The 4 Critical Parts to Writing a Melody

Summary

このレッスンでは、Cマイナースケールを使用して、メロディを作成する方法について説明します。即興演奏、曲作り、ソロ演奏に役立つ重要な4つのポイントに焦点を当てています。まず、メロディには「間」が必要であり、すべての音を詰め込む必要はないと強調しています。次に、スケールを直線的に考えず、各音が異なる感情や役割を持つことを理解することが重要です。また、リズムと反復の重要性にも触れ、メロディ作成の鍵となる基本的な概念をわかりやすく解説しています。

Takeaways

• 🎶 メロディを作成する際、重要なのは音の間に空間を作ること。
• 🎹 Cマイナースケールを使ってメロディを作成する方法を学ぶ。
• ⏸️ 音楽において空間を意識し、音符を詰め込みすぎないようにする。
• 🎼 スケールを単なる直線として捉えず、各音符に異なる役割や感情があることを理解する。
• 🕰️ 音符をいつ演奏するか、リズムの選択はメロディの一部として非常に重要。
• 🔄 繰り返しは音楽をより魅力的にし、聴き手に親しみを与える。
• 🎨 各音符を色のパレットのように扱い、異なるムードを表現する。
• 📝 リズムの選択によって、予想外のサウンドや緊張感を作り出すことができる。
• 🎵 音符を異なる場所で繰り返し、音楽にテーマや統一感を持たせることが大切。
• 🎯 「2音チャレンジ」で空間、リズム、繰り返しの要素を練習し、メロディ作成の技術を向上させる。

Q & A

このレッスンの目的は何ですか？

このレッスンは、Cマイナースケールを使用してメロディーを作成する方法について話すことで、即興演奏や曲作り、ソロのアイデアを得るためのガイドラインを提供することを目的としています。

初心者が音楽を作り始めると何が問題になるのでしょうか？

初心者はコードやリズムを学び始めると、それを組み合わせて音楽を作り始めますが、その結果が予想外に不満であり、興味深くない音楽になることが問題となります。

メロディーを作成する際の重要なポイントは何か？

メロディーを作成する際の重要なポイントは、余白を設けることです。自然にフレーズを考えるようになり、音楽が文章のように聞こえるようになります。

なぜメロディーの際には余白が重要なのですか？

余白があることで、音楽がより興味深くなり、聴く人にも影響を与える空間が生まれます。良い俳優のように、沈黙を利用してコミュニケーションを伝えるように音楽にも同じことが言えます。

スケールの考え方として推奨されることは何ですか？

スケールは線形的なものではなく、個々の音符が異なる感情やムードを持ち、音楽と異なる方法で相互作用するtoolboxと考えるべきです。

リズムはメロディー作成においてどのくらい重要ですか？

リズムはメロディー作成において非常に重要で、音符を選ぶのと同じくらい、いつ音符を演奏するかを選ぶことが重要です。

繰り返しは音楽の創造においてどのような役割を果たすのですか？

繰り返しは音楽を聴いている人々に何かamiliarなものを与えながら新しいことを行っている間、ガイドとして機能し、音楽が面白いと感じられるようにします。

「Two Note Challenge」とは何ですか？

「Two Note Challenge」とは、2つの音符だけを使って演奏を試み、空間やリズム、繰り返しのアイデアを探索するためのトレーニングです。

このレッスンで紹介された曲の例はどこで聴くことができますか？

このレッスンで紹介された曲の例は、ビデオの最後に示されているか、または教師が提供するリンクや Patreon ページで聴くことができます。

このレッスンは誰を対象としていますか？

このレッスンは、即興演奏、曲作り、ソロのアイデアを得る方法を学ぶ人々に向けて設計されています。

このレッスンの教師はなぜスケールの線形的演奏を避けるべきだと言っていますか？

スケールを線形的に演奏すると、音楽は予想されるパターンに従って演奏されがちで、個々の音符の持つ異なるムードや感情を活かすことが難しくなります。

Outlines

00:00

🎶 メロディ作りの基本 - Cマイナースケールから始める

Cマイナースケールを使ってメロディを作り、曲作りや即興演奏、ソロを作るための基本について説明しています。初心者が最初に感じる挫折感や退屈な音楽をどのように改善するか、4つの重要なポイントを通じて説明。最初の例では、コードとリズムは適切でも、メロディが単調に聞こえる理由を説明し、その改善方法に向けたステップを紹介。

05:01

🛑 メロディに「間」を持たせることの重要性

メロディを魅力的にするためには、空白（間）を作ることが大切だと強調。多くの人が本能的に音符を埋めたくなるが、それは逆効果であり、音符の間にスペースを置くことでより面白い音楽が生まれる。演技における沈黙の力と比較し、空白を取り入れることでメロディに自然なフレーズが生まれると解説。具体例とグラフを使いながら、音符を間隔を持たせて配置する方法を紹介。

10:02

🎨 スケールは単なる音階ではない

スケールを単に音を順に並べるものとしてではなく、それぞれの音が異なる感情や役割を持つカラーパレットのように捉えるべきだと説明。スケールの各音が和音や左手の伴奏に対してどのように作用するかを理解し、メロディに感情を与えるための実践的な知識を提供。理論を学ぶことの重要性や、個々の音がどのようなムードを作り出すかを強調し、実例を交えながら解説。

15:04

⏰ リズムの選択がメロディの性格を決める

音符をどこで鳴らすか（リズム）は、どの音符を鳴らすかと同じくらい重要。6/8拍子を例に、強拍と弱拍をどう使うかによってメロディの感じ方が大きく変わることを解説。音符を意外なタイミングに配置することで緊張感を生み出し、また三拍子と四拍子を組み合わせるポリリズムを用いることで、音楽をより興味深くする方法を紹介。

🔁 繰り返しは音楽のカギ

メロディやリズムの繰り返しが、音楽に親しみやすさを与え、聞き手を惹きつける重要な要素だと強調。ただし、繰り返しは必ずしも単純に同じメロディを繰り返すわけではなく、パターンを異なる場所で繰り返すことで効果的に音楽を構築する方法を説明。例を挙げながら、繰り返しのパターンを使用して、メロディを引き立てるテクニックを紹介。

Keywords

💡スペース

メロディを作成する際に音符を詰め込むのではなく、空白（スペース）を設けることが重要であると説明されています。動画内では、過剰な音符の使用は興味を引かない音楽につながると述べられており、音符の間にスペースを設けることで、より洗練された、聴き手に響く音楽を作り出すことができるとされています。

💡Cマイナー・スケール

Cマイナースケールは、動画の例で使用されるスケールです。スケールの音を単純に並べるだけではなく、それぞれの音の役割や感情に注目しながら、メロディを作る方法が強調されています。具体的には、スケールの音をパレットの色のように捉え、異なる感覚を与えると説明されています。

💡フレージング

音楽におけるフレージングとは、音符の配置や間隔を工夫して、音楽が質問や答えのように聞こえるようにすることです。しかし動画内では、従来の「質問と答え」のフレージングの考え方が時に誤解を招くと指摘され、スペースの使い方を意識することで自然なフレージングが生まれると説明されています。

💡コードトーンと非コードトーン

コードトーンは、和音に含まれる音であり、非コードトーンは和音に含まれない音です。動画では、これらの音を理解し、それぞれの音がどのようにメロディやリズムに影響を与えるかを知ることが重要だと述べられています。特に、非コードトーンを用いることで、テンション（緊張感）を生み出し、次のコードトーンへ解決する流れが強調されています。

💡リズム

リズムは音楽において、どのタイミングで音符を演奏するかを決定する要素です。動画では、6/8拍子のリズムを例に取り上げ、音符を置く場所によってメロディの感じ方が大きく変わると説明されています。リズムの工夫によって、音楽が予測可能かつ安定したものになる一方、変化を加えることでより興味深い音楽になると述べられています。

💡ポリリズム

ポリリズムとは、異なるリズムパターンを同時に使用する技法です。動画内では、6/8拍子の中で3/4拍子のリズムを重ねる例が示されており、これにより音楽に複雑さと深みを加えることができると説明されています。

💡反復

メロディやリズムの反復（リピート）は、聴き手に音楽の一貫性や安定感を提供する重要な要素です。動画では、単なるアイデアの連続は疲れを引き起こし、聴き手が音楽を理解しにくくなると指摘されており、効果的な反復が良い音楽を作り出す秘訣だと強調されています。

💡インプロビゼーション

インプロビゼーション（即興演奏）は、特定のメロディやパターンを即興で作り出すことを指します。動画では、Cマイナースケールを使用してインプロビゼーションの基本原則を説明しており、メロディ作成の初歩的な段階として、スペースやリズムの意識が重要であると述べられています。

💡和音の展開

和音の展開は、基本的な和音を異なる形で演奏することで、音楽に多様性をもたらす技法です。動画内では、Cマイナー7コードの展開が例に挙げられ、単純な和音に工夫を加えることで、より面白い音楽が作られると説明されています。

💡音楽理論

音楽理論は、和音、スケール、リズムなど音楽を構成する要素に関する知識です。動画では、特にコードトーンや非コードトーン、スケールの役割に関する基本的な音楽理論の理解が、メロディ作成において重要であると強調されています。

💡音符の位置

音符の位置とは、音符をどのタイミングで演奏するかを指します。動画では、音符を強い拍や弱い拍のどこに置くかによって、音楽の印象が大きく変わると述べられ、音符の配置がメロディやリズムの効果に深く関わっていることが説明されています。

Highlights

The instructor uses a C minor scale to demonstrate how to create melodies from a scale for improvisation, songwriting, or soloing.

Many beginners create uninteresting music despite knowing chords and scales, as they often play notes too quickly without adding space.

Key tip #1: Use space in melodies. Just like a skilled actor uses pauses in dialogue, musicians should use silence to make their music more engaging.

A simple technique to improve melodies is to add pauses between notes, as demonstrated with a C minor 7 chord and scale.

Phrasing in music involves grouping notes and creating patterns that feel natural, but avoid making it too predictable or repetitive.

Beginners often play scales too linearly. Instead of playing scales in order, think of each note as a unique color on a painter’s palette.

Key tip #2: Don’t think of scales as just linear sequences. Focus on how each note interacts with the chords and overall mood.

Each note has a unique function within a chord. For example, the tonic note feels final, while a note outside the chord creates tension.

Understanding chord tones and non-chord tones can help create interesting melodic movements, like tension and resolution.

Key tip #3: Rhythm is just as important as choosing notes. The placement of notes within a rhythm can greatly change the feel of the music.

By placing notes on different beats (like the weaker beats in 6/8 time), a melody can feel more dynamic and less predictable.

Using polyrhythms or offbeat note placements adds complexity and makes a melody sound more professional.

Key tip #4: Repetition is essential for creating a cohesive musical idea. Repeating patterns or motifs helps anchor the listener.

Try using a two-note challenge to explore melodic space and rhythm. Limit yourself to two notes and see how much you can do by varying rhythm, repetition, and spacing.

The lesson concludes with an improvised melody that demonstrates the key concepts of space, rhythm, repetition, and note placement, even using only one chord.

Transcripts

hey guys so in this lesson i want to

talk about something very specific

i want to take a scale and in this case

i'm going to use a c minor scale

so that one

and i want to look at how you would take

that scale and create melodies out of

that and this could be in the context of

improvising or you're writing a song or

you're coming up with a solo or whatever

now this is the kind of thing that you

could spend a lifetime trying to get

good at and rather than sit here and

talk about this for hours and hours

i'm gonna give you what i think are the

four most important things to start

thinking about so you could you could

consider this kind of a getting started

guide or something

so here's the problem here's what

happens for a lot of people you're

starting out you learn some chords you

learn some skills maybe a little bit

about rhythm and you start trying to put

it together and when you do

you get some very disappointing and

uninteresting sounding music so here's

an example let's say i'm going to take a

shot at this

um i'll use a c minor 7 chord use this

in the last lesson so hopefully it's

kind of familiar

i'll go ahead and invert it just to be a

little bit clever

and then i'll play it with this kind of

6 8 rhythm

okay

and then in my right hand

i'm just going to use this

c minor scale so my first attempt would

probably sound something like this

okay

now i know this is what it would

probably sound like because i've taught

a lot of people and this is usually what

happens the first time they try this

so on paper there's nothing wrong with

this the chord is nice the rhythm is

nice the the scale is you know it fits

that's fine but obviously it's not very

interesting and i don't think anyone

would call that good music so the

question is how do you make it good you

know what are the things you start doing

to get something good to happen

and honestly a lot of this stuff is very

counter-intuitive it's not always what

you kind of instinctively do so we will

start with item number one

when you create a melody you need space

you know there's this feeling like you

need to be filling the air with notes

that's kind of what you

feel instinctively but that is the

opposite of what you want you know if

you think about like a good actor

they are

very comfortable with silence they take

these long pauses and they communicate a

lot with what they're not saying and you

want to do the same thing here so if you

took what i just played you know this

if you kind of graphed it out i won't

use you know full notation here just

kind of a basic idea of the rhythm

it would look sort of like this it'd be

note note note note

now i'll show you what happens

when i start putting space in here i'm

going to take this first note i'm going

to play it and then i'm going to wait

and then i'll play the next note and

then i'll wait and then i'll play two

notes together and then wait and then

two notes and then you know finally a

bigger group of notes so it might sound

something like this

okay

i'm not doing much more than just

putting a lot of space and it sounds way

better already so here's what that would

look like

if you map that out

now this isn't a perfect graph but you

can clearly see the difference between

this and this just taking this and

stretching it out and putting lots of

space

and making it just way more interesting

by pushing things apart and putting

notes in these different groups

now you'll hear the term phrasing thrown

around a lot um

you know people will say there should be

kind of a question phrase and an answer

phrase and music should sound like a

sentence

that and that's all fine that's great

but it can lead you to think the wrong

way i think you know a lot of times

saying

you know that sort of question and

answer phrase

can a lot of times lead to something

like this

you know it's like you have a phrase

and then you have another phrase

and

that's

not a whole lot better than doing this

you know i think just thinking in terms

of space in terms of putting silence in

the music

just kind of naturally leads to the idea

of phrasing i mean this is well phrased

but

it doesn't look anything like this and

it probably shouldn't this is not

terribly interesting either now like i

said this is kind of counterintuitive

you know if you think about someone

who's nervous a lot of times they talk

way too fast and they kind of stumble

over their words

when you're writing music if you're not

sure what to do you're not super

comfortable a lot of times this is kind

of what happens you wind up putting too

many notes together

and the uh the teaching community does a

terrible job with this i think i can't

tell you how many little workbooks or

exercises i've seen you know where

they'll give you

like you know a couple measures or

something and they'll say

you know okay for these

four measures

fill in the melody it's like

my melody has two measures of silence

and then one note for the next two i

mean it would look like this you know

what kind of grade are you going to slap

on that with one note so there's this

kind of

thinking that there needs to be a lot of

stuff in a small amount of space but

there doesn't that's

almost never what you really want okay

so item number one

is

space

now honestly this is almost enough if

you are good with space you would be

astounded at how much you can do

in fact one of my all-time favorite

piano pieces is nothing more than a

couple very basic chord changes

a major scale and some really well

chosen space

i'll put a link to it if you want to

hear it

in fact i'll play the beginning just

just so you can hear what i'm talking

about it's called travel around stars

okay and that's it i mean obviously that

develops throughout the song

but it's not much more than that just so

really really well chosen space okay so

item number two gotta keep moving here

number two

um

has to do with scales

try not to think of scales

as being scaled i'll tell you what i

mean this is kind of a sore spot for me

almost always when you are taught a

scale you're taught it in this very

linear sense you start at the beginning

you play it to the end and sometimes you

you know play it back down in the other

direction and in fact if you ask almost

anyone hey

play me a scale

they're going to do that in fact i mean

that's what i did a minute ago it's just

kind of ingrained in your head but you

were hardly ever going to play these

notes in this purely linear way now i i

know i just gave you an example of a

song where that happens

but that is super rare in fact the

reason i brought it up was

because it's so rare you know that's

like one percent of the way you're going

to do this you want to look at these

notes

almost like the way a painter looks at a

paint palette it's like each one is a

different color and it has a different

mood attached to it and it interacts

with you know whatever you're playing

your left hand or the rest of the music

in completely unique and different ways

for example you know playing

in this case

a c

if that's my tonic note it's very final

sounding it's almost like leaving a

period at the end of a sentence you know

it has a very strong

role attached to it you know whereas

playing a d this is a note that's not in

the chord it's not the tonic so it has

this sort of tension attached to it and

i can use that tension to sort of you

know move into one of the chord tones

like this one since this is in the chord

all right that's a a very powerful

movement there because i'm using

the unique properties of each note so

rather than just play up and down i want

to start looking at what each one sounds

like

and trying to get you know these

different moods attached to each one now

this

this requires some knowledge of theory

or at least understanding you know what

what's happening in your left hand and

what notes are part of the chord and you

know how they they work kind of in the

the big picture of the key you know

knowing that you're this is your tonic

note

i'm not going to mess with a harmonic

scale but you a leading tone just very

tense sound you know that sort of stuff

so you want to learn some theory for

that but you also just want to have a

lot of hands-on experience you want to

play a lot and just really develop this

feel for

you know what

the fourth scale degree sounds like

you're playing a one chord

you'll even learn that you know this six

scale degree doesn't sound very good

so i would you know probably avoid

harmonizing that with the chord no i did

a whole lesson on chord tones and

non-chord tones and a lot of this stuff

so i won't talk too much about it

but that is kind of point number two is

that you want to look at each note

individually and really get a feel for

what it sounds like and you should fight

every instinct to just look at this

stuff as this big line of notes all in

order because that's that's naturally

what happens when you're taught scales

and you sit there in practice scales

going from bottom to top you might not

even realize it but that really gets

burned into your head okay so

keep moving number three

number three is

rhythm i'm going to spell it right

for once

now the idea here is that

choosing when to play a note is every

bit as important as choosing which

particular note to play

so in my case you know if i'm if i'm

playing in six eight i kind of visualize

the rhythm a little bit like this you

know if i'm playing this one two three

four five six

you have kind of this this strong part

of the bead and then these sort of

weaker parts and then a strong part

and a weaker part that's

kind of the gist of

a measure of six eight

right

so if if i choose to put a note

for example here

then that's

this isn't a perfect parallel but you

can almost think about that like playing

a tonic or the root note it's like a

very comfortable sound and then you know

if i choose to put a note say here

it

kind of sort of has this tenseness to it

it's like it's not

quite what you were expecting don't take

that analogy too far because you don't

necessarily need to resolve this into

that or whatever although you could but

just think of it as that you know

a note like this or putting a note here

or putting a note here has a very

comfortable predictable sound to it and

putting a note here

or there or there on one of these kind

of

weaker parts of the beat

it has this less predictable more

unexpected sound to it so to kind of

combine these two ideas let's say that

i'm going to take you know thinking

about what each note does i'm going to

take this

scale degree number two and this note

that's not in the chord i'm going to

play it off of this note which is a note

that is in the chord so i get this sort

of tension

resolution kind of thing and if i start

working with the rhythm i could

say to start with play you know if i put

notes right here right on the downbeat

it's got this very solid very

predictable sound to it

if i put the note say

here instead

i get this much looser much kind of

less predictable kind of sound and

what's really powerful is to start you

know combining those things so i put

some notes on beats like this and other

notes you know say on these beats so it

could sound like this

right and just that small variation of

using one of these weaker beats causes

you know this

to go from being very predictable and

almost kind of plotting sounding to

something much better or at least more

interesting to me

now another thing you can do that i

think is really cool

is to do something like this where you

put a note here

put a note here

and then put a note here and what this

does and this is a measure of six eight

and you know the the whole idea was six

eight is that you have these two beats

and each beat has three little parts to

it but by doing this you're causing this

to feel almost like three four

it kind of feels like there's you know

one

two

three beats in here they call this a

polygon this is a kind of a simple

polyrhythm but that is what it is you're

kind of doing these two separate rhythm

styles at the same time so that would

sound sort of like this i'll just use

these three notes

you know whereas the kind of normal six

eight rhythm is

something like that so if i kind of

combine these two things like taking

this idea of putting notes in these sort

of weaker odd spaces

and then using something like this this

kind of three over four thing it could

sound sort of like this

something sort of like that

point with all this is that you should

look at the rhythm

as as much of a choice as you know as

choosing which note to play you're going

to be choosing when to play a note and

putting it in these different precise

locations creates completely different

feels it can change you know everything

about what you're playing okay so the

fourth thing i want to talk about

is

repetition

now this can also be very

counter-intuitive you know same thing

with space where it feels like you're

supposed to be filling the air with

notes um it can feel like you're

supposed to be pumping out you know one

cool idea after another

but in reality that's that's actually

very tiring for someone to listen to you

know it's fatiguing the music you know

keeps changing and it's hard to really

you know get a grip on it and it

actually just doesn't make for good

music

so you actually do want to be repeating

yourself now often enough that's just a

literal repeat you'll take a melody and

you'll play it again later and you might

even play that you know many many times

but often you're going to do

kind of more subtle things you'll take a

particular

pattern and you'll repeat that pattern

maybe in different places

and that gives the listener you know

something familiar while y'all while

you're also doing something new so for

example i could take you know a little

musical pattern like this

this is a nice little gesture because

it's starting on you know one of those

notes that isn't in the chord and then

you're moving to notes that are so it's

this nice little

tension resolution thing again

okay and i can take that pattern and

play it in different spots and create

this really cool

kind of music so it could sound like

this

right

and if i just kind of played down that

scale just sort of rambling and picking

different notes

it would kind of just it would sound

like that like i'm just sort of

wandering down the scale but by taking a

pattern and repeating it in different

places

you know i'm giving the person listening

something familiar to kind of i don't

know sort of guide them through that

so

being repetitive is something you're

going to look for and actively try to do

and the more clever you can be about it

you know the better try to repeat things

try to repeat you know similar melodies

or similar patterns or similar rhythms

you know give the music some themes and

try to you know establish those themes

throughout what you're playing okay so i

know that can all feel very abstract so

as far as actually learning this stuff

and getting good at it

here's what i recommend um do what i

would call the two note challenge right

so start by choosing two notes and to

choose them think carefully about this

idea that certain notes have certain

sounds and others have different sounds

so maybe maybe start with these two you

know a chord tone and a non-chord tone

and then you know playing this

you know

play only those two notes and try to

explore the idea of space as much as you

can right see how long you can go before

you think your head's gonna explode if

you don't play another one or just see

explore as many things as you can there

so it might sound like this

okay and just look at grouping notes and

pushing them apart and doing that whole

space thing and you know part of that

would be rhythm start thinking about

trying to put them in as many

interesting places as you can and focus

on that for a while

and then maybe focus on repetition but

do one thing at a time and just try to

take that idea

and explore it as far as you can and

start getting comfortable with all these

different things and i will leave you

with one more example this is just

something that i made up today while i

was filming this video

but hopefully you can just kind of hear

the different elements of spacing and

rhythm and repetition and that sort of

stuff kind of coming together a little

bit um this is still just on one chord

which i know is getting boring at this

point but i wanted to keep it simple so

here's just some little thing i made up

foreign

anyway something like that hope you kind

of get the idea with all this i know

it's a lot but just one thing at a time

and you should do great

that's it for now support me on patreon

if you want to help me make more of

these leave me questions and comments

let me know what you want to see next

and i will see you in the next video

thanks