How do you make up your own melodies?

plmko

So, I'm just in the process of downloading the latest FL Studio software and I'm pretty excited! I have a bit of experience on FL Studio but only the demo version.

I find it really hard to think up melodies. I'm just wondering what are your tips to make up melodies that are catchy and would suit dance/house music?

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers, plmko

Neurojazz

Learn about scales - You can use pretty much any as it depends on taste.

Melody is based on 'question and answer' - You'd have something like a short section of notes that have one pattern and another that compliment it.

A good trick is to sing (by sing i mean hum/la-la-la) over the top of your track to get ideas for melody - then work out how to program it.

Another trick... learn to play your favorite tracks - by learning those you'll start to shape yourself from your own experiences.

This can take years to master - so practice lots and get some basic lessons (from people & books) and keep at it!

plmko

Neurojazz wrote: »

Learn about scales - You can use pretty much any as it depends on taste.

Melody is based on 'question and answer' - You'd have something like a short section of notes that have one pattern and another that compliment it.

A good trick is to sing (by sing i mean hum/la-la-la) over the top of your track to get ideas for melody - then work out how to program it.

Another trick... learn to play your favorite tracks - by learning those you'll start to shape yourself from your own experiences.

This can take years to master - so practice lots and get some basic lessons (from people & books) and keep at it!

Thanks a million man! Really great advice there, I can't wait to get started

jiltloop

Also make sure you get a MIDI keyboard if you don't already have one. It's a lot more creative to fiddle about and experiment with melodies on a keyboard rather than trying to construct melodies solely on the piano roll in FL.

mordeith

Neurojazz wrote: »

A good trick is to sing (by sing i mean hum/la-la-la) over the top of your track to get ideas for melody - then work out how to program it.

I see that in the latest version of Ableton you don't even have to do that. You can hum or whistle directly into the programme and it will work out the midi notes for you! (not sure how well in works in practice though)

Neurojazz

mordeith wrote: »

I see that in the latest version of Ableton you don't even have to do that. You can hum or whistle directly into the programme and it will work out the midi notes for you! (not sure how well in works in practice though)

Works fine with simple sounds - the polyphonic one is also handy for getting a rough idea. There's so much tucked away in 9 it's becoming a really solid app now!

paulo6891

Regarding making melodies melodies, each to their own but for me it depends on the type of music I am trying to make.

If it's something house-y or anything really groove-based, I would usually just throw a decent sounding drum loop into my DAW, put the track on loop and try to come up with some catchy melodies/riffs in my head.

For trance, which is what I do, I always try to write the bass line of the melody first. Then I will add more instruments and melodies until it clicks. It helps having a midi keyboard or some experience with instruments, but it's not completely necessary. When I have the basics of the melody/breakdown written, I then create a simple arp pattern with a nice sounding generic preset, and that's when the inspiration comes as it is now starting to sound like a proper track!

And don't forget that most dance music is written in minor keys!

Rob Humanoid

As NJ says, get to know the scales (even just a little), and use the question and answer idea. Have a look at A minor, it's an ez place to start for a scale. You don't have to be too rigid with it, as there are plenty of artists who break the rules. Just have fun for now...

Also, while you can try and hum melodies. It's a lot easier to get a bass sound (or sample you like) and play a few different notes in the piano roll, and just see what happens.

It's dead easy to chop and change, so you will get something that you like sooner than you think.

Have a gander at youtube for 'music theory for beginners'. There's plenty there...

shane9689

learn an instrument (preferably piano for music production)