Music lyrical melody12/5/2023 Another common motif modification is to reverse it ("retrograde"). My favorite change is sequence, which means to shift the whole motif slightly up or down in pitch. You can also change the motif in simple ways to continue the melody. You can also repeat the same motif with different chords under it to make it more interesting (see Delta Blues, where each lyric motif is sung over the I chord and then often repeated over the IV chord). You can repeat the exact same motif several times before it gets boring. Once you have a motif, things should get easier. Most music is almost entirely "questions" with very few "answers". Hans Zimmer describes melodies as being either "questions" or "answers". This is also good advice for chord progressions. Most melodies maintain some level of tension for the entire song until the very end. Motifs that end with more tension are best. I find the melody note being the root of the chord is the most "boring" sound of the three, and generally I only do that when the chord itself is interesting in a harmonic way.Īvoid a motif (the short melody for the first line of lyrics) that seems to resolve at the end. When selecting chord tones to be part of the melody, it helps to experiment with how each note interacts with the chord, meaning when the melody note is the root of the chord, it will have a different sound from when it's the third of the chord, and likewise with the fifth. If you already have chords, then you probably want to start and end a line on chord tones. Studying those can give you some real insight into how simple melodies can be very effective. A happier example is "Reveille", which is used at the start of the day. One classic example of literal bugle notes is "Taps", the bugle music used for the end of the day and funerals in the US military. Basing a melody on bugle notes can help make it catchy and poppy, while avoiding bugle notes will help avoid sounding too poppy or happy. These are basically the notes of a major triad in inversion. One thing I think about a lot when writing melodies are what I call "bugle notes" - the notes that can be played on a bugle. Alternating between two notes can lend a more negative feeling. If you want an inspirational sound, then a rising melody can help. A declarative statement may end on a lower note or have a sort of cadence at the end. If the first line of the lyrics is a question, then maybe you want to end the first line of the melody on a high note. A good way to write the first motif is to focus on a single line of lyrics. Writing that first motif is probably the hardest part, but you can take inspiration from your lyrics. ![]() ![]() You can compose very complicated melodies starting from a very short, simple motif. Once you have a start on the rhythm, you'll probably want to start varying the notes. It might not be the kind of melody you want to write, but it's a simple way to get started. Listen to the verses of "Welcome To New York" by Taylor Swift (from 1989) to hear repeated lyrics with a repeated rhythm and very simple pitch variations. Even just one repeated note sung with an interesting rhythm can form a melody. Once you have a grasp of the meter of your lyrics, you can start writing a melody by merely composing a rhythm that matches the meter. This may look boring on the page, but it will help inspire a melody that repeats the same rhythm with different notes. If you're struggling with repeating lyrical elements, an easy out is to literally repeat the same words two or more times. So your lyrics should have repetition and variation of meter. A very popular aspect to repeat is the meter. That doesn't mean you have to repeat the same words, but you have to repeat something. Each figure may or may not be related to the last one in some specific way.Īnalogously, repetition and variation are also important in lyrics. But endlessly repeated sounds are boring, so usually in music we hear a figure repeated a few times and then a different figure is repeated. A sequence of random sounds is generally not considered music, so repetition of a sound or pattern of sounds is an important part of establishing that the sounds are musical. ![]() Music is all about repetition and change. The hallmarks of effective lyrics are easy to recognize once you understand how lyrics work with music. Understand the meter of the language you're writing in is critical to making an effective melody, and it seems like you have that down.īefore working on the melody, it helps a lot to have effective lyrics, and by "effective", I mean lyrics that will work melodically and that almost suggest a melody all on their own.
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