Quote:
Originally Posted by DASmusic
Thanks a lot everyone. I think I'm starting to understand it.
So basically chord tones should be the main part of the melody, and passing notes are there to make the transition between other notes more smooth?
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Yes.
But as you point out in your frst post, that's not enough on its own.
What makes great songwriters like Dylan and Neil Young stand out is (among other things) the organic strength of their phrasing. You hardly notice the technical aspects (like they're singing the chord tones), because you're so drawn in by the overall effect of the phrasing (not to mention the lyrics). It sounds
intuitive, as if those lyrics couldn't have been sung any other way. Moreover, they
had to be sung. Those are not words that live happily on a page (even Dylan's). They come alive when sung, and sung in that particular way.
They start with the emotion, with the theme, and then set it to music (melody and chords). They (probably) don't start with the music. It's about finding a musical shape for your feeling, not about finding feeling in an existing musical shape.
IMO, the trick is to let the melody (and the words if you have any) lead the whole process. You might start out with a chord (or 2 or 3) to kickstart the process, but as soon as you start singing you have to let the voice run the show. (The chords are only ever there in a supporting role.)
Try singing a phrase over just one chord to begin with. Find a shape for the phrase that feels comfortable to sing, but still sits on the chord.(ie starting and ending with chord tones).
Let the voice rule, and if it doesn't quite sit on that chord right - or demands a different chord - then change the chord. With each melody note you sing, try to feel where the tune wants to go next - should the next note be higher or lower than the last? by how much? Sing what feels right, and
then find a chord that fits that note (if the current one doesn't).
Obviously words help tremendously here - so you can get into the feeling of the theme - but it's possible to work with nonsense words, or any old irrelevant phrase, just to have something to wrap your voice around, while you're thinking in pure melody.
One thing you always find songwriters saying is that good tunes seem to write themselves. Neil Young has said tunes are like rabbits - they pop up out of their holes when you're not looking.
Of course, it's a contradiction to try writing a song without trying! But you can try to get yourself into that open frame of mind, and try not to control it too much.
BTW, one thing I noticed very early on with Dylan, when I first started learning his songs (back in 1966), was a particular fondness he had for the 5th of a chord, which has a distinctive character. "Mr Tambourine Man" is a seductive melody (IMO) mainly because of the way it skips from 5th to 5th.
Code:
CHORD: G A D G
MELODY: D D C# B A A F# F# B A F# D
CHORD TONE: 5 5 #4 2 1 1 6 3 5 5 3 5
Hey Mis-ter Tam-bou-rine Man, play a song for me
.
CHORD: (G) D G A
MELODY: D E F# A A F# B A G F# F# E E
CHORD TONE: 5 6 3 5 5 3 3 2 1 7 6 5 5
I'm not slee-py and there is no place I'm go-ing too
10 of those notes are 5ths, including the beginning and end of each line.
The end of the first line (or even its beginning) could easily have been harmonized with the D chord, but try it - how dull does that sound? Using G keeps it alive.
He does a similar thing in Blowin' in the Wind, on the first line of the chorus: "the answer my friend is blowin' in the wind". "Wind" is on the tonic note, but he harmonizes it with the IV chord (just like in Tambourine Man).
Neil Young does the same thing with "Helpless" - an audaciously simple tune, a 4-bar motif repeated throughout:
Code:
CHORD: D A G
MELODY: F# F# F# E E E F# E D D
CHORD TONE: 3 3 3 5 5 5 6 6 5 5
Notice no chord roots are sung, and the final tonic note is harmonized with the IV. This keeps the song in the air, unresolved. And the putting the tonic note on the IV chord contributes (IMO) warmth and re-assurance.
No surprise that Dylan stole this tune for Knockin' On Heaven's Door
- it could have been one of his all along.
There are other similar lessons you can learn from any great songwriter, by detailed analysis of those moments that grab you in a song. Sometimes the expression is down to vocal style and delivery - or maybe arrangement, orchestration, studio effects - but sometimes you can trace it to a particular note-chord (or chord-key) relationship.
You should really get to know the emotional character of every note relative to a given chord. Not just the root, 3rd and 5th (which each have their own personality), but the 7th (b7 and maj7), 9th, sus4, 6th. That's the cast of players you work with.
And then there's note duration, rhythm and timing, etc.
Eg, syncopation adds energy and drama - starting a note before the beat instead of right on it.
Sustaining one note beyond its natural length is another trick - one Dylan used to be fond of; adds tension, making resolutions all the sweeter. (Check out his version of Man of Constant Sorrow - which I think he chose for that very quality - or One of Us Must Know, or Idiot Wind.)