10 Tips for Writing a Melody Line over a Chord Progression.

Thanks to Charlotte Bonneton for performing.
Jake Lizzio’s video on The Andalusian Cadence : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbeRVJMT5CY

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0:00 Introduction
1:13 Use Notes From the Chords
2:37 Try Other Ways Through the Chord
4:24 Passing Notes & Other “Non-Chord Tones”
6:38 Suspensions, Anticipations, and Pedal Tones
8:37 Use Sequences
9:24 Think About Overall Shape of Progression
11:56 Adapting the Sequence to the Situation
13:07 Find a Balance Between Steps & Leaps
14:11 Keep the Rhythm Interesting
15:45 Play With Expectation & Overall Shape
17:12 Demo Melodic Line

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By: wildsPosted on Categories : Categories : generalTags:

45 Replies to “How to Write a Great Melody (Over Chords)”

  19. I've been playing the guitar about 12 years now and there was recently a 6 year gap, it's a long story. I already knew three of the chords except the E7. After playing it in the following order A minor, E7, G, F. After a couple of tries it started sounding out. It blew me away! Thanks for tutorial. You also filled in some holes in my understanding of how it was put together. I'm going back and review some of the things that you mentioned.

  20. Hi. This question might sound odd but… how do you go about conciously using music theory? LIke…. I can´t find myself applying the music theory I know. It always falls back to doing what my ear feels should be next giving me little choice in colour etc.

  32. One of my biggest tips for any songwriter that wants to find a melody to go off of: read a book where the main character writes songs. Make sure that there are lyrics “the character wrote” in the book. When I read written lyrics that I don’t recognize as an existing song already, my mind gives the lyrics a melody. If your mind does this, use that melody for a song, because technically your brain came up with it, and your didn’t copy another melody

  34. Hi David – thank you for your videos. I am going to attempt this year, for the first time, to write an aria. However, I am wondering if, when I am composing the vocal melody, whether or not I should write the ornaments and embellishments or is that left to the vocalist to improvise by how they feel while singing it? Cheers!

  39. Totally new to this channel. Really love your pacing, tone, the countdowns over each section. I learned some new things too, despite the fact I've been writing melodies for decades. Bravo sir ??

  41. I love how I put off watching these kinds of videos for weeks or months cause as soon as I watch them, they just tell me I’m doing everything correctly and that I’m on the brink of a songwriting algorithm. I’m just being really lazy. My life is really easy so I have no drive to make or break with my music. I need that drive. 2024 is the start of it. I’m a good songwriter. I just need that extra push. That one big step that’s right in front of me. I just gotta grow my legs longer and take it

  42. I've tried a few times throughout the years to get a basic grasp on musical theory, but it never made much sense to me. Only recently did I get a very rudimentary understanding of it's basics. Amazed that I can mostly understand what you're talking about (I think).

    When you talk about "always being just one step away from a resolution", does that have any bearing on how far one strays from the chord's path/how far one should/could?

  45. Remember people none of the Beatles could read a note of music and knew very little music theory and didnt even know the name of half the chords they were playing. Im a 55 yr old guitarist from Liverpool whos played for 45 yrs . My Dad who played in bands and seen the Beatles on the cavern over 50 times before they were known and my Dad was exactly the same he could play Merle Travis, Django Reinhardt and any 50s rock n roll song you could name he played all his own rhythm and lead while singing too . He didnt even know what a pentatonic or relative minor was but he could play anything by ear just like the Beatles could until George Martin educated them musically by which pojnt they already had 7 number 1 hit songs and 4 or 5 albums out before they knew about scale patterns, circle of fifths and the caged system etc. So learn as much as you can knowledge is a beautiful thing but song writing is as much from the heart as it is from theory and non chord tones.

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