We’ve all been there. You’ve got some lyrics, maybe a whole song, maybe just a few lines. You want to start writing a melody to fit them, but you have no idea where to start. You pick at things on the guitar or piano, but inspiration isn’t biting.
Sometimes the best thing to do in that situation is to leave it and let the subconscious mind do the work for you, but that isn’t the only option. Why not grab a tried and tested melodic device, and see if it kick starts the creative process?
There are a great many common melodic ideas that we’ve all heard hundreds of times in hundreds of guises, so what follows certainly isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list. It’s just five ideas that I’ve used or heard that you might find useful.
To illustrate what I mean, I’m going to make use of some lyrics that I haven’t been able to find a use for
Will we wait ’til men are up there
Tying ropes around the sun?
1. Start with a leap!
There a several melodies that start with a leap from one note to a much higher one. Somewhere over the Rainbow is an obvious one, but there’s also Starman by David Bowie and the theme to Doctor Who. I know the Dr Who theme isn’t a song, but I think its worth mentioning because the melody is such a great example of musical thrift, and because it starts with a leap up of a flat 9th, rather than the octave the other two use.
Typically a melody that starts with a big leap will begin on the first note of the scale, leap up somewhere much higher on the next note, and then begin to work its way down. Here’s my go:
[audio http://www.wellwrite.co.uk/songwright/melody1.mp3]
2. Start with a chord note
An obvious one, but worth mentioning. Pick a chord, pick a note in that chord, start singing. Change note when it feels appropriate.
When might it feel appropriate? Probably on an important word in the phrase. For example I played a C chord, started singing on the G, and then went up to a B on the word ‘up’.
[audio http://www.wellwrite.co.uk/songwright/melody2.mp3]
3. Start on a non-chord note.
I covered this idea in Episode 2 of the podcast, so I won’t repeat it at length. Why not Pick a note that isn’t part of the chord, but that has a ‘gravity’. Sticking with my C chord, I know that D, F and A all sound as if they need to come ‘home’ to the chord note one step down. So by picking a D to start on, I get this:
[audio http://www.wellwrite.co.uk/songwright/melody3.mp3]
4. Start on a chromatic non-chord note.
I use this a lot. What do I mean by ‘chromatic’? Pick a note that isn’t in the major scale. I often emphasise a sharp fourth, which over my C chord would be an F sharp. Another common note to emphasise would be the B flat, which would turn the chord into C7. Here’s my example of that:
[audio http://www.wellwrite.co.uk/songwright/melody4.mp3]
You could also try putting a sharp second (the same as a minor third) to get a bluesy feel, or a flat second for a stereotypical ‘eastern’ feel. Here’s an example of that:
[audio http://www.wellwrite.co.uk/songwright/melody5.mp3]
5 Use a Shape
Melodies tend to have a shape to them anyway, but why not think of one first? I decided to use a descending shape for this example, but you could have an ascending melodic pattern, or a series of rises and falls.
[audio http://www.wellwrite.co.uk/songwright/melody6.mp3]
There you go, that’s just five ideas out of many. Have fun, and let me know if you put any to good use.
