Ways to Write Melody
Writing melody can be done in two ways, by ear or by writing notation for it.
Let's cover the former way first. The former of writing melody involves sitting with your instrument and playing a specific set of notes at your discretion over and over again until you memorize it.
One of the first melodies you will memorize is a riff. A riff is a short, simple melodic phrase that comes at various stages of the song, but is usually the starting point for writing a song. Riffs can start off the introduction to songs, be played in instrumental breaks, or played in the outro of the song. The riff often houses the opening rhythm, pitches and nuances for the basis of the song.
How to Compose an Opening Riff For a Song
This part of the process could be pretty easy. What you have to realize is that most riffs are only based off of one to three note passages or motives that could be spun around in a variety of different ways.
Finding the melody for the riff can come either by playing your instrument or singing. If in a rush to get a song down, many songwriters will choose to record their voice into a tape recorder or digital recorder to preserve melody and basic rhythms of the riff. Or they will record themselves with an instrument doing the melody or with an instrument playing chords under the voice singing the possible riff melody.
Here’s how to start writing riffs to songs.
First, think about the overall chord structure of the song. The chord structure is most likely the first thing you will think of when drafting the song. The melody for the riff would be taken from single notes in any one of the chords that you choose for the song. Take just a few seconds to listen to the chord sequence you have chosen and try to determine what notes will fit best to start the riff.
Second, play or sing a few notes that are in the chords that you have chosen. Play it along with the chords that are in your mind at the time. Do any of the notes you play clash with the chords? Does everything have a good ring to it? Are the notes that you choose consonant? If they are, then you are on your way to finding that perfect riff. I not, keep working at it.
Third, pin a select few notes down on recording or on paper that serve as "goal posts" or boundaries where the riff could be confined. This is so you don't make a riff that is too complicated on the ear. The audience for your song is looking for something that is quick and catchy that draws them in and makes them want to listen to the song in full. Think about when you're in a concert hall and your favorite artist plays a particular song. You'd notice right away that when that opening riff is played, everyone in the audience goes nuts. That is because your first melodic riff is the song's identity. It gives the song away to the audience for instant recognition.
Depending on your specifications for your riff, you could pick goal posts that are five, six or even ten notes in between your first and last notes in a series. In today's pop music world, song riffs are best recognizable when you have a total of about four notes in between the starting and ending (the highest) pitch of your riff.
Fourth, operate within your chosen goal post notes. Don't go outside of the notes that you have chosen. Audiences flock to pitch limits. They don't want to have to think of more notes than what is simple to their ears. People digest simple things with a minimal amount of parts. Take your instrument or voice and sing or play one note at a time. If you’re really stuck, play some consecutive notes in a scale. For instance, take your starting pitch at any note and go up one step at a time. You could start at the pitch of C and go up--( D, E, F, G... up to C). Keep playing until you find a note combination that you like. Take a good look at the sample riffs that are given later in the chapter. (See page.)
Fifth, play through your riff several times to make modifications. Keep playing your simple riff within the goal notes you specified in step three. Make modifications as needed to make your riff sound more appealing. Make sure each tone in the riff you are creating naturally leads to the next note. There can be some skips between notes, but too many skips make the riff sound like it's not unified. Many riffs only go about four or five notes from the starting tone.
Sixth, Record a sample of two or three of the chords in the chord sequence of your song. Play back the sample you've recorded and play parts of your riff along with the playback of your chord sequence. This will tell you whether your riff is in harmony with the chords you chose or if it's clashing with the chords. Make modifications so your riff fits with your chord sequence.
With these steps, you should have the opening riff to your song in a very short amount of time. Remember, keep it simple and straight forward and have the audience in mind.
Examples of possible riffs written out could be:
“Feeling Like A Dream” riff:
Figure 7.5: “Feeling Like a Dream” riff also notated for guitar notes and tabs.
Opening Riff for “No Words”
The instrument could be responsible for the chords and superimposing the melody over them at the same time. For example, if you are a keyboard player, you’ll know what I mean. You can play chords with the left hand and the melody with the right, or vise versa. If you play the guitar, you could also do this, but it may take more effort.
Over a great number of takes, the melody and the chords will find a balance that is right and sweet. It will develop into something that is crisp that fans will love.
In today's world of songwriting, the melodies tend to be simple. There are a lot of melodies that use two and three-note motives that are simple enough to spin a song into existence within 10 minutes.
In the last five years, songs have gotten increasingly simple and repetitive with the motives they use. There are many different types of motifs that many composers use.
The first one is the major-third up motif. This takes any note as a starting base and combines it with a note that is two notes above the base note. On piano, the performer or composer alternates between these two notes as the foundation of chords and melodies. This pattern is what most commercial jingles are made from these days. Just turn on your television and you'll hear this pattern within no time. See the example below.
The next motif is just the reverse. It is the major third down motif. This is where the writer picks a base note and go two notes down from that on a piano or other instrument. The writer or performer alternates between those two notes. See the example below.
These two motifs are the most popular motives of today's jingle and songwriting strategies.
There is also another motif that involves the inverse--the minor third up and down. Start at a home base note and go up two notes from that. On piano, we’re talking about using the white notes only. Take a look at the example below:
Another popular melodic songwriting technique that is used in many pop songs today is the use of the repeated note before changing to another note. In this style, notes are repeated twice or three times before changing to other notes nearby. Those nearby notes are then repeated a number of times before changing to another nearby note. Then, there's a change back to the first note played. See more of an explanation below:
This part could be played by a guitar (usually) or piano. This progression is slimmed down without chords so that you can see the notes that are actually repeated without too much getting in the way.
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