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Lessons: Lesson #7952: Becoming Non-Generic |
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Pages: 1
Suggested Tempo: 220 |
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"Becoming None Generic"
Page 1 of 1
This lesson is unlike any of
my other lessons. What this lesson is all about is showing how music can be
created, without having that generic sound. The composed melody below, I created
using a variety of different ideas all linked together, played over a
progression that is not commonly used, if even used at all. For the most part, I
took a chromatic approach, and followed the guide tones, or chord tones of each
chord.
When
adding a melody over a chord
progression, there are always different approaches that one can take.
Music should never intentionally be categorized into one specific style and then
left there, with no experimentation. Some of the best genres of music today came
from experimenting the previous genres. What I mean is that when composing any
type of progression or melody, you should never plan it out before as fitting
one particular style. ( unless the strict purpose is to make a certain style
composition). Without really listening to the music, the same ideas that others
have used thousands of times before, CAN be subconsciously reinvented, thus the
music you just made is not portraying your musicianship, but of sound of
someone else. (This is a broad statement, and doesn't apply to everything).
Many
people don't appreciate the fact
that music is not just what we can hear on the radio, from a live band, on
the internet, from the guitar, or the saxophone, or the piano. It isn't always
about having an organized piece that runs smoothly, flawlessly if you
will, from start to finish, melodically and harmonically perfect. Music is
all around us, whether one takes notice or not. Music is the sound the wind
makes blowing through the trees, the birds singing from all different distances
from each other, water dripping from a high altitude location and hitting to the
ground, waterfalls, even car horns, footsteps. Everything that you can hear
should give you inspiration. Use your ears. You have the ability to hear all
these things. Whether you choose to appreciate these natural sounds, or just the
human engineered sounds, that is up to you. But inspiration sometimes comes in
the weirdest shapes or forms. So next time you are trying to write that melody,
or compose that song, think outside of the "music" and open your ears to
everything else.
All of these sounds the
human mind can process. When you really listen, you will notice that they aren't
just noise, but can be looked at as music. If you hear water dripping, and a
bird chirping, don't just focus your mind on one of the two. Focus on the
overall sound they produce together, not just the bird, and not just the water.
This also applies to more then 2 sounds . One reason why I thoroughly enjoy
classical and jazz music so much is that they are unpredictable, and the music
is never limited. Both require such a high level of musical sophistication in
the listener. When you are listening to it, you can draw a picture to what's
going on. You can visualize the music, and actually take it in. Classical
music is usually not just focused on one particular idea, but instead many.
Combining all different variations of thought, to produce a piece of music of
that has contrast, tone, and theme, with different themes and ideas. With Jazz,
it's often similar. One characteristic that draws me to jazz is it is
spontaneous, you never know where its going to go next, unless you know
the progression before hand. This spontaneous music gives the listener something
to look forward... They don't expect what will happen next... and they can then
fully enjoy the music, and anticipate the next move of the artist. Like the
natural music in the world, whether it be ambient, or the urban sounds of the
city, one is never fully prepared for what is going to happen next. In my
opinion this is also why there are many people who would never listen to jazz or
classical music, these people do not hear the music for what it is worth. They
don't like knowing that they don't know what's going to happen next. They would
much rather listen to a piece of music that is simplistic, and characteristic to
everything they've heard before so they don't actually need to think while
listening to the music... they just to listen... and not analyze the music for
what it is...
Anyways, I think I
illustrated one point of view, and now on to the lesson.
Update : This lesson way composed in a time when I didn't know how
to use the composer fluently. I will be making corrections with the phrasing of
the notes soon enough. The whole melody at the moment, as most would notice, is
all 8th notes, this will change soon.
Here are the chords that
are used.
There are multiple scales
used in this piece, and a many arpeggios and string skipping parts. The main
scales used are B Minor Aeolian, Chromatic, and Harmonic Minor and Major.
The piece is below, I hope
you enjoy this different lesson.
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