2nd Composing Group Meeting: Melody

Harlow ALL!
Here is a summary on basic of composition of a melody during our 2nd Composing Group Meeting today. Writing songs may not be something that can be taught, but it is something that you can learn.

WHAT SHOULD I WRITE FIRST – THE WORDS OR THE MUSIC?

Always keep in mind that the music has as much to say about the song as the lyrics do. So the music and words should be saying the same thing. If they don’t, people will notice this immediately.

Personally, I tend to start with the music. But not all the time. I usually begin by playing around with chords or individual notes or a bit of both. Then I use it as a starting point and work around that.

Once I have my starting point, I play it and listen to it and “hear” what it’s telling me. The words eventually come. I never try to force them out. It’s almost as if the song were already written and you were learning it. Or remembering it. Almost.

With some words and some music, you should know soon enough how you want to structure the song. It’s hard to say how I decide this, but I rely, again on the emotions conveyed, and on the complexity of the music.



If you’ve written all of the music first, then you can sit down and concentrate on the words. If you’ve finished the lyrics and they’re wrong for the music, start over. Keep the lyrics, though, you may want to use them, or part of them later on. In short, music first or words first? It is a personal choice. Both ways work.

CHORDS PROGRESSION - THE FOUNDATION AND FLOW OF MUSIC

Musically, songs consist of chord progressions.
Starting chord: C
Most often followed by: F or G
Sometimes: Am
Occasionally: Dm or Em

There are many other chords progression, this is the most typical one. Play with it, get around with their family notes. Slowly. And you will get the feel of it. Let the chords progress meanwhile you can sing out your melody matching the chord. For example, C major has C,E and G, pick one of these notes as a starting point for your melody of course you can move around at different notes other than C,E and G for your melody. It is up to you, totally your freedom.

The next progression I would like to introduce is the Am, F, C, G. This is the most popular four-chord progression. Start off by playing each chord for either two or four beats with your left hand and then keep repeating it over and over again. That will form a simple rhythm, then fill in your melody!

WHERE DOES INSPIRATION COME FROM?

This is a very intriguing question!

How many times have you heard composers say that no one can explain where inspiration comes from? They probably think this makes them look like they have some special powers! Supernatural huh... but it is NOT.

The reality is that inspiration comes from carrying an emotion, a feeling in your subconscious (so be EMO! but not always). For us, it’s through songwriting. The inspiration comes from the fact that we need to vent our emotions and, usually, don’t even know that we have emotions to vent.

Thank you for attending the 2nd composing group meeting today though it is Saturday afternoon most of us would prefer an afternoon nap! And also thank you Kok Choy for sharing his expertise on lyrics composing. I feel my mandarin has improved! HOU!


Our upcoming 3rd Composing Group Meeting will be on:

Date: 21st Aug 2010
Time: 2pm-3pm (after LGM Family Day)
Venue: Music room

I'll go more in detail on chords progression and show you how to pick on notes to form your own melody!
Hope to see you there. Have a great weekends!