Melody

Melody is one the most important dimensions of composing, yet also one of the most difficult to pin down and define. What makes a good melody? Most people know it when they hear it, yet like describing the taste of salt it's often difficult to say exactly what makes a melody "good." Much of the process of creating melody is artistic and creative, but there are some practical and definable aspects as well.

When composing songs it is often difficult to know if the harmony or the melody should be written first, or if both should be written at the same time. I've experimented with all these methods, and there's no right answer. Every song is different, but for the purposes of this article I'm going to analyze a melody I wrote in my head and then later transcribed and harmonized. Here's the entire melody:



This melody was intended to be sung (it has lyrics), and so the range of notes is intentionally narrow, so it's accessible for most vocalists. The piano has a very wide range, of course, and instrumental melodies need not be confined to the same limits as vocal melodies. The lowest note in this song, the D immediately above middle C, appears in measure 8:


and is repeated two more times in measure 12:


The highest note in this song appears in measure 9:


In addition to the range, every melody has a contour. Some melodies use a lot of "steps" (adjacent notes) and others use a lot of "skips." Measure 5 provides a good example of both steps and skips:


The first interval is an ascending skip, in this case an interval called a perfect fifth. Then the next five notes are steps (adjacent), and finally the measure ends with a skip (a descending major third).

One of the most important dimensions of any melody is motif. A motif is a "signature" set of notes that identify a song (the opening notes of Beethoven's 5th Symphony are a well-known example of a motif). It holds a melody together and helps it make sense to the listener. Sometimes motifs are repeated exactly, as in measures 1 and 13:



Other times the rhythm and pitch of the motif are modified, or extra notes are added to make it sound different from the original (but still related), as in measures 1 and 5:




Rhythm is an essential characteristic of melody. Most people wouldn't recognize their favorite melodies if they were played using different rhythms. In general, songs should have a steady beat and the composer must decide how to use repetition and change to keep the listener interested. Rhythms don't have to be complex to be enjoyable, but there needs to be a good mix of consistency (similar rhythms) and variety (unexpected changes).

This short 16 measure melody was written in an A-B-A format. Measures 1 through 8 introduce the theme, measures 9 through 12 are quite different to provide contrast, and measures 13 through 16 reintroduce the opening theme and bring the listener back "home" again. The song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" was written in A-B-A format, with "Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky" providing a mild contrast to the identical first and last lines.

Another dimension of melody that a composer must consider is whether and how to use repeated notes, such as the ones used in measure 12:



Typically the melody is simply the highest note played, but occasionally composers and arrangers will place the melody in a lower register while playing an ostinato (repeated theme) or quieter notes in the higher registers to ensure that the melody still stands out.

Learning to write good melodies requires experimentation and trial and error. Like other aspects of composing, sometimes good melodies come in a flash of inspiration and other times they are the result of painstaking hard work and patience.

The Process of Composing

Composing piano songs requires a balance of art and science, theory and practice. Every composer's approach is a little different, and songs come in different ways. Some songs come all at once, and it's hard to explain the feelings that accompany that kind of inspiration. But most of the time songs require extensive work over a period of weeks or months. Sometimes I write songs entirely by ear, and other times I employ music theory techniques such as moving from one key to another via a circle of fifths progression. In this article I'm going to give an overview of the steps I typically take when writing a new song.

When I began composing several years ago I purchased an electronic keyboard with a midi interface and hooked it up to my computer. I wanted to be able to play sections of music and have them "automatically" notated. However, I quickly discovered that, for me, the most difficult part of transcribing music composed "by ear" into standard notation is capturing the correct rhythm. Midi software can record the right notes, but I found it difficult to play smoothly enough to allow the midi software to record the correct rhythms. So I decided to purchase a program called "Sibelius" to help me write music. It was expensive (around $400), but of all the software programs I tried it was the easiest and most powerful. (There is a program called Finale that was my second choice.)

At first I attempted to compose in Sibelius by sitting at the computer and arranging notes, but I quickly discovered that I produce higher quality music when I'm sitting at a piano than when I'm sitting at a computer. So I started writing songs with a pencil and music paper, then used Sibelius to notate and create the final arrangement.

I'm currently working on a song called "Surrounded." I started writing it about two months ago, and have only written 17 measures so far. Normally I would finish writing the song on paper before transcribing it into Sibelius, but I decided to use the measures I've written so far to illustrate the process I use for composing. Here is a scan of the music I wrote while sitting at my piano:



In the initial writing stages, for purposes of speed, I typically focus on the melody and just use chord symbols for the left hand. (In a future blog entry I'll address the question of which should come first, melody or harmony.) Occasionally I write down a specific harmony part that uniquely identifies the song, but most of the time I wait until later in the process to develop a more complete harmony.

Here's a screen shot of Sibelius in the initial writing stage:



Here's what the song looks like after I've finished entering the melody notes:



Then I add chord symbols and create a rough harmony so I can play the song in Sibelius and make sure it sounds the way I want it to:



Once this step is completed, the next step is to complete the harmony part (which I'll discuss in more detail in a future blog entry).

Chord Progressions

Chord progressions provide the harmonic foundation for most popular music, and they can also work well for writing or improvising instrumental piano songs. In this article I'll introduce some basic chord progressions and some ideas for adding flavor and variety to your songs.

The basic chord progression in many Christmas, religious and folk songs is called a I-IV-V progression, because it uses major chords built on the first, fourth and fifth tones of any major scale. This chord progression is displayed below:


Playing the above chord progression can be a little awkward for the left hand (since it has to jump around a lot), so here is the same chord progression with inverted chords (this example uses G7 instead of G, as the V chord is most often a V7 chord):


Any chord can be inverted (meaning that the notes can be played in a different order) for a slightly different sound and to add variety to music. Typically a song will end with the root of the chord in the bass. For example, a song in the key of C will end with a C chord in the root position of C-E-G. But that same C chord can be played with its notes in a different order (E-G-C or G-C-E) throughout a piece.

Songs in a minor key can use chords similar to the I-IV-V7 progression, but minor chords are notated with lower-case roman numerals. Here is a i-iv-v7 minor progression:

The basic chord progression in jazz music is the ii-V7-I progression:


It's important to write and play chords within the usable range of the piano. Sometimes low notes can sound a bit "muddy," as in the following example:


This problem can be solved by playing the chords an octave higher (the right hand can be moved an octave higher as well to avoid conflicts with the left hand):


Another way to solve the problem of "muddy" lower tones is to remove the third, which determines if a chord is major or minor and tends to be the "muddiest" of the three tones in a major or minor chord:


Another useful chord technique is called chord substitution. Two examples of C chord substitution appear below. The first involves using an Em chord instead of C, since Em and C share two notes. The second involves using an Am chord instead of C (since again, Am and C share two notes). This technique can add variety and interest to your chord progressions:


In certain contexts major 7th and minor 7th chords can be substituted for major chords to give songs a more contemporary sound:


Here are the chord progressions used in a few popular songs:

Viva la Vida (Coldplay): IV-V-I-iv
Back to December (Taylor Swift): I-iv-IV-V
I Just Wanna Run (Downtown Fiction): i-III-v-iv
Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen): I-IV-V-vi-IV-V-iii-vi
You Found Me (The Fray): iii-V-IV-V-I

When improvising, I often use the following I-IV-V-vi-V-IV-I progression to provide the harmonic structure:


Try experimenting with your own chord progressions and see what unique harmonies you can come up with!

In the Key of White

In my last blog entry I talked about improvisation as a foundation for composing instrumental piano songs, and I suggested using the black keys (the pentatonic scale) to begin experimenting with this technique. Today I'd like to talk about improvising on the white keys using either a major or minor scale, and I'll introduce some basic patterns I use when improvising.

A scale is simply a group of notes drawn from the chromatic scale, which is the mother of all scale and includes all 12 notes used in western music. There are a number of different types of scales that can be built on each of the 12 "keys," but the most common types of scales are major and minor. If you play each of the white keys from one C to the next, you're playing a C Major scale:



If you play each of the white keys from one A to the next, you're playing an A Minor scale.

The C Major scale, like all major scales, has a set of accompanying chords built on each of its notes. All major scales contain 3 major, 3 minor and one diminished chord. These chords can be referred to generically by roman numerals (which can be applied to any key), but they also have specific names. Upper case roman numerals denote major chords, lower case numerals indicate minor chords, and a degree symbol indicates a diminished chord (however, since I don't know how to type a degree symbol I will simply use the letters "dim"). The key of C major contains the following chords:

I - C Major (C)
ii - D minor (Dm)
iii - E minor (Em)
IV - F Major (F)
V - G Major (G)
vi - A Minor (Am)
vii(dim) - B diminished (Bdim)



The order the chords are played in can make all the difference in the world, and in my next entry I'll talk about chord progressions in more detail. For now I want to introduce a few common patterns I use while improvising. The first pattern is the "block chord" pattern and simply involves playing the notes of any chord from the C major or A minor scales. This pattern is quite simple and can be a good place to start:



The only problem with the above pattern is that it can become a bit tedious and boring after a while. If you want to mix things up a little, here is another pattern that I use quite often. I call it the "root-fifth-octave" pattern:



This pattern can be used with any of the chords. So for the C chord it involves hitting a C, then hitting the G five notes above that, then hitting the next C above that. The rhythm may vary and it doesn't matter which order the notes are played in. The advantage of this pattern is that it isn't likely to "clash" with any of the right hand melody notes, since it is somewhat indeterminate (neither major nor minor). It can be a good pattern to use when you are focusing on writing a melody and just need a generic harmony foundation to build on so you can get a general idea of what the song you are writing will sound like.

Finally, the pattern below is one that I call the "ballad" pattern, and it works well with slower songs:

Piano Improvisation

I've decided to post a series of articles explaining the process I use for composing instrumental piano music. Over the next several weeks I hope to provide you with the skills and confidence you'll need to begin writing your own music, regardless of the number of years you've been playing. I believe that EVERY pianist can and should learn how to compose as a foundational part of their musical fluency, because it provides a practical way to understand basic theoretical concepts and it can be a very enjoyable creative outlet.

Today I'd like to spend some time talking about improvisation, since it's one of the most important components of my composer's toolbox. While improvisation is a foundational part of jazz music studies, classical training often overlooks this important skill. Mozart, Beethoven and many other past composers were superb improvisers, but today's classical training often neglects this important aspect of musicianship.

The word improvisation means "to compose and perform or deliver without previous preparation." This definition is slightly misleading, because it implies a "tabula rasa" in which someone creates something our of thin air without any prior training or thought. But all musical learning can serve as "preparation" for improvisation, and performing "without previous preparation" simply refers to the fact that no DIRECT preparation has occurred. In other words, the musician isn't playing something that's been previously written down or memorized. One approach to improvisation would be to play random notes and learn "by ear" which ones sound good together. This may work for some, but I've found that my best improvisations are usually based on chords and scales, the foundation of all music.

In future blog entries I'll discuss the details of chords and scales and key changes, but for now I want to discuss the emotional side of improvisation. I find that playing piano has a tendency to melt my stress away. Sometimes I play familiar songs from my repertoire, and other times I site read new material. When I want to create and express what I'm feeling in my own way, though, improvisation is my preferred option. With time and practice I've learned to express what I'm feeling in musical form. I might use a hard-driving, bass-heavy rhythm as the foundation for my improvisations when I'm feeling angry, frustrated or anxious. Or I might move to the higher registers of the piano and play a delicate lullaby-sounding song when I'm feeling peaceful. I prefer to be alone when I improvise, because it helps me feel a little more free to experiment and make "mistakes." When I improvise for an audience I usually resort to common patterns and tend to avoid potentially risky key changes. The results may sound better, but I don't learn as much.

The best way to begin improvising is to start with a technique I introduce to all of my piano students early in their lessons. The black keys on the piano make up a pentatonic (5-note) scale, and if you play anything with a steady rhythm using only the black keys you can produce improvised music that, well, sounds like music, even if you are a beginner. You can experiment with sounds and patterns without worrying about "too much dissonance." The amount of dissonance you can handle is a personal preference, and there are no mistakes in improvisation (only unexpected turns), but a knowledge of chords and scales can help keep you from wandering too far into "modern music la la land," which is why the black keys are a "safe" place to start.