School of Rock – Week 8 – Melody

CC image Music Was My Refuge by Cindy Mc at Flickr

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness. – Maya Angelou

SUMMARY

I liked learning more about music theory, and some of the terms that go with it. Some of the materials have, in a way, kind of shown me that making music isn’t as complicated as I thought; admittedly, I was kind of dreading making music for this class, because I worry I’m not creative enough in that department.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEV_FQ7–WU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayXgU3o28FE
I used these two tutorials to learn what it means to be ‘in-tune’, and how to tune a bass by ear.

The underlying techniques and tricks that go into making good music spans across multiple styles and genres.
It’s possible for people to remember melodies that they heard even while in the womb.
“Tunes can act as a bridge between cultures when language fails us.”
A large number of melodies throughout history have been based on a pentatonic shape.
There are 3 main elements to a melody: the notes, their pitch, and their pattern.
“Blue-notes” are notes that have been flattened for expressive purposes.

I learned what hotkeys you can use to change the duration of a note in the melody section, and how to change and add different instruments.

I think it’s interesting the way Ruth Stone described the process of inspiration; a sort of external force that comes barrelling through you, if only for a moment. Lord knows that’s happened to me multiple times, as a writer myself. It’s specifically why I’ve taken to having a notes app on my phone; so that I can write down my ideas and inspiration from anywhere before they get lost.

Theme – A longer, more flowing melodic idea.
Motive – A short, rhythmic idea.
Period – Eight measures of music.
Phrase – A set of four measures of music.
Antecedent (Question) Phrase – The first phrase of music.
Consequent (Answer) Phrase – The second phrase of music.
Scale Degrees
- Tonic – The note that determines the key of the melody.
- Supertonic, Mediant, Submediant – Scale degrees with a moderate level of tension.
- Dominant, Subdominant, Leading Tone – Scale degrees that create a high level of tension in the melody.
Steps – Any movement using whole or half steps.
Leaps – Any movement using intervals larger than a whole step.
Conjunct motion – A melody built primarily out of steps.
Disjunct motion – A melody built primarily using leaps.
Repetition – The use of repeated material to create a link between the two phrases of a period.
Contrast – Two phrases that contain contrasting material to create tension and interest.
Variation – Halfway between repetition and contrast. Both phrases include familiar and varied material.

Today, I figured out how to use Hookpad. Admittedly, up until this point, I didn’t even know that the website could be used to make music as well as analyze existing songs. I had a bit of trouble with the formatting of this post itself, but I was able to get it down using the example post.