Help! Im unable to make a simple catchy melody :(

T

t(0.0)t

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Im trying to compose (electro house) a catchy melody with a simple synth, but somehow every melody i create is unemotionally and boring. :cry: Things like chords are no problem for me, but i feel stuck with composing a "normal" melody...
Did you ever had a problem like this as a beginner like me?

PLS HELP...
 
t(0.0)t said:
Im trying to compose (electro house) a catchy melody with a simple synth, but somehow every melody i create is unemotionally and boring. :cry: Things like chords are no problem for me, but i feel stuck with composing a "normal" melody...
Did you ever had a problem like this as a beginner like me?

PLS HELP...
Click to expand...

Instead of "trying" to make a "catchy" melody, just experiment and let your ears and taste be your guide. You cannot manufacture a catchy tune, just like nobody can sit down and create a hit---its up to your listeners to decide if its catchy or not. I'd also experiment with arpeggiated chords and adding some passing notes in between, Build a harmony and play those arpeggiated chords on top of it.
 
you may be thinking about it way too much. i dont believe a melody is something you can consciously create but something that flows through you from your subconscious mind.. you gotta somehow tune yourself out and let the music channel through you. hitting random keys to find a good melody rarely works for me, i come up with one in my head first then translate it into midi lol. hope this helps!
 
t(0.0)t said:
Im trying to compose (electro house) a catchy melody with a simple synth, but somehow every melody i create is unemotionally and boring. :cry: Things like chords are no problem for me, but i feel stuck with composing a "normal" melody...
Did you ever had a problem like this as a beginner like me?

PLS HELP...
Click to expand...

The problem beginners face with melody writing is that their subconscious is judging it against other models of melodic design. Emotion in a melody is a combination of tones, rhythm and expressive techniques for the instrument playing the melody; i.e. the actual notes are part of the puzzle, as is the rhythm; the way that the notes and rhythm are played is the final part of the puzzle, so it won't make a difference if the notes and rhythm are great, it only becomes fantastic when they are played the right way with the right dynamics and articulations (legato (smoothly) or staccato (short, sharp), ff (very loud) or pp (very soft), tenuto (held) or rubato (literally robbed time - meaning that the rhythm is only partially stuck to and tempo is a guide rather than strictly observed)

Generally we look to falling intervals for sadness and rising intervals for happiness (an interval is the space or distance between notes for those who aren't sure)

I do have to disagree with you pumpthrust - it is more than possible to sit down and write a hit - how else do we explain Mickey Chin and Mike Chapman, the 1970's hit factory or Stock-Aitken-Waterman (discoverers of Kylie Minogue and Rick Astley amongst others), the hit factory of the mid to late 80's and early 90's; both teams had a very simple plan for writing songs that would still work today
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vanquish said:
you may be thinking about it way too much. i dont believe a melody is something you can consciously create but something that flows through you from your subconscious mind.. you gotta somehow tune yourself out and let the music channel through you. hitting random keys to find a good melody rarely works for me, i come up with one in my head first then translate it into midi lol. hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Arnold Schoenberg showed in his text Fundamentals of composition that there is a technique for creating melodic ideas that is simple and effective - it is based on the notion of using chords and their tones and arranging them in the various permutations and combinations possible for 3 or 4 notes and then adding rhythmic variety to each permutation. The next step is to apply any one of the 14 tricks I have written about elsewhere to successive . From this he goes on to show every melody that Beethoven wrote using the same techniques.

Creating a melody from scratch is entirely possible, however creating a great melody or an exquisite melody requires additional work and testing/tasting, much like making a fine wine......
 
bandcoach said:
I do have to disagree with you pumpthrust - it is more than possible to sit down and write a hit - how else do we explain Mickey Chin and Mike Chapman, the 1970's hit factory or Stock-Aitken-Waterman (discoverers of Kylie Minogue and Rick Astley amongst others), the hit factory of the mid to late 80's and early 90's; both teams had a very simple plan for writing songs that would still work today.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I didn't know that.
 
Try getting inspired, listen to some of your favorite tunes, understand the melody, then try to create a similar MOOD. We all get stuck sometimes, but just keep working at it, soon melodies will be the last of your problems!
 
I agree with 1OakProduction, as the quickest way I learn to write melodies is to mimic my favorite artists and understand how they do it.

Is their melody 4 or 8 bars? What key is the melody in? How does the melody interact with the rhythm section? What is the bass doing when the lead melody comes in? How are the chord changes modified in the transistions?

If you're new to this, unless you're some type of prodigy, you're not going to write a hit melody in the first shot, you're going to need to keep writing until it starts to make sense. Actively listen to your favorite songs and pick them apart. Collab with other musicians so you can get a feel for how they write.

At the most simple level, think about it like this, there are only a handful of notes that make up any particular scale...it's how they are played that makes the biggest impact. ~BDTeknique
 
Hello guys and gals. I hardly come on this forum because I've been sucked into the blackhole of the Gearslutz website. Well I've encountered a white hole and am now realizing that this forum is what my heart has really been longing for.

Anyway, my opinion on writing good melody is that there must be a good supporting cast. The way the other instruments interact with the melody is important too. Music is a living, breathing organism. It's difficult to capture something so emotional and try to put it into scientific terms. It's almost spiritual. You have to feel it and be willing to allow yourself to be an instrument of expression. It's very awkward at times.

It's easy to get frustrated but I find that I have write about 10 or 15 bad melodies to finally come across a good one. It is worth your patience. Good luck.
 
When i have a "producer block", i do these 3 steps:
1st) I make a simple 4-notes bassline
2nd) Add a 4-chords progression to the bassline
3rd) i literally sing to the beat, and when i find a nice melody i put it from my mind to the piano roll :)
 
What I like to do sometimes is make a simple, uncomplicated pattern and play it along with a desired beat, and then as its playing very gradually alter some of the note in your otherwise simple pattern, whether by changing the length of some notes, the pitch, adding extras or removing others, etc .. Start off small and let it work its own way into something memorable as you work with it :)
 
I can say that i have spent 10 years making music and i still cant do it. sometimes ive made nice things, but i believe this was a small part of luck. i have very little creativity do create a melody i tried days and days months and months years and years. i also cant drum with my hands or keep a rhythm with beatboxing. altough i can dance very good. have real feel for it and people always told me im a great dancer i can express allot of creativity in dance and can follow every melody very good. My musical memory scored as high as a 8.5 out of 10 which was extremely high. now if anyone has an explanation... they said i could do everything if i wanted it badly wel i wanted it for 10 years and i still cant do it/.
 
If you over think it too much your melodies are always going to end up sounding forced and uncreative! Take a tip from jazz players who will learn licks by the major players and then reinterpret them when they jam/solo etc. Also melodies don't have to be complex to sound right, sometimes 2 or 3 different notes is enough and (IMO) rhythm is the most important bit.
 
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