Vocal Melody Writing

S

SimonT

Member
Do you think great melody's are just a gift or can they be constructed?

I know Noel Gallagher has said, his just come to him, and he doesn't know where from.

I've never constructed one, mine just come. I strum my guitar and just sing and it comes, but keep wondering if I could do better if I knew more about melody writing?

Thanks!
 
anything can be constructed if you understand the inner workings of the medium (syfy movies, for example, are a genre unto themselves and yet are constructed on a time frame that would make most movie producers/directors sweat bricks - production values overall are much lower than your average TV movie but there are rare gems)

The approach of sing until it sounds right is still a constructive process, just not as calculated as sitting down and saying I am now going to use a 4th followed by a descending scale movement back to my starting note

your knowledge influences your ability to create consciously and unconsciously: if you know more then you can create without relying on "gut" creativity
 
It is not uncommon for an inexperienced composer to come up with a brilliant melody. Over time, you might get better at orchestration, producing, arranging, mixing and so on. But even if you lack these abilities the creation of a great melody is still possible I think.
 
Yeah I read in Songwriting For Dummies once, that the reason The Beatles songs were so memorable and catchy, was they used a wide variety of notes in interesting ways or something like that. Don't think they were conscious of it though.
 
The Beatles weren't afraid to apply the ideas present in the popular songs of the 30's and 40's and 50's: secondary dominants, wide vocal range, divergent middle 8's/bridges, dim7 subs for other chords, the list goes on and on; add to that they weren't afraid to use other musicians to play stuff they couldn't and they were more than happy for George Martin to do arrangements as well as produce for them
 
SimonT said:
I've never constructed one, mine just come. I strum my guitar and just sing and it comes, but keep wondering if I could do better if I knew more about melody writing?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I think a melody will write itself if it responds well to the composition. Might be worth considering if you start with a melody, or finalise a track with a melody. I tend to do the music first, then the melodies slip themselves in to the right places at the right times. Sometimes I overlay many melodies and then strip them back until I like what I hear. I am sure that there are rules for writing melodies, depends what kind of approach you desire.
 
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