How do you guys make melodies?

I usually use a combo of A, D and F.. or E, B, and G.. or C, E, and G.. but A, D, and F always sounds best to me but it also depends on what the instrument or music style is..
 
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What I learned that really helps is to tap out the melody in one note and then change the notes to other notes in the key you're playing in. I believe it was GTA or Grand Theft that posted about doing this in a Reddit AMA. Its helped my melodies immensely.
 
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I use a key signature that creates the "vibe" or emotion I want to make, then write using chords that fall within that signature. I occasionally flat or sharp a note out of the designated signature if it creates the sound I want.
 
I definitely agree with that, I come up with most of my melodies just by messing around on the keyboard. I play a little guitar though, started learning recently and its helped quite a bit. I like to use it in my beats sometimes!

I would suggest at least learning some chords or different keys on the piano. F# is my favorite!
 
I usually get a baseline first, then fit the melody around, basses are more simple and one note at a time so there you got ur idea for your melody and start adding pads, guitars, pianos or whatever over it with chords and harmonies and go from there.
 
paul121 said:
I usually get a baseline first, then fit the melody around, basses are more simple and one note at a time so there you got ur idea for your melody and start adding pads, guitars, pianos or whatever over it with chords and harmonies and go from there.
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How would you say your grip on music theory is and how much of a necessity do you feel it is to have that background to know how to place chords and maneuver your way around they keyboard when improvising lines or whatnot? Or would you say it's less to do with theory and more to do with something else (and therefore someone saying they do not a have sufficient theory background is a BS excuse for not being able to create dope music?)
 
D-toks said:
How would you say your grip on music theory is and how much of a necessity do you feel it is to have that background to know how to place chords and maneuver your way around they keyboard when improvising lines or whatnot? Or would you say it's less to do with theory and more to do with something else (and therefore someone saying they do not a have sufficient theory background is a BS excuse for not being able to create dope music?)
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I just do it by ear really at this moment in time. I can hear if a note is in or out of pitch with the rest. When it comes to chords I don't have any theory knowledge i just do shapes with different spacing between the keys and see if its in key. Whether its minor or major scales you can kind of get something down, especially with house or dnb where u don't need to write a symphony.

I am actually taking piano lessons this year to improve on my theory saying that as I am starting to make more and more complex tracks and genres too and ill need it for complex chord progressions
 
I usually make melodies using just the piano roll in FL Studio with a piano sound and also using a MIDI keyboard. What I do is I have the scale I'm using grayed out in the background, and use that to find some good sounding chords. Afterwards I try and add a bassline using a rhythm I come up with. Lastly, I experience with notes, finding ones that fit together nicely and start developing a melody.
 
You don't have to know how to play an instrument (but it helps!), at least learn know how to create chords on your midi keyboard. That would help a lot, youtube is full of tutorials about that.
 
koollord said:
Go to the Piano Roll "in FL Studio"
activate the ghost notes
go to the chords section in the piano roll and choose scales or chords"Minor or major'
choose a key ABCDEfG and click on the one you want
open another channel with a vst
finally make melodies following the ghost notes
this is the easy way, the hard way is to learn music theory wayching tutorials on youtube.
good luck.
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That's Very true, A nice easy way but at the same time it's very efficient way. You can also use software, if your just beginning I recommend EZ Keys It's a actual program/vst plugin, with great quality. You can drap and drop what you come up with, in to fl studio or w.e software you use, plus there's tons of presets. I made this using Ez Keys today check it out lmk your thought's, much love.

https://soundcloud.com/codean/codean-free-piano-loop-entitled
 
Honestly, take the time to learn to play piano properly, improving your hands is the single biggest way to improve the quality of your beats.

Sure you can pen stuff in, but at some point by taking that shortcut your handicapping yourself.
 
I just play with a bunch of sounds. when I released my beat this week, I needed some pad to add a background layer but didn't know what I wanted at all. I bought Komplete 10 a couple months ago, and I just opened up Massive and started going through pads. Before you know it, I created 4 different projects with starter melodies back to back. I've gotten some great melodies from the arpeggiated and chord type pads and synths. Loop packs help as well.
 
bgs1237 said:
I don't know why people over complicate things so much, especially edm producers for some reason. I usually just play stuff on my midi (or even computer) keyboard until I create a melody i can run with. I can then base all the other sounds in the beat off of that one melody I created. You'd be surprised how many songs and beats are produced this way. Don't be fooled into thinking it's necessary for you too learn guitar or piano to make good music.
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I agree.. You dont nescessarily need to know too much about music theory, although it helps alot..

Heres my method : I try to project my emotional mindstate and I might start out with an idea OR not, but I play around a little, then some sort of melody or theme will start to take shape.. From there - the music actually makes itself so to speak.. and the end result might be radically different from what you originally envisioned, but its usually better...

Of course music theory i very helpful, but I go about it in a more intuitive way.. that will also make the music mopre HONEST if you understand what i mean..

Hope this helps..
 
I had a lot of trouble trying to come up with melodies. what really helped me is music theory (which is not really neccessary, but for me it helped) also there is a course iin udemy called 'music composition 1' or Schoenberg's book on music composition which covers everything you need to know about melodies and more.
I'd suggest learning about motifs, how you can develop them. Every melody (and music for that matter) is finding a balance between unity and variety, that is, between endlessly repeating something and altering it just enough to remain the same but still sounding new.
For example the best way is to listen to Beethoven's 5th symphony and you can hear how he developed his 'da da da daaa'motif throughout the whole symphony (or just even the first movement) Once youcan hear motifs in music you can get a much better understanding about how melodies are made.
For me I just try to think up of a simple idea first, then try repeating it or parts of it, when it starts to sound boring just change something (pitch, rhythm) just enough so it would sound interesting. THe most important thing is to have fun ^^
 
I usually start with a chord progression. The chord progression is like the foundation, when I have the chord progression I mainly go by intuition. I know music theory, and scales and all that but in my opinion when you only follow the theory you limit your creativity, since a note might fit the vibe of the melody even though it is not in the scale. Another thing I do is use different octaves to create more contrast or energy.
 
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