I tend to have a pretty easy time coming up with melodies...
- Thread starter 3ternal
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getfresh
Wavetable Bandit
no, you should ease off. You need to figure out the songs form first. Just make like 8 bars of cords that all can be played together in different arrangements of the bars. then put together your song structure using those 8. Just a skeleton track. now listen through and figure out what chord progression, and most likely different instrument can be used to compliment while contrasting the first one just enough to give it a change up so you have call and response.
3ternal
New member
Hmmm, that's very interesting.
I get what you're saying but can you explain a little more detailed if possible?
One thing I'm realizing is that learning about music is one thing and it does help, but actually applying that is almost like another thing to learn in and of itself.
I get what you're saying but can you explain a little more detailed if possible?
One thing I'm realizing is that learning about music is one thing and it does help, but actually applying that is almost like another thing to learn in and of itself.
Ankshis
New member
i do pretty much exactly the same thing as getfresh does. what hes saying is to not worry about making the whole song at first. start with your 8 bars. i usually do 4 at first. ill make pretty much a whole beat in them 4 bars then split it up and use all the pieces to make my song. then afterwords ill put finishing touches on it like transitions and fills and stuff. ill use them original 4 bars as my hook usually while i only use a couple of them pieces at a time throughout the verses. as far as progressions go, i dont know what kind of music you make but for hip hop you can get by with only learning a couple progressions at first. you can make hundreds of songs off from just a few progressions since hip hop uses other tactics to keep the beat fresh. to make your bassline easy just make a melody within your progression since youre already good with melodies. the biggest mistake most producers make is not being able to say enough is enough and keep adding stuff when they dont need too. this is where the progression comes in. use the same progression on a couple different octaves to create more fullness so you wont need to keep adding stuff that shouldnt be there. learn how to master fills and make good snare and tom rolls and use pads, sweeps and etc to keep your beat fresh rather then adding too many melodies. hope this helps some
Interested Persona
New member
just step back a little and hear it from 'zoom-out' standpoint 
if you have ability to make good melodies- great for you, modern music is nothing but loops! just add some transitions between them
if you have ability to make good melodies- great for you, modern music is nothing but loops! just add some transitions between them
3ternal
New member
What I'm saying is I can make melodies but seem to have a tough time with the chords to back them.
No idea why but I can just feel out melodies.
But the chords to fill that out never seem to come to me.
Not necessarily just the chords as is, but everything that may go along with that like rhythm, voicings, or even throwing in off notes to color them.
No idea why but I can just feel out melodies.
But the chords to fill that out never seem to come to me.
Not necessarily just the chords as is, but everything that may go along with that like rhythm, voicings, or even throwing in off notes to color them.
D
decemberdusk
Guest
I understand your pain as this can become frustrating! My suggestion (as stated before) take it step-by-step and EXPERIMENT like crazy! Take a few notes and figure out (on a keyboard/ MIDI controller) what other notes harmonize well... for example:
If you have an "A" (single note) play thirds above that, so it will be either--> A,C,E (a minor chord) or A,C#,E (A Major chord) or A,C,E flat (a diminished chord) etc. Then once you get this move on to the next couple of notes or even the next single note... I know this may take a bit of time at first, but it will become like second nature after a while.
Also remember: not every note needs a chord or to be harmonized, let those non-chords tones fly for flava!
Check out some music theory sites to give you the basics of chord progressions- thrust me, the time will be well spent. Hope this helps and good luck!
If you have an "A" (single note) play thirds above that, so it will be either--> A,C,E (a minor chord) or A,C#,E (A Major chord) or A,C,E flat (a diminished chord) etc. Then once you get this move on to the next couple of notes or even the next single note... I know this may take a bit of time at first, but it will become like second nature after a while.
Also remember: not every note needs a chord or to be harmonized, let those non-chords tones fly for flava!
Check out some music theory sites to give you the basics of chord progressions- thrust me, the time will be well spent. Hope this helps and good luck!
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E
Emmapeel9
Guest
If you want you can post a melody and let others try to flesh it out a bit. I'm certainly happy to do that. It might help to see what others do with it or maybe it is good but just really hard to flesh out.
Personally I find it hard to separate melody from harmony so I don't really come up with a pure melody first. This is a common way to write though and quite interesting too as you can come up with surprising possibilities.
Personally I find it hard to separate melody from harmony so I don't really come up with a pure melody first. This is a common way to write though and quite interesting too as you can come up with surprising possibilities.
getfresh
Wavetable Bandit
Avoiding placing a beat for awhile is also a good idea. A lot of people get stuck in what I like to call the "dope beat" trap. They make a nice riff and then add a beat to it real fast and get stuck listening to the loop over and over thinking "man this is cool" and after some time they have ruined the possibilities for themselves.
Figuring out your contrasting sections of melody and harmony are more important since a beat is more to fit your melody and harmony than visa versa.
If you get stuck try falling back on music theory and use methods that are time tested like transposing, inverting, etc...
Here is a quick demo I made of how simple changing sections can be so you can see that sometimes simple is actually better.
http://www.plunder.com/Last-Regards-download-6bbb9ab437.htm
Figuring out your contrasting sections of melody and harmony are more important since a beat is more to fit your melody and harmony than visa versa.
If you get stuck try falling back on music theory and use methods that are time tested like transposing, inverting, etc...
Here is a quick demo I made of how simple changing sections can be so you can see that sometimes simple is actually better.
http://www.plunder.com/Last-Regards-download-6bbb9ab437.htm
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