I Need Some Advice On How To Compose.

Hi,

I need some advice on composing a new Melody. I´ve already made some orchestral songs that aren’t half bad. But now I have problems to think of a new Melody. In the moment, I can only think of similar ones to those I already made.

When I think back, I can´t really remember how I got those melodies. So, I´m in a bit of a loss right now.

How do you composite new songs and how do you put aside your last project? Do you meditate until you get something new or do you listen to other songs, to get some inspiration? (Isn´t that like changing an existing Song?) So, what are the pro´s ways of making something new?

But this isn´t my only Problem. I said my songs weren’t half bad, but they lack emotions. I want to get my emotions into the song. But how? Every time I made a new melody, I couldn’t feel my own feelings in it.

I admit, this will get me to the same question as before:

So, how do you composite new melodies?

I hope this isn´t asking too much.

Looking forward to your answers

Thank you in advance.

Greets

Memoria

I somehow knew that something like that would come :D

A few weeks ago, the notes would simply come into my head, but now, nothing. Since I never took any lessons from someone, I have no ideas what I can do. It might sound silly, but it would really help, if you could just tell me, how you get your melodies.

Sorry, if my english is bad.......

Now I can see how important proper study is. :horrified:

Thank you for your answer...

First of all, welcome to YC!

If I understand well, your problem is that you cannot express your emotions through music, and don't know why.

Imagine, that you want to write a love poem in Spanish, but you know nothing or only a little about the Spanish grammar. Well, music is some sort of language, and if you don't know its grammar you can't express yourself through it. ( <-- it is my personal opinion, many have different thinking about this, but please, do not start an endless "What is music?" thread again. We are here to help, thank you.)

Ok, here are some practical suggestions how to improve your melodies:

1. Learn rhythm and meters. Rhythm is the primitive level of music, it is vital to understand different note values and meters.

2. Learn scales, minor and major at least. Learn key notes like tonic/1st, dominant/5th, subdominant/4th, and tendency tones (leading note/7th , supertonic/2nd, ...). There are stable notes and less stable or unstable ones, the latter need some sort of resolution.

3. Learn phrasing. Make short phrases instead of a very long melody line (In other words, try using "simple sentences" instead of one long "compound sentence"). Try to build short phrases purely by different rhythm values / or purely by different pitches with same note values.

4. Learn cadences. Listen to the difference between ending on the 1st degree of the scale and ending on the 2nd, 3rd... etc. degree. Experiment with cadences and listen how they sound.

5. Study scores of great composers. Listen to parameters listed above (1-4.)

Good luck!

Máté

Imagine, that you want to write a love poem in Spanish, but you know nothing or only a little about the Spanish grammar.

I never thought of it like that. This means, I have to study a lot. :D

I will immediatly order some reasonable books and start reading...

Thank you.... :happytears:

There are lots of ways to learn music, and all the aspects, of course the most direct is playing experience, taking courses.. If you're working on your own, a good thing would be do to some covers or write something similar that conveys what you are trying to experience. On numerous occasions, i have taken chords from other songs, and written new songs.

Listen to one song, learn the melody and then adapt it to your song, (making the appropriate changes). This seems like a great site, (I'm new here).

I belong to a couple of other sites, and often learn from comments I get, or what other people are uploading.

Keep challenging yourself. Make it a point to learn the basics, you are going to have to.. I was mostly self taught (many years). I took some Berklee on Line music courses in arranging (which are great but expensive). Many of the techniques I subconsciously learnt in years of playing, but didn't know why it worked. I really wished I had overcome my arrogance as a young man, that I wanted to be self taught. I would have saved so much time, had I gone to music college. But the point was I wasn't ready for it.

But also make time to have fun, spend some time, without a goal, just to have play. Truth is man learns a lot when he plays, whether music, or any other activity.

5 years back for the first time, I got serious about scoring the music. I use Logic Pro.. The scoring section of logic is b*****ch to learn, but the beauty, you can write, edit, play realtime with your hardware, Virtual instruments, etc.

I downloaded a lot of scores and studied them. I started scoring out my own pieces. It became much easier to see sections that needed help. Now you are using your eyes as well as your ears to make music.. I've found now, I can write or edit parts, just from the score without playing the keyboard. You'll find the method that works best for you.

I have a part the job at a club, I basically spend a lot of the night listening to music, estimating the chords, (don't have perfect pitch, but gotten pretty good with relative pitch). I created alternate bass, melody lines to the songs, as fun. I practice improvising scales of the chords that are used in the song. And you know it begins to rub off.

Sometimes I create a riff by playing it.. Other times, I sing a part, and then learn what I sang.

p :)

Don't worry so much about whether you've heard the melody you're using before. If you spend time on developing it and work with the melody, there's a good chance you'll end up with something of your own anyway. Going through life trying to only come up with original melodies sounds like a dry experience. If you like a melody write something for it, just remember to develop it and not just let it be as it is.

I'm not educated in the music field as well and I find it really hard to understand technical stuff. But what I generally do is come up a main melody. It can be simple one within one bar or four bars even and just build my song around it. Try listening to compositions on youtube from soundtracks and what not. One of the melodies I really love is from James Newton Howard in the Lady in the Water soundtrack, I really felt the emotions in the main melody of the songs.

You could try watching a movie and writing a song about it after, or looking at pictures, I'd suggest Deviantart for that. This would help bring out some emotions.

Let me know if you post anything on here, I'd like to hear it.

Before anyone can truely come up with an original melody, you must first have a rudimentary understanding of basic music theory...

You must be able to resite at least 4 basic scales in what ever key you find most comfortable the scales are major, minor, harmonic minor, pentatonic. Once you learn each scale, then comes phrasing and timing exercises of those scales. For example instead of playing the scale in simple quarter notes, playit in 8th notes... Mix the quarter notes and 8th notes together and you have a amatuer melody, but nevertheless a melody.

If you find yourself stuck with that same similar melody over and over again, for me, it's my chord progression that is the problem... Change up the chord progression and it usually will inspire a new melody.

Never force you self to write music (unless there is a deadline of some sort). I have physically and mentally collapsed due to working on a peice too hard, if you can't come up with something, go relax and eat and apple or something... Then later on, come back to the old' piano (or whatever instrument you are playing).

Honeing your improvisational skills will greatly help your writing abilities. Take the easiest scale (pentatonic), go to you tube and slap on a simple blues rock backing track and jam for a half hour. It's super fun!!!

I could go on for a long time about all the different tips and trick to making a master peice, but feel free to PM me with any questions. I would be more then happy to help :)

This post is not ment to be a lesson but just some basic insight.

To add what other have said: Before you learn melodic form and musical form, for the matter, learn harmony., Learn to 4-p harmonic sequences both using thorough bass and chorale harmonization. Then, learn counterpoint. After which, you can start creating themes.

It's funny: I have a different, but similar, problem. Like most composers I do a lot of listening, and I frequently hear something that really encapsulates the kind of music I'd like to write. And therein lies the problem. When I begin composing I find myself writing melodies that sound far too similar to the piece I'm thinking of. I've learned to just run with it and keep revising until it's something that's uniquely mine. It may still sound somewhat like the piece I was inspired by, but as my old composition professor used to say, there's no greater compliment than to have someone say "that sounds like [insert great composer]"

To find good melodies, first spend time playing music that has melodies that make you feel wonderful. And listen to music that has melodies you like. Then you will unconsciously create better melodies, because you will have many good examples in your mind.

Hello Everyone!

I joined this forum a day back.. was going through the posts here, and I feel there's always so much to learn.

Have a great day ahead! I look forward to a lot of learning here.. :nod:

This book http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Music-Jeffrey-Ainis/dp/B0073V7KY8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1360945443&sr=8-6&keywords=william+russo+composing+musichttp://www.amazon.com/Composing-Music-Jeffrey-Ainis/dp/B0073V7KY8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1360945443&sr=8-6&keywords=william+russo+composing+music actually gets you started very well with basic exercises in composition. Requirements are that you read music and can play an instrument