Melodies!

[gravity]

I don't hit random keys as such, but I play certain note combinations which sound good. I have no clue of scales etc. But as long as it sounds alright....do you need to learn as much theory as you guys say you do? I am not saying you don't for a second....but.... how much does it improve melody?

seriously look at that thing i posted - unless you have an innate ability to pick up melody (which many people dont, by the sounds of things yourself included) it will make things a lot simpler.

for example once you know even just your basic major and minor scales and a few chords it opens up numerous possibilities for different melodies that work.

[paravrais]

I don't hit random keys as such, but I play certain note combinations which sound good. I have no clue of scales etc. But as long as it sounds alright....do you need to learn as much theory as you guys say you do? I am not saying you don't for a second....but.... how much does it improve melody?

If you learn the basics it helps a great deal. Literally all I did was learn a couple of major/minor chords and I know all of them now just by ear and cos they are baaaare easy to figure out. I know fuck all scales but have looked at them before. I've also looked at diminished chords and various bits of theory but none of it actually goes in. I think just looking at the concepts is more important than trying to memorise loads of chords and scales etc. I'm no Jon Hopkins but I think the melodies in my tunes are generally pretty good and I'm getting better all the time.

Basically what I'm saying is. Learn the very basics, take a *look* at the advanced stuff, don't need to memorise it all but just look at *how* it's done and remember that for when writing your own melodies. Once your on the right path you should be able to essentially teach yourself through practice. Something that I find can help is loading up a piano sound in a sampler/synth/meerkat whatever and just experimenting trying to write a song using only piano. This is useful because all you have is two hands to play with and the melody is the most important thing.

Remember melody isn't just the notes you press, it's the order and rhythm that you press them in!

Also a couple of quick tips,
- try using 2 notes or 4 notes in a chord instead of 3.
- for an oriental feel try using only black notes
- learn what inverted chords are, if you have a song where a chord feels like it's the only one that fits next but it's too much of a jump, invert it.
- practice lots and when you stumble on something that sounds good, remember the progression

[amphibian]

I find it interesting how a lot of people who want to learn production only look at the stuff sitting on their computer (daws, plugins, synthesis.etc.), but spend absolutely no time studying chords, scales.etc. Even an hour on both subjects will open up an ENORMOUS amount of potential for you.

[jaydot]

@gravity....sorry yeah I'll look at it for sure when I've got more time. Just a bit tied up at the moment.

@pavar. Yeah man, it's deffo something I've always wanted to read up on but sorta been blind towards it. I'll google some resources on scales, chords and notes.

[AJGR]

seriously all you need to learn is two scales. blues minor is a good starter and then choose one other.

chords are less important, listen to James Brown, one chord is all you need.

[Kochari]

Basically what I'm saying is. Learn the very basics, take a *look* at the advanced stuff, don't need to memorise it all but just look at *how* it's done and remember that for when writing your own melodies. Once your on the right path you should be able to essentially teach yourself through practice.

So true, everyone seems to be put off by theory but honestly, unless you're taking exams, it ain't all that. As someone mentioned earlier, its just a method of labelling stuff that works. Its essentially just another language, and the best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it and just practise. The more you play the more things will make sense, and you'll find yourself discovering things and later down the line going, "oh yeah, thats a diminished 9th" or whatever. I'm currently learning Avril 14th by Aphex Twin on the piano, and I'm taking ages to do it because every time I play a bit I stop and figure out exactly why that works, why it sounds so good. Is it because he's jumped from a flattened 7th to a perfect 4th? (no its because RDJ is a fucking genius, but you get the point).

seriously all you need to learn is two scales. blues minor is a good starter and then choose one other.

chords are less important, listen to James Brown, one chord is all you need.

My friend who is an amazing guitarist said to me when I first started playing "I think you'll do okay, cus you got groove. All you need to be a great guitarist is one chord and the funk"

(But please, do learn more than one chord )

[BLAHBLAHJAH]

Play track with just drums/bass, create a melody in your mind (or humming) based on those two tracks, create interactions using pitch and timing for 'melody' placement, learn how to transcribe into the DAW

Example already given with punk. Try some simple exercises, i.e. listen through this track once:

Replay it, now when the intro is playing (drums only), you can easily imagine the melody over it, figure out why it works etc. Obvious shite I know, but maybe worth considering if ya stuck. Try it with a load of tunes, develop the bits of the brain that do that juicy shit

As for theory, there's more to it these days than books on music theory reflect. Can get miles more from just listening to the sounds and bass pattern of SKENG for 8 hours

[2mb1o]

I find it interesting how a lot of people who want to learn production only look at the stuff sitting on their computer (daws, plugins, synthesis.etc.), but spend absolutely no time studying chords, scales.etc. Even an hour on both subjects will open up an ENORMOUS amount of potential for you.

[Vi Del]

Throw in some voice loops with a cool synth line, then just mix that in distorted with your bass.

[Kes-Es]

I don't hit random keys as such, but I play certain note combinations which sound good. I have no clue of scales etc. But as long as it sounds alright....do you need to learn as much theory as you guys say you do? I am not saying you don't for a second....but.... how much does it improve melody?

This is without listening to your stuff so don't be offended.
Until you develop an ear "sounds good" is always in question, not any hate toward you or anything mate, I don't know how people get really far into production without ever getting an ear for it, but that's your first order of business for writing melodies haha. I don't know anybody that could explain in total truth how they picked up an ear for it though, so listen to a lot of music and in the mean time, pick either white or black keys, stick with em, and always remember your root notes because when you go back to write a melody you can start there and save yourself a bit of arsing about.

[stappard]

Learn how chords are put together. Invert 'em, add 7ths, 6ths, 9ths whatever. Play the chord spread over 3 octaves. Create your own chords. Once you understand chords you'll understand melody, because you'll instinctively know which notes work where and why.

Or not, I havent slept for 2 days and just walked 11 miles in subzero temperatures. Mad shit.

But seriously, learn chords and shit, its useful and fun.

I used to learn to play guitar solos by opening a book, starting a backing track then playing a solo as if the guitar was saying the words. Worked really well.


for electronic stuff, I tend to just noodle away over a chord progression and go back through it, chopping the bits i like together and getting in time etc.

[Johnst]

learn a scale is.
now make a tune only using the notes in the scale.
you really can't go wrong, it's easy once you know how.

+1

i completely agree. i've been playing bass for about 8 or 9 years now, and something i learned very quickly is that all you need to learn is what the basic "formula" of a type of scale is.

i'll try and explain this simply, cause it works well in my head: in music, a half step is a single note above or below the note you're playing and a full step is just double that. therefor, an A flat is a half step below an A. now, when playing the most basic scale of them all imo, a major scale, you start with your root chord (let's say A), go up a full step to the 2nd note, (B), another full step to the 3rd note (C sharp), then a half step to the 4th (D), full step to the 5th (E), full step to the 6th (F sharp), a full step to the 7th (A flat), and a half step to the 8th, which is the octave above your root (A).

if you write all those notes into your sequencer piled on top of each other, you can see the "formula" for a major scale. you could literally just transpose that up and down and get whatever major scale you wanted. same goes for all the others (to my knowledge, someone PLEASE call me out if they have counter facts!)

now play a shit simple bassline, maybe just some rhythmic kinda deal on the root chord, and play around with the 8th, fifth, third, and stuff until you get something nice.

[Kochari]

for electronic stuff, I tend to just noodle away over a chord progression and go back through it, chopping the bits i like together and getting in time etc.

Oh yeah definitely do this. If I'm just hashing out a melodyI'll tend to refine it and refine it till I got a brilliant 8 bar loop with no progression. The few times I remember to record myself just jamming, it flows more and the final product is one stream of music rather than two loops stuck together.

[filthy_]

i wouldnt hit keys that are completely random, just find out which notes are in the key signature than hit those notes at random.

[paravrais]

I don't like learning scales because I find I then start limiting myself only to the scales I know and things get very repeptitive and boring quickly. Instead I think it's better to slowly learn your way around a keyboard till you can know generally whats gonna sound good before you play it. I probably know a load more scales than I would do if I tried to learn them out of a book. Maybe different people find it easier different ways though.

[DJ Crackle]

Has anyone tried writing (fairly cheesy / predictable / cliched) lyrics, then coming up with a tune to sing the words to, then ditching the lyrics and playing the tune on a synth?

That sometimes seems to help: the rhythm of the words gives you a shape to build the melodies around, as well as a bit of a feel to work with as well.

that sounds fun, definitely going to toy around with that

[drake89]

you've got to know the rules and why they work before you can begin the bend and break them.

Spend $5 on a used keyboard scale book. Know that generally speaking, major keys sound "happy", while minor keys sound sad. Pick a scale and try to use only notes within the scale in your tune. If you can make a good sounding tune like that, then you're ready to start using accidentals (notes that don't fall within the scale).

[Johnst]

I don't like learning scales because I find I then start limiting myself only to the scales I know and things get very repeptitive and boring quickly. Instead I think it's better to slowly learn your way around a keyboard till you can know generally whats gonna sound good before you play it. I probably know a load more scales than I would do if I tried to learn them out of a book. Maybe different people find it easier different ways though.

yup, this could definitely work too, like you say, it depends on the person. if he doesn't have a good ear yet though, i feel like knowing what works theory wise could send him on the right track to knowing the keyboard.

but again, it's personal preference, especially in the realm of dance music.

[kaiori breathe]

WHATEVER YOU DO JAYDOT DON'T LEARN THEORY!!!! IT'S JUST A LOAD OF RUBBISH THAT'S BEEN ESTABLISHED OVER THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF MAN MAKING MUSIC IT DOESN'T MEAN SHIT, IT'S JUST OLD CRAP FOR DEFINING THINGS THAT DON'T NEED DEFINED, SMOKE MORE WEED MAN, THAT' HELPS, THEN HIT SOME RANDOM NOTES AND GROOVE A WHOLE LOT!!!!

[shthappensdj]

I'd say if you really want to write melodies start learning music seriously!
Learn about scales and music theory.
You can write some melodies with just hitting some random keys but if you really want to be able to write loads of stuff I think music theory would serve you best.
My bro has taken loads of music theory lessons and is still following lessons and I would never be able to write stuff like him because I stopped music school a bit too early.
So I guess thats my tip