Questions tagged [melody]
A succession of notes which comprise the principal part in harmonized music.
274
questions
7
votes
2answers
456 views
Creating chord-melody from The Real Book (or other fake book)
I practice songs from The Real Book, and I am quite new to the chord-melody concept. I have knowledge of scales and chords, and I can play melodically these standards. Now I want to play them as chord-...
1
vote
5answers
112 views
How can I avoid augmented and diminished intervals?
Rule 12 of Paul Hindemith's Craft of Musical Composition - Book 2 states the following: "Avoid augmented and diminished intervals. If, after an augmented or a diminished interval, the third tone ...
3
votes
2answers
55 views
When learning how to write a good melody is it more important to analyze the notes against the bass or against the chord?
When looking at a score of a song I have always looked at a melody against the notes of the chord root but recently I started learning counterpoint and I feel that I may have overlooked the importance ...
4
votes
6answers
76 views
In major keys, since the 7th scale degree resolves up to the 8th, does descending through the scale degrees 8-7-6 violate the leading tone rule?
I need to understand how the leading tone (7th scale degree) functions in major keys.
I see that the 7th scale degree (leading tone) resolves up to the 8th (the tonic) because the leading tone is a ...
1
vote
2answers
43 views
Complex chord progression (secondary dominants) with simple step-wise melody?
In many musical pieces, complex harmonic relations can be identified in the chord progression even when the melody can intuitively be "felt" to progress in a very simple step-wise manner.
...
8
votes
1answer
178 views
How to apply Paul Hindemith's harmonic theory
I have been studying Paul Hindemith's "The Craft of Musical Composition, Book 1: Theory", trying to apply Hindemith's principles to my own harmonies and melodies.
As you may know, Hindemith'...
0
votes
0answers
20 views
Is there a database of tunes searchable by interval? [duplicate]
It's a common technique to use familiar tunes to remind ourselves how intervals sound.
Recently in a zoom rehearsal we were talking about octave leaps and between us came up with the common octave ...
1
vote
1answer
59 views
How to find out the pitch of a melody in Ableton live 10?
I have a sample that plays 4 chords. I have no idea what their key/pitch is. I've tried using the tuner audio effect but it doesn't say anything at all. Does anyone know an alternate way to find the ...
1
vote
2answers
71 views
Harmonizing a modulating melody with ornamentations
I've been self studying Tchaikovsky's harmony textbook and supplementing it with harmonizing melodies from Anton Arensky's "1000 tasks for the practical study of harmony" and I've run into ...
1
vote
4answers
102 views
Music construction kit from some great mind
Quite some years ago in school, a teacher told us about a music construction kit.
The kit is a set of cards.
If you put some cards together, something musically / esthetically sound is the result.
...
3
votes
3answers
103 views
Which one makes a melody more noticeable, playing it an octave above the chords or below the chords?
On a midi keyboard/piano, if I play both the chords and the vocal melody at the same time. How do you make the melody sound more prominent than the chords?
In general, which makes the melody more ...
11
votes
8answers
2k views
Does the starting note for a song have to be the starting note of its scale?
Does a scale always have to start off with the note it is named after? For example, the Dm scale is defgab♭cd`. If I wanted to sing a song in D minor, would I have to start with the note D? Or could ...
1
vote
0answers
39 views
Name of Song this jazz melody comes from [closed]
Can someone please tell me the name of the song this melody can be heard? comes from some hard bop tune in the 70's or something I don't know
https://musescore.com/scores/unknown/unknown-...
2
votes
3answers
125 views
Is one major and one minor scale instrument enough to play any melody?
If I buy a diatonic harmonica, I can play one octave of a major scale and its relative minor properly. Is that enough to play any melody by transcribing to the key of my harmonica?
1
vote
1answer
84 views
How can I achieve the ability of playing the music's melody right after listening to it? [duplicate]
Recently I bought a new guitar for myself. After having a basic course, I can play some simple songs like Auld Lang Syne, and I've started wondering this question:
If I had such ability, I may learn a ...
3
votes
4answers
142 views
Is there a term for the combination of melody and harmony, excluding percussion?
I am working with a simple sound generator, which can simultaneously produce multiple sine waves plus white noise. The sine waves can have their frequency and volume modified over time, and the white ...
3
votes
3answers
88 views
Keyscales & Melodies
I'm fairly new to learning music theory at a basic level. I understand notes, triads, intervals and how to read sheet music but I am struggling to understand key scales and how and when they apply and ...
8
votes
4answers
332 views
How to choose chords for chromatic melody?
I've been listening to a lot of impressionistic and avant-garde jazz music lately. When choosing chords in a tonal, diatonic concept, the formula is somewhat clear to me. If it's a note in the scale, ...
6
votes
1answer
684 views
What is the terminology for these two techniques on piano?
Disclaimer: I don't know music terminology, as I don't play any instruments.
The channel Sheet Music Boss on YouTube has two videos in which I've heard what I perceive to be two different techniques ...
-3
votes
4answers
179 views
Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar [closed]
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Stratocaster
Is Fender Stratocaster electric guitar mostly used by leading guitarists in english pop music songs?
Is it difficult for a amateur to learn & ...
0
votes
7answers
156 views
Name two reasons why the music in the next passage starts in C Major and ends in G major?
Please help with the question in the title. I am struggling so much, thank you.
Why?
3
votes
3answers
700 views
Which note to start the melody on?
I am trying to learn to play melodies by ear. I was trying to play Twinkle Twinkle by ear. Justin Guitar taught that a melody can be played anywhere on the fretboard and when I tried to do so, I found ...
0
votes
2answers
136 views
How does James Bay's song Let it Go sound sad in a Major key? [duplicate]
If you listen to James Bay's - Let it Go, it sounds sad yet written in major key. In general, not just for this song, what in theory makes this happen?
I've read people suggesting flat majors make a ...
0
votes
7answers
156 views
What are ways to emphasize a rhythm/time signatures without drums?
What are some ways a song without drums can indicate the rhythm/time signature through the melody or chord progression? It seems that when drums are involved, they play a certain beat over and over ...
1
vote
2answers
124 views
How was “Last Train Home” composed? [closed]
I'm interested in learning how this song is composed. Specifically I'm interested in understanding how such a song could be created from scratch.
Typically what I've been told is that most music first ...
0
votes
2answers
111 views
What scale is the melody in the song? [closed]
I was wondering if this song was in major or minor key. I am new to analyzing music and so I am having a hard time trying to figure out the melody, or how to describe it rather.
This is the song link:
2
votes
2answers
63 views
What is it called when the vocal parts move to the harmony above
What is it called when there's 3 part harmony, and each part goes to the part above them(the highest part goes to the octave above the lowest part)? For example, in this video: at 1:16, the highest ...
2
votes
3answers
241 views
Can I use two minor scales in the same song? [duplicate]
I've been composing a song, using the chord progression Am - G#° - Dm7/A - E (i - VII - iv - V), that is using the Harmonic minor scale.
The song has some melodies, that appear in different parts. The ...
2
votes
2answers
99 views
Tips for hearing/transcribing a piano riff?
I recently came across a song with a synth riff that I want to learn to play on the piano. It's the riff played throughout this video (from 0:17)
I can roughly follow the overall melody but what I'm ...
4
votes
3answers
381 views
Rhythmic/Metric Stress Patterns
The attached images are a page from Jack Perricone's Melody in Songwriting. I am familiar with the concept of stress patterns in music, but, honestly, have no idea what the hell he's on about here.
...
1
vote
5answers
113 views
Melodies vs. Harmonies
Any recommendations on how to distinguish melodies from the harmony of a song? When listening to certain songs it seems as if the chord progression is acting as the melody of the song.
Can a chord ...
0
votes
1answer
49 views
How to use melody/chord voicings to transition between chords and resolve
For now, I'm not super serious about actually writing/recording music, so my question is more focused on general techniques for ending parts of a piece while doing improvisation/noodling around on the ...
-2
votes
1answer
83 views
Can I learn chromesthesia? [closed]
With enough repetition and practice, can I condition myself to associate colors with certain pitches?
Note: I am talking about a relative pitch here, within a certain key . . . so assigning colors to ...
6
votes
2answers
207 views
Does voice doubling an instrument's melody while improvising have a name?
According to wikipedia, scat singing is:
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless
vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all.[2][3] In scat
singing, the singer ...
2
votes
1answer
148 views
Help understanding tendency tones
What should I be listening for when trying to understand tendency tones? From what I understand, unstable tones ‘resolve’ into a specific stable tone, but I’m having trouble hearing these resolutions ...
-1
votes
3answers
336 views
How many semitones should I change to change melody but same chord
I want to sing a song in different melody but use the same chord. How many semitones should I increase/ decrease so that I won't sound out of tune with people singing in the original melody?
3
votes
6answers
283 views
How to make chords and melody work together to sound good?
I write melodies. Now, I am trying to put harmony to them. I learned the chord basics. Today, I have two questions to ask, hoping to get answers by your kindness.
I put a chord under every accented ...
6
votes
6answers
779 views
How does the tonic establish itself in a melody?
Whenever I hear an explanation about what the tonic or root note is, it’s about how it creates some kind of gravitational pull in the music. How does it do that exactly? How does our brain piece ...
6
votes
4answers
472 views
Why do major and minor triads sound different both harmonically and melodically?
Sorry if the wording is odd, but basically my question is, why do the major and minor triads have two distinct sounds, if they share all of the same intervals? Not only when they’re stacked ...
1
vote
2answers
160 views
I can't hear the chords in this song, are there any or am I mistaking chords for melody? [closed]
I'm trying to train my hear to listen and separate out the chords, melody, bass, and drums in music I enjoy listening to, and practice my music by re-creating these styles.
...
1
vote
0answers
46 views
Inverted pedal tones but intervals
What is the correct term when you play melodic intervals in higher pitch than primary melody? As for the rhythmic support for primary melody. If it was pedal tones played that way, it would be called ...
0
votes
1answer
106 views
Why does Rachmaninoff Symphony 2 mvmt. 3 sound so similar to Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet love theme?
I get that they were both meant to convey love, but to me it sounds too similar to be a coincidence that Rach and Tchaik both hear love as the same (especially that rising line in the violins). Why is ...
1
vote
1answer
181 views
Dreamy musical phenomenon
It happens mainly when I am relaxed, about to sleep or near to wake up, but it also happens other times but less often, generally on quiet environments, then I start to listen a music on my head, most ...
4
votes
3answers
83 views
system for analyzing melodies
When I want to learn more about what makes a harmony special, I go right to roman numeral analysis.
I have a list of melodies that caught my ear, and I wanted to see what makes them work. I am ...
1
vote
4answers
135 views
Jazz piano: problem remembering harmony, melody is fine
In my quest to become a general jazz pianist I practice jazz standards. Having several years experience with violin, a melody instrument, I have no trouble learning and remembering melodies but the ...
7
votes
1answer
132 views
Compositional techniques in top-line melody writing
I want to start this post off by mentioning that I have seen the 1/16/2017 post on a similar topic; That post related more to the lyrical/prosodic elements of the melody, and I am more interested in ...
2
votes
3answers
50 views
What kinds of melodies tend to sound good under melodic inversion?
The other day I was trying to write a canon by inversion, and I wondered whether there are any general guidelines (other than trial and error) as to what kinds of melodies tend to sound "good" under ...
12
votes
8answers
5k views
If we play a melody backward will its characteristics be the same?
I have tried with the melody from "love will tear us apart" and I think it's beautiful.
0
votes
3answers
68 views
Does dissonance create movement in counterpoint?
I’m studying first species counterpoint and trying to wrap my head around why we try not to use unisons, octaves and perfect 5ths outside of the beginning and end. I understand that unisons, octaves ...
1
vote
1answer
55 views
Quick melody question [closed]
Sorry for the non-descriptive title and the possibly uninteresting post. I am wondering about the following cliche melodic pattern that is stuck in my head:
Where have I heard this? How should it ...
