[sarepaar]

So I have trouble getting a song and a melody to fit together. The lyrics of song mostly come quite easily to me. There is one song I have tried to find a good melody to fit the lyrics but it's really hard. I heard from other people that they just start strumming some chods on the guitar and sing a melody over that. But that does not work for me. I find it easier to sing a melody over the lyrics but... I don't know how to find the right chords with that melody. In the end will often get frustrated and stop to come back to it later and have the same problem. I am planning on getting some guitar lessons again in the new year and learn some more about the technical stuff. But is there a way I can find the right chords with a melody now? Thanks!

[Boydie]

You definitely need to get some more music theory behind you to figure this kind of stuff out

However, I can give you a quick run down that might help immediately

The first thing you need to do is determine what KEY your melody is in

I would suggest that you start with C Major (or its relative minor of A minor)

In your case I would simply strum a C Major chord and then just carry on singing your melody

Then, when you want to find your chords the options will be narrowed down considerably and are likely to be from the C Major "chord scale"

I   C Major
ii   D minor
iii  E minor
IV  F Major
V   G Major
Vi  A minor
Vii B Diminished (don't worry about this one for now)

There are times you will want to deviate from these chords but you can write a LOT of songs just using these chords and if you were to just sing a tune off the top of your head I think these chords will work - and if I had to guess you will mainly need C Major, A minor, F Major and G Major

I hope this helps - good luck!

[Neil C]

 A few thoughts to add to Boydie's.

You can create melodies without playing any chords. just singing a melody without any guitar or piano.

You've got the lyrics so try singing them a few times and see if you get a decent melody. Typically there will be some variation between verse and chorus etc. Then record on a phone. you should be alb ego at least work out what the key you're singing it in and start to progress chords underneath the melody rather than other way around.
Good luck.
 
Neil

[sarepaar]

oke thank you I wil try that next time.

[montydog]

Another trick is to think of a song you know with a good melody and just change it up a little bit - take something from the first song but don't copy it.

[S.T.C]

You can put melody into your lyrics by writing to an existing song as MD suggested ,not copying but as a template...i generally write better stuff when i am inspired by a song...happened to me in the last few days..and some of my better work i might add.....

[Safiibox]

I have a question to ask. In order to make a song into a concrete thing, do you need to be able to play an instrument? I'm learning the piano by myself, but I have more desire to sing my lyrics, whilst someone else kind of solidifies the melody with whatever things they use (as long as it brings out the best from my song). Is that feasible? DO producers do that kind of stuff?

[Boydie]

If you can find a collaboration partner you may have some luck by offering them some lyrics to work on but this usually involves building up a relationship first and some "trust" for someone to spend hours and hours writing, recording and producing the music

If you want "YOUR" songs developed up into full productions then this is a service you would normally need to pay for

There are lots of demo services out there that offer this

If you want a cheaper alternative drop me a PM and I am sure we could work something out 

[S.T.C]

Yes you can pay like Boydie says...i have a mate thats a sound engineer/musician and he did me something for £108 -just waiting for him to send it, not mega high quality but good enough for a vocal to be added and pitched..[i hope ]

[Safiibox]

Boydie+Songsthatcry: Thank you very much for the reply and advice. I was thinking about collaborating in fact, but I always have a problem with that idea as it would always require some sort of compromise with said person. Unfortunately, I don't like compromise, because the songs I have, have been written from the heart.

Yeah, I read about those services, but I'm still a little confused about it. If I have a song idea in my head, sing it out in acapella (in the case I don't want to use the piano), how exactly would the person know what would make that song sound great? The whole process is a bit baffling to be honest. What I assume is that- you can get someone to supply you with a backing track and you add lyrics to that, or you can sing your song with (in this case) acapella and they can make a backing track from/with it? Is it like that? Me no know.. Either way, thank you very much again for the replies. Helps clears a few things up for me and what I want.

[S.T.C]

"Yeah, I read about those services, but I'm still a little confused about it. If I have a song idea in my head, sing it out in acapella (in the case I don't want to use the piano), how exactly would the person know what would make that song sound great?"

The good pro studios have great musicians and D.A.W skills ...and if you sang it and supplied a vocal melody..they know exactly what to do...whether the finished product is exactly what you intended might be another story but it will be good.

[arteg]

I think this video can really help you  :

t=40

[skogge]

This way of thinking/working seems so backward to me. Could never do it. I love melodies but for me they have to be created on top of something (like chords).
But the only way I could make it work the other way around I guess would be singing (or playing) the melody into the computer and then find the fitting bass notes, identifying those and then build up the song. But I feel that a melody, any melody, really shines when when it sound harmonically interesting in regard to the musical background :-)

[Wicked Deeds]

There are many ways to write songs. I find the easiest way is establish the chords that you intend to use. Once you settle on a rhythm, this dictates where you will place the vocal melody over the chords and consequently the number of syllables that you have to work with.  Maybe that's considered a difficult approach but I find it works well for me - the song then takes the writer on a journey until it reaches completion.  That's how I started writing and over a period of many years, it becomes a very easy process. I suppose it's like anything that you practice often enough - it becomes easier.

Method two is to write a musical structure, beginning with the building blocks of chords.  I then produce the whole song, adding multiple instruments. The finished production determines the melody that you will write - Nooms and i wrote a full album using this technique.

Writing lyrics first may be the most difficult mehod simply because i find you must be incredibly precise with your use of syllables in a couplet. Get this right e.g. 12 syllabbles in your first line, followed by 12 in your second and the job of writing a melody is made so much easier.  It can be done succesfully with an uneven number of syllables but I find the first approach works better.  i think  it's a good idea to be extremely disciplined when writing lyrics - the end result is that everything fits together in a seamless way - at least that's what i strive for.

I hope the above helps a little. I don't claim to be an expert but I wanted to share a little about the way that I aporoach this task.

Paul

[tone]

Paul - it's great to see you on the forum Good post, and good advice. The main reason I'm replying though: where can I hear the album you and nooms did? I've only heard 2 tracks I think, and my own bowl is still one of my fave songs.