[Writing Melodies]

Good tip!

It is amazing how many melodies follow natural speech inflections -when there is a strong accent the note often goes up accordingly -there are of course exceptions -often when the melody goes down on a strong accent -it happens on a strong beat -similarly with a repeated note -well worth studying this.

[Paint By Numbers Type Songwriting Tutorial?]

Well, why not take songs you like and use them as a template. You could use exactly the same chords but change the melody

or keep the melodic rhythm but change the pitches -You could become a little more creative and change the chord durations, but keep the progressions -and make up a new melody =OR you could write out the chords of the song in each section and vary their order and durations -

At least this way you will pick up how to write in various forms and keys.

Good luck.

[Working Around A Melody]

I love the approach in this video -though applying the choices would mean so many great songs would never have been written if it was applied -and what about minor keys? Modes? Blues Scale? Pentatonics?

This is not to say you couldn't apply these ideas and make a great song -

[Question About Solutions To Stagefright]

First of all you need to be able to play to one or two friends- and then their friends -you have to realise one thing and one thing only -the fact people are watching you can't prevent you being who you are and expressing that though music.

Don't allow an audience to intimidate you -they want you to do well and want to be pleased -if you have the confidence you can do that -there is nothing to be afraid of -enjoy it.

[Why Mix A Song Down?]

I would love to know if anyone mixes and masters like I do - and if you think my way is fundamentally wrong - why is it wrong? ;;;;;

What I tend to do, is produce my song until I am happy with the general way the instruments work together. Then, I use the Master Bus - to place a top quality Parametric EQ - MultibandCompressor -and limiter.

Then I can adjust any parameter in the mix I want - I sometimes find that after multicompressing - I can improve the sound by reducing compression on certain instruments - and changing pre eq in the fx chain to post eq can make the sound fuller and smoother somehow - I try both anyway!

I feel that only the pros know when a mix is ready to bounce down to a single wave file - I have never liked mastering like this -

When I export my song to a AIF/MP3 it is mastered!

[Which Audio Interface?]

Since you will be recording bass - I suggest you add a sub -woofer - cos bass guitar frequencies go lower than the 45hz - which the KRKS deliver. Another option is to swap/upgrade the KRKS for Mackie HR824's which will give you more bass extension.

You can't really go wrong with the Focusrite Audio Interface -

Personally I love the Lexicon interfaces - cos they give me another great reverb option. There is something quite magical about Lexicon Reverbs.

[How Do I Get Into The Craft Years After All My Piano Lessons?]

Both replies so far have been very insightful. There are online classes you can take. I have watched quite a few Berklee School of Music Videos on YouTube - and of course that site is in itself a great resource.

Also I have found the people on this site to be very helpful and knowledgable, as well as there being sound advice and articles posted in the forums.

Just keep working at it. Don't aim too high too soon - unless you are a genius!

[Song Writing Challenge/competition #3]

Wow - I really admire your patience through this whole process!

[whos your favorite singer and WHY!!??]

Adele is the best female singer on the planet bar none. I like Stevie Nicks as well. Both women are great lyricists too . Male vocalists I like are Peter Gabriel and Ozzy Osbourne.

[Asdf]

It's a good idea -but I agree that you would need some kind of strong motif to carry through each emotion - also if the second verse is about stability, there the song could end - it is probably wiser to order it as Anxiety, Anger, Sadness and Stability -In fact many Blues or Country songs take this sort of form - ending with lines like

I now sit in my rockin' chair

Smokin my pipe and cleaning my shack

Watchin' the road from time to time

Though my tired eyes are dimming

I know she ain't never coming back -

But I keep watchin', all the same.

Top of my head stuff but that kind of stability - but not so stable that all the previous verses have angst have lost their power.

[How Do I Improve My Poetic Thinking?]

That's a hard question to answer. I wrote a song recently which didn't really work, because I mixed poetic language with more direct language - so consistency is important.

I think also you can't really teach this - you either have it or you don't.

[How To Wrte Pop Music... Like Lady Gaga]

Hi Kayla

Do not lay down a chord sequence to sing your lyrics over before you have written a melody.

This will only result in boring cookie cutter dross.

The sequence is.

Song idea

Song hook

Lyrics

Rhythm and cadence

Melody

Harmony

instrumental solos, lick and hooks.

Because I play an instrument I now write melody directly into a sequencer.

That is I don't use an instrument to write the melody. Because if you do a sameness creeps in.

When you are adding the harmony which, note is the second last step in the process you could use the circle of 5ths

and harmonize the melody simply in major or minor depending on the lyrical feel. However there will come a time when

you need to understand harmonic emphasis. That is waking your listener up just prior to delivering the hook or the pay off or

something you don't want missed. You do this by stepping outside your sequence and borrowing a chord from another key and then resolving

back to the sequence and the home base chord. Now there are only certain chords that can be borrowed and there are other chords which need to follow to get back to your key.

And you have to do this quickly or you'll loose your listener.

I have attached a chord map in the key of C.

The blue chord are of the key. The green chords are borrowed from other keys.

You begin ( usually) at the home base the square blue box C

Jump anywhere on the map and follow the arrows back to C

So I can have a sequence of say

C, C6, Cm6, G/d, D, D7, G, G sus 4, C

If you were using the circle of 5ths this same melody would be harmonized

C, G, Am, Dm, G ,C this may sound fine but then again it may sound boring so the point is you have to know

your options.

Now as to approaching this.

Chant the lyrics with no instrument tap the rhythm with a pencil.

Keep doing this until the rhythm of the thing is set in stone.

Create a single note tune to that rhythm record this into a sequencer.

Note melodies are repetitive.

Normally the verse will have only two ideas and the chorus one.

The rest of the melody is repetition with variation.

There are rules as to musical punctuation which you need to apply to your melody.

So you need to look up and read about cadences etc.

When you have written a single note melody that you like.

Hit the notation button on your sequencer, count the number of sharps or flats in the key signature, refer to a key reference

now you know what key it's in. Get the map for this key and begin to harmonize by trial and error following the map.

Try everything save different versions. Be aware that different chord sequences give different vocal harmony opportunities in different places.

So that may affect your choices. Like we want harmony opportunities in the chorus.

Gaga example

Poker Face

Is in Abm and has four chords Abm ,E,B,F#

The melody has been written by chanting and tapping as described above.

It relies on a rhythmic hook, the verse melody is very linear this serves to emphasize the choruses when it comes which is more melodic and very catchy.

These are all standard pop music techniques and are not exclusive to Gaga.

What makes this work is she has showcased the chorus melody by making the verse melodies almost non existent.

It is a very polished musical work with average lyrics, she's had an idea but has not maintained her focus getting distracted and drifting into soft porn.

Cheers

Gary

This is one of the most insightful posts I have ever read! Thanks for that! If you type into the YouTube search How to write Hooks - you get some very dodgy tutorials - telling you to sing lots of random stuff and then keep the ones you like - this might work now and agin I suppose - Melodies that are catchy generally have as you say a memorable rhythm and a consistent note pattern - check out Mr Saxobeat for the ultimate catchy tune!

One thing I would also suggest is to learn about form - studying how song titles are placed and the different kinds of emphasis. For example:

Beatles - We Can Work It Out

This begins with the chorus - the form could be analysed like this: M standing for melody:

line 1 -Ma (6)

2 -Mb (13)

line 3 -Ma (6)

line 4 -Mb (13)

line 5 Mc (Title) (5)

line 6 Mc' (Title) (5..6) The last word is slurred -

I don't see any harm in writing a few melodies using structures you like - when you are learning - eventually they will become so much a part of you that you will understand how good songs work.

Bear in mind also that at a primitive level all lines in a pop song will have lines made up of syllable patterns - like this: (Norwegian Wood -Beatles)

/ -/ / -/ / - /

/ / - / /

/ / - / /

I generally pair one syllable words - but if you don't have a lyric, making these structures can help give you something to work with - you will often find that there is one note which dominates a line - not always - but often! Using the one note method though - every time!

Anyhow these patterns will either be one, two or three syllables - 4 would be 2x2 -

You and me could write a bad romance - would be

/ / /- / / / - / / /..

The dots just mean the last syllable was slurred -

There is one decent book on melody by Jack Perricone -

Good luck with your tunes!

[Anyone Help Me To Understand Please ?]

I appreciate that Sonar is an excellent DAW - in fact before I switched to Macs - I had Sonar Producer 8 - I want to suggest something else though - if you can't play an instrument well, Ableton Live is a brilliant platform. Even though I can play keys and guitar very well, sometimes I will make patterns utilising all the chords of a scale - just triads and sevenths maybe - also I will add a few borrowed chords for fun ( chords which belong to a different key). The neat thing about Ableton is that you have the chord patterns you have written, available at the click of a mouse - a bit like one finger chords I suppose - anyhow I find this can be a great tool to sing over. You haven't got to actually play anything, but it is like playing a very very easy instrument.

I also believe FL Studio has a command in which you can insert any kind of chord into your piano roll - Major-Minor-Augmented-Diminished-Minor 6th -Major 7th - etc etc

The neat thing also about Ableton or FL is that they support any VST. My favourite software instrument is Omnisphere.

[Mixing The "person" Up - What's The Problem, Why Is It A Problem, Why Can't You Do It?]

It's a bit like a novel - It would be strange if a writer was writing in third person and then suddenly an I appeared, because this I is unknown to the reader. I suppose there are arty novels which play with rule breaking where this is used - but songs should not be arty novels - If you can break the rules though and make it convincing - go for it -

[Songwriting And The Muse]

I think you should just write everyday - even if you don't feel inspired - because from writing inspiration often comes - Even if I start a session feeling like a depressed zombie, I can suddenly get an idea that excites me.

There are times when nothing happens - zilch. So then I just study great songs - try and understand what made them work so fantastically - I find this acts as its own form of inspiration - but I guess it depends on how ambitious and analytical you are - if this doesn't apply, then I guess you are better off waiting for the muse.

Though if you have an engineering background, you must have a love of form and pattern?

[Best Guitar For A Beginner/ Best Online Course]

Get the best guitar you can afford -that feels most comfortable to you in the store= I know that most people say that you should start off with a cheap guitar in case you don't progress - but if you get a guitar you know you can always sell on E-Bay = then you will have an instrument you are proud to own and will take better care of it I reckon - and in turn the guitar will look after you. A lot also depends on the style of music you want to play - If you wanna be a Metal shredder, then Ibanez Guitars are worth checking out --The first guitar I bought was a Fender Stratocaster and I have always loved it - I bought a Taylor 110 acoustic-but I am selling it - cos I don't like it much. I won't have much problem selling it though.

I don't know about online courses cos I am self taught - but there are loads of great tutorials on YouTube - which sometimes are part of a course - which you can check out.

[I Am An Aspiring Lyricist In Search Of Firsthand Advice.]

I think maybe what’'s blocking you is that you are trying to write lyrics like Matt Mehana. And that you are hard on yourself when they don’t sound enough like something Matt Mehana would write. It’'s an easy trap to fall into when you’re fourteen--wanting to be just like a certain artist you admire. But the problem with that is that you’'re striving to be a carbon copy, rather than finding your own unique voice.

So I guess my best advice is to just write. Finish something. Don'’t worry if it doesn'’t sound enough like your favorite songwriter…--I'’ll bet your lyrics aren'’t as bad as you think they are. The best way to get better at something is to just keep doing it.

One thing that might be helpful is to find out some information about Matt Mehana'’s influences…--what books he reads, what music he listens to--…if you know where he gets his ideas, you might be able to write lyrics of your own that share his sensibilities, without merely rehashing his ideas. Also read books you like, listen to different kinds of music…--other writers may have different approaches that open up new possibilities for you to incorporate into your own stuff.

I think that advice is spot on. Also never let anyone tell you that you don't have talent - if you can write like that at 14 - wow - just keep writing - check out the Pat Pattison videos on YouTube - if you haven't already.