Learn to improvise. 2003-2004. Lesson 06: making a melody to a given scheme.
A practical procedure to make a melody to a given scheme is by first
playing the scheme a number of times without a melody in a quiet
tempo and without ornaments, in order to discover the possibilities of
the harmonic flow. Don't falter! This will hide the flow (especially of
the modulations). Particularly this harmonic flow is the body of the music.
The melody is the finishing touch.
Once the harmonic flow is clear, you can start using your voice to get
ideas about a melody. The quality of your singing voice is not
important. The aim is to get a natural melody. Keep on repeating the
scheme over and over again while improving the melody. Don't spoil
the modulations by smothering ornaments. The next step is to play the
melody in stead of singing it. Adjustments to the instrument will be
needed, because a piano has not all the possibilities a singing voice has,
as e.g. making long notes. When all this is done and you play your
melody, some little improvements may be found afterwards by singing
the melody while playing the complete piece of music. An example of
such little improvements may concern the balance between singable
parts and instrumental ornaments.
For improvisation it is necessary to be able to predict the effect of notes.
We can distinguish the following notes:
- chord notes (notes belonging to the active chord, e.g. during D7 the notes d, f#, a and c)
- scale notes (notes belonging to the active scale, e.g. during key C the
white keys)
- scale alien notes (e.g. during key C the black keys)
- (piano alien notes, e.g. a tone halfway e and f, which a voice can make
but a piano can not)
Chord notes have an open, consonant air.
Click here to hear an example.
Scale notes have a classical air.
Click here to hear an example.
Scale alien notes ask for a solution, usually the neighboring scale note.
Click here to hear an example.
Every note within a key has a special effect, dependent on the piece of
music, e.g.:
After a modulation the new key holds.
You have to take into account the new scale then. E.g. during D7 the
scale of G or Gm holds; at that
moment the note f is scale alien, or more practical: avoid note f if
you're not sure about it. When improvising you don't have the time, like
when composing, to try out notes; you have to know beforehand which
ones are risky.
During a temporary modulation the melody is influenced also by the
initial key. It is a mixture of both the current and the initial key. E.g.
during all the keys which are passed by modulations, the root chord of
the initial key can be played, except at the very moment a note happens
to be scale alien in a key. E.g. the notes of chord C (so c, e and g) can be
used for the melody during any chord of the scheme C D7 G7 C.
Click here to hear an example.
But in the scheme C A7 D7 G7 C the note c is scale alien during the
chord A7, because at that moment the temporary key is D or Dm. The
key of D has two sharps c# and f# and Dm has the sharp c#. So it is safe
to avoid the note c during A7, unless you know what you're doing.
Click here to hear an example.
HOMEWORK:
Make melodies to the scheme:
C F C F C D7 G G7 C F C F C G7 C C
Am Dm Am Dm Am D7 G G7 C E7 F C C D7 G7 C
The grouping in 4 chords is for easy reading, not for timing.
Click here to hear an example.
Hundreds of melodies are possible to this schema. Here is one example.
Click here to hear an example.
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