Creating catchy rap melodies?

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Whitelexluger

New member
What advice can you give me to create catchy melodies? I got the sounds and I pretty much know fruityloops like the back of ma hand. For some reason I just haven't been able to put toether anything that sounds good lately. I've done it before, But lately I haven't been and I think its cuz none of my melodies are really catchy.
 
Add some delay and reverb, delay especially as it can turn something crap into something catchy!
 
Use a recorder and hum some melodies for 10-30 minutes. Then you sit down and listen to it and you see if you like one more than the others.
If you've found a melody that sounds stronger/catchier than the others, then try to make that melody in Piano roll. (It can be very tricky, but it's a good practice to learn to listen to notes).
 
I don't want to come in and sound like a hater but honestly to make melodies like most rap songs you could use an arpeggiator and iterate over one chord or hell... just use riff machine.
 
You are not being a hater - almost what I would have written without the technology crutch/knowledge obfuscator.

  • use arpeggios ~ 1-3-5|3-5-1|5-1-3|1-5-3|3-1-5|5-3-1/1-[sup]b[/sup]3-5|[sup]b[/sup]3-5-1|5-1-[sup]b[/sup]3|1-5-[sup]b[/sup]3|[sup]b[/sup]3-1-5|5-[sup]b[/sup]3-1
  • use small scale runs ~ 1-2-3-2-1/1-2-[sup]b[/sup]3-2-1/etc...
  • use major/minor pentatonic ~ 1-2-3-5-6/1-[sup]b[/sup]3-4-5-[sup]b[/sup]7
  • use blues scale ~ 1-[sup]b[/sup]3-4-[sup]#[/sup]4/[sup]b[/sup]5-[sup]b[/sup]7
  • don't be afraid to use repeat notes
  • don't be afraid to use the same melodic idea at higher or lower pitch (this is the development of a motive or riff)
  • remember to have a balance of notes going up and down ~ think bridges or staircases for the melodic contour smooth movement as opposed to large, jerky movement/leaps
 
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Bandcoach has mentioned some useful stuff, I agree to that. also:

Try not always to start on the chord's root note, starting on the 3rd note of a chords scale gives slightly fuller sound and a harmonic colour (depending if you're on minor or major), starting on the 5th gives you more tension due to frequency in tones.
Maybe use the so called "tensions", mostly the 9th, 11th and 13th tone of the chord scale you're on. But always check if the note you're using on downbeats (1 or 3 of a bar) are:
-either the 1st, 3rd, 5th or 7th (1st and 5th giving you less tension/tension without harmonic colour, 3rd and 7th giving you less/more tension with harmonic colour)
-or the 9th,11th,etc. if you're after clear harmonic tension in your melody, always doublecheck that the note you're using is not the b9 to your root note. Since tensions get a little complex, I'd suggest just use them when they sound right.

Another great arranging technique to blowing melodies: guide tone lines!! Most ppl don't even know what it is, but it's the connective tissue in melody and is used in every professional song.
The clue is, that over time youre melody develops in a special order. It can be very easy to create these lines, and it's yet so effective (on pop, rock, hiphop, jazz, orchestral, etc.). Simply explained: If you're having 3 notes that have an up movement (like arpeggio or chromatic or diatonic move) and that are spread over 3 bars, you can add a ton of other notes to your melody BUT these 3 Notes are either the highest or the lowest of this melodic motive and are the key notes of your melody (most likely placed on the downbeats.).
There can be just one guide tone line in the whole track or there is a guide tone line for every motive or even two, three, some just lasting a few bars, some last longer. There is no specific rule to these lines in melody that can be applyed to every genre (but in harmonic chords there is), but it's always good to use them.

Wow. Much text going on here. Try it out, may help you ;)


(one very easy and hyper effective example: over the rainbow. Clear guide town moves, giving an upper and lower end of the melody.)
 
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If you don't normally play your melodys out on the keyboard or on a midi, try that. If you already do that try combining chords and single notes in your melody
 
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