Melody Writing – Part 1:

Creativity and The Importance of

Melody
Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: Learning to Compose Music, melody,
process of composing, Voice Leading

I am a huge proponent of studying music theory. I have many reasons for

this, but the main reasons really comes back to this – good music theory is
written by very smart people thinking very deeply about what great
composers have done. Sometimes they miss the mark. But sometimes they
are able to describe the thought process of composers better than many
composers could themselves.

Still, there has been a backlash against learning theory. There probably
always will be. I hear it all the time, “Theory ruins creativity.” Hmmm, that’s
pretty suspicious. One second you are this creative giant, and the next, you
are some academic bore, covered in dust and not able to create new ideas… I
am not buying it.
But if it is not true, then why is it repeated so often? Go to any major music
department, internet forum, or facebook group, and you’ll find quite a few
people who will tell you theory ruins creativity. My theory on… theory, is that
most of the people who say this, don’t learn the theory well enough to let its
concepts permeate their mind. Instead it stays, like a drop of water on top of
scotch guarded khaki pants, unable to absorb into the fabric that is our
imagination.

What is Creativity?
It is pretty difficult to find a decent definition of creativity, because there are
so many. I suspect the people who are trying to get quoted on definitions of
creativity are themselves trying to be creative… which just leads to confusion.
None the less, there are a few definitions I like and actually help to illustrate
my point.

“Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no
one else has thought.”

This one, attributed to Einstein, is actually not that creative, as it was also
attributed to Albert Szent-Györgyi, the man that discovered vitamin C (the
vitamin, not the singer), and to Jonathan Swift, the guy who wrote Gulliver’s
Travels.

But the point it gets across is a good one.

For laughs, another great quote from Einstein. The man is just funny.

“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”

Albert Einstein

The other definition that I like is this one.

“Creativity is nothing more than seeing and acting on new relationships,

 thereby bringing them to life.”
Joseph V. Anderson

Creativity to me is not necessarily coming up with something groundbreaking

for the world. Creativity is really about coming up with something that is
groundbreaking in your world. It is about making a new connection with
things that you already know.

My three year old son does not get caught up in thinking that he needs to
come up with something never before seen. He will take a spatula and use it
as a sword. For him this is creative. He sees a sword, he sees a spatula, he
puts them together, and voila! He has a sword.

Did he come up with the idea of the sword on his own… no. He was effectively
taught about swords through society. The knowledge of “sword” was
transmitted to him. As was the knowledge of “spatula”. He used his
knowledge of both, to make a creative connection, and achieve his goal of
hitting daddy with a sword.

How to Approach Creativity

I promise, I am going to get to melody in a little bit.

So how should you approach creativity? It is not something that you can just
approach head on, and say you are going to be creative. Instead you have to
trick it.

The best way to do this is to remove inhibition. By this I mean, you want to
stop censoring yourself and accept the ideas you have created (this only
applies to composing, I am not condoning anything that is in any way
obscene or illegal).

The best way to do this is to not stop while your composing. When you get an
idea, run with it. Write it down, and continue writing it down, until you have
all of it. If you get the flash of a symphony in your mind… well it could be a
long day. But I am going to say that most people don’t just get a flash of a
symphony. Instead you get a melody.

Melody – Simple and Beautiful

Melody is natural. It is one line. It can be imagined. It can be heard in your
mind. This means it is one of the greatest vehicles for unlocking creativity.

Melody to me is the heart and soul of music, because melody is something we

can all relate to. It is what you hum to yourself when you are alone. It is what
you remember from your favorite music.

Here is a test. I want you to hum your favorite symphonic work.

I am guessing you probably had trouble humming all of the harmony,

doublings, foreground, middleground, and background. Makes sense as you
only have one voice. I guess you could start working on your tuvan throat
singing, but at most, you are talking about one other note.

Learning to Compose Melodies

You can learn to compose melodies. Ghast… did I just say, you can… learn…
to compose melodies?! Yes I did.

I know this goes against the popular romantic ideas of genius. And many
great composers have said, you can’t teach melody. But guess what, all of the
great composers had hundreds, if not thousands of hours of instruction in
counterpoint, and voice leading, as well as other experienced composers
listening to, and critiquing their works.

So how do you go about learning to compose melodies, and what does this
have to do with creativity? I hinted to it in the previous paragraph.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that you already have your own
personal style of melody. It exists within you, and you have developed it over
many years of just being a human. It is this melodic instinct – something that
comes naturally, that is the key.

Learning to compose melodies is really about learning to free your

own personal melodies from the chains of inhibition and
censorship.

You have to be able to accurately describe, and understand what you hear in
your head. This can only happen if you:

1. Have a framework for describing the melody that is deeply ingrained in

your mind.
2. Have the ability to connect that framework with what you hear.
3. Have the ability to transcribe that framework into a concrete form –
either written notation or a recording (sequencing works as well).

The framework is the theory and notation. If you don’t understand notation,
you will have no way of even conceiving what you are hearing. It is just sound
at that point. Once you understand notation – then you can start to put it
together. But even then, notation is relatively thin, without some kind of
theoretical framework. I can probably transcribe a melody that goes from G
to F, and then, F to E – but that means very little at this point.

It is only when I back that up with understanding of how single lines can
actually outline harmony, and how that harmony dictates the way notes
resolve to other notes… This is when I start to understand my melody. And
when I understand, then I get feedback. And it is the feedback that ultimately
informs my next melody and my creativity. It is within this framework that I
could say

G to F to E. Well, that’s simple. It is outline a G7 chord moving to C chord.

The real creativity, is taking that natural melody in your mind – then
accepting it, transcribing it, and understanding it. Allow that understanding
to create new connections between ideas that were not previously connected.
This is where you will find your creativity.

Melody is one of the few things that can start this process. It’s deceptive
simplicity gives you the emotional permission to accept it. The fact that it is
one line, makes the transcribing much easier than transcribing even a piano
piece. Understanding is always hard, but is much more digestible when only
one line is involved. And finally, making new connections will come on its
own. That happens when you are showering, or running, or whatever you do
that is in no way connected with actually composing.