AboutPhil Kelly Expertise I`m a semi-retired professional music arranger with over thirty five years in all phases of the commercial music production business. I can try to answer questions regarding music arranging, theory, orchestration , and/or composition for most acoustic ensembles .( jazz band or orchestral ) I can try to offer suggestions about studio music recording procedures and some basic MIDI applications , too. In the course of my career I`ve worked with such artists as Doc Severinsen and the old Tonight Show Band, Bill Watrous, Buddy Greco, John Gary, Mel Torme, Julius LaRosa, as well as the Pop programs of the Fort Worth, Dallas, North Carolina, and Houston Symphonies, as well as library music material for ABC, ESPN, and NFL Films.
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I can write a decent melody and I am pretty good with harmony. What is puzzling me is how to put them together - how to imagine music that is driven by melody and harmony simultaneously. When you listen to Schubert or Mendelssohn it is clear that they concieved melody and harmony together, simultaneously, inseparably (or at least it sounds that way). If I write a melody and then harmonize it, it sounds forced. If I write a harmonic progression and then a melody to fit it, it sounds forced. If I imagine both melody and harmony at the same time the harmonies are simplistic, lacking the richness I can achieve with harmony alone. How do I learn to develop this skill?
Answer -
Hi John :
You pose a very interesting question .One of the hardest things to do in music is write an effective memorable melody and there are no set ways of doing it. However,there are a few tools you can employ to get you going:
Working from a melodic basis:
1.build a "motif" ..a simple three/eight note phrase that pleases you ..it could be as simple as a short ascending arpeggiated chord: (BCEGB = I'm getting sentimental over you ) or ( GG EC = Hello Dolly )
2. construct a logical answering motif to respond to the first one.. a descending arpeggiated chord for example : ( GDBbGA = getting sentimental) or a variation on the first one : ( EGA EA =Hello Dolly )
3. you now have half of a musical phrase ..now work on constructing a phrase that completes the musical thought .. it could be a variation upon the arpeggiated technique using a couple leaps in the arpeggiation :
(F# ECA F D# BG A = getting Sentimental over you ) or a reversed direction from the first motif : since the first motifs of "Hello Dolly" were FALLING ones, the answer could be an ASCENDING one: ( EG BCBCBC DCG )
now you have a coherent musical phrase to build upon ..repeat the process to create another phrase. Keep in mind basic song form ..these are similar to those used in poetry:
A1 A2 B A3
A B A C
Working from a harmonic perspective:
Construct a simple series of chords ( C C/Ebass F G7 sus ) ..then SING over it until you hear something that catches your ear ..(dont worry if it exactly fits the chords or not, they can be adjusted later )
This barely scrathces the surface, but I hope it helps you get going ..there are many good books on song and melodic writing available depending upon the style(s) you want to work in ..check out Music Dispatch .com ..or google "songwriting" or "music composition "
good luck!
Phil Kelly
www.philkellymusic.com
Thanks for your quick response and your helpful answers. I will pursue them. But there is another dimension to my question, which I probably did not make clear. I can write melodies that are natural and pleasing and I can write harmonies that are natural and intriguing. The problem is combining them.
As your answers indicate, melody and harmony are typically treated and taught separately. And yet, in the great music of the past melody and harmony are so thoroughly and naturally integrated that they must have been heard/imagined/written SIMULTANEOUSLY.
The issue is how to learn to imagine/hear/write melody and harmony SIMULTANEOUSLY, so that they sound like an integrated whole. If I write the melody first and then the harmony, the harmony sounds tacked on and superficial. If I write the harmony first and then the melody, the melody sounds forced to fit the harmony. Whereas in the great music of the past the impression (perhaps an illusion) is that melody and harmony are so completely and naturally integrated that they must have been imagined at the same time. How can I learn this simultaneous, integrated way of writing harmony and melody?
Answer Hi John:
I'm sorry I missed the mark on your question,and I'm not sure that I CAN answer it to your satisfaction. If your melodies are "natural and pleasing" to you ,you obviously need more work on harmony, because ANY melody can be harmonized in and endless number of ways.
Similarly, if you can write "natural and intriguing" chord progressions, yet they suggest no melodic ideas to you, you consequently need to explore the tools available in constructing melodies ( melodic curves, approach and escape tones, the motific construction I mentioned earlier , etc )
You apparently have run into a specific type of "writers block" with this problem ..it may be you really need some one on one with a good composition teacher ..the only further idea I have for you is to read AND carefully digest the content of the following book:
The Shaping Forces in Music /Ernst Toch
..this book is the rosetta stone that almost every music comp major goes through in their 2nd or 3rd year, and in detail addresses many of the issues you raise.
