Tag Archives: melody

The first essential exercises to learn to compose (part 2)

Let’s learn to compose

In the last lesson we spoke extensively about the importance of these exercises which allow to develop all mental abilities necessary in the composition of music.

We have also seen a first example of how to carry out these exercises to learn to compose.

But today we will go further

I will show you, through some examples which music sheets you will be able to print out in pdf, how it is possible to obtain more variety in the moment we do these exercises.

To get used to search variety in composition while maintaining a general balance is fundamental for one simple reason: we practice using our imagination and our creativity.

Musical imagination is something which can be improved.

This may be done using possible variants of exercises which I will show you today.

Learning material of this lesson

6 videos	34 mins
Intro	1m 58s
1. The three possible characteristics which the melody we are composing must have	5m 28s
2. How to vary the melodies 1	10m 41s
3. How to vary the melodies 2	4m 41s
4. How to vary the melodies 3	12m 03s
5. Video summary of the 4 examples	1m 19s
+ 1 pdf files

Intro

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The first step to start composing a melody: the passing tones

Non harmonic tones; the passing tones

Today we begin discussing in a more meaningful way the non harmonic tones (non chord tones) that will greatly help you in the act of composing melodies, as we were saying in previous lessons.

Also, as you will see further on, this knowledge will help you understand better some concepts tied to other subjects: in fact, it’d be difficult to learn how to play the keyboard or the the modern piano without having mastered the non harmonic tones.

But this is another issue and we will tackle it in due time.
In today’s lesson we will approach the first kind of non harmonic tones:

the passing tones

We will try to understand what they are and how they can be used.

How to compose melodic fragments

Some foreview: in the next lesson I will teach you to put into use what we learned today and I will reveal some small tricks and tweaks that by using the passing tones, will let you start composing some melodic fragments on the piano which will already be catchy and nice to hear!
But to be able to put into practical use all of this, it’s essential that you understand what the passing tones are, and for this very reason, today’s lesson is really important.

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Learning material of this lesson

3 videos	33 mins
1. What are the chord tones?	9m 35s
2. The passing tones	13m 19s
3. Let’s learn to use the passing tones	10m 21s

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With a Free account you gain immediate access to 15 lessons of piano, theory, harmony, music reading and composition for a total of 36 videos.

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You’re finding it difficult to write a melody? Here’s something that can help you!

How to write a melody

Chords and harmony are an extremely important part of composition, but of course they’re aren’t everything!
Another important part is the melody, and it isn’t always easy to write a melody.
You might have found yourself from time to time, while playing the piano or the guitar, in the situation where you found a very interesting sequence of chords, and not being able to compose a vocal melody on which you could sing.

The “non-harmonic tones”

We will begin today with a series of video lessons that approach the so-called “non-harmonic tones”, which will help you a lot in composition and writing arrangements.

In today’s videos we will approach two themes in particular: