One of the most daunting aspects of writing music is the limitless possibilities for chords, melodies and lyrics. In this post I will give you some strategies for how to begin writing a melody using examples from popular songs and pieces, and by setting some limitations for yourself.
When I was a film composer in the 1990s and 2000s, I would ask the director to describe the emotion of the scene for which I was writing background music. How did s/he want the the audience to feel? Excited? Terrified? In love? Triumphant? Suspicious? Ecstatic? Once I knew the emotion, I searched for a childhood memory of feeling that emotion (childhood memories are the most poignant, but any moment from your history works). Then I started humming melodies, or playing them on the piano with chords, until I found one that seemed to capture the emotion best. (BTW- always record your humming or keyboard noodling – you can use the voice memo app on your smartphone, or invest in a small digital recorder.) If you are writing a song with lyrics, then you may already know what you want to write about. But if you are writing an instrumental piece, decide upon an emotion, or think about a story you want to tell through your music.
For your first tries at composing, write within a scale, (such as the C-scale as suggested in the Part 1 video, as well as the Part 2 video below) and start the song on the 1-chord (C Major). Notes within a scale are not all created equal! Watch the video below to learn about the strong and weak notes in a scale:
Composing – How to Write a Song or Piece, Part 2, Melody
After watching the Part 2 video, play a C Major chord with your left hand and experiment with notes with your right hand until you find a melody you like. Have fun with this first step and celebrate when you find your first melody line. In Part 3 we will go deeper into setting chords to melody, or melody to chords!
With Love and Music, Gaili