Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website.
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A song works best when all elements work together. No lyric, chord progression, or melody exist in a vacuum; they are like partners that complement each other. That means that all good songs are better than the sum of their parts. Your job is to find ways to relate one element to the other. One way to make sure your melody works well: have it work in tandem with your bass line.

This method of composition implies that you’ve come up with a chord progression that you like, because it’s the chords that will give you that bass line. So let’s use this progression as one for our chorus:

C  F  C  F  Dm  G  Am  G  C

Assuming that you use all the chords in root position, you’ve got a chord progression that works well, comprised mainly of strong root movements. But for this technique we want to create a bass line that, in a certain way, actually emulates a melody. So to do that, you’ll want to invert some of those chords, which will smooth out that jumpy bass a little:

C  F  C/E  F  Dm  G/B  Am  G/B  C

You’ve now got a bass line that uses the following notes: C F E F D B A B C. It’s a nice shape to use, because it moves upward at first, then descends before rising again to the tonic (key) note.

To create a melody that goes with this, try using contrary motion: as your bass line moves in one direction, try to move your melody in an opposite direction, while still conforming to the notes suggested by the chord progression. This contrary motion may not work for each and every bass note, but here is one sample melody that works as a nice partner to that bass line:

G F G A A G E D C

That’s only one possibility; there are many others. In this case, as the bass line moves up at the beginning, the melody descends. Then as the bass line descends, the melody in general moves higher.

This kind of contrary motion creates a nice musical shape. Listeners won’t necessarily be aware that there is this kind of symmetry being created between the melody and bass, but creating a relationship in this manner creates a balance and an evenness of proportions that really work.

As with all music, you’ll want to create the melody with the lyric in mind, ensuring that words that carry the most emotional meaning get prominent placement in your melody.
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Gary Ewer’s songwriting e-books get you writing the kind of songs that people will want to listen to. Click here to discover the songwriter within you!

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website:
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Anyone who runs a website knows that if you don’t give the visitor something close to what they’re looking for within the first five to seven seconds, they’re going to be clicking away from your site and looking elsewhere.  And that sense of impatience extends to the world of songwriting. If you don’t give the listener something within the first few seconds that says “listen to me,” you’ve lost an opportunity.

This five-to-seven second timeframe is of crucial importance when you consider the intro to your song. If that intro has you strumming away rather mindlessly on one or two chords, you may be missing an opportunity to connect with your listener in a more meaningful way.

I’ve written about this before, but it’s such an important issue that it bears repeating from time to time. Here are four tips for making sure that you start your song with something that will keep your audience from switching to something else:

1. Give the listener more than mindless strumming as an intro. Ask yourself, “Is there something more creative I can be doing? Remember, part of what makes a song good is what’s going on right now, but the other part is the belief on the part of the listener that the song is going to get even better. If your intro bores you, it will bore your listener. Consider launching directly into verse 1 with no intro as a solution.
2. Your lyric needs to immediately connect by describing personal emotions and experiences. Whatever the point of your song is, get to the point quickly. Those lyrics need to be the kind that will cause listeners to say, “Yeah, that’s happened to me before..”, or “I could imagine that!”
3. Energy needs to build, and if you wait too long to get energy going in your song, listeners get bored. If you find that your song lacks energy and you don’t know what to do about it, try a faster tempo, a higher key, or even a louder approach. That technique will also work for songs for which the energy level is a constant value.
4. Get a distinctive hook or other type of melodic or harmonic cell that gets inside the brain of the listener right away. If your chorus has something distinctive that gets people’s toes tapping or keeps them otherwise hooked (and it should!), try using it as your intro.

Remember that the time you have to make an impression is short. And the problem is even more important if you’re a new songwriter breaking into the business. You’ve got something to prove to a potential audience, and trust me, they aren’t going to wait around for a long time for you to prove it.
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If you can’t figure out what’s wrong with your song, you need to step back and look at why the hit songs from the past 5 decades worked. Gary Ewer’s songwriting e-books can show you, section by section, how to make your songs winners. Click here to read more.

& i know that i’m never alone
& i know that my heart is my home
Every missing piece of me
I can find in a melody

The evil is out, apparently. Scherzinger has allegedly gone an done it. The rumor has it that the split is imminent and everyone is waiting for the official announcement of Pussycat Dolls splitting or breaking up or kicking a bunch of people out. Nicole just can’t handle the fact that some of the dolls are better and more talented than her. Now, none of the other Dolls speak to her. Team Melody!

Ass buat semua pengunjung blog gw!! Sebelumnya saya sudah memberikan sedkit pendahuluan bagaimana cara membaca tablatur dan apa saja kelemahan dan kelebihannya, yang telah dijelaskan kelebihannya yaitu tablatur memiliki lambang-lambang teknik khusus seperti sudah saya jelaskan diatas. Saya bakalan sedikit bercerita bagaimana seh caranya menguasai melody, apa saja latihan-latihan yang diperlukan untuk menguasai melody dengan cepat? Saya akan menjawab semua pertanyaan diatas menurut pengalaman pribadi saya sendiri.

Okey…yang pertama “jelas donk kita harus memiliki sebuah gitar, kalau tidak punya yah kelaut ja deh”!!he7 just kidding kok. Gitar yang bisa digunakan yaitu boleh gitar listik atau gitar bolong, (tapi khusus melody lebih baik menggunakan electric guitar) sebab untuk bermain melody lebih mudah dengan menggunakan gitar tersebut.

Awal saya bermain gitar itu kelas 2 smp, yang mengajarkan yaitu kakak saya. Berawal bermain gitar saya hanya bisa genjrang-genjreng ja tuh. Karena keterbatasan ilmu yang dipunyai oleh kakak saya, saya cuman mendapat kunci-kunci dasar saja dari beliau. Selama tiga tahun kedepan saya belum berkembang 1 langkah pun, karena tidak adanya literatur dan instruktur yang mengajari saya. Pertama Ngejam saya di studio itu, pada saat saya beranjak sma, dengan diajak oleh teman. Dan akhirnya saya mulai agak sering latihan band distudio, tapi apa hasilnya? Tidak ada perubahan pada diri saya, skill saya tidak bertambah, wawasan musik saya pun segitu-gitu aja. Saya sempat berfikir, bagaimana caranya agar saya bisa menjadi seorang gitaris yang hebat?saya rasa anda juga pasti pernah merasakan hal seperti saya ini, yang kepengen menjadi seorang gitaris yang handal.

Setalah kelas 2 saya lebih aktif lagi ngeband. Saya punya teman yang mengajak saya untuk masuk kedalam anggota band dia, ternyata saya disuruh ngebass. Weleh-weleh ternyata posisi ini saya nikmati dengan santai, nah mulai dari sini permainan gitar saya mulai berkembang, kenapa bisa? Saya belajar dengan cara observatif, yaitu saya mengamat dan mentelaah cara bermain gitaris saya, lebih spesifiknya saya melihat style dan pengimprovisasian dia lebih mendalam, setelah itu saya praktikan dirumah hingga bisa seperti itu. Selain itu juga saya banyak belajar dari teman saya itu, dengan bertanya dan meminta dia mengajari saya, teknik-teknik yang dikuasainnya. Palm mute atau disebut deep saja saya belajar teknik itu dari dia. Jadi Intinya kalian harus banyak belajar dari orang-orang disekeliling kalian, karena masih banyak sekali orang-orang yang memiliki kemampuan jauh diatas kalian. Jadi jangan sombong dan puas akan sesuatu yang sudah didapat

Akhir kelas dua, band saya mulai diambang kehancuran karena 2 personil saya keluar karena ada masalah intern diantara kami. Tapi dari kejadian ini, akhirnya saya mendapatkan posisi gitaris. Kenaikan kelas 3 saya pindah sekolah, dan saya bertemu orang yang handal bermain gitar, dia teman sekelas. Waktu itu saya berfikir bahwa ini merupakan kesempatan yang baik, untuk dimanfaatkan. Akhirnya saya pun belajar dari dia, disini saya mulai mengenal lebih mendalam tentang melody, disini juga saya menganal apa itu Picking, Sweeping, tapping, natural harmonik, pinching harmonik. Ternyata teman saya sudah menguasai semua teknik ini. Yang lebih gila, pas di menunjukan permainanya, di melakukan sweeping dengan tempo yang sangat cepat dan bersih, dia juga bisa melakukan picking sambil sweeping dengan baik. Dari situ saya termotivasi dan antusias banget mau belajar dengan dia(thanks to Enozz). Akhirnya saya diajarkan teknik-teknik itu. Ternyata susah gila……., dengan diberikan contoh, saya mempraktikan kembali dirumah berulang-ulang sampai saya menguasai taknik itu. Duh capek……kayaknya terlalau berbelit-belit yah???yasudh saya langsung saja memberikan tips-tips belajar melody!

* Tips-tips mudah belajar melody

1) Yang pertama kalian harus belajar banyak dari orang lain yang kemampuannya diatas kalian, dengan cara observatif dan mempraktikannya dirumah dengan intensif.

2) Banyaklah sharing dengan orang-orang yang berwawasan luas tentang musik, dan minta tolong kepada dia supaya mau mengajarkannya kepada anda.

3) Untuk para otodidak banyaklah beli-beli buku tentang musik, kalau saya boleh saran beli buku yang mengulas tentang scale dan arpegio pelajarilah dengan dinamis, serta intensif sampai kamu benar-benar hafal dan menguasainya.

4) Kamu-kamu juga harus sering dengerin musik yang banyak instrumennya kayak Dream theater, Paul gilbert, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai. Kalau perlu ulik tuh lagu, itu juga melatih feeling kamu supaya kamu lebih bisa berimprovisasi dengan baik.

5) Latihan minimal 3-4 jam/hari, latih terus jari-jemari kamu hingga keempat jarimu harmonis.

6) Senam jari harus sering dilakukan, biar jari-jari kamu tidak kaku, lakukan setiap pagi selama 30 menit saja.

7) Yang paling penting kamu harus bisa menguasai picking dan sweeping, karena teknik ini merupakan yang paling penting dari suatu melody, kalau kamu sudah lancar kedua teknik ini, kesananya bakalan lebih gampang. Soalnya saya juga belum sepenuhnya menguasai, karena tidak ada waktu buat latihan seharian, coz saya orang sibuk, jadi ini bakalan sangat sulit sekali. Hohoho
Pilihlah pick yang tidak terlalu tebal dan tidak terlalu tipis, supaya picking yang kamu hasilkan bisa lebih bersih.

9) Kalau kamu merasa tidak bisa mengulik lagu-lagu yang saya berikan, atau kamu ingin mengetahui jalur pastinya. Kamu cari tablatur-tablaturnya banyak kok di internet, cari ja dengan menggunakan search engine google dan masukan keyword yang anda ingin cari. Saya juga sering banget cari, lumayan saya jadi gk usah pusing-pusing ngulik. Kalau kalian tidak tahu bagaimana cara bacanya dan masih bingung dengan simbol-simbol yang ada di tablatur, diatas saya sudah jelaskan bagaimana caranya, coba baca kembali ulasan diatas.
Coba anda bikin lagu sendiri dengan membuat instrumennya lebih berbobot, supaya daya improvisasi, feeling, dan inspirasi anda meningkat.

Check it out and leave comments its a good tune.

Melody Kuromi pocket mirror back small plush... With tag in slip behind mirror!!!

Melody_Kuromi mirror back pocket plush... Comes in 3 designs, 13cm tall, 10cm wide, 4-5cm thick!!!

Product ID: P008 Melody Kuromi, soft furry with mirror small plush set
(Small plushies will be kept in a clean new small plastic bag at all times) Mirror has some unavoidable few scratches due to machine’s claw n its mirror quality, Otherwise looks absolutely cute overall!!!

In Stock: 1 set
Price: $18/set !!! after promo… U.P $22/set

Mad steal bargain deal at only this blog shop!!! While stocks last…
P.S. Not available @ KittyLab Expo!!!

Raise your hand if you like to go to Costco on the weekend because you love the screaming deals and multi-packs!! now be honest, and raise your hands if you like to go because you NEED to do laps around the free sample tables! I can tell you that my husbands face lights up like a Christmas tree on steroids when I even mention going to Costco… There’s proof in the puddin’ people: Consumers love to try before they buy! Auto test drives, movie trailers, perfume ads in magazines, and food samples all give you just enough to entice open your wallet and buy the real thing. iTunes relies on their free samples too. I’m sure you’re familiar with the 30 second audio clips that are designed to hook you into purchasing songs and movies, but is it enough? I know personally I am always annoyed when my 30 seconds of listening are up, and what’s more I never feel as though I know what I will be buying.. Thirty seconds of a song is really not enough to know if it’s iPod worthy. But most will take a chance if it’s an artist they are familiar with or if they’ve already heard it once on the radio.

Musicians know this and because we as a listening community want to “try before we buy” more and more are making full length songs and even albums available for listeners on their websites for free. If you’ve been paying attention you know that the best place to experience an artist is by going to their website but you may not be aware of the immense listening opportunities out there to try before you buy. Here’s a short list of some of my favorite places to listen to new music and if you have suggestions, please place your comment with links below.

• Pandora – www.pandora.com
• MyPlay – www.myplay.com
• iLike – www.ilike.com
• Jango – www.jango.com
• Myspace – www.myspace.com

I repent of ever having recorded one single song and ever having performed one concert if my music and more importantly —- my life–has not provoked you into Godly jealousy , or to sell out more completely to Jesus- KEITH GREEN

That quote came from Keith Green, without a doubt one of the most anointed musical ministers to have ever lived, a man who i like to call the Psalmist(David) of the 20th Century,others called him a John the Baptist on the keyboard, a spiritual revolutionary .A man whose musical talent was only surpassed by his passion for Christ and evangelism. On his way to become a rock star, he had talent that could rival the likes of Elton John .If he was in the secular world he would have been up there with Billy Joel. His skills on the Piano were amazing and was once described as “never seen anyone dominate an instrument the way he did”, he was certainly destined for greatness,and Bob Dylan saw this potential in him .

As a young boy raised in a Jewish home, he constantly searched for spiritual answers while pursuing his music career. He tried everything under the sun, and remember, this was the 70’s .

And then at age 21, after intense seeking on many paths , Keith found Christ, his life was instantly regenerated he became a new person. With this rebirth, and realizing the world lacked this news, he immediately dropped his rock star ambitions, and wanted to tell the entire world about the transformation that had taken place in his life; even if it meant never playing music again publicly, but God had different plans for his life.

Soon after auditioning and scoring a record deal with Christian Label Sparrow records, he released his first album, spreading the Good News he had discovered shipping the equivalent of 500,000 units today. After several hit albums he left Sparrow and formed his on Label with the intentions of giving his albums away, for free. It even got to a point that he refused to charge people to attend his concerts. He rejected the idea making money out of the gospel which he repeatedly pronounced was free and refused to charge people to come hear him sing/minister.

Can you imagine that happening today!!, a “gospel” artist that holds all their concerts for free and give out whole albums for free, at their own expense,quite a contrast to what happened a few years ago when a popular gospel duo, refused to fly to London because of a money dispute.

To Keith, his music was ministry, not a career,and was not about showing people his talent or having people scream his name, he saw it as an assignment, the great commission. He often appealed to people not to exalt him or place him on a pedestal and redirected all praise to Jesus. Often times , audience members that desired a career in Christian music would ask advice on how to become gospel singers; he’d then proceed to ask them a series of questions

“Are you willing to never play music again? Are you willing to be a nothing? Are you willing to go anywhere and do anything for Christ? Are you willing to stay right where you are and let the Lord do great things through you, though no one may seem to notice at all? …those seeking bright lights and adoring fans often left downcast.

When not recording or on tour, he held Bible studies and training, he and his young wife opened their home to single mothers,runaways, addicts ,the homeless and those seeking God. Note, this was not a man that had a large income, or even a steady stream. Remember that he gave his albums away for free, they had a little royalty from previous years, but with housing and taking care of 20 -30 people at anytime ..well… they simply lived by faith.

Tragedy struck in 1982, Keith died in a plane crash, with two of his young children, leaving behind a pregnant wife and an infant daughter, he was just 28.

27 years on, his music is still challenging lives, turning people to the Good News of Jesus Christ, and lighting the fire of a radical desire to sell out for Christ. Like a musical John he Baptist he was a voice crying out in the a spiritual wilderness. Despite his enormous success and following, He refused to be a celebrity and only wanted to challenge people to live for God. THAT and much more he definitely achieved.

As i listen to songs he recorded in the 70’s ,they still challenge my life more than a large majority what i hear from my generation which entertains but rarely convicts the spirit. Many have great flair,catchy and easy to nod your head to and dance to, but no soul stirring and rarely different from the same emotions stirred by secular music . His music is uncompromisingly about the Gospel. He did not try to make it ambiguous or open for interpretation so that anyone can accept it as they see fit, he was clear about his message without losing the amazing musical delivery.

I look at Keith’s life and his ministry legacy , what he accomplished within such a small time span between coming to the Lord at age 21 and his death at 28. He’s been gone for over 25 years, and yet through the clear message in his music, generations born long after his death are being challenged to live for God beyond a cushy luke warm status. Not just entertained but he provoked listeners to asses our walk with God and see how we can do much better. The impact he made in those short 7 years of ministry, is more than many others do in a lifetime.

Now, we are not all going to have a musical platform , we are not all going to be public speakers, or hold a place in the five fold ministry, we are not all going to open our homes to as many as he did ,but we can cry out to God on how our lives can be a Love song unto him.

One of Keith’s songs , written by his wife, Melody , was titled “Make my life a Prayer to you” , the opening lines are quite profound as he cries out “Make my life a prayer to You, I wanna do what you want me to, No empty words and no white lies,No token prayers no compromise………..”.

“I want to do what you want me to”, this reiterates the Lord’s prayer, “thy will done on earth as it is in Heaven”, and not us chanting scripture at God in an attempt to psyche or strong arm him, into giving us what we want instead of his desire for us.

I feel very challenged and ask myself ,what my life would mean when I’m gone. Would i have left behind a testimony that would change people’s hearts towards God. Would they hear about my passing and , say “chei ya”(what a pity) and forget about it a few seconds later, with no impact on their lives towards Christ. Would people be able to identify and say “that was a man that lived for God and his life was an example of unrivaled passion for God? I’m ashamed to say that as i look at my life right now, and even my ambitions, if i dropped dead this second, my life would not have been a herald trumpet testimony unto God.

All i can do is cry out to Lord as ask that he create in me that heart for ministry, whether it be in my personal , professional or otherwise. Being a witness would be much more than posting a status update, writing a note, or putting up a video, but that in every moment of every day , my life both behind doors and in public, can be the salt and light to the earth.

I leave you with some more words from Keith , that really challenge me , i have not reached this state and i ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to get me there.To lay aside all ambitions and dreams if that is what he asks me to do, and like the 12 disciples, just follow and walk in faith no matter how ludicrous the world,friends, family think it is.

“NO compromise is what the whole Gospel of Jesus is all about…For i tell you ..no man can serve two masters..(Matt 6:24) In a day when believers seem to be trying to please the world and the Lord(which is impossible) , when people are far more concerned about offending their friends than offending God, there is only one answer….Deny yourself take up your cross and follow Him”- Keith Green

God Bless

Check out his inspiring story
http://bit.ly/4q6iuL

THE KEITH GREEN STORY

Last week, Tomás sent off three versions of an important cue  for “Ravana’s Game” to director David Eblan. He likes all three, and has narrowed it down to two.   The reason this cue is being called ‘important’ is simply because it is one of the main characters themes, and every time throughout the film, when we see this character, there will be a version of this theme around or under him. It may be featured, it maybe underscore, but  it will be there. Consequently, it is important that both the  Director and the Composer are happy with the cue.

This is the fifth ‘important’ cue insofar as establishing main characters themes.  All of these have been in Reel One.  There are new characters we meet in subsequent reels who will have their own personalized themes written. These themes make up the whole of the score.

Before Tomás can go on to Reel Two, and while David makes his final pick, Tomás has to go through every character’s theme, and start the dreaded “organizing”, a combination of Music Editing,  assisting, and Composer assisting.  The Composer is assisting…..himself.  It almost has an “X” rated feel to it.

No such luck.  It is lots of paperwork, cue organization via melody, harmony, instrumentation and elements.  It requires a completely different head space than writing, and is often much more exhausting without the creative reward.

In a nutshell, Tomás would much rather be writing than doing this, however, this is absolutely necessary for the score to start flowing at a nice clip, with no need to suddenly be interrupted because something is ‘missing’, and the piles and piles of  paperwork, and hundreds and hundreds of banks of sounds do not need to be searched through.  Everything is in it’s place, and this is essential for optimal creativity and productivity.

Still, it is the drudge work, and the little I can do to speed things along, I do, but ultimately, it is his style of organizing, his office, his space, and his computer.  As much as I wish I could wave the magic wand and have it be finished, it is his composers studio, and only he knows how he wants it organized.

I spent enough years assisting composer John Williams and his editor Ken Wannberg to know there came a point where there was nothing I could do to help them through the ’slosh pile’.  I could only turn my attention to my own.

With Tomás, I am doing the same – dealing with my own piles of desperately needed organization, and remembering that I make a mean cup of coffee, a mean sandwich, and a mean scowl when I hold out a handful of vitamins to get him through the day.

Upward and Onward!

This is just cool. – A “melodic” drummer. Yea!

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website.
FOLLOW Gary on Twitter, for songwriting tips and news.
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Rob Thomas’ latest single, “Someday”, from his “Cradlesong” album, features at least a couple of techniques that will interest songwriters. One is the concept of introducing a new melody as a “replacement chorus” in the latter half of a song; another is the overlaying of a persistent melodic fragment that could be best described as a “melodic badge.”

First, here’s a look at the song’s formal design:

FORM

Let’s deal with the new melody introduced in the last minute of the song. It is introduced at the 2′ 50″ mark, and provides the song with a great variation on the typical verse – chorus – bridge format. It would be typical (and perhaps too predictable?) to simply repeat the chorus again. It’s likely that after three renditions of the song’s chorus, the writers felt there was nothing much new that could be done to it, and keeping the song fresh was a concern. In such a circumstance, developing a new melody based on the old harmonic progression was a small stroke of genius.

MELODY

The song uses a background melodic figure, first presented in the introduction, as a type of musical adhesive, drawing the various formal elements together. The figure plays on three notes of the Bbsus4 chord, never really resolving (you might expect to hear the Eb from that chord resolve downward to D, but doesn’t happen), and this lack of tonal resolution imbues it with a strong sense of forward motion. Because it does its work mostly in the background, it can be thought of as a kind of musical “badge” rather than a hook pre se. And because the figure never develops or changes in any way, it would not be proper to think of it as a motif.

HARMONY

Except for the bridge, the song uses the same I – IV – ii progression (Bb Eb Cm) throughout. Harmonic fatigue is a risk if you choose to use the same chords, but you can combat this by moving the melodic plateau higher for the chorus. The melody for the verse dwells on the 3rd of the key (the D in the key of Bb major), while the chorus constantly hits on the note F.

So the compositional devices that songwriters should make note of that make this song work are:

1. Use of a melodic badge that provides cohesion throughout the song, remaining constant regardless of the changing harmonies beneath it.
2. Use of a unique melody introduced in the latter half of a song that provides something novel and fresh, useful especially when the harmonic treatment of the verse and chorus are identical.
3. Use of plateau pitches that provide a foundation for the notes of the melody to focus on, moving upward as the song moves from the verse to the chorus.

The real beauty of “Someday”, and the techniques used, is the simplicity of the final product. It’s a reminder that great songs are measured in how individual elements support each other, and that most songs do quite well with just a touch of innovation and a healthy dose of predictable structure.
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Unleash the songwriter within you. Check out The Essential Secrets of Songwriting e-book bundle by clicking here!

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website:
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You would think that a beautiful melody is what we’re all after when we write songs. But you could make the case quite easily that the world’s most successful songs over the past five decades do not necessarily have melodies you’d call “beautiful.” Like deciding to wear a gorgeous dress with a pair of work boots, success in songwriting is all about how different song elements integrate.

General opinion would probably be that a beautiful melody is “contoured”, with a pleasant mix of stepwise motion and leaps. Such melodies are great partners for an emotion-laden poetic lyric that uses lots of imagery and allegory. But probably doesn’t describe most hit songs, most of which deal with issues of love using fairly direct, every day language, not necessarily poetry.

And in fact, if you automatically default to creating melodies with a flamboyant shape, you may inadvertently compromise the lyric and even the underlying chord structure. There are many factors involved in creating successful melodies. Here are some you’ll want to keep in mind:

1. Songs whose lyrics describe political or social-consciousness issues, or hold strong opinions (i.e., lyrics that use forthright language and terminology) will make good use of repeating note figures. In such songs, you’ll want to think about plateau pitches: let each successive section of your song dwell around a pitch higher than the preceding one.
2. Songs whose lyrics describe love, affection, tenderness or compassion will make good use of melodies with a motivic leap. Such a leap is the kind that you’ll want to repeat throughout your song, a sort of leitmotif (a musical phrase that actually represents a person or emotion).
3. Lyrics that describe a sequence of events (i.e., tell a compelling story) work well with mainly stepwise motion. Save melodic leaps for emotional moments in the narrative.

You should note that lyrics in the first category above can also include love songs that describe a persons determination to “win the love of their dreams.” And keep in mind that songs like this, featuring many repeated notes, can be contrasted nicely by using repeated note figures in one section and a more moving, animated line in another.

All this is simply to say that as always, melody and lyrics are very difficult to consider separately. Lyrics are your main tool of communication to the listener, and melody should always support that message.

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With Thanksgiving right around the corner, people begin to take stock in their life.  This season encourages us to be thankful for the people and circumstances of our life.  This gratitude often yields feelings of joy and satisfaction.  However, the harsh duplicity of holidays seasons it that it also enables a time of reflection in which we remember loved ones that are no longer in our life or have passed on from this world onto the next.  This is where the holiday season can begin to be less merry and reflection can bring us down. 

Music offers an unbiased voice that gifts us with melodies and lyrics that say what we can’t say; either because we can’t get the words out or we can’t even put into words what we are feeling.  A car ride with a good song or a Saturday night alone with our music can give us personal time to release these emotions and express feelings; somewhat cleansing our emotional palette.  Songs like Toby Keith’s Cryin’ For Me give us the freedom to face emotions we may keep hidden or locked up.  This weekend GAC TV aired the video for this song, in honor of Toby’s late friend, Wayman Tisdale.  Toby chose to recognize this loss in a musical way and share it with the world.  This type of vulnerability connects with the listener in an undescribable way.  The general hearer of the song doesn’t know Toby and they certainly were not privy to the friendship that he had with Wayman, but this video allows the listener a four-minute pass into the joys and pains of their relationship and the devastating loss.

The fact that music can do this is bewildering.   A well written song reaches across geographical, relational, and emotional boundaries.  The honesty in this particular song connects with the listener.  Here are the lyrics to the song.  The line that gets me every time is pretty close to the beginning, “You showed me how I’m supposed to live, now you showed me how to die.”  Friends and loved ones are in our life to share life’s ups and downs.  The interactions with these people also provide circumstances for lessons to be taught about how to handle what life throws our way.  The fact that Toby can’t share this last lesson with a friend really cuts deeply.  When you get a chance – watch the video.  Be thankful for the loved ones you have in your life right now and take a few minutes to dance with the memories of loved ones no longer with us.

Cryin’ For Me

Got the news on Friday morning
But a tear I couldn’t find
You showed me how I’m supposed to live
And now you showed me how to die
I was lost ’til Sunday morning
I woke up to face my fear
While writing you this good-bye song I found a tear

I’m going to miss that smile
I’m going to miss you my friend
Even though it hurts the way it ended up
I’d do it all again

So play it sweet in heaven
Cause that’s right where you want to be
I’m not cryin’ cause I feel so sorry for you
I am cryin’ for me

I got up and dialed your number
And your voice came on the line
With that old familiar message
I ‘d heard a thousand times
It just said, sorry that I missed you
Leave a message and God bless
I know you think I am crazy
But I had to hear your voice I guess

(chorus)

So play your upside-down, left-handed
Backward bass guitar
And I’ll see you on the other side, superstar

(chorus)

I’ve been thinking about traveling quite a bit, I suppose because I am going to Florida in a couple of days for a tradeshow, then going home for Thanksgiving.

I am quite scared actually, of the tradeshow, but the overwhelming feeling of relief and euphoria from knowing that I will be at home soon is making me quite giddy. That combined with Jen and Peter’s engagement. (You should’ve seen me at work. I was not just a little crazy.)

-

Over the weekend, Nark and I took Mel out to SF, and we took the bus instead of Bart. It wasn’t too bad, but I think because the company was good. Nark usually gets motion sickness, but she didn’t even complain during the whole bus ride and she hates buses! The whole time we were in SF, we pretty much just walked around, but it was so much fun (albeit, quite tiring; I’m so sore!) that I knew it didn’t matter whatever we did, so long as we were together.

The thought made me happy and grateful that God provides to us people, and I thought about all the times I’ve traveled. What was most fun was definitely being with people.

But then I thought about different places that I want to travel to that have nothing to do with people–like Japan, because I want to be fluent (and eat Japanese food. and buy cute things. Don’t mind me.). Or Europe, where I want to go to museums and experience culture (and eat some more food. Yes, food is consistently the prevailing thought in my mind).

Humans just want what they can’t have. The grass is greener on the other side, right?

Playing Solitaire Showdown for about the bejillionth time with Melody.

Hi people!

Sorry I’m a day late, but because of our musical and another performance I had I couldn’t make it yesterday. I hope your first part went well. Have fun with this second part too. Today I’m going to talk about two things. Tonality and melody. So let’s begin!

Tonality:

This is actually very simple. Since we are talking about classical pop music you pretty much have two choices: major and minor. Next thing ist hat you take your lyrics. Are they happy? Sad? You may even just skip this part since it will most likely come automatically with your melody. If you do not know what major and minor are or how to get either of them check these links out: http://musictheory.net/lessons/html/id20_en.html , http://musictheory.net/lessons/html/id21_en.html and http://musictheory.net/lessons/html/id22_en.html . I hope this helps, but as I said you may just skip this step anyway.

Melody:

You may have already had a melody in your head when you wrote your lyrics. Well then you could use this melody. Or you can try to experiment with it. Sing out your lyrics to yourself. You may notice that it sounds very strange, so then you can change things. One thing you may want to think about is that you don’t want your notes to jump around up and down. You may want to have some scale parts or mostly notes that lie relatively close together. When you get to your chorus or refrain, you want to change your melody and also give it a little more power or a different mood. I’m sure you will do absolutely fine with this. In your verses usually the melody is repeated, but who knows what fun stuff you will come up with!

P.S. Rhythm should come naturally with the melody.

Examples!

Come up with your own! And here’s another:

No strict pop, but nice melody:

I’m sorry but I will not give you my melody just yet.

So have fun!!!