How to Write a Lydian Melody
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- čas přidán 7. 08. 2024
- Music Theory from Depeche Mode "Ghosts Again".
►Free Book: HackMusicTheory.com/Books
►Songwriting & Producing PDF: HackMusicTheory.com/Bestsellers
0:00 Intro
0:18 Step 1. Mode
0:36 Step 2: Roots & 3rds
2:03 Step 3: Variations
2:29 Final Example
Intro
Simple music can be great music. Depeche Mode’s lead single “Ghosts Again” from their new album “Memento Mori” is proof. It has a well-written and creative vocal melody in the verses, but it’s really simple. So, here’s a method for writing melodies from a band that’s been going for over 40 years!
Step 1. Mode
If you’re going to write a simple melody, it helps to choose an interesting mode. They chose Lydian, which is an uplifting but quirky mode. So, we’ll use F Lydian for our example, which is all the white notes from F to F.
Step 2: Roots & 3rds
Write a simple four-bar chord progression, then mute your chords and only play the root note of each chord on your bass. That’s the only thing Depeche Mode plays under the vocal melody in their verse. Right, are you ready for a melody masterclass from Dave Gahan? So, most of his vocal melody consists of only the 1, 3 and 5 of each chord. These are known as harmonic notes, as they form the chord. Over the first two chords, he only sings the 1 and 3 of each chord, and over the third chord he only sings the 1 and 5. But, his melody sounds extra beautiful for two reasons: First, it’s in Lydian, which makes it unusual. And second, there are no chords playing, so his vocal melody is what creates the harmony and therefore the emotion. The 3rd note of each chord is the most emotional note, as it makes a chord either major or minor. And because there are only root notes in your bass, your melody will create that uplifting sound when it plays a major 3rd, and that sad sound when it plays a minor 3rd. Also, in a F Lydian melody we wanna use the note B somewhere, as that’s what makes the mode different to the F major scale, which has a B♭. If you wanna learn about the modes and how to use them, that’s in our Songwriting & Producing PDF (link above).
Step 3: Variations
Over the last chord in the progression, Dave sings the 2 and 4. These are non-harmonic notes. In other words, they’re not in the chord. This is what makes them sound like they’re floating, as they’re not anchored into the chord. So use a couple of non-harmonic notes at the end of your melody, to avoid it becoming predictable. Then lastly, in the second cycle of their melody, Dave sings a small variation to keep it fresh, so change a few notes when you loop your melody.
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The fast, easy & fun way to make music. Taught by Ray Harmony, a multi award-winning college lecturer who's made music with multiplatinum Grammy-winning artists, and his protégé wife, Kate.
CREDITS
© 2023 Revolution Harmony
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►FREE Book: HackMusicTheory.com/Books
►Songwriting & Producing PDF: HackMusicTheory.com/Bestsellers
Amazing like always! Simple but great melody. Thanks you so much for analyzing and breaking it down for us. Really appreciated! Hugs!
Abrazos a ti tambien, Jose, y que tengas una buena semana! Kate :)
The genius of a surprising progression is perfectly explained using the example of this Depeche Mode song. I'm a Gahan fan so I really appreciate your episode on music arrangement theory. Best wishes ❤️
Love the song! So excited about the new album NEXT WEEK!!
Hi Victor, great to see you again! We're happy to hear you're pumped for the new album this week, enjoy :) Wishing you a lovely week, and hope to see you around soon for more theory hacks! Kate :)
Martin Gore deserves 90% of the credit. He conducts all the songs in demo mode and then shares them with the band later.
Dave is, in my opinion, the greatest front man ever (RIP Freddy Mercury,) but Martin is the symphonic genius.
Clever!!!! Love this. Thanks for sharing.
Aww thanks, A2SA, much gratitude for watching and connecting! Wishing you a wonderful weekend :) Kate
This is the practical information all musicians of all experiential levels need to be exposed to. Thank you for another incredible lesson!
George my friend, a heartfelt thank-you for your kind comment. Your comments always put big smiles on our faces! By the way, what kinda music do you make? Ray :)
@@HackMusicTheory Hey, Ray! You guys have some serious knowledge-gems so, I mean every word I type. Nowhere else does anyone talk about the nuances of music in such practical terms as you guys. For the last 3 decades, I've specialized in jazz and as many sub-genres jazz can stand! The rich harmonies and rhythms have always kept me fascinated and constantly pursuing more education to stack onto my pile.
Awesome!! What are some of your favourite artists/bands? And thanks big time once again for your kind words of support, that means the world to us. We're so grateful to have you here, George :)
thank you!
That’s cool! Thanks for the hints! I’ve got to try that.
Hey Chris, great to see you stopping by! Great to hear you'll give it a try, hopefully it'll help you out with your melodies :) By the way, here's a couple older videos I think might be useful to you in your journey to writing better melodies:
Vocal Masterclass: czcams.com/video/MSjvQf8p9mI/video.html
Melody Masterclass: czcams.com/video/oY30I6hztOk/video.html
Have a lovely Sunday, Chris, and we look forward to seeing you again soon :) Kate
this was a great one!
Hey hey, Valid Core, great to see you again! Happy to hear you enjoyed the new lesson :) How's your music making going these days? As always, thank you for being a part of the Hack Music Theory community for so many years, and we wish you a lovely week ahead! Kate :)
Thank you, guys. I hope you are ok and, better yet happy and healthy.
Hi Pedro, wonderful to see you! Thank you for the kind thoughts, you have found us happy and healthy, and we are very grateful for this blessing :) How are you these days?
@@HackMusicTheory I’m doing well thank you. I’m 70 years old and I’m retired with my wife and my music and my books. So life is still good.
That's what I hope 70 looks like for us too, Pedro! Books, music and each other, although I would add a garden to my list :) Wishing you and your wife a lovely rest of your Sunday! Kate
@@HackMusicTheory Thank you. And a garden is ok, my wife also likes it very much. Bye Kate.
I thought I missed something in the song because I didn't like it much when I'd listened to it but I loved the composition here, so I went to have a second listen and the progression is different. Yours is much darker, like old Depeche Mode. I think you improved the song haha.
Haha, well we're happy you stopped by, airixxxx! Hope the new album satisfies :) What kind of music do you make? We wish you a lovely week ahead, and hope to see you again for more theory hacks! Kate :)
Another inspirational lesson!!
Why thank you kind sir! Hope this finds you enjoying your March so far :) We're super excited for the first day of spring tomorrow, yay! Wishing you a lovely rest of your Sunday, Kate :)
that was actually super useful ! Thanks !!
Louis! So wonderful to see you, happy first day of spring! How are you doing this year so far? How's the music making going? Hope this finds you happy and healthy, and we wish you a lovely week, Kate :)
@@HackMusicTheory aw thanks ! I'm doing lot's of music with my girlfriend lately, she sing and we wrote her melodies together. I have to thank both of you because I took the habit of writing the voice melody in the ableton piano roll (that way I can see interval better, and we can modify it more easily). I would not done that if I didn't watch all those videos from you guys so thank you a thousand times :D
Wow, that's fantastic Louis!! We're so happy to hear you're making music together, it's wonderful :) All our best to you, have a great weekend :) K
Pure quality here ! KUDOS guys ! 👍👍👍
Aw thanks my friend, you're very kind! What kinda music do you make? Ray :)
@@HackMusicTheory Aw, I'm a game developer so I make old school chiptune type of music when I have time for it...
Right now, I'm focusing much more on graphic design than compositions...
Cool, thanks for sharing! Wishing you a fantastic week ahead :) Kate
@@HackMusicTheory Thanks ! You too !
Thanks RAY you're awesome
But I have a trouble on making melodies in harmonic minor
Can you make a tutorial on it
Thanks for your kind words, Amɘn, we're so happy you stopped by! Here's a tutorial we did on using the harmonic minor to write a bass line: czcams.com/video/U6-4P51MLHs/video.html Hope that helps, Amɘn, and we wish you a lovely week ahead :)
@@HackMusicTheory thanks Ray and Kate for an early reply you guys are so humble and kind.your tutorial and awesome and PDFs are mind blowing,i learn many things from you dude.wishing a good health and long life.i am so happy... THANKS
HARMONIC MINOR SCALE sounds 😊 thanks again
Wow Amɘn, we're very grateful for your well wishes, thank you 🙏 We're thrilled to hear that our tutorials and PDFs have been helpful on your music making journey 💛 Kate
Oh, rock music and moduses...I would never see the analysis like this, but then again simple roots chords, little bit of lydian..I guess it works 🤭😉
Just curious, do you know about microtonal music?
Why don't you have a discord!!!!!! Or patreon community!!! You're my favorite channel
Wow, we're honoured, thank you Iron Juice!! We do actually have a private community for our Apprentices, so if you're ready to take your music making to the next level, while also connecting with like-minded musicians, then check it out here: HackMusicTheory.com/Courses
We'd love to know what kind of music you make?
Thanks big time for being here in the Hack Music Theory community, Iron Juice, and we wish you a lovely rest of your Sunday! Kate :)
👍 - _also_ for the YT algo! 😊
Thanks Jost! Have a lovely week ahead :)
Girroz di'metal
Thanks for stopping by and connecting :)