Write UNFORGETTABLE Melodies
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- čas přidán 13. 09. 2023
- Strong melodies utilize a lot of characteristics our brains naturally use to remember stuff. Let's identify what those characteristics are and how we can employ them to make our own music more memorable.
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I've got to hand it to you. Out of all the music teaching content in CZcams, right along with Guy Michelmore, you speak to me the most as you explain things on a level that a complete newbie understands. You seem to have an innate understanding of the exact things where most beginners truly struggle.
CZcams's full of fluff, talk and "advice", but you actually know what you're talking about and at the same time offer your advice with humility. I love it.
What's best, your downplayed humor is absolutely hilarious.
As soon as I saw the brain scan research, I doubled checked to make sure this wasn't a Ben Jordan vid... "but then I remembered that I'm a musician" snapped me back
Always struggled with writing melodies, therefore focussing on texture and timbre. Only now I realize that my struggle to write melodies comes from my self-esteem issues. Which kind of explains why my melodies were always so ambiguous and sarcastic.
One of my favorite melodic pieces is Leaving Hope by Nine Inch Nails. I think it really sticks with me because it’s so effective and so simple. Feels like a complete story.
The old indie band thing was to scoff at simple or palatable music but the more I experience the more I think it’s kind of a miracle when it works (or else everyone would have a hit song), and so paradoxically maybe not at all simple. Not sure if people talk about that paradox much but I find it fascinating.
In Germany theres a good word for that:
Ohrwurm- Earworm
As a side note, Frank Sinatra had a theory about why people prefer a certain style or genre of music. He felt that whatever music was popular when people lost their virginity was their preferred style/type/genre for the rest of their life. It must have been something he observed in his audience. While I don’t completely agree with his theory, I DO find it to be a rather interesting observation of the human condition.
I want to add that your method of the way one thinks about melody is something that I’ve never heard in exactly this manner, but it also makes complete sense to me. Thanks for your channel and your own unique insights and methods of sharing/teaching. Cheers!
THIS. this (and the philosophical aspects of music, composition, production, and distribution) is what you're really best at. keep me coming back for more, JNJ!
Oliver Sacks wrote Musicophilia, reflecting on his many years working with mostly older folks in a clinical setting, cites example after example of patients who had severe memory deficiencies caused by trauma or simply from Alzheimer’s, yet they came alive when those songs were played (quite inadvertently) in the form of singing, dancing or playing piano in these mental hospitals. A very interesting book.
yeah, such a great book!! there's one account in that book of a former choir director with alzheimer's. he rarely ever remembered his wife when she'd visit, but he still had big pieces of music memorized. I have a sneaking suspicion that nathan has read that book & was referencing it in this vid.
Loved the video. One point, though: as much as I agree with what you say, the composer's taste might be niche. I, for example, write exclusively for myself. What I find interesting is not necessarily catchy. If others embrace my melodies, then great. But I will not write a melody specifically for others to appreciate. All that said, you're right: melodies essentially can be broken down into pieces and reused as is or slightly modified, for a bit of extra interest; perhaps motifs that morph over time, but keeping their essential character.
Thanks for the video i missed you
That point about speech rhythm. Um, actually that varies from language to language and from culture to culture.
Japanese, for example, is spoken in a way that every syllable has the same length, has the same emphasis and comes one after another in a steady pace. This affects their music greatly, and this also affects how Japanese people perceive and reinterpret western music.
Great video. Thanks
Thanks, very helpfull .... connecting the dots
Lovely primer! I love how your background tracks also show perfectly how melody can be incorporated into more ambient pieces without damaging the sense of ambience - instead, they almost rather put the listener into the music, with the melody as a musical tether in a way.
Lovely work as always!
Much appreciated Brice! 🙏
Really interesting stuff, and we all know melodies sound better when accompanied by cicadas 🙂 What you said about Alzheimer's patients being able to recall melodies is very true. When my mother had dementia, she sometimes didn't remember people but could still play the piano, and the pieces she composed when she was younger, without any need for sheet music. Quite amazing, really. Anyway, thanks again for another insightful video, Nathan - all the best to you from here, as always 🙂
Thanks Nigel! Yeah it really is incredible that music stays with us to the very end in that way. Sorry to hear about your Mom. I know that’s a difficult thing for the affected person’s loved ones to go through.
@@JamesonNathanJones Thx, I appreciate that. Music has been a big help in that regard, though, for sure 🙂
Thanks man, really love your work!
Fantastic content as always - your channel is one of the absolute best.
Who would have ever thought melody in music would be new and interesting, but here we are! I very much want to make memorable melodies because I want to move people!
Fourscore and several epochs ago when I was in college, I remember hearing about a course at UT Austin in 19th-century Italian opera. Except the entire course was about the run-of-the-mill, popular stuff which isn't remembered now at all except by desperate musicology doctoral candidates fighting over who gets to talk about them in their dissertations. It was the mass-produced music of its day, and the course was apparently designed to essentially beat the students into a sort of numb despair. Except, in the last week, they finally got to listen to Verdi. And it was clear why his music is still remembered.
4:40 As someone who hums along as they’re playing, learning that 1.5 8ves is normal, is a relief. Now, I just need to stop my voice sounding like two cats screwing. Excellent upload. Thanks.
Haha I think I have that same vocal issue
Great video and lesson,thanks!
Thanks!
Thank you!
Thanks for the great video !
Amazing, man. 👏🏼
Thanks!
Just stumbled upon this channel and watched a couple of videos. Damn good videos.
On the subject of the video, melody is the most important part of music. The comparison to stories is very apt.
Which classical pieces are best known by the general population? The ones with distinct melodies. The rest is mostly reserved for snobs.
Hollywood music is grand but forgettable, with few exceptions. Scaler 2 and some good VSTs can create tracks that aren't really that different from what you hear in movies.
European music still utilizes melody very well.
Japan churns out quality melodies like crazy. Maybe because of the popularity of earlier videogame consoles that had forced the composers to rely on melodies?
A memorable melody could be rearranged in several genres and they would still likely sound great.
Great video as always. I really like the concrete examples with melodies, makes me remember the point you are making 😉. Looking forward to the next one!
Im digging your videos a lot! Very informative and also nice to hear coming from you. I feel like im on the right track with my composition.
good stuff, nathan.
thanks bunches.
Hello Jamison; Simple comment, thank you for all you publish on you tube. You are interesting, credible and you just stand out of the crowd
Thank you!
Wonderful stuff! I really appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge.
In my music I rely a lot on little simple “riffs” that are composed with different patches to be able to build and take away parts of the melody as the song progresses. I also play them all with my own two hands on a midi keyboard to give it that “human feel” and I only mess with the midi if something’s entirely off or just sounds bad.
Great stuff! I look forward to see the video about harmony!
Great video! Explained well.
I absolutely love this channel. I've done some melodic IDM back in the day and this just makes me want to start writing music again.
hey just discovered your channel, love how your channel is dynamic with the gear reviews etc and also into the music theory like this one. It would be great to get some track breakdowns as i heard "all things repeat' in the background of your video and thought it was a lovely track. would love to have a breakdown of how you thought of the melodies/chords etc and also the sound design on the synths etc
Another damn fine video, Nathan!
I love it when melodies use leaps (like a 6th or 7th). I hear that a lot in the works of Japanese composers...
Great video. Your “content” inspires me and positively impacts me in the way that only good “art” can.
Thanks for your clear and thoughtful lessons. As recent retiree and aspiring composer, I have been thinking about what kind of music I want to compose. I'm very attracted to ambient music, but a lot of what I listen to is missing something. Now, from this video, I realize that the something is melody. I have many gorgeous sample libraries that can produce wonderful textures, but there needs to be a structure -- a path one walks along in the beautiful forest.
Thank you so much for such a thoughtful video about composition. One that focuses more on the practical/real-world experience of putting a melody together instead of picking a music theory topic and hounding that for an entire video, like other CZcamsrs do :) not that there’s anything wrong with that either.
Would love more of these. Maybe even breaking down famous melodies? Or chords/whatever.
Great material. I've been struggling with keeping a melody.
I have some melodic/thematic ideas that I jotted down and then never revisited stuck in my head years after I initially thought of them. I really need to get back to those ideas.
I'm glad that I was singer first and composer second. whan I'm listening to others People music, I can hear if they composed it from perspective of musician or singer. Many People don't have idea what it really means to be a singer. When you are just intrumental musicion, you can be as one with your instrument but, you will never be the one because voice is something that we are born with. Your voice is not a part of your self but, it is your self. Most of the people who compose think that if they will practic their instruments, it will make them good composers but those people are dependent on external inspiration, not internal. Music is something that came from inside and it's why the voice is and, until the end of time will be, the number one most important thing in music. Thank you for make it clear in this video!
Just a few nights ago I found out the title of a melody I've known for years but never knew its real context... until it just happened to come on the radio when I could use Shazam on it.
Until then it was just something I heard in a free-form DJ mix
really digging the calm advice approach at the piano. nice change of pace from the talking head video essays. no shade, just watched a lot of them myself 😅
Looking at your (amazing) videos, realizing that many of them have under 10k views, I cannot shake the feeling that I soon will get to say something along the lines of "yeah I know of him I watched his stuff before he was considered cool" 😏
Ah thank you! Though I have made it my life’s mission to never be considered cool (see thumbnail) 😅
@@JamesonNathanJones Yeah I don't know about that... Eating breakfast at 11am sounds pretty rad to me 🧐
5:50 That's amazing how I imagined exactly the twist you played... Wow effect! xD
Very insightful video to get out of melodic stagnation, thank you!
Great video! Looking forward to your thoughts on chord progressions. Also, that was some nice background music... going to have to dig into more of your discography.
Thanks!
Great video!
It’s funny that you mentioned chord progressions at the end. I was talking with my composition teacher yesterday about this very thing. (My current project/assignment is a series of piano waltzes - more Schubert than Chopin.) I was telling him that as I’m getting deeper into the project, my chord choices are getting simpler and simpler (outside of the act of modulation, anyway). However, I love wild modulations, so it’s entirely possible that conservative chord progressions help ground uninhibited modulations.
Nice video! Theres some research on learning and retention, something along the lines of reading only, hearing information, seeing and hearing and kinetically engaging with whats being learnt. Maybe explains why its so easy to fall asleep in lectures lol
That opening melody, which came back around later, 1 2 b3 4 5, has the same intervallic pattern as Mary Did You Know. Haha.
But yeah man I love these composition videos so much.
You said "echo" I and my alexa echo tried to respond... 😂 Thanks for that
My work is done
Great video, thanks. Is this an original felt setup for the Boston Essex EUP-123?
best video on melody on CZcams
Thanks John!
This is good review for me!
I think space is the most important thing. The brain needs relief to process the information, which results in a melody that can be easily remembered. Space also gives a melody room to grow and breathe. Also, starting small, works wonders for feeling out a melody.
The best is when you write some melodies, take a break, then see which ones come back to haunt you. That's when you know you have something. : )
Absolutely
Deeeeeeeeep!! Chunk it. Always what I'd tell 8 year olds. Ebook and Course coming my way!
Legend
Best thumbnail in history
They told me I have to make faces like this and become a dark lord of the sith to make it on CZcams
Things that have stood the test of time: ♫ You deserve a break today, so get up and get away to McDonald's! ♫ 1972, Barry Manilow
😂
🦣
why not have both cool textures _and_ melodies?
That’s the goal :)
My melodies don't suck, I think the problem might be your title.
4:24 Skill issue.
I’m not sure that “amateur” is the best way to tag the not-so-memorable melody. There are a countless many “amateur” musicians who earn a living other, nonprofessional musician-like ways. And despite that they write and/or perform in a way that reflects a lifetime of practice (and lessons, and education, even).
I fear writing melodies due to litigation happy music corporations. 😭
if that was a singable melody - where is your singing)
No one wants that to happen 😅
@@JamesonNathanJones EVERYONE wants that) I remember now you had a side-project with singing a few years ago
Since when is "I'm not a neuroscientist" a valid excuse for anything...
Not an excuse. Simply a fact, and the reason I choose to talk about how to make music rather than diving deeper into the scientific aspects of it. What a bizarre comment.
@leeow3n chill, man
Oh I assumed that the good natured humorous intent of my comment was obvious. Oh well