Looking to speak with a KVR member

[maudioradium]

Hi,

I'm looking to speak to a KVR member through skype (voice) about basic music theory and melody construction. I have some questions regarding melody and music theory. I am happy to paypal donate if so.

Examples of music I like are: giorgio moroder, ween, classic 80's pop such as depeche mode and all tracks on:
tompatrick.co.uk/music/tracks_i_really_like/
basically catchy, good melody.

Thanks a lot.

[fmr]

Hi,

I'm looking to speak to a KVR member through skype (voice) about basic music theory and melody construction. I have some questions regarding melody and music theory. I am happy to paypal donate if so.

Thanks a lot.

Melody doesn't really belong to "music theory" IMO. It's more a matter of taste/culture/language/singing. There are millions of ways to create melodies. But you can narrow the choice by telling exactly what kind of music you are interested in.

[maudioradium]

Melody doesn't really belong to "music theory" IMO. It's more a matter of taste/culture/language/singing. There are millions of ways to create melodies. But you can narrow the choice by telling exactly what kind of music you are interested in.

Thanks, I've since added example links.

[simon.a.billington]

Nor necessarily. Understanding a bit about theory can help you make suitable melody decisions much faster than you would have if you just fumbled around on the instrument.

Time and efficiency is everything in this day and age. Wouldn't i t be nicer to be able to write and arrange most of a song in a day, not several weeks??

Theory can aid you in chord choices, rhythm choices, bass line choices, arrangement choices, etc... Plus it also explains to you why things aren't working too. It's actually a powerful time saving mechanism.

Try getting around in strange culture with ought knowing its native language or customs. It's much harder and more prone to mistakes and misunderstandings. But if you knew how to speak, read and write the native culture... suddenly life becomes a hell of a lot more easy.

Music theory is just about understanding the language and customs. Even knowing a little bit is much more helpful then knowing nothing at all.

Ultimately though, knowing theory is one thing, understanding how to use it is something else entirely different. In the end, the ears will decide whether you understand music well enough.

[maudioradium]

Nor necessarily. Understanding a bit about theory can help you make suitable melody decisions much faster than you would have if you just fumbled around on the instrument.

Time and efficiency is everything in this day and age. Wouldn't i t be nicer to be able to write and arrange most of a song in a day, not several weeks??

Theory can aid you in chord choices, rhythm choices, bass line choices, arrangement choices, etc... Plus it also explains to you why things aren't working too. It's actually a powerful time saving mechanism.

Try getting around in strange culture with ought knowing its native language or customs. It's much harder and more prone to mistakes and misunderstandings. But if you knew how to speak, read and write the native culture... suddenly life becomes a hell of a lot more easy.

Music theory is just about understanding the language and customs. Even knowing a little bit is much more helpful then knowing nothing at all.

Ultimately though, knowing theory is one thing, understanding how to use it is something else entirely different. In the end, the ears will decide whether you understand music well enough.

Yeah all of which I agree on and I'm looking to talk to someone about this through Skype. Are you able to? Thanks.

[simon.a.billington]

Not sure. I'm a bit busy and a bit rusty on my theory.

[MOK19]

I suspect you'd get more out of it via forum text. More responses, and more time to chew on the info, and easier for the other person to communicate something complex-ish. And if it's a more extended conversation you're looking for, like teaching it, then really what you want is a book. Talking about just a piece of basic-level theory isn't that helpful. A book that takes you up to a certain milestone will yield you better functional understanding per time spent, I think. But if it's just one narrow thing, then I think you oughta try out firing off questions in text.

[fmr]

Your examples don't really stand out as "melodic" driven, IMO (at least in my concept of "melodic driven"). And you start by quoting Giorgio Moroder as an example (it's fine, he is a great composer, again IMO). But Moroder approached many different styles, and not much based on melody (he is more driven by melodic/rhythmic sequences). Think about Flashdance, for example. The main theme (What a Feeling) is very simple (almost simplistic), and the driving force is that melodic sequence, and later the beat. The melody is very simple, and basically follows the words (sounds simplistic, but good songs are like the story of Columbus egg). Now take the love theme. Again it's basically a rhythmic sequence, and over it you have the melody, which is made of descending arpeggios (reminds me of Bach Prelude in C Major from the Well Tempered Clavier - over which Gounod created the famous Ave Maria). Finally, you have Maniac - again, the beat and the melodic/rhythmic sequence.

I could go on and on, and I dare to say that basically all synth-pop from the 80s follows the same pattern - the base is a melodic/rhythmic sequence and a beat - the melody is almost derived from there. And those rhythmic sequences are usually simple - but you have to come up with something catchy, and that's what is difficult.

Try to come up with melodic cells - play them as slow as you want, and try to imagine how they sound faster. Write them in the sequencer, put them on a loop, and listen again, trying different patches (the timbre is also very important for them to sound "right"). These melodic cells have to be simple in order to allow them to be transposed from chord to chord. Then, define a simple chordal structure: I - V - I - IV - ii - V. for example, and try that with the previous melodic sequence, with a rhythm you feel is adapted to what you want - but keep it simple. Finally, try humming something over that, and see how it sounds.

And listen to examples - really listen, as if you were in a lab, opening a frog. Take the Ave Maria of Bach/Gounod as an example (I think it is very good). Listen first to the Prelude solo - see as Bach created a piece basically out of arpeggiated chords. Now listen to Gounod's melody - THAT is what I call a melody - and how it fits so well over those arpeggiated chords. Now listen to the Love Theme of Flashdance. Try to listen just to the sequence, without the melody (you may try to sequence the piece and mute the parts). Now listen to the melody without the sequence (The melody is basically another sequence, at half the tempo of the first). Since that melody is basically an Alberti bass, you may try to come up with a "real" melody over it - it would be a good exercise.

[maudioradium]

Thanks for your replies. I have plenty of work to do for this clearly and I'll see how I go with the advice given. I will add though that some of the links I provided aren't just giorgio style, they are a bit different..

Thanks again I'll have a go at the examples given.