Original Message 1/11                 Date: 15-Sep-00  @  08:16 PM   -   musicians block

tetsuo2

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seems as tho for the last week or so i am unable to come up with anything good... I never took theory or any musical classes so bear with these dumb questions:

1) a "melody" is a note by note "lead" to the song.. right? ie: a then d then b also, this is usually the first thing i lay down, then,

2) i harmonize with the chords... tho lately i have seen that simply two notes seem to work great too. ie: to harmonize with an E in the melody i would play a C E C(in a higher oct) .. Why does this work?

thanks for any help anyone can lend me

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Message 2/11                 Date: 15-Sep-00  @  09:43 PM   -   RE: musicians block

damballah

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1) Melody? Hmmm. The melodic part (duh). Not necessarily the lead, but could be. Generally in a song, it would be the notes of the vocal line. Think of, oh, say, "Frere Jacque." There, that's a melody. Dance stuff's not always built like that. You could consider your hooks, arpeggios, leads, motifs or riffs as melodies if you want to.

2) In this case, you're playing the Root and Major 3rd of a C chord and adding the octave. Usually when extending or alterating a chord, the 5th (G in this case) is usually the first thing you can omit. This probably gives you a more open sound than if you had the G in there. Doesn't seem to take up as much space so you can work other parts in there.

Maybe if you're getting stuck, work it another way. Start with your chord progression and work some melodies or leads out of that. Or build stuff out of a bassline.

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Message 3/11                 Date: 16-Sep-00  @  03:56 PM   -   RE: musicians block

tetsuo2

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good tips, thanx .. and thanx again for the percussion samples

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Message 4/11                 Date: 21-Sep-00  @  12:20 AM   -   RE: musicians block

casparproject

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here's a tip, the first chord prog that you find works
with your melody won't be the only one. Try
different chord prog's to see which one really
sends across the message you want, and don't be
afraid of accidentals (in C those are the black keys)
they can make things more emotional. I find that
starting a song with minimal chord prog's and
buliding its complexity through the course of the
song works for me, but that's just what I like. Just
mess with chords, and don't be afraid of things that
sond weird, as long as they lead to something that
sonds good, they end up sounding fine.

Peaceout,

Peter

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Message 5/11                 Date: 21-Sep-00  @  08:15 AM   -   RE: musicians block

tetsuo2

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well, that chord... thats not the key of c anymore tho.. its now II of the key of b flat major. right?

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Message 6/11                 Date: 22-Sep-00  @  09:56 AM   -   RE: musicians block

casparproject

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It could be either II7 in bflat major, or Iflat7 in
cminor. Try this prog.
(that chord is the second one in this prog)

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Message 7/11                 Date: 22-Sep-00  @  09:58 AM   -   RE: musicians block

casparproject

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sorry, the first one was a cminor I, this one is a
cminor Iflat7

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Message 8/11                 Date: 22-Sep-00  @  10:02 AM   -   RE: musicians block

casparproject

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second inversion IV7 in cminor

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Message 9/11                 Date: 22-Sep-00  @  10:08 AM   -   RE: musicians block

casparproject

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ahh, I'm such a dork, those first two chords were
minor i not I, so they were

i
and iflat7

this one here is a iv7 in second inversion, notice
the only difference is the flattened 3rd, but it makes
for a cool prog.

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Message 10/11                 Date: 22-Sep-00  @  10:20 AM   -   RE: musicians block

casparproject

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to a viidiminished7

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