Melodies

What is a melody?

A melody is a written part, that is usually sung over the song, or the chords. Most bands will have a singer who will sing the melody, but players like Joe Satriani will play those melodies on their guitars. Either way, the melody of a song is arguably the most important part of a song. The only other part that might be more important is dynamics. A melody should take some time to craft, because it’s the part of the song that the audience will hear over everything. That’s why the guitars, or the drums are never the loudest instrument, because you should hear the melody, and the voice.

How to write a good melody

Well first of all, you should decide what kind of chords, and feel the song has. If its a sad sounding song, then you’ll want to use a minor key to sing it in. Likewise, if it’s a happy song, then you’ll want to write it in a major key. The one that you might not know, is if it sounds like a rock, or bluesy song, then you will want to use a pentatonic key. At the bottom of the page, I’ll put some videos about the different keys, and when to use them.

Steps to take:

• Find some songs in each kind of key
• Get used to the difference between the keys
• Practice using them all separately in songs

In summary:

• There are lots of different keys to sing in, primarily the major, minor, and pentatonic keys
• Different keys are used in different kinds of songs
• Learning to use all the keys will help differentiate your songwriting

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