So I'm stuck in a library between classes and don't have the time to make a video on this, but I've seen a lot of posts around melody writing, so I figured I'd share some of the theory on it I've learned over the years.
One important note is that even though its easy to look at melody writing as this magical thing where some people are naturally gifted songwriters, most great melody writers are trained musicians who have studied what came before them. What this means for us plebes is that melody writing is a skill that can be improved through a combination of study and practice. Play out the melodies from your favorite songs. What would you have done differently? Why did the artist choose the notes and rhythmic patterns they did? What is the most important part of the song melodically? These are things you can do to slowly improve your songwriting.
Now, into the bits and pieces of theory I find most useful.
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Most pop melodies use almost EXCLUSIVELY the notes of the relative major pentatonic scale. For reference, in A minor/C major, these notes would be C D E G and A. The notes not included here are the major IV and major VII, both of which are used as tension notes in most melodies. Without too much explanation, the 2 left out notes tend to create tension and fall at odd intervals compared to the root triads of whatever scale you are using. I'm not going to go through all the examples, but play along to any chainsmokers song and and you'll get the gist.
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Creating a good melody is about creating an expectation and subverting it. The basic idea is that usually a certain melodic phrase is repeated multiple times, and then slightly altered (melodically or rhythmically) to create interest while maintaining the original idea. This video is a great resource on the topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha4P2oOOMu0
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Sustained melody notes should usually line up with a note in whatever chord you are playing under the melody. That means for a C major chord, your melodic choices for sustaining a note are C, E, and G. However, sustained notes that fall on chord notes outside of the triad (the dominant seventh or a flat 5 etc) can be a great way to create tension.
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Tension/Resolution. A lot of melody writing is about creating a musical build similar to a riser, then releasing the built up energy. This can be using a minor scale for your melody leading up to a drop, then resolving with an ending phrase in the relative major key. There are a lot of ways to do this, I personally think The Weeknd is a great modern songwriter to listen to for learning about creating tension and release. His verses and bridges make you feel tense, and his choruses make you want to dance or scream along the words. In a lot of pop, the chorus is the release of built-up energy over the verse/bridge, versus a lot of EDM builds energy into the drop. Energy is very loosely defined and personal, but knowing what notes and scales create musical tension (or dissonance, depending on how you want to look at it) versus release can help your tracks flow and feel more natural.
I'm by no means an expert, but I hope this helps. I've spent a lot of time studying this topic on my own to try to write better music, so these are things I find useful personally. Feel free to correct me and please start discussion if you want or think I got something wrong, I love learning new things!
Submitted August 28, 2017 at 04:43PM by Orendamusic https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/6wlufz/a_quick_writeup_on_melody_theory/?utm_source=ifttt