What happens if you don't start a melody on the root note?

M

maximedupre

New member
Let's say my track is in G minor. What happens if I start my melody on another note that is within the G minor scale? Will it sound wrong?
 
As long as it's in the same key it should sound fine. Starting with the root note is not a requirement, just an easy starting point.
 
the only way it can sound "wrong" is if it is too dissonant against the active chord; e.g. a D against Eb major but even then it depends on how you quit the dissonance as much as anything else (resolving that D to Eb or G or Bb is fine whereas moving to an A may or not work depending on whether you also move to a Dm or F major) - i.e. context is everything
 
bandcoach said:
the only way it can sound "wrong" is if it is too dissonant against the active chord; e.g. a D against Eb major but even then it depends on how you quit the dissonance as much as anything else (resolving that D to Eb or G or Bb is fine whereas moving to an A may or not work depending on whether you also move to a Dm or F major) - i.e. context is everything
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There are no chords under my melody, so I guess any note of the scale could be used as the first note. For some reason I feel guilty when I'm not using the tonic as the first note...I've always done that, because I thought that if I didn't then I would be switching scale. If I remember correctly, the C scale and Am scale use the same notes...so if my track is in C major and my lead starts on C and my bass starts on A, then I would technically have two scales in my track. I know Am and C are one of the only scale (if not the only scale) that share the exact same notes, so it wouldn't happen with other scales, but I guess it still confuses me, lol.
 
actually, no, you wouldn't, your bass is the active note in determining your active chord: the C indicates that it could be Am, or F or Dm7

Am - A-C-E
F - F-A-C
Dm7 - D-F-A-C

as for scales/modes that share the same notes

NotesMajorNatural
Minor		DorianPhrygianLydianMixolydianLocrian
C-D-E-F-G-A-B-CCADEFGB
D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-DDBEF#GAC#
E-F#-G#-A-B-C#-D#-EEC#F#G#ABD#
F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-FFDGABbCE
G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-GGEABCDF#
A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#-AAF#BC#DEG#
B-C#-D#-E-F#-G#-A#-BBG#C#D#EF#A#
C#-D#-E#-F#-G#-A#-B#-C#C#A#D#E#F#G#B#
D#-E#-Fx-G#-A#-B#-Cx-D#D#B#E#FxG#A#Cx
F#-G#-A#-B-C#-D#-E#-F#F#D#G#A#BC#E#
G#-A#-B#-C#-D#-E#-Fx-G#G#E#A#B#C#D#Fx
A#-B#-Cx-D#-E#-Fx-Gx-A#A#FxB#CxD#E#Gx
Db-Eb-F-Gb-Ab-Bb-C-DbDbBbEbFGbAbC
Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-C-D-EbEbCFGAbBbD
Gb-Ab-Bb-Cb-Db-Eb-F-GbGbEbAbBbCbDbF
Ab-Bb-Cb-Db-Eb-F-G-AbAbFBbCbDbEbG
Bb-C-D-Eb-F-G-A-BbBbGCDEbFA
 
As a very rough rule of thumb, the most common other notes to start your melody on in G minor would be Bb and D- the other notes in a G minor triad.
 
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I would have said any note that is used in one of triads i, bIII, v or bVII, e.g. Gm (G-Bb-D), Bb (Bb-D-F), Dm (D-F-A) or F (F-A-C), making the notes one of G-A-Bb-C-D-F i.e. anything but the Eb; with a priority of G-D-F-A-Bb-C
 
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