How To Create An Original Melody From Scratch
There are 2 ways to create an original melody. The first has to do with improvisation. Here you simply “come up” with material and either transfer it directly to sheet music or record it so it can be remembered later on.
The second way and the one I’m going to show you how to do is actually composing a melody from scratch. Some think this method (as opposed to free improvisation) is more difficult. Not if you use rhythmic patterns!
What are
rhythmic patterns? They are simply note values, i.e. half notes, quarter notes, eight notes… etc.
Let me show you exactly what I mean…
Let’s say you’re walking around and a melody comes to you. Now most people do not have perfect pitch (myself included) and can’t jot down the note qualities, i.e, a d note or a f# note. However, when you work with rhythmic patterns, you don’t have to know the quality or name of the note, You just have to be able to jot down the pattern.
Here’s how I do it. First, I only jot down the first 2-bars of the pattern. Why? Because this allows you to capture an idea without having to compose the whole thing on the spot. It’s like a quick sketch visual artists might do. They capture the mood or feeling of a scene and later flesh out a full composition when they get home.
Now, you can draw out 2-bars anywhere. You don’t need sheet music to do this and I never use sheet music. Any piece of paper will do. Then you simply notate the musical idea. For example, it might be something in 4/4 time. The first measure may be a half note and 2 quarter notes and the second measure could just be 4 quarter notes. With this idea, you can really remember your initial idea.
Remember Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony? Of course you don’t remember the whole thing - but the first few notes you do… da da da duh… da da da duh…
This is the foundation for the entire symphony! That one rhythmic pattern. Of course it took the musical genius of Beethoven to create an entire movement out of it but you get the idea.
In the lesson “Distant Shores,” I show you how I do this step by step.