We’re going to dive right into music writing and improv. Won’t it be nice to just sit down and play without studying? To take what you hear on the radio or in your head and expand on it? Without thinking or stress? That’s where we’re headed. If you just want the free stuff, hang around because more tracks are coming as well as a link to an e-card app. So stay tuned.
The world is made up of proportions: leaves, insect bodies, planet orbits…and dates. And the proportions of dates can lead us right into the proportions of music.
You may remember that earlier I introduced a melody taken from a birth date and promised to show you how to harmonize it. So we’re going to talk chords. How do you find good harmonies (chords) for your birth date melody?
Harmonies make all the difference. They can transform a nondescript or obtuse melody into pure beauty.
The melody discussed in the last Newsletter, Katia’s Waltz, is available here.
Let’s continue using that tune as an example because it’s simple, it’s in the key of C, but also has a wrinkle that opens up some opportunities. Katia’s Waltz is based on the notes D-E-C-B-D, the scale tones 2-3-1-7-2 of the C scale. Those numbers are taken from the birth date “23 January, 1972”.
Now, how do you match harmonies with that melody?
First, just experiment with the simplest chords available in the key of C. You simply take a shape, three nodes equally spaced, and move them up and down:
The most important thing, and I can’t stress this enough, is to be relaxed but attentive, even when playing dirt-simple things. The challenge is to attain the mental state where you’re luxuriating in the sound of a three notes played together, or even a single note. All else arises from that.
If you find yourself thinking something like “this is embarassing”, or “what will they think of me playing something so unsophisticated”, STOP, get up from the piano, come back in a couple of minutes. It’s the mental state of ease and enjoyment that we’re after, and nothing else.
What we’re looking for is chords which contain a note which is also in the melody. To do that, you need a vocabulary of chords. We’re using simple triads in this case, but you’ll also want to match the melody to chords with other tones added, such as the 6th of the scale, or the 9th. That will be the subject of several newsletters to come.
Of course, it’s not just a mechanical process, of mathematically matching up chord tones with melody tones. A knowledge of these tools gives you the alternatives, but the actual process is one of getting out of the way so that you can find the harmony and melody together, as if they already existed. You’re watching your hands play and experimenting with combinations, making a mental note of ones you like without committing too early to a particular direction, watching the melody and harmony spin itself out just like anyone else who happens to be listening.
“What note wants to come next” is the question to ask.
Back to harmonizing. Let’s start with the first fragment of the Katia’s Waltz melody: 2-3-1, or D-E-C. Now just play it over the top of the chords.
You’re just looking for combinations that sound good to you and noticing various levels of consonance and dissonance.
Now try a second fragment of melody over the same chords:
For more varied sounds, take notes from the left hand chords up or down an octave:
Experiment! The eventual goal is to have your own palette of sounds that you like for different effects or moods, and in this particular case, to find the chords that fit the melody. What your mean by “fit” is up to you. There are no rules regarding what matches what other than what is intriguing to your ear, but the place to start is with chords which contain the melody note somewhere.
Advanced
As a preview of where all this can potentially go, take a look at the beginning of The Aquarium, from Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals:
a simple two notes, E going to Eb, when harmonized, flow like water.
Next time we’ll dive into improvisation with a couple of simple techniques that lay a foundation that will continue to deepen over time. Then, while that process continues in your subconscious, we’ll be free to return to more talk about the art of writing melodies.
I welcome your comments as well as preferences for going slower in the explanations or more quickly into advanced topics. Just drop a note in the comments section at the bottom of www.yourSongCode.com.
Ron
Ron Newman has Masters’ Degrees in Music Education and in Computer Science, film and commercial credits and openings for Willie Nelson and Tricia Clark as a member of the Great Northern Band. more…
Order your own music-by-date by Ron Newman at
YourSongCode.com
© 2010 by Ron Newman. All Rights Reserved
