Song 2 Analysis - Melodies
Lesson 32 from: Music Theory for Electronic ProducersTomas George
Song 2 Analysis - Melodies
Lesson 32 from: Music Theory for Electronic ProducersTomas George
Lesson Info
32. Song 2 Analysis - Melodies
Lessons
Introduction
00:58 2Basic Music Theory Terms
08:07 3Keyboard Layout and Octaves
06:19 4Working out Major Scales
08:58 5Perfect 5ths
06:42 63rds - Part 1
08:05 73rds - Part 2
07:39 8Perfect 4ths
04:36Chords and Inversions - Part 1
10:05 10Chords and Inversions - Part 2
09:13 11Chord Progressions - Part 1
10:22 12Chord Progressions - Part 2
08:26 13Inversions
08:53 147th Chords
09:48 15Chord Extensions
08:09 16Suspended Chords
02:40 17The Circle of 5ths
04:30 18Minor Scales
08:09 19Chords in the Natural Minor scale
09:56 20Harmonic and Melodic Minor
09:30 21Write the Chords, then the Melody
09:03 22Write the Melody, then the Chords
18:01 23Arpeggios
08:00 24Writing Bass Parts
11:35 25Writing Bass Riffs and Adapting Melodies
14:10 26Song Analysis - Chords, Part 1
10:17 27Song Analysis - Chords, Part 2
05:58 28Song Analysis - Melody
08:55 29Song Analysis - Arrangement
07:30 30Song 2 Analysis - Arrangement
05:04 31Song 2 Analysis - Chords
08:55 32Song 2 Analysis - Melodies
06:34 33Song 3 Analysis - Chords
11:41 34Song 3 Analysis - Melodies and Arrangement
06:55 35Create a Song from a Drum Beat - Part 1
10:22 36Create a Song from a Drum Beat - Part 2
18:47 37Create a Song from a Drum Beat - Part 3
18:49 38Create a Song from a Drum Beat - Part 4
08:21 39Create a Song from a Chord Progression - Part 1
08:16 40Create a Song from a Chord Progression - Part 2
08:07 41Create a Song from a Melody - Part 1
07:27 42Create a Song from a Melody - Part 2
09:05 43Modes Intro
04:10 44Ionian
00:43 45Dorian
04:31 46Phrygian
02:09 47Lydian
01:35 48Mixolydian
02:13 49Aeolian
00:39 50Locrian
01:50 51Dorian Mode Example
09:12 52Pentatonic Scales
12:27Lesson Info
Song 2 Analysis - Melodies
OK. In this lecture, we're going to be looking at the melodies in this track skylight. So previously, we looked at the cords. Now, we're going to have a quick look at the melodies and just work out how I actually created these lines and these riffs within this song. So, like I said previously, this track is built around four courts with two base notes. So basically just a G minor and an f and that's kind of the track, obviously a lot of arranging a lot of just fine tweaks, moving stuff around and creating some movement and tension throughout the track. I've got a few different riffs and melodies and I'm just going to go through a few of these now, just so you could create similar kind of melodies and work out how I did it. A lot of this was just by ear. It wasn't all using music theory. It was a combination of just feeling the track, feeling what notes should go there. But this is from years of writing music and kind of realizing what notes fit together and which notes don't fit togeth...
er, but you can make fit or change and adapt but without the core fundamentals of music theory, it's very difficult to do correctly. So let's just play from the start here and I'll go through a few of the melodies and what I actually did. So I have these delayed notes at the start. You can hear the delay still ringing. So let's just have a look at a few of these. So we have ad and a B flat. So that's played on the second chord. So ad and A B flat fits into the G minor. And so it's a G minor. A six really if we're including these notes because the G and the B flat fits in G minor, but G minus six with the E flat. So we've kind of got a bit of clashing here, but I quite like the clashing. It adds a bit of tension because we have the release from the first chord and then the tension from the second chord and a bit of a release, but a strange release on the third because we've got a slash cord, we've got a different base note, then we have a bit more tension with the fourth one. So for me, it's about release tension, release tension this track. And I believe I did that with this. Just have a look at another one of these examples. So I think it's the same note ad and A B flat. So a lot of it's just finding what notes fit in the scale. So you need to go through and write down the notes in either your major scale or your minor scale. Work out which chords to use. Have a look at the previous lectures about that. If you don't know that already and then just go through and working out shapes and melodies that you think will sound good and experiment. And there's no rule that you must use the, the fourth, the fifth and the third to write a melody, write whatever you sound good. But think of something in, in mind if, if you want to have something with a lot of tension, don't use the predictable notes, don't use the root. The third and the fifth use the more less common unusual notes. And this will create some more tension, add more notes in the chord to make it more jazzy. I guess this can create more tension, more dissonance. It's about experimenting really. But let's have a look at this riff here as well. Then the cores enter here. So let's just have a look through some of this. This is kind of a repetitive riff that's changes slightly every time and it adapts with the cord. So the first one fits with a G minor. So we have the notes here, the G, the B flat Ray sharp CD and then we go up to this D sharp here, which actually fits in the sixth chord. Then we have the F. So the base that goes down to the f we have to, they sharp as well. So we have a few notes that just fit in the scale really fit and adapt with the courts when the core changes, the riff changes slightly. That's really what it's about. So the bass note changes and a few of the note change, but it's also quite repetitive. So it can be quite catchy and memorable, but the chords behind it change and a few of the notes change. So it's not too predictable. That's what a lot of it is about, in my opinion. Then we have a few more refs here. So we have this baseline plane. Let's have a look at the baseline. So we're playing the root note, which is the G, we were going up to the third and the f playing the base note and then we're going up to the third which is uh a flap. So this isn't actually an F, it's an F minor we found now. So F minus plus four because we're finally here in this third which establishes the note or the chord as a minor rather than a major. So it's a major, it would be this note which I think would work as well. So it could be a major or minor. But I decided to choose a minor to make it sound a bit deeper. A bit moodier. Cos previously, we wouldn't, we weren't actually hearing the third note which is established as the chord, as a major or a minor. So we've got this base note and then throughout the song, we've got a few more riffs as well. It's kind of long held notes which are very delayed also. So this is playing the D which is the fifth of G, then we're playing the F and a few passing notes and then we go to the C which is the fifth. So these are basically just plain fifth notes which obviously fit in the scale. Then we have this horn riff and I have this revamped here as well. Re amping is basically we take the signal into an amplifier and rerecord this back in. So you can get some sounds from the amplifier like distortion sounds of the room. But for music fairy's sake, let's just have a look at this riff. So if you recall, we're in G minor. So we have the notes, the B flat or a sharp GF which is the seventh. So, and a bit more color with the seventh G, a few more notes here as well with the C. So we're adding the fourth. Uh then we go down to the, the F, we're also establishing this fourth as well quite strongly. So if we have a look at the cord, we got a suss four coming in as well. With this a sharp, it's basically based around the notes of the chord or the triad of the chord. A few blue notes in between. So that's basically how I've written the riffs. So I've written the chords and I thought of something that's quite catchy and melodic, repetitive, but also follows the notes of the chord. There's a few notes that aren't the, the root, the third, the fifth or whatever the chords playing. For example, this chord is more based around the fourth than the fifth or the third. This one's more based around the sixth than the fifth. So instead of following the traditional route, 3rd and 5th, I might follow the route, 4th and 5th or the route 3rd and 6th. So the notes are already based around the chords. But at the same time, I want to have an interest in rhythm. Something that's quite catchy, something that I could think people could sing along to. So listen to this riff here, I think this is quite catchy. I think people could sing along to this and they have different octaves of notes going on. They're not all the same octave cos if they're all in the same octave, it can quite get quite muddy, it can clash. But if you've got different octaves, you're spreading out that spectrum of sound. So you can create a lot more going on. So the listener can pick out different parts. So obviously, you get the bass notes, we get the lower ifs, we get the higher refs, we get the held notes, the chords, the drum rhythms. So there's a lot of different stuff that a listener can actually listen and pick out. But that's basically how I created the melodies. I thought of something rhythmical, that's quite catchy. And also follows the notes in the scale and follows the notes in the chord. Sometimes you can put notes that are slightly out of scale or slightly out of the chord. If they're passing notes, this can work. But I wouldn't really hold or stay on a note that isn't really a strong established note of the chord. So it depends on what the chord is. For example, the G minor, you really want to kind of establish the R or the chords or the pattern around this route. 3rd and 5th. So the G, the B flat and the D, the six, you wanna establish it more around the sixth rather than the fifth and the same with the suss fourth, if you wanna establish it more around the fourth note than the third note. So this is kind of how I wrote my melodies. A lot of it was just by ear and just playing what I thought would feel right. And also thinking about music for thinking about the notes in the chord, thinking about the scale and combining this all as one. So thank you for watching this lecture. I hope you found it useful and I'll see you in the next one.
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