Best Way To Compose a Melody Over Chords?

Sketch out your thematic material and KNOW what you want to do from a harmonic vocabulary standpoint. Then marry the two. Basically know what you're going to do with the piece before putting the pen to paper.

Originally Posted by ram

Here's a little exercie. Using the figured bass, write a melody on top of it.

The bass is simple on purpose, so that you can let your creativity go.

I - I 6/4?

Originally Posted by gms5287

I - I 6/4?

Err... The bass is figured, so the harmonies are imposed and there is no chord in the 6:4 position in the bass I've given.

Still, there are many possibilities. I'll try to do the exercise myself and I will post a melody on top of that bass. I would like to avoid being the first to do so.

Originally Posted by sphefx

Hey all,

I'm considerably new to musical composition, and was wondering what the best way is to compose a melody, taking into account that I've already laid down a chord progresison.

Last time, I just used the notes of the chord to try and make a melody. It worked alright, but I'm wondering if there's a better way to do it. Can I use notes from a scale? (I did this for a solo, with just random notes from the scale, and it sounded great - would this also work for the melody?)

There are times when improvisation over a chord progression does give really interesting results. You can try either recording your improvisations or write them down then select which ones are the most pleasing to you. I usually take this approach when I'm trying to do solos on the guitar or piano (I believe most musicians do this) then take in what was the best take during the recording. Once you're satisfied, you can notate it, identify the theme/s then make more variations to make things a lot interesting.

It also helps a lot if you now have an idea of how the rhythms of your composition will go. There are times that the rhythms have a big impact in your melody making decisions (take indian classical music for example).

I would say don't, althought it depends a lot on the style of music you're writing....

~Kal

Melody is very simple that you can create it with just a scale. You probably won't be satisfied with the arrangement results.

This isnt as easy to do, but is something to think about.

It is also possible to create multiple melodies, and use them as the chord structure.

Originally Posted by ram

Here's a little exercie. Using the figured bass, write a melody on top of it.

The bass is simple on purpose, so that you can let your creativity go.

You mean like this?

(Hooray for my first not-in-the-introduction-thread post! )

Originally Posted by mathgrant

You mean like this?

Thanks for carrying my typo over

Did you post a score for this exercise, in PDF format? I don't see anything but the bass I gave.

I don't think its possible to make a score from NES format music. >_<

I mean, since you have the figured bass, you could do some ear training. XD No just kidding. Not everyone has the ability to make a score, but still make music with a fair amount of theory and fidelity.