't sing to them, practice them anyways.

[unccrombie]

Yea, I was horrible at that at first. (I sucked at everything.) I would suggest trying to hum or sing, to some degree, as you do scales. Or just practice learning songs that you can sing to. and if you can't sing to them, practice them anyways.
i can sing them, not in key, i have the basic pitch down. i don't have a voice, so it's not like i do the singing anyways

[bennettr]

I think everyone can sing to some degree. There are plenty of people who are naturally good at singing, but there are plenty of people who aren't good at first but can grow into their voice.

[Dave45]

I read a pretty good explanation in here of why particular melodies sound good... that was impressive. I really have no clue what I do, at least at first... The way I write is I kick around chord progressions and just basically babble over them, trying different melodies and lyrical themes until I get something interesting. It might be a lyric, or just a certain melody line, and then when I get a few of those it's almost like some kind of wheel of fortune game to fill in the blanks that are left to complete the song. And that is when I try to focus on the actual writing, before that I really have no clue what I'm doing. And lyrically, I don't usually sit down to write about a particular thing, the song kind of dictates it to me.

That said, I have a feeling that I'm getting kind of stuck in my own style, what with song patterns, the way I phrase lyrics, etc.... Maybe I need to try something new too? haha. just sharing my process!

[unccrombie]

I read a pretty good explanation in here of why particular melodies sound good... that was impressive. I really have no clue what I do, at least at first... The way I write is I kick around chord progressions and just basically babble over them, trying different melodies and lyrical themes until I get something interesting. It might be a lyric, or just a certain melody line, and then when I get a few of those it's almost like some kind of wheel of fortune game to fill in the blanks that are left to complete the song. And that is when I try to focus on the actual writing, before that I really have no clue what I'm doing. And lyrically, I don't usually sit down to write about a particular thing, the song kind of dictates it to me.

That said, I have a feeling that I'm getting kind of stuck in my own style, what with song patterns, the way I phrase lyrics, etc.... Maybe I need to try something new too? haha. just sharing my process!
i've noticed that with me too. i tend to do a lot of slow picking, capoed things. i've been trying to get into upbeat riffs