How to develop the initial idea? Variation ideas.
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- KVRAF
- 5524 posts since 5 May, 2007 from Mars Colony
One question for the OP: are you not composing in a style that uses verse/chorus structure? Otherwise, I would write a part to compliment the first 8 bars (except I would double that first part to 16) and that would be the chorus to the verse.
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- KVRist
- 172 posts since 21 Nov, 2006
let's see if I can add some more ideas to this (very interesting and very inspiring for me as well) thread.
1) try to understand what key and scale your melody is in. Usually you will have create a progression based on a certain key. Once you know that you can modulate to another key (the circle of fifths is your friend here!).
2) One thing I've learned in music academy, and which I've found to be very useful: try to keep your "materials" few in number, and work with those. Create complexity out of a minimal material.
3) there is not only variation, there is also contrast. why not do something radical after some time jump from major to minor for example.
4) If you have bass, chords and lead (just to make an example), if the lead moves upwards the bass can move with it, or can move downwards in the scale, or you can shift the parts, shuffle them, creating new harmonic relations.
5) the most important thing is knowing where the song starts and where it will end and making the whole development from start to end clear but not predictable. So you might want to close your song by having the melody and the harmony end on the tonica (the root note, and the main chord, so for example C and the C major chord if you are within the C major scale), but until you get there, make the listener believe you are getting elsewhere, then in the end, turn around.
I hope I could express myself in a sufficiently understandable way...
1) try to understand what key and scale your melody is in. Usually you will have create a progression based on a certain key. Once you know that you can modulate to another key (the circle of fifths is your friend here!).
2) One thing I've learned in music academy, and which I've found to be very useful: try to keep your "materials" few in number, and work with those. Create complexity out of a minimal material.
3) there is not only variation, there is also contrast. why not do something radical after some time jump from major to minor for example.
4) If you have bass, chords and lead (just to make an example), if the lead moves upwards the bass can move with it, or can move downwards in the scale, or you can shift the parts, shuffle them, creating new harmonic relations.
5) the most important thing is knowing where the song starts and where it will end and making the whole development from start to end clear but not predictable. So you might want to close your song by having the melody and the harmony end on the tonica (the root note, and the main chord, so for example C and the C major chord if you are within the C major scale), but until you get there, make the listener believe you are getting elsewhere, then in the end, turn around.
I hope I could express myself in a sufficiently understandable way...
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- KVRAF
- 26033 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
I would say to watch out for what Ogg indicated, a Frankenstein's monster, obtained by artificial devices in lieu of musical thought, try and think organically.
*motivically*; find the germ of the idea, the essence of it (or the hooks) and work with that.
as per contrast but maintaining congruency look at Day in the Life, Beatles... analyze things such as this.
if you're doing something technical like a fugue, you're on another level of chops than is required - or called for - than songwriting; as per these augmentation diminution, retrograde, inversion, these abstract things... do you really find a lot of that in a Gershwin or Beatles song? (or if you do, analyze it, break it all down)
*motivically*; find the germ of the idea, the essence of it (or the hooks) and work with that.
as per contrast but maintaining congruency look at Day in the Life, Beatles... analyze things such as this.
if you're doing something technical like a fugue, you're on another level of chops than is required - or called for - than songwriting; as per these augmentation diminution, retrograde, inversion, these abstract things... do you really find a lot of that in a Gershwin or Beatles song? (or if you do, analyze it, break it all down)