A common problem many songwriters and composers have is whether to write the melody first or the harmony. I think most people have a way they like to do things and they don't often deviate from it. I however think both are important and both have strengths and weaknesses.
When I first started I would try to write a melody and then fit harmony to it. This didn't work well because I didn't know enough about song structure or harmony to make the rest of the song fit my melody. Then I tried writing the harmony first(after studying for a bit). I had a bit more success, but now my melodies were weak and I could hide that fact sometimes, by writing a lot of different harmonies and adding unique rhythms, but I couldn't write a nice melody to a simple set of chords.
I finally realized that I need learn to write both ways. I know some people are thinking, "why learn to write another way? What is the point?". One great reason is that it opens up a lot if possibilities as far as what songs you can write. If you can only write melodies it might be hard for you to find interesting harmonies to fit your melodies. Most people sing melodies that fit into 1 key and they don't have many interesting notes.
On the other hand if you only write harmonies it might be hard to make a melody that sounds good. Even if you can make one, can you make one that flows together with the rest of the song, without sounding like a bunch of disjointed melody fragments.
In the next few weeks I'll go over how I write songs starting with melodies and starting with chords.
The Jazz Progression(ii7-V7-I)
This is the most common progression in jazz by far. Almost every song in jazz uses this multiple times. There are whole songs built on nothing but this progression. Of course it can be used for all types of music, but it is THE jazz progression. It is also often used to change keys.
The Minor Jazz progression(ii7b5-V7-i)
This is the same as above, but in a minor key. It sounds darkerit's often combines with the above progression to form whole songs. This is a good way to transition from a major key into the minor key smoothly. It not only sounds good, but it's useful.
The Carlos Santana secret chord progression(ii-V7)
This is the same as the jazz progression, but without the last chord. These 2 chords can repeat indefinitely and as long as you have a nice rhythm to go with it people won't get bored. This is named after the Frank Zappa song of the same name. I wonder how Carlos felt about Frank exposing his secret. On another note this is a popular way to produce a dorian progression.
(sorry I forgot the chord symbols. They're Dm7 and G7)
The School dance progression(I-vi-IV-V)
This progression is a staple of 50's and 60's pop music, especially ballads. That said it can still be used now as long and you use modern instruments and rhythms. Play it in 12/8 to really bring out that school dance feel. This is a great progression for major keys and can hold the interest of people without becoming boring.
Dramatic pop turnaround(IV-iv-I)
This is usually used in the middle of a song when you need something dramatic to take you into the next section. It's a bit cliche, but effective. This isn't one of those progressions you play over and over again it's just a little something you can add for some spice.
(check 2:51)
Minor line cliche(i-imaj7-i7-i6)
This is used in a variety of songs and its very effective when you want to stay on one minor chord for a while, but don't want to bore people to death. Tons of famous songs use this. Throw this in during long droning minor chords to keep people from falling asleep.The basic idea is that one note moves down chromatically(in this case the top note).
I've gone over most of the technical aspects of arranging in my previous posts, but now I thought I'd get into why arranging is important. I'm sure you've all heard remixes of songs or covers of songs. Some of them are better than the original, some are worse and others are simply different. There are a lot of things that can make one arrangement more enjoyable than another and of course everyone has different tastes, but I'll go over some basic ideas on creating interest and different effects.
Use pauses and breaks- This may seem cliche and it is, but it works. Try dropping a beat or a whole measure. Once the music comes back in people will go crazy. Make sure this comes at an important point in the song, for maximum impacts. Good places for it are the measure before the verse goes into the chorus or in the middle of the 2nd or 3rd verse. Anyplace where you think people are getting bored and you need them to get excited again is a good place.
(Listen for the breaks at 0:48, 2:53, 3:23)
Change instruments or parts - Adding or deleting instruments can add some interest to your songs and can creating an sense of building to an otherwise boring and static arrangement. Try adding some strings during the 2nd verse, or add some percussion during the chorus. You can also have some instruments play different parts. For example during the 2nd verse have the guitar double the keyboard line or have a 2nd guitar double the main riff an octave higher or lower. All of these things can add a small change that is just enough to keep things interesting without changing the feel of the song. Sometimes something as small as having the drummer switch from the hi hat to the ride cymbal can add something to a song.
(The intro is only the orchestra, followed by the melody played by the oboe, then the woodwinds and finally the guitar enters. This is a beautiful arrangement)
After chorus break down- This is another old trick that works almost every time. After the 2nd chorus of a song or any high point, drop the energy, by adding a quiet section with sparse instrumentation. Then after a period of 4 to 16 bars ramp the energy up and your listeners will go nuts.
(The break down comes in at 3:16)
Style and instruments- Before you start to record or perform your song, think about the style of your song and also the instruments you are using. In some cases you might be limited by things like money, human resources, etc, but most of the time you will have some flexibility with this. Think to yourself, what type of emotion should this song convey and are the instruments/styles I'm using evoking that. For example a song that is angry and aggressive might not come off too well with 2 acoustic guitars and vocals. That's not to say that it can't be done, but it puts all of the responsibility on the performers. If that same song is done by a rock band, the drums, driving rock bass and crunchy guitars will bring you half way there even without great performances. Sometimes it's nice to have the lyrics/singer/lead instrument be the polar opposite of the arrangement, but often people just do this out of laziness or a lack or knowledge. There is no reason to be locked into a genre in 2014. Nobody is going to go berserk because you have a blues song and a bossa nova song on the same album. Explore your options.
(The orginal version)
(The arrangement that is generally acknowledged to be better. Notice how the rock feel and the guitar tone adds an aggressiveness to the song and propels it forward.)
Opposites are attractive- Often times during songs you'll have different instruments doing different things. The question is, what should you have them do? The answer is often times, the opposite of something else. For example if you have a lead guitar and a singer, while the singer is singing the guitar should either be playing chords, a light riff or not at all. However when the singer pauses, the guitarist should play a fill. Singer on, guitarist off. Singer off, guitarist on. If you listen to reggae you'll notice this happens often with the bass and the guitar. The bass on the down beats and the guitar on the off beats. The same happens between a piano and a guitar. If the guitar is playing a riff on the low strings the piano plays high. If the guitar part is busy the piano part is sparse. This is a good way to arrange a song with lots of different instruments.
(Listen to how the vocals and guitar trade off)
(Bach is a master at trading melodies back and forth between instruments)
Melody switch- Have a new instrument carry the melody and it works even better if you can do this while a new melody is playing. Remember you can change things around slightly and people will still be able to recognize the melody as long as it's similar to the originally melody. For example have your guitar play the chorus melody during the 2nd verse, but change a few of the notes so the match the current chords.
(Listen to the melody repeated using different insturments at 0:00, 0:25, 1:50, 3:09, 3:28, etc. Click here to read about more crazy stuff in Gentle Giant songs)
Keep things dynamic- For a short song there isn't much time for your listeners to get bored, but for anything over about a minute you're going to need some variation. Of course you'll be varying the chords and the melody, but there are money other things you can change too. Try changing volume between sections, or the drum, bass, guitar part. Sometimes even switching the guitar part and the piano part can create some interest. Also keep in mind the instruments like electric guitars and keyboards can drastically change the way they sound. If your verse is using a clean, chorused guitar sound, try a slightly distorted sound for the chorus or bridge. Doing things like this helps create interest or increase/decrease energy.
(Listen to how everything comes in quiet at 1.36)
Anyway I hope you enjoyed this series. If you have any questions leave a comment below and check out some of my music at productiontrax.com
