starting melody 1st without chords

[platinumstatusbeats]

i cant make a good melody to save my life unless i start chord any tips non starting melody 1st because in order to make a good melody i need to lay chords from a scale or even when i try to lay melody 1st i always start with a scale just idk it just not flowing right any tips starting with melody 1st

 

[Wapiti]

I'll ask you the question why does it matter? A melody is nothing without the support of chords and chords will get boring slowly without a driving melody (though chord progression could keep a song more interesting than a standalone melody by far).

But if you want to write a melody first just pick a scale and work chords in after, I personally find it much easier to do chords first at they are the backbone of the track, melody will wrap around much easier and glue it all together. good luck

 

[bandcoach]

melodies may well imply a chord progression but they do not necessarily have to be built from one

just try some simple exercises to begin with

write 1 bar of a melodic idea
repeat it
write a new idea that complements the first one
repeat the first idea

instant 4 bar melody

things you can do along the way:

1st repeat start up one note from the initial idea
start the new idea on the same note as the repeat
2nd repeat start another note up and rework to return to the tonic (1st note of the scale) so that it sounds finished of leave it to finish exactly where it would with a note for note repeat up 2 notes

extend this now by repeating the whole reworked phrase starting 4 notes up to begin
6th bar up one note again
7th bar a different new idea that works it way down to the
8th bar where you start 1 or 2 notes up from the original starting note and work towards finishing on the tonic again.....

e.g.

c-c-f-e-d-f
c-c-f-e-d-f
g-f-g-d-e-d
c-c-f-e-d-c (last changed to finish it up)

alternative approach

c-c-f-e-d-f
d-d-g-f-e-g
d-c-d-a-b-a
e-e-a-g-f-e (finishing on e is part of the tonic chord of C major)

extended alternative approach

c-c-f-e-d-f
d-d-g-f-e-g
d-c-d-a-b-a
e-e-a-g-f-a
f-f-b-a-g-b
g-g-c-b-a-c
b-a-b-g-f-g
e-e-a-g-f-e (finishing on e is part of the tonic chord of C major)

enjoy

 

[balls of metal]

The easiest, most elementary way of writing a melody is as simple as writing out your chord progression and just using chord tones and quarter or 8th notes. Non-chord tones are what really make things interesting, but starting with what's actually in the chord underneath is the easiest way in my opinion. Just experiment, try each tone present in each chord over the given chord and all of the combinations between them all. Eventually, you'll learn how each interval reacts with each triad/chord and so much experimentation won't be necessary. But if you're looking for a good place to start, just layout your progression and just assemble a bunch of chord tones on top and see if you like it. If you don't, rinse and repeat. When you've gotten something you like, COPY IT and save the original. Then, try sprinkling in a few passing tones maybe, or a suspension. Like I said, it's with non-chord tones that things start to get fun, so might not even mind experimenting in this phase. Either way, this is basically (more or less) how I wrote my first piece in my Theory Lab in college. It's also very common in beginning sight-singing exercises, as non-chord tones tend to be a bit tough in context, for beginners. Also, read bandcoach's response. If you want to write the melody first, pick a key and work it backwards. See at what points which chords/triads/inversions sound the best to YOUR ears. (given that it's a musically sound choice). Start with chords that have the note in the melody in the chord and so on and so forth.