02-08-2017, 09:12 PM
For me, there are two modes of operation: chords first or melody first.
Chords first is the easier option but sometimes leaves something to be desired of the melody. It's basic logic: you have three notes, pick one or two for each chord, then figure out how you want to move between them.
Melody first is the harder option, but sometimes leaves something to be desired of the harmonies. It seems basic- pick which note in the measure or half measure you want to be accompianied by a chord, and try a bunch of different chords that include those note(s) until you find one that clicks... but the challenge is finding one that clicks there AND also makes sense in the larger scheme. We call this process "Harmonization", or when we are taking an existing melody with harmonies and completing this process ignoring said harmonies, "Reharmonization".
Basically, do your melody, then remember chords are always 3+ notes with any of the following halfstep relationships:
+4+3 (major)
+3+4 (minor)
+3+3 (diminished)
+4+4 (augmented)
Therefore, if you have the note "G", there are three different positions G could be in the chord (top, middle, bottom, or to use the technical terms, fifth, third, root) if we are talking just triads, and there are four senses to each position. These are all the chords we could pick:
Root: G Major (G, B, D), G Minor (G, Bb, D), G Diminished (G, Bb, Db), G Augmented (G, B, D#)
Third: Eb Major (Eb, G, Bb), E Minor (E, G, B), E Diminished (E, G, Bb), Eb Augmented (Eb, G, B)
Fifth: C Major (C, E, G), C Minor (C, Eb, G), C# Diminished (C#, E, G), B Augmented (B, D#, G)
This gives us 12 initial variations we could assign to each note.
Importantly in the tonal idiom we should keep in mind the Dominant 7th chord, which consists of a minor third put on top-
Root: G Dom7 (G, B, D, F)
Third: Eb Dom7 (Eb, G, Bb, Db)
Fifth: C Dom7 (C, E, G, Bb)
Seventh: A Dom7 (A, C#, E, G)
This brings us up to 16 primary choices.
This can keep going, for example we may also use a Suspended 4th chord:
Sus4: D Sus4 (D, G, A)
Sus2: F Sus2 (F, G, C)
There are also several other special case chords (Neopolitan, the "6th" chords, etc.), as well as other 7th chords (which essentially just put another third on top of the chord, thus four notes and additional flavors- Major, Minor, Minor/Major, Diminished, Augmented, blah blah), and then we get to special "tension" chords which utilize more than four notes and whose names read more like chemical formulas than musical notation...
So basically you have 12-16 standard choices and a universe of variations, expansions, and additions... that's not even to say that you have to use "chords" as you know it! Sometimes you can just stack up a few perfect 4ths instead of 3rds, or just bang on keys until you find a combination or cluster that sounds "right" (a la Eric Whitacre). Virtually everything can be analyzed somehow with harmony (well, mainly if it's "functional", i.e. the chords have "purposes" for being in places).
You COULD go through all 16+ permutations, plus inversions, until you find something you like... or you could play a few random combinations on the keyboard until you find something you like. This is often the most advantageous option, as the secret to music is understanding that the subconscious is and always will be a better musician than the conscious. It is not by conscious struggle but by subconscious digestion that all music worth blowing a toot about is created. Your mind already knows how to compose, you simply need to learn how to let it do its job. One can learn the names of things and the way we catalog and organize these things, and the way we write them so others can read them, but all this is not learning to create music: it is learning to communicate and understand music consciously.
=====
With chords-first, the process is reversed. Once you have a chord progression, identify what are called the "chord tones". These are the notes which belong to each chord.
The process can be done very simply- select one or two per measure, then transition between them using either straight leaps or what are called "Non-Chord Tones". Logic tells us if chord tones are notes which belong to the chord, non-chord tones are probably notes that don't belong to the chord!
Well, the easiest of these is the passing tone. Let's say we have a C Major chord the first measure, then an E minor chord the next. We picked C for the first measure, then E for the next. While playing C Major then E minor with C in the melody then E in the melody is pretty, it's far from musical. Instead, we might have the first measure consist of C, then D, and then when the second measure with E minor chord, we have our E. This is an example of passing tone in action.
We might also use a neighbor tone- in the same example, let's divide the first measure in four quarter pieces (thus four quarter notes)- the first is C, the second is B, the third is C again, then the final is D. Next measure is still E. This pattern is much more interesting than just a C whole note, thanks to the neighbor tone (the second note).
There are numerous others you can use and experiment with. The danger to this approach is that you do not have a melodic "motif" pre-selected and thus your melodies may wander and be disorganized. This is a common feature of beginner works, where there is no real melody to speak of, but a series of rambling "phrases". It's nothing to be ashamed of either. Over time, the creative of the subconscious will learn how to work with the organized of the conscious to create form within creativity. This is the ultimate highlight of formal music.
Chords first is the easier option but sometimes leaves something to be desired of the melody. It's basic logic: you have three notes, pick one or two for each chord, then figure out how you want to move between them.
Melody first is the harder option, but sometimes leaves something to be desired of the harmonies. It seems basic- pick which note in the measure or half measure you want to be accompianied by a chord, and try a bunch of different chords that include those note(s) until you find one that clicks... but the challenge is finding one that clicks there AND also makes sense in the larger scheme. We call this process "Harmonization", or when we are taking an existing melody with harmonies and completing this process ignoring said harmonies, "Reharmonization".
Basically, do your melody, then remember chords are always 3+ notes with any of the following halfstep relationships:
+4+3 (major)
+3+4 (minor)
+3+3 (diminished)
+4+4 (augmented)
Therefore, if you have the note "G", there are three different positions G could be in the chord (top, middle, bottom, or to use the technical terms, fifth, third, root) if we are talking just triads, and there are four senses to each position. These are all the chords we could pick:
Root: G Major (G, B, D), G Minor (G, Bb, D), G Diminished (G, Bb, Db), G Augmented (G, B, D#)
Third: Eb Major (Eb, G, Bb), E Minor (E, G, B), E Diminished (E, G, Bb), Eb Augmented (Eb, G, B)
Fifth: C Major (C, E, G), C Minor (C, Eb, G), C# Diminished (C#, E, G), B Augmented (B, D#, G)
This gives us 12 initial variations we could assign to each note.
Importantly in the tonal idiom we should keep in mind the Dominant 7th chord, which consists of a minor third put on top-
Root: G Dom7 (G, B, D, F)
Third: Eb Dom7 (Eb, G, Bb, Db)
Fifth: C Dom7 (C, E, G, Bb)
Seventh: A Dom7 (A, C#, E, G)
This brings us up to 16 primary choices.
This can keep going, for example we may also use a Suspended 4th chord:
Sus4: D Sus4 (D, G, A)
Sus2: F Sus2 (F, G, C)
There are also several other special case chords (Neopolitan, the "6th" chords, etc.), as well as other 7th chords (which essentially just put another third on top of the chord, thus four notes and additional flavors- Major, Minor, Minor/Major, Diminished, Augmented, blah blah), and then we get to special "tension" chords which utilize more than four notes and whose names read more like chemical formulas than musical notation...
So basically you have 12-16 standard choices and a universe of variations, expansions, and additions... that's not even to say that you have to use "chords" as you know it! Sometimes you can just stack up a few perfect 4ths instead of 3rds, or just bang on keys until you find a combination or cluster that sounds "right" (a la Eric Whitacre). Virtually everything can be analyzed somehow with harmony (well, mainly if it's "functional", i.e. the chords have "purposes" for being in places).
You COULD go through all 16+ permutations, plus inversions, until you find something you like... or you could play a few random combinations on the keyboard until you find something you like. This is often the most advantageous option, as the secret to music is understanding that the subconscious is and always will be a better musician than the conscious. It is not by conscious struggle but by subconscious digestion that all music worth blowing a toot about is created. Your mind already knows how to compose, you simply need to learn how to let it do its job. One can learn the names of things and the way we catalog and organize these things, and the way we write them so others can read them, but all this is not learning to create music: it is learning to communicate and understand music consciously.
=====
With chords-first, the process is reversed. Once you have a chord progression, identify what are called the "chord tones". These are the notes which belong to each chord.
The process can be done very simply- select one or two per measure, then transition between them using either straight leaps or what are called "Non-Chord Tones". Logic tells us if chord tones are notes which belong to the chord, non-chord tones are probably notes that don't belong to the chord!
Well, the easiest of these is the passing tone. Let's say we have a C Major chord the first measure, then an E minor chord the next. We picked C for the first measure, then E for the next. While playing C Major then E minor with C in the melody then E in the melody is pretty, it's far from musical. Instead, we might have the first measure consist of C, then D, and then when the second measure with E minor chord, we have our E. This is an example of passing tone in action.
We might also use a neighbor tone- in the same example, let's divide the first measure in four quarter pieces (thus four quarter notes)- the first is C, the second is B, the third is C again, then the final is D. Next measure is still E. This pattern is much more interesting than just a C whole note, thanks to the neighbor tone (the second note).
There are numerous others you can use and experiment with. The danger to this approach is that you do not have a melodic "motif" pre-selected and thus your melodies may wander and be disorganized. This is a common feature of beginner works, where there is no real melody to speak of, but a series of rambling "phrases". It's nothing to be ashamed of either. Over time, the creative of the subconscious will learn how to work with the organized of the conscious to create form within creativity. This is the ultimate highlight of formal music.
Sample library developer, composer, and amateur organologist at Versilian Studios.
