How To Write A Melody : The Ultimate Guide
Summary
TLDRDieses Video-Skript bietet eine umfassende Anleitung für Songwriter, um fesselnde Melodien zu schaffen. Es erklärt, was eine Melodie ist, wie sie aus Tonhöhen und Rhythmus besteht und wie sie die memorabelste Komponente eines Lieds ist. Sieben Tipps zur Melodiekomposition, die Verwendung von chromatischen Noten und die Gestaltung von Melodien durch Phrasen werden präsentiert. Anhand eines praktischen Beispiels im C-Dur zeigen die Tipps, wie Melodien mit harmonischen Akkorden entstehen und wie Spannungen und Emotionen durch die Anordnung und Länge der Noten erzeugt werden. Zusätzliche Tipps zur Phrasenbildung, wie die Verwendung von Sprache, Asymmetrie und Pausen, runden das Video ab, um die Melodie zu einem interessanten und emotionalen Erlebnis zu machen.
Takeaways
- 🎶 Eine Melodie, auch bekannt als ein Lied, besteht aus einer Serie von Musiknoten, die als eine Einheit von dem Zuhörer wahrgenommen werden und sowohl Tonhöhe als auch Rhythmus umfassen.
- 🎵 Die Melodie ist das Teil eines Liedes, das man am häufigsten pfeifen oder singen kann, da es das einprägsamste Element ist und oft als Vordergrund des Liedes betrachtet wird, unterstützt durch die Akkorde oder Harmonien im Hintergrund.
- 🛠️ Es gibt keine harten Regeln beim Schreiben von Melodien; das Wichtigste ist, dass sie für dich gut klingt - dies ist die Grundregel.
- 📘 Eine der einfachsten Methoden, eine Melodie zu schreiben, ist die Verwendung von Noten aus den Akkorden, die im Lied gespielt werden.
- 🔄 Um Spannung in die Melodie zu bringen, kann man Noten verwenden, die nicht im zugrunde liegenden Akkord enthalten sind, um Emotionen zu verstärken und Abwechslung zu schaffen.
- 🎼 Die Platzierung der Noten ist wichtig; Noten, die nicht im Akkord enthalten sind, können unterschiedlich wirken, je nachdem, ob sie direkt auf einen neuen Akkord treten oder nach einigen Akkordnoten.
- 📊 Veränderung der Notenlänge kann die Monotonie überwinden und interessante Rhythmen schaffen; verschiedene Notenlängen und Pausen können zur Melodie beitragen.
- 🔼 Die Bewegung der Melodie, ob sie nach oben oder unten geht und in kleinen Schritten oder großen Sprüngen, ist entscheidend für das Erzählen der melodischen Geschichte.
- 🌟 Das Hinzufügen von Triplets, die einen Takt oder Teil eines Taktes in drei gleiche Teile aufteilen, kann zur Melodie eine neue Dynamik und Überraschung bringen.
- ♻️ Wiederverwendung von Melodieideen später im Lied, indem man die Notenlänge verdoppelt oder halbiert, kann eine vertraute, aber neue Wirkung erzeugen.
- 🌈 Die Verwendung von chromatischen Noten, die Noten außerhalb der Tonart sind, kann zur Melodie Spannung und Dramatik hinzufügen, muss jedoch vorsichtig gehandhabt werden.
Q & A
Was ist eine Melodie?
-Eine Melodie, auch bekannt als ein Lied, ist eine Reihe von Musiknoten, die vom Hörer als eine Einheit interpretiert werden. Sie besteht aus Tonhöhe und Rhythmus und ist das Teil eines Liedes, das man singen oder pfeifen kann, weil es am leichtesten sichtbar ist.
Wie ist die Beziehung zwischen Melodie und Harmonie?
-Die Harmonie beeinflusst oder färbt die Noten in einer Melodie, was die Beziehung zwischen Melodie und Harmonie im Songwriting bedeutend macht. Die Melodie kann vor oder nach den Akkordprogressionen eines Liedes erstellt werden.
Was ist der wichtigste Tipp für Melodiekomposition?
-Der wichtigste Tipp ist, dass es keine Regeln gibt. Wenn es für dich gut klingt, hast du eine großartige Melodie.
Wie kann man eine Melodie aus Akkorden erstellen?
-Man kann eine Melodie erstellen, indem man die Noten aus den Akkorden verwendet, die im Lied gespielt werden. Jeder Standard-Major- und Minorakkord hat drei Noten, die sich ändern, wenn die Akkorde wechseln.
Was ist Spannung in Melodien und warum ist sie wichtig?
-Spannung ist wichtig in Melodien, um sie nicht langweilig zu machen und die Emotion zu verstärken. Um Spannung zu schaffen, werden Noten verwendet, die nicht in den zugrunde liegenden Akkorden sind.
Was sind 'chord scale notes' und 'key scale notes'?
-Chord scale notes stammen aus den sieben Noten der Skala, die zu einem Akkord gehört. Key scale notes stammen von der Skala, die dem Schlüssel des Liedes entspricht und im gesamten Lied unverändert bleibt.
Wie kann man Notenpositionierung in einer Melodie nutzen?
-Die Position einer Note in einer Taktart kann ihre Wirkung beeinflussen, besonders wenn es um spannungsvolle Noten geht, die nicht im zugrunde liegenden Akkord enthalten sind.
Was sind die verschiedenen Notenlängen, die in Melodien verwendet werden?
-In Melodien werden verschiedene Notenlängen wie ganze Noten, halbe Noten, Viertelnoten, Achtelnoten und Sechzehntelnoten verwendet, um interessante Rhythmen zu schaffen.
Wie kann man eine Melodie mit Hilfe von Triplets aufpeppen?
-Triplets teilen einen Takt oder Teil eines Taktes in drei gleiche Teile, was dem Rhythmus eine Frische oder einen Überraschungseffekt verleiht. Sie sollten jedoch sparsam verwendet werden.
Was ist der Bonustip für Melodierecycling?
-Ein einfacher Weg, um eine Melodieidee später im Lied wiederzuverwenden, ist, die Dauer der Noten zu verdoppeln. Dies ändert die Beziehung zu den darunter liegenden Akkorden, aber die Vertrautheit aus früher im Lied sollte dazu beitragen, dass es für den Hörer akzeptabel klingt.
Was sind 'chromatic notes' und wie können sie in Melodien verwendet werden?
-Chromatic notes sind Noten, die aus dem Skalabereich herausfallen und können echte Spannung und Dramatik zu einer Melodie hinzufügen. Sie sollten jedoch vorsichtig verwendet werden, da sie die Melodie beeinflussen können.
Was ist die Kunst der Phrasierung und wie kann sie verwendet werden, um interessante Melodien zu gestalten?
-Die Kunst der Phrasierung beinhaltet das Schaffen interessanter Linien und Phrasen in einer Melodie. Man kann die Form und Richtung der Melodie betrachten, um bessere Melodien zu gestalten, indem man die Phrasen nach ihrer Form und Richtung ändert.
Wie kann man asymmetrische Phrasen in Melodien verwenden?
-Asymmetrische Phrasen, also Phrasen mit einer ungeraden Anzahl von Takten, können dazu beitragen, die Melodie oder Phrase von der Masse zu unterscheiden und können dazu verwendet werden, um den Hörer aus seiner Komfortzone zu holen.
Was sind die Vor- und Nachteile von Pausen in Melodien?
-Pausen in Melodien können dazu beitragen, die Sänger zu entspannen oder den Song an einen neuen Ort zu bringen. Sie trennen Melodiephrasen und bieten eine Änderung des Gedankens oder der Idee.
Warum kann der Einsatz von hohen Noten in einer Melodie dramatisch wirken?
-Hohe Noten in einer Melodie können dramatisch wirken, weil sie oft lauter gespielt werden und umso mehr hervorgehoben werden. Sie können verwendet werden, um bestimmte Worte oder Phrasen zu betonen, die im Lied eine besondere Bedeutung haben.
Outlines
🎶 Grundlagen der Melodiekomposition
Dieses Videosegment erklärt, was eine Melodie ist und wie man sie schreibt. Eine Melodie ist eine Folge von Musiknoten, die als einzige Einheit wahrgenommen wird und aus Tonhöhe und Rhythmus besteht. Sie ist das Teil eines Liedes, das man am einfachsten singen oder pfeifen kann. Der Videoautor betont, dass es keine harten Regeln gibt, sondern es wichtig ist, auf den Klang zu hören. Er gibt sieben Tipps für Anfänger, darunter die Verwendung von Akkorden, die Schaffung von Spannung durch die Verwendung von Notes, die nicht im zugrunde liegenden Akkord enthalten sind, sowie die Bedeutung der Noteninsätze und -längen für die Melodie. Der Abschnitt schließt mit einem Bonustip: Melodieideen nachzunutzen, indem man sie in einem späteren Teil des Liedes verlängert.
🎵 Melodie-Rhythmen und Notenlängen
In diesem Abschnitt werden verschiedene Methoden zur Erstellung interessanter Rhythmen in Melodien vorgestellt. Es werden verschiedene Notenlängen wie ganze Noten, halbe Noten, Viertelnoten, Achtelnoten und Sechzehntelnoten erläutert. Der Gebrauch von Pausen als Mittel zur Strukturierung von Melodien wird ebenfalls diskutiert. Der Autor erklärt, wie die Verwendung von verlängerten Noten, sogenannten punktierten Noten, die Spannung in der Melodie erhöht und wie die Platzierung von Noten innerhalb eines Taktes die Wahrnehmung der Melodie beeinflusst. Es wird auch auf die Bedeutung der Notenlänge für die Melodievariabilität hingewiesen.
🎼 Melodie-Formen und -Bewegungen
Dieser Teil des Skripts konzentriert sich auf die Form und Bewegung von Melodien. Es wird erläutert, wie fallende und aufsteigende Muster zur Melodie-Gestaltung beitragen können. Die Bedeutung des Gleichgewichts in der Melodie wird hervorgehoben, um Interesse und Spannung zu schaffen. Die Verwendung von Triplets als Mittel zur Erhöhung der Aufregung in der Melodie wird vorgestellt, sowie die Idee, Melodieideen durch Verlängern der Notenlänge zu reziprozieren.
🎹 Verwendung von Chromatiknoten in Melodien
Der vierte Abschnitt behandelt die Verwendung von Chromatiknoten, die Noten außerhalb der Haupttonleiter, die Spannung und Dramatik zu einer Melodie hinzufügen können. Es wird erläutert, dass diese Noten vorsichtig eingesetzt werden sollten, da sie die Melodie beeinflussen können. Es werden Techniken wie das Verwenden von kurzen, nicht auf der Beat-Stelle fallenden Chromatiknoten als Übergangsnoten beschrieben, sowie die Verwendung von Chromatiknoten in Verbindung mit entlehnten Akkorden, um diese in die Melodie zu integrieren.
📜 Kunst der Phrasierung in Melodien
In diesem Teil des Skripts wird die Kunst der Phrasierung in Melodien thematisiert. Es wird betont, dass Melodiephrasen wie Sätze in einer Sprache behandelt werden sollten, um eine natürliche Struktur und Emphase zu schaffen. Es werden fünf Tipps gegeben, darunter die Behandlung von Melodiephrasen wie von Sprache, die Anwendung von kleinen Schritten nach Sätzen und der Einsatz von Asymmetrie in Phrasenlängen, um die Melodie abwechslungsreicher zu gestalten.
🎵 Verwendung von Pausen und Höhen in Melodiephrasen
Der letzte Abschnitt des Skripts konzentriert sich auf die Verwendung von Pausen und die Bedeutung von hohen Noten in Melodiephrasen. Es wird erklärt, wie Pausen in einer Melodie als natürliche Trennung dienen können, um neue Ideen einzuführen oder den Gesang eine Auszeit zu geben. Die Verwendung von hohen Noten zur Betonung bestimmter Worte oder Phrasen in der Melodie wird als effektives Mittel zur Steigerung der Emotion und des Eindrucks diskutiert. Abschließend wird ein Beispiel für eine Melodie gegeben, die all diese Elemente kombiniert.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Melodie
💡Tonhöhe
💡Rhythmus
💡Harmonie
💡Akkorde
💡Spannung
💡Chromatische Noten
💡Phrase
💡Linienführung
💡Takt
💡Übertragung
💡Ausreißer
Highlights
Melody, also known as a tune, is a series of musical notes interpreted as a single entity by the listener.
The most memorable part of a song is its melody, which can be considered the foreground with supporting chords or harmony as the background.
There are no rules in melody writing; if it sounds good, it's a great melody.
Starting with the chords is an easy way to create a melody by using the notes from the chords playing in the song.
Tension in melodies is important to avoid sounding like a nursery rhyme and to amplify emotion.
Chord scale notes and key scale notes are two main approaches to creating tension in melodies.
Blending chord scale and key scale notes can help remove potentially difficult sounding notes in a melody.
Note location is crucial in a melody, especially with tense notes, as it impacts the effect of the melody.
Altering note lengths can create interesting rhythms and prevent a melody from becoming monotonous.
Falling patterns followed by rising patterns are common in forming melodies.
Triplets can add excitement and a sense of surprise to a melody.
Recycling melody ideas by doubling or halving the duration of notes can create a familiar yet different feel in a song.
Chromatic notes, or notes outside of the scale, can add tension and drama to a melody but should be used with caution.
Borrowed chords, which contain chromatic notes, can be made to sound more coherent by using the introduced chromatic notes in the melody.
Transposing melodic phrases up or down can create continuity while accommodating chromatic notes.
Phrasing in melodies is like language, with phrases acting as sentences that convey a particular melodic idea.
After leaps in a melody, use small steps and vice versa to create a balanced and interesting melodic line.
Asymmetry in phrases, such as using an odd number of bars, can make a melody stand out.
Breaks in a melody can provide a change in point or idea, similar to paragraphs in written language.
Using the highest note in a phrase for emphasis can highlight emotive parts of a song.
Transcripts
do you struggle to write good Melodies
watch this video and find out how simple
it can be we'll look at the definition
of a Melody seven easy Melody writing
tips the use of chromatic notes and how
to shape your Melodies with phrasing
let's begin what is a melody
a Melody also known as a tune is a
series of musical notes interpreted as a
single entity by The Listener
it is made up of both pitch and rhythm
the melody is the part of a song that
you sing or whistle because it is the
most memorable
it can also be thought of as the
foreground of a song with the background
being their supporting chords or Harmony
the harmony influences or colors the
notes in A Melody which is why this
relationship is significant in
songwriting a Melody can be created
before or after the chord progressions
of a song are written there are pros and
cons to both approaches but creating
Melodies using existing chord
progressions is often simpler for
beginners because of this I will focus
on this approach in the rest of the
video with that in mind let's now look
at seven simple Melody writing tips tip
number one there are no rules the most
important Melody rule is that there are
no rules if it sounds good to you then
you have a great Melody this tip isn't
helpful you may say as a beginner you
need some help and inspiration you watch
this video for Melody tips you are
correct I lied to make up for this I'll
give you a bonus tip at the end tip
number two start with the chords the
easiest way to create a Melody is to use
the notes from the chords playing in the
song each standard major and minor chord
has three notes this means that as the
chords change our selection of notes
change some chords have notes in common
which allow us to hold a note as the
chords change whilst this is the easiest
Melody writing technique it does create
very predictable safe sounding Tunes if
you want to write something a little
more interesting then this next tip is
for you tip number three create tension
without tension your song will sound
like a nursery rhyme tension is
important in Melodies to stop it being
boring and to amplify the emotion in
order to create this tension we need to
use notes that aren't in the underlying
chords when it comes to which of these
notes we can use there are two main
schools of thought chord scale notes and
key scale notes chord scale notes come
from the seven notes in the scale
related to a chord for example if we
have an F major chord playing we will
use the seven notes from the F major
scale these are f g a a B flat C D and E
F A and C are the notes in the chord so
G B flat d and e would be our tense
notes these are always the second fourth
sixth and seventh notes of the major or
minor scale if the chord changes then we
change the notes we use to the scale of
the new chord alternatively key scale
notes come from the scale relating to
the key of the song The Key of a song
dictates what chords sound good together
so if we have a song in the key of C
major we will use the c major scale this
will remain the same throughout the song
so it will not change with the chords
like the chord scale technique did this
idea may be familiar to you if you play
guitar solos over chord changes one
final thing we can do to remove some
potentially difficult sounding notes is
to blend both of these approaches to do
this we look at the notes in the current
chord scale and the key scale and only
use the notes that appear in both for
example the F chord we saw earlier is in
the key of C major F major has the notes
f g a B-flat c d and e c major has the
notes C D E F G A B B and B flat are the
only notes that don't appear in both so
we can discount them therefore our pool
of Melody notes whilst the F chord plays
is f g a c d e it is worth noting that
each of these tense notes has its own
quality some are tensor than others it
can be hard to describe this but once
you've worked out your notes for a given
chord it is worth experimenting to see
which one gives you the tension you
require now we need to look at where to
place these notes
tip number four note location is
important where a note appears in a bar
can have an impact on its effect this is
particularly important with these tense
notes that aren't in the underlying
chord when landing on a new chord if we
go straight to the tenth note it has a
greater impact than if it appears after
we have heard the chord and possibly
some of the chord notes in the melody on
the other hand if we link between these
with tense notes of a short length then
we can reduce the tension these are
sometimes known as passing notes like
everything in a Melody this is a
balancing act that you as a songwriter
are in control of the theme or feel of
the song or maybe the accompanying
lyrics will guide you as to which way to
go use your ear and trust it tip number
five alter note lengths playing all the
notes for the same duration would become
boring there are many ways to divide up
each bar to create interesting rhythms
for our Melody with 4 4 time which is
the most common time signature used for
songs we have four beats in each bar are
here are some visualizations of these
lengths please note that this is not
musical notation so we can have a whole
note which lasts a whole bar half a note
which lasts half a bar a quarter note
which lasts for a quarter of a bar an
eighth note which lasts for an eighth of
a bar and a sixteenth note which lasts
for a sixteenth of a bar these are some
of the more common note lengths used in
Melodies that are of course other
divisions we can also use rests for
breaking up our Tunes a rest is just a
period of silence and they will use the
same note lengths as we've just
discussed we can sustain the tension in
our Melody by increasing the note length
of our non-chord notes one way to do
this is by using what's known as a
dotted note this is where the duration
of the note is increased by 50 percent
so for example a dotted quarter note is
the equivalent of a quarter note plus an
eighth note this contrasts between
longer and shorter notes can be useful
for our Melody for example a dotted
quarter note with an 8 keep note after
it gives the melody extra movement or a
kind of Galloping feel
if we place our notes between the Beats
of a bar then it can reduce the monotony
remember there are four beats in a bar
in four four time so use rests dotted
notes or different note lengths to make
the change of notes in your Melody fall
between this structure of four if we
want to reduce tension we can shorten
the amount of time on a non-chord note
tip number six falling down and then
getting back up when creating Melodies
it is important to consider the shape of
the pattern they form Melodies can move
downwards or upwards and they can move
in small steps or big leaps a falling
pattern followed by a rising pattern is
quite a common way to form a Melody
balancing the movement or shape of the
melody is another important part of
creating and maintaining interest you
don't want a static Melody throughout
the song tip number seven tripling up
one way to add a little excitement to
progression in four four time is to use
triplets a triplet splits a beat or part
of a beat into three equal parts
triplets can add spice to a rhythm and
can add a spring or an element of
surprise to the melody they're best used
sparingly because if you want this feel
for all the time then you should really
change the time signature of your song
and now it's time for your bonus tip
foreign
recycling ideas after spending so much
time and Care creating Melody ideas it
seems a shame to just use them once an
easy way to recycle an idea later in a
song is that double the duration of the
notes this means that the relationship
to the chords underneath will change but
the familiarity from earlier in the song
should help to make it sound acceptable
to The Listener you can also go the
other way and halve the duration
depending on what feel you're going for
let's now put all the tips into practice
with an example we'll use the key of C
major there are four chords in the song
C A minor f and g using tip number three
we use the notes c d e f g a b when C
and A minor are playing when the F chord
plays we won't play the B note and when
the G chord plays we won't play the F
note the first four bars are like a mini
intro the chords avoid the one chord to
dilute the sense of key and let it have
more impact when it comes in later
however we start out the melody on C
because it is a note from the underlying
F chord we use a dotted quarter note
followed by an eighth note as mentioned
in tip number five to start us off with
a feeling of movement our first tense
note appears in the end of bar one after
two chord notes so it doesn't have such
a big impact bar two repeats the Rhythm
but this time our first C note is not
part of the underlying G chord so it has
a tensor feeling you can see in bars
three and four we mix chord notes with
tense non-chord notes and have a gentle
up and down Pattern Bar 5 is where we
first hear the one chord c this could be
like a verse you can see we have leapt
up to a higher C note and this section
of Melody ends on C and octave lower so
we have a more aggressive or steeper
padding to our Melody we are mixing note
lengths rests and chord and non-chord
notes to maintain interest in our song
the shorter a minor chord in bar sit
takes us up to a repeat of the section
on the second repeat which change the
notes over a minor at the end starting
with a tensor note and stepping us down
into a short chord progression this
little break uses inversions to take us
into what may be considered the chorus
we start on C in bar 11 with C notes and
step up to the F chord in bar 12. in bar
12 we use more tense notes to contrast
with bar 11. in bar 13 we start with a
triplet from tip number seven notice the
change in feel it provides here this is
the only time we use a tripler in the
melody we then stay fairly static going
into a minor with a shared Note bar 15
is fairly standard and bar 16 only uses
caused notes in an arpeggio to create a
safer feeling sound bar 17 is the start
of our last phrase we start with an
octave leap from g to g this is the
safest chord note so the big leap isn't
too jarring we then step down towards
the a minor chord in bar 18 and finish
with a big drop to B and then a small
step up to C in bars 19-22 we use our
bonus tip and recycle our Melody we
simply double the duration of the notes
and the chords you can hear how this
same but different idea creates an
interesting feel with the melody the
only change we make is when the final
note comes up to C we change the chord
as well to provide us with a nice
conclusion to the song
[Music]
thank you foreign
[Music]
the ideas presented here will be in
major keys but Melodies can be in any
key that you like the use of notes from
outside of a scale also known as
chromatic notes can add real tension and
drama to a Melody but like fire they
need to be handled with care let's have
a look at these now Melodies are
basically just a series of notes usually
these notes are played or sung whilst
the chord is heard at the same time this
relationship between Melody and Harmony
is an important one in songwriting a
basic chord is called a Triad because it
contains three notes for example the c
major chord has the notes c e and G if
we write a melody using only notes from
the chord that plays at the same time
then it creates a very safe and
harmonious sound these notes are also
known as inside notes listen to this
example that uses the c e and g notes
whilst the c major chord plays hear how
safe it sounds
oh foreign
[Music]
[Music]
this is a perfectly acceptable Melody
but what if we want something a bit more
interesting where we only used three
notes of a possible twelve so let's use
a few more you may have heard of scales
before the major scale has seven notes
in it for example the c major scale has
the notes C D E F G A and B you can see
that the three chord notes we used in
our Melody are contained within the
scale the remaining four are known as
outside notes because they are outside
of the chord notes using these outside
notes will add some interest and drama
to your Melody without sounding harsh or
discordant listen to our next example
that uses all seven notes of the c major
scale remember that our chord notes c e
and G are colored red yellow and blue
here the difference in sound these notes
create over the c major chord compared
to the outside notes
[Music]
foreign
we've looked at inside notes and outside
notes let's now turn to the remaining
five notes the alien or chromatic notes
these disruptive notes add color and
interest to a Melody but they come with
more potential to dominate and even ruin
your Melody so use some caution when
working with them as a starting point
they work best as short passing notes
that don't fall on the beat notes that
are played on the beat will naturally
stand out more and notes on the first
beat in the bar will be even more
prominent this effect can of course be
used to make your alien notes stand out
so feel free to experiment let's take
our previous example in C major and mix
in a few chromatic passing notes you'll
see that the chromatic notes are a
mixture of the scale note colors either
side of it listen out for how they
change the sound of the melody against
the underlying chord
[Music]
[Music]
foreign
foreign
chromatic notes help to add a touch of
unpredictability to a tune this power
can be particularly useful in a linear
static Melody these are Melodies that
move in the stepwise nature and don't
spam many notes they look like a
straight line on a page and are often
the result of a reluctant or limited
vocalist by adding a chromatic note to
this limited range you can start to add
a bit more interest without straying too
far from the narrow melody in our next
example we'll start with a linear melody
in C major in the second half We'll add
some chromatic notes to The Limited
range listen to how this makes a static
Melody become more adventurous
[Music]
foreign
foreign
use of chromatic notes in A Melody is
when the underlying chord progression
has a borrowed chord in it a borrowed
chord is a chord that doesn't belong in
the key of a song because it uses a note
or notes from outside of the relevant
scale basically it introduces a
chromatic note into the harmony because
of this they are often used with caution
one way you can make them sound more
coherent is by using any of the
chromatic notes they introduce in the
melody at the same time let's look at a
simple example to demonstrate this in
the first half of the progression we
play the one chord c major in the second
half we use the borrowed chord B flat
major the flat seven chord is a common
borrowed chord in major key songs check
out our video in the description to
learn more about this the B flat major
chord has one alien note in it B flat so
we'll make a very simple melodic phrase
with B flat in it we will repeat this
over both chords listen to how it sounds
different over the B flat major chord
that contains this note
foreign
[Music]
[Music]
thank you
as the last example demonstrated you
have three sets of notes to consider
when thinking about Melody the notes in
the underlying chord the notes in the
chord scale and the notes in the key
scale so if we are playing the B flat
major chord in a song in the key of C
major as before we need to think about
the notes in the B flat major chord the
notes in the B flat major scale and the
notes in the c major scale look at where
they differ and think about these points
of difference and conflict this is where
the tension will be created and think
about where the sets of notes are the
same to resolve this melody is the art
of tension and release another situation
that can create chromatic notes is when
we transpose or shift a melodic phrase
up or down this is a common Melody
writing technique where you preserve the
rhythmic structure of a phrase and
simply shift it up or down this idea of
having something the same but different
is an important one in songwriting let's
explore this with an example we'll start
with a Melody that uses the notes c b
and a then we will repeat this a whole
step or tone lower using the notes B
flat A and G in the first version we'll
do this over the c major chord in the
second version we'll change the chord to
the flat seven chord again this will
accommodate our new note as previously
listen to how changing the chord
accommodates the chromatic note and
combined with the repeated Rhythm
provides a nice continuity also note how
we've put the chromatic notes in a more
prominent position this time but they
don't sound so tense
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
thank you
foreign
[Music]
the right notes is one thing but
crafting them into interesting lines and
phrases is another one completely let's
now look at how to sculpt interesting
Melodies with the art of phrasing by
following Melodies on a screen or page
you can see and appreciate the lines and
curves of the melody you don't need any
music theory knowledge to do this you're
simply looking at the shapes and
Contours a phrase is a section or unit
of the melody which makes musical Sense
on its own being able to look at and
change phrases by thinking about their
shape and Direction can help you to
craft better Melodies let's now explore
the art of phrasing through five simple
tips tip number one treat your Melodies
like language we're speaking English in
this video but think about this in any
language you like if you break down how
languages are spoken they have different
Tunes or phrases which provide emphasis
in different places we use punctuation
paragraphs sentences and other devices
to combine groups of words and give them
meaning and context this allows us to
communicate more complex ideas with ease
another important thing it allows is the
ability for the speaker to breathe
luckily for us you can also treat your
Melodies like a language think of
melodic phrases as sentences they work
as a single unit conveying a particular
melodic idea you can also compare the
phrase to a spoken sentence with a
rising and falling inflection of the
voice where you place the emphasis can
change the meaning or feeling of the
phrase for example if you speak English
you'll know that asking a question will
change how the words are spoken with a
rising inflection at the end of the
sentence this will change the meaning of
the sentence you can use these sort of
ideas in your melodic work to invoke
different emotions also consider where
the breaks in your Melody will be to
allow a singer to breathe even if you're
playing the melody on an instrument that
doesn't require breath the natural
breaks help to split up ideas into
manageable and memorable chunks as
discussed another consideration of
language and therefore Melodies is the
volume of phrases and section of
Melodies this could be adding volume at
crescendos or high points of the phrase
and reducing volume for The Descent
therefore adding interest and emotion we
won't cover this in detail here but it
is another element of language that you
can consider with your melodic phrases
time for the next tip tip number two
after leaps use small steps and after
small steps have Leaps the distance
between each note in your Melody will
change how it feels thinking about this
in lines or shapes a small step would be
a straight line or gentle slope and a
leap would be the opposite like a steep
hill or Cliff let's look at some
examples to demonstrate this we'll use
the c major scale to craft our phrases
but this isn't important in this video
concentrate on the shape and direction
of the phrases we'll use hook pad for
these visualizations hookpad is an
excellent piece of songwriting software
which anyone can use even if they can't
read music Follow the link in the
description below to try hookpad for
yourself in this first example we jump
from C up to a then we step to G and
back to a listen to how the small steps
sound after the leap
foreign
[Music]
look at what happens if we raise the G
by an octave the shape looks completely
different more like a mountain range
here's how that sounds
[Music]
let's now reverse the situation and
start with some small steps which lead
to a leap
[Music]
and for comparison we'll end the same
phrase with steps this time listen to
How it changes the feel of the melody
foreign
you may have noticed that as well as
steps and leaps phrases can have a
rising or falling nature balancing these
elements will be important in telling
your Melody story let's look at the same
set of notes in the first example
they'll be arranged in a rising pattern
then in the second example we'll use a
descending pattern listen out for the
changing feel
foreign
[Music]
back to our discussion in tip number one
you could also think of the rising
phrase as a question and the descending
phrase as an answer remember your Melody
is a series of phrases and the way they
work together will impact the whole song
on to the next tip tip number three
sometimes a little asymmetry can be a
beautiful thing popular music loves even
numbers in particular the number four
you'll see 4 8 and 16 bar song sections
everywhere these will normally be played
in a 4-4 time signature with four beats
in a bar this all feels comfortable and
safe because it is so widely used and if
you break away from this it can take a
listener out of their comfort zone but
it will also make your melody or phrase
stand out from the crowd experiment with
phrases that have an odd number of bars
and see if it better helps to create the
sound that you are after let's look at a
two bar phrase and then spread it over
three bars see how it changes the feel
of the phrase
foreign
foreign
[Music]
tip number four it's good to have a
break if we think back to tip number one
and using language in particular written
English an important tool is the
paragraph it provides a break between
text and signifies a change in point or
idea songs can also benefit from breaks
Melody phrases can be separated by a few
non-vocal instrumental bars these can be
to give the singer a breather or to take
the song to a new place if you're
repeating phrases then they will benefit
from coming back after a break breaks
are easy to see visually in your
phrasing and a useful songwriting tool
that are often not thought about in our
example we'll repeat a phrase a couple
of times then have a four bar break
before bringing in a new phrase listen
out for the difference the break brings
laughs
[Music]
foreign
[Music]
tip number five take it high we spoke
earlier about how higher notes are often
emphasized by playing them louder if you
look at lyrics there are also places
where highly emotive words appear in
order to make them stand out because
they stand out so much the highest note
in a phrase can be used like emphasis in
a word or sentence if you've got
something you want to highlight make it
the highest note in our first example
we'll take an existing phrase and on the
second repeat we'll put a single note up
an octave for emphasis you'll hear this
all the time in singing without thinking
about it
foreign
it is usually dramatic when a Melody has
a held high note at the end of a section
let's take our previous example and
tweak it to accommodate this
[Music]
we'll now put all of the phrasing ideas
together in a Melody as before look at
the lines and Contours that the Melody
has and don't worry too much about the
individual notes when writing your own
phrases think about the shape and
direction of the song and how the melody
will achieve this
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
thank you
you've learned about Melodies but there
are many more elements that make up a
song I've made a playlist just for you
right here so make sure you watch that
next and take your songwriting to the
next level
Browse More Related Video
Crashkurs für Anfänger | Canva Tutorial Deutsch
Wie kannst du diese Nomen und Verben verstärken? (Deutsch B2, C1)
🧠 Mein Second-Brain-System – Wie ich nie wieder etwas vergesse⎟Werde produktiv & organisiert
Optimization method | Neural Style Transfer #3
Anbau für Anfänger: Blütephase 😨 Das musst du über Blüten wissen!
Neues Bestellformular anlegen und gestalten | Digistore24 Bestellformular anlegen
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)