WRITE A GREAT MELODY with this Formula | Sentence Form in Music Composition
Vložit
- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- Today we're talking about my favorite musical form, the Sentence!
📚 Many of the ideas in this video come from my favorite music book of all time: Analyzing Classical Form by William Caplin geni.us/lxrqx
Learning this form helped me to compose music by allowing me to write melodies and themes with a good shape and satisfying arc. Learn how to write a melody using the Sentence form to improve your composition, songwriting, and film scoring.
So many books on form talk about the Period as if it's the only way to structure a melody, but if you look at real music you quickly realize that that's not the case. Thanks to Arnold Schoenberg and William Caplin, we have a powerful form that is concise, easy to understand and use, and full of potential for writing great music for film, video games, and TV.
If you haven’t seen Part I about the Period Form yet, check it out here: • HOW TO WRITE A MELODY ...
🥳 Check out my new course Pillars of Composition! tinyurl.com/pillarsofcomposit...
🏛 Learn how to compose music! ➔ tinyurl.com/pillarsofcomposit...
🧙 Compose in the style of Harry Potter: tinyurl.com/magicmusiccourse
🎓 Study with me ➔ ryanleach.com/lessons/
🎼 Early access, exclusive content and more on Patreon ➔ / ryanleach
📫 Join my newsletter for updates and more ➔ tinyurl.com/ryanleachnewsletter
🤖 Come join us on DISCORD! / discord
🏆 Composing Competitions every 3 months! / @composingcompetitions
_____________________________________
FOR MUSICIANS
🎶 ScoreClub - tinyurl.com/scoreclubryan
OUTSTANDING composition courses including “Orchestrating the Line” which completely changed my approach to writing music.
Master the Score
🎻 20th Century Orchestral Writing - master-the-score.teachable.co...
🎚 Mixing Cinematic Music - master-the-score.teachable.co...
💥 Hybrid Orchestral Composition and Sound - master-the-score.teachable.co...
🤖 Syntorial - tinyurl.com/syntorialryan
The ABSOLUTE BEST way to learn how to use a synthesizer. It makes learning how to program a synth feel like a video game!
🎹 Master the Score www.masterthescore.com/
🎵 Sound Stripe tinyurl.com/soundstriperyan
Where I get my background music (awesome for CZcamsrs).
STAY IN TOUCH
🤖Come join us on DISCORD! / discord
🌍 Website - www.ryanleach.com
✉️ email - ryanleachmusic at gmail.com
GEAR I USE EVERY DAY
🎹 M-Audio Keystation 61 MK3 geni.us/oTCT
🖥 LG 34” UltraWide Monitors geni.us/dux3mE
⌨️ Logitech MX Keys Keyboard geni.us/PkPvYs
🖲Kensington Expert Wireless Trackball Mouse geni.us/QKnLbJ
🎧 Apple AirPods Max geni.us/jzYq5
________
PS: Some links may be affiliate links which I receive a small kickback at no extra cost to you.
Chemist icon in the thumbnail made by Eucalyp from www.flaticon.com
Stock footage provided by Videvo, downloaded from www.videvo.net
Other photos from Unsplash thanks to Emily Morter, Dollar Gill, Roman Mager, Daniel Mingook Kim, Nicholas Sampson, and Kaur Martin.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Introduction
1:43 What is the Period Form
2:02 Beethoven’s F Minor Piano Sonata
5:46 Period vs. Sentence
7:31 Spirited Away
10:01 Writing a new melody
13:09 Why I love the Sentence Form
I've been a violinist for over fifty years, never been a composer. With just the two videos of yours that I've heard, things make so much sense, and I realize that music doesn't have to be the mystery that it always has been for me. Even if I don't compose anything, your explanations are amazing, clear and satisfying.
204 1
I'm so glad!
Congratulations on cracking into the mystery
@@paperdenise5268right!
I've watched many CZcamsrs teaching about music stuff and you are the one who fail to make things easy to understand the most... mehhh
Two thoughts about periods and sentences when you generalize. These forms can be nested in two ways, and if you want to look in a more general way, perhaps many already are nested. 1. Make a period out of two sentences. Your sentence does its thing and ends with half cadence, now repeat it and end with full cadence. Presto, it's a large period made out of two small sentences. There was a video a long while back by a different composer youtuber suggesting more to this relationship, suggesting something like all periods can be thought of as two sentences. Question and answer. 2. Make a sentence that starts with a period. You have your question, then your answer, but then it continue it with fragmentation. The initial question and answer are treated as the two statements of your basic idea and you move into a continuation, and round it off with a larger cadence. Now what was a period on initial hearing has turned into a sentence when looked at from a higher altitude. This may seem a stretch, but look at the Spirited away example. Just take the melody of the two basic idea statements. If you think in C major, the first one ending on D, the 2, can be thought of as a half cadence. The second one ending on C, the 1, can be thought of as an answer with a full cadence. This is not the long version I'm talking about, but already the first two statements can be thought of in this way as a "little period" nested into the beginning of the sentence.
I'm a three chord country/garage rock songwriter who doesn't know what on earth a fermata is. But you explain this in a way that illuminates the possibilities of even very basic song formats. Thanks so much. Great lesson!
I cannot believe I wrote a melody without knowing this, and yet adhering perfectly to this form you exposed in the video!
I find that stuff happens to me too. I think it’s because our ears are so cultured to these patterns that we subconsciously follow them ourselves when writing.
Blinding lights by The Weeknd is the first example that comes to mind with this format of melody, crazy when music theory clicks in that way. Makes you feel empowered.
I had stumbled upon your old tutorials a while ago. Nice to see you on CZcams too. :) As for future topics, it’d be nice to see your take on how to communicate various moods in music and the harmonic choices behind them. I remember reading your tutorial on movement by thirds; it’d be nice to learn about other techniques too.
Thanks Taylan, glad you liked the old tutorials and I appreciate the suggestions!
I watched both videos on period form and sentence form.
For me, these are really very interesting approaches that no one has ever conveyed to me in this form in such an understandable way.
Now it's up to me to try out these different approaches in practice in my compositional attempts.
So it only remains for me to thank you for your effort, also in the other contributions on CZcams.
It's really nice to meet people like you who get it
really teach you something.
So thanks again!!!
This type of content is some of the best (if not the best) I've seen in the past years, hands down. Really useful material for a self-taught "composer"!
Extremely useful approach! I'll definitely be looking more into harmony stuff like more on cadences and sequences mentioned at 12:20 or stuff like that to add color to works! Really really like this content and definitely I'll be sticking around for a while!
instant subscribe. my music theory understanding is enough to get what you're doing but would never be able to think of on my own. can't wait to watch more and get to the next level!
I just stumbled across your channel, and you are an incredibly gifted teacher. My sister has this same skill set (though applied in conjunction with sports and coaching) where you really understand fundamentals of a certain subject and are really good in explaining those fundamentals in a way that a wide range of people, from beginners to professional musicians, can grasp what you are describing that makes it almost seem so silly that we didn't quite understand it so simply before. Thank you so much for this! This topic specifically is something I have really been struggling with in terms of melody and sound phrasing. There is a reason that popular music is popular, and as melody really refers to the vocals in pop music, this is the piece that I really have trouble with - kind of "bringing things home", or applying a pattern especially in a chorus that makes a song "easy" to listen to, but not necessarily boring or overly repetitive. Thanks again. Subbed.
I always appreciate when content creators give references of where they've researched, so that one can also do ones own research.
You can do any videos on Form and I'll be interested.
Hi, I'm a new subscriber and I am so glad I found you. You lay out your topics in a way that even a novice (like myself) at classical composition can understand. You are an excellent teacher. Very rare. Thanks for tutorials!
This is the video that finally filled the last bit of knowledge I needed to understand this. Thank you for the tutorial
I really enjoyed this video and will be trying some of it right away. I too can come up with 8 bars that I like but sometimes get stuck with it getting boring and as you said "not going anywhere". Your explanation on these two forms was really enlightening.
Hey, Ryan! I just recently found your channel and I'm finding it a godsend of easily digestible, concise lessons and presentations on compositional ideas. Thank you!
I've particularly enjoyed your videos regarding period and sentence forms for creating melodies. I was wondering if you'd consider making a video about how to think when creating melodies where the basic motives are longer than 2 bars, and also when the structure doesn't conform to the standard 8-bar structure, like 6, 7, 9 or 12 bars, for example.
I’ve learned so much about music theory from just this one video. Definitely subscribing. I wanna see more
CZcams kept pushing this vid at me until I watched it, and I'm so glad it did. I had composition classes in college and studied privately later. No one ever taught me the period-sentence distinction. It's more a design principle than a formula. Formulas are like cheat codes. This is more of a strategy. Super helpful.
Thank you so much for this video, Ryan Leach.
This is so powerful!
Absolutely love this topic and would love more videos on this! So interesting to me.
This youtube channel is a real gem for composers. Thank you very much for your videos. I have learn a lot with period and sentence form, I still wonder how you deal with this melody structure in regard of the main structure of a track. Is there any relationship between these structures or the track structure depends of the musical piece you want to write ?
Excellent. I'm a jazz guitar player exploring solo and the form is an important part of this for me for improv. I'd like to hear more about styles and which forms they gravitate toward (especially jazz). This makes so much sense now - thanks.
Thank you thank you thank you! I was stuck for a long time and this video was exactly what I needed
Thank you for this video on sentence form composing. I like this form, because it does help to move the music forward and gives you ability to write a new phrase. I also like the cadence at the end. Sometimes I let the music linger (in the mixing session) at the end or let come to a soft stop. Awesome! 🎶🎵🎶💕
Mr. Leach, it gave me a very inspiring impulse for my stuck composition. Trying to work on it by benefitting from both period and sentence forms. Thank you for your efforts! Greetings from Turkey!
I understood the basic idea for periods, but like you said i was feeling stuck. Thanks for breaking down the sentence form.
This is such an excellent video! Now I have another approach I can try to write better melodies and solos. Thank you so much, you are great Ryan!
This really simplifies things. Arrangement of notes is just as important as the notes themselves (or perhaps more important?). Thanks for this explanation.
thank you so much for all the information you are putting up. Changed my life for ever. Thank you. Grateful.
This is great, I do all this subconsciously already!!
I just took this video and the one on period form, and wrote an 8 bar section of each starting with the same first two bars. Interesting to compare and contrast the forms. Thank you. I think this will help me understand what I'm doing better.
This was extremely useful, and very well presented - thank you! I came across this concept a few months ago in another video, but it was so badly explained that it turned me off. I'm very pleased I'd seen some of your other videos and was confident that you'd explain it clearly, or I might have missed it all together!
You’re a great teacher & your music is on point
This and your period video are extremely insightful and for me clarify much. Thank you. You asked for feedback on other topics to cover... what comes to mind is more about how one may use harmony and modes as key reference points to use in creating melodies using these 2 forms. Also now that the basics are provided.. can you show how you can do some of the things you mention.. expanding, shortening..how can you perhaps make something just as functional using a different number of Bars 10.12 or maybe even an odd number?.. (just for starters :-)) Thanks again.
Exactly my problem right now! I'm stuck, but this gave me a some ideas! Definitely will watch more of your videos and you got a new subscriber!
thank you so much for this lesson
Very good explanation. Looking forward to trying this with guitar.
Absolutely fascinating. Checking out Caplin's book, too. Thank you, Ryan!
Fantastic video. I would love to see more videos on expanding the sentence form and going ape in the continuation sections. Thanks!
Amazing! Greatly explained and very easy to follow and apply. Will be thinking about that next time I write.
Your explanation is so much clearer than those I've found thus far in theory textbooks. I'm feeling that excitement you mentioned of understanding and new possibilities. Thanks for sharing
That's awesome, thanks
Yessss!!!!! I Also love musical forms i think your vídeo is súper clear and interesting, i loved it
These videos are killer, Ryan. You manage to put a lot in here without over-explaining, so it really feels as though you're fostering creativity for those watching, as opposed to telling us "how to do it properly."
Thanks, and please keep it up.
What is "over-explaining"? Shortcuts in the knowledge universe do not always effectively work for clarity's sake.
First time to this channel. Love it. Subbed!
Wow. I learned a ton in just 15 minutes...thank you.
Wonderfully presented material. Thank you!
This is an extra super fantastic lesson , to help every musition to become a powerful composer, for seens in movies , TV and computer games.
Thank you for your really interesting videos, that are easy to follow even for a composition beginner :)
I really enjoy it!
Such a wonderful simple explanation, I'd heard of both of these forms but never quite understood till now. Thanks!
Great to hear! Next in this series will be some more detail on how they compare.
Great presentation, no waffle, thanks
Dear Ryan, I love the video! Do you have another videos where you go note for note analysis? -for example the note choice in the left hand in the second bar of G7, why the third is out etc. Also the voice leading, and how it connects to the other chords. Thank you very much, I am learning so much from your videos!
Hey Darko, interesting question. You might like some of the stuff on my second channel where I go into much longer analysis and discussion, especially going through thought process as I'm writing. czcams.com/channels/xOWcx_NSZ4Hd6KaDmzphSA.html
As someone who has taken music theory 1 and 2 (and no further, because the program was removed the university I was supposed to transfer to), this was a good reminder of the cadences. I already knew what they were and how to do them, but it's a still a good reminder.
However, I've always felt that deceptive cadences are not only much more tonally interesting than authentic cadences, perfect or imperfect, but they feel more resolved as well. But I guess that's just me.
Edit: That is, the most common deceptive cadence, by using a first inversion vi chord, I find more resolved than authentic cadences.
I'm too much of a Newbie to compose, but this is great for understanding what's going on. Merci beaucoup.
Amazing work. Thank your for this!
Ryan, you are awesome. Thank you!!
Really-excellent illustrations! Thanks, Ryan.
Nice vid, many of the things you explain (like cadence being like punctuation) are applicable to other aspects of music which is very interesting.
i also get excited over musical forms! 😊
bruh I just realised all my best and most catchy songs follow either the sentence form or period form. yeah Im subscribing
Great knowledge in a well done video- thanks for sharing
Excellent tutorial. Thank you~!
you are a great teacher
Hi Ryan, I don't play piano or classical music. I play guitar. That being said, I love music theory and try to apply the things that I learn along the way to improve my playing. Your lesson on the sentence form has just opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at songwriting. Subscribing to your channel is a no-brainer. I look forward to watching more of you instruction. Thank you. - Cheers!
Awesome description and analysis!
Cool stuff, very good job explaining things! Thanks for the vid
super cool video, you are really helping me out thank you so much
Thanks. Very helpful
Super, thank you
Super interesting! And you are a good pedagogue.
I got a lot from this. Thank you.
Thanks for this one, Ryan!
Very interesting and informative. Thanks again!🎉
No doubt.. Very valuable material. Thanks a lot!
At present, I am trying to learn Chopin's Op 69 no 2 waltz. It would be great if you could throw some light on this piece.
i think i tend to do this when casually improvising
This is a great video and it's giving me lots of ideas! I have a question. How would you approach incorporating your 8-bar forms into longer forms like 32-bar AABA for example?
This was super helpful! Please make more videos on melody!
One coming on Wednesday this week!
Thanks for the great insight
wow that's really helpful. thank you
Very very very very good!
Thank you very much!
Great video, thank you.
Well this was helpful.
This knowledge seems like it would be useful for improving at the piano (or another instrument), too
Cool cool!
I was taught Sentence form like this,
Idea A, Idea A variation,
Fragment, Fragment,
Cadence
Thinking of the "continuation" as a two fragments, can be helpful. That section often has a truncated version of the main idea. Imperial March is a good example. But obviously this is not always the cause.
A very basic form that explains both the limerick at one extreme and the opening of Beethoven's Fifth at the other.
Your videos are awesome. You said most of the form analysis books based on period method. Which books do you recommend for period method?
Mendelssohn Octet starts like this... exactly fitting your description.
More videos on the sentence form please.
Hello Ryan and thank you for your channel! For a while I had no inspiration and ideas for writing music and for a kind of analyzing it - just did my job as a conductor. It's really very fascinating and again, lot of tanks to you for sucn an interesting work!
But here is a question. If we remember such works as Ouverture to The Marriage of Figaro or Beethoven's Symphony 8, what can we say about basic form? Is it a sentence or a period? Or for example Wagner's Tristan Vorspiel. Do these formulas work here? Sure they should. Buuuut.... I would like to know, where to find the information, or can you give a sort of advice to be more fluent in such a forms.
Thank you in advance, and thank you again for such a wonderful channel!
this is great
Very well done, super helpful
Yes continue the form.
Ryan, your channel is great. An instructor of a class I'm taking through Berklee Online recommended it to me. I'm very happy you included an example that wasn't Beethoven's Sonata No.1 - it may be heresy for me to say but I definitely appreciate Hisaishi's work more :)
Can you think of any video game scores that use sentence form? I've been doing some transcribing of Gameboy and SNES music but haven't found anything yet, everything I've looked at uses periods.
Thank you! That's cool, I wonder if it's someone I know from Berklee?
The first part of Zelda's Lullaby is a sentence that repeats. A few tracks from Super Mario World like Forest of Illusion, or the Title theme: czcams.com/video/O_Db3_ZVmDo/video.html
@@RyanLeach The instructor is Mark Costa, he's a nice fellow :)
Ah I would've thought the melody to the title theme from SMW was a parallel period, but I can see how the beginning of the second phrase makes it more like a sentence since the harmonic rhythm changes and it builds up intensity into the cadence.
Thanks very much
Very interesting video. It does open doors. Love more of this Ryan
Great info. I guess that if you make the piece longer you can for example start bar 9 with the continuation of bars 6 and 7? Or repeat the start of course.
Как хорошо ютуб мне выдал ваш канал, сразу подписался)
Очень интересно рассказываете и показываете
Muito bem. Obrigado.
Great stuff
Excellent thanks
Ryan, I just found your channel. Y O U are an E X C E L L E N T teacher and composer. Top notch !!
Thanks for all of the useable composition tips. You are appreciated!
doug gemmell in LV
Awesome, thank you!
I liked this video a lot. There is correlation between the sentence form in music and the way people communicate verbally. I don't think it's a coincidence that it's called sentence form, that composters think in phrases or that Eddie Van Halen would move his mouth a lot while he played solos. Do you have more to say about this?