[rodders133]

Ive only just started to write songs, but something I have noticed, is that when I try to think up a melody, it starts to turn into a song that has already been written.  For instance, i was humming a melody along in my head and before I knew it, it had turned into `Its raining men`... which aint good.
Also, it may turn into something that sounds familiar, but I dont know wether its an actual song that I dont know the name of, and its just familiar because its going over and over in my head.
Its not like you can sing a melody into google to see if its been done before.

Does anyone else get this, and if so is there any remedy?

[darreldo]

i sometimes expirience the same problem but i think to myself, 55 years of popular music. we are bound to come up with melodies that are the same are other songs.
i suggest writing the song anyway, its gets you in the mood for lyric writing and you can always pich and lift the lyrics and incorporate them into another new song you may write.
many of the most famous of songwriters have this problem so just relax abit and carry on writing. ive learnt to stop analysing my songs too much.
im not a fan of NOAH AND THE WHALE but try listening to some of their latest songs. he has made a career from pinching melodies. i can hear paul young (common people), the who (baba o'reilly) and lots of others in his work.

[TunSongs]

Hi Rodders

You can't sing into google but you can sing into this website
http://www.midomi.com
I've never tried it so I don't know if it works.

Failing that why don't you just post the melody on here, however short it may be, and ask people on this forum whether they know if it is already a song.

I have this problem from time to time. If a song I am writing sounds like a song I know then I'll stop writing. If it sounds familiar but I don't know what it is, then I have just carried on regardless.

There are only 12 different notes in music and most of the time only the 7 in one key are used. Mathematically there are a limited number of combinations and musically it's restricted further because not all of those combinations would sound good.

Justin

[tone]

There may be only 12 notes, 7 in a single key, and only a few combinations that work, but I see the situation differently...

If you have a vocal range of 3 octaves (for the sake of argument) then you have 36 notes to choose from. Melody relies heavily on intervals, so I say use them. Not only that, but melody is 50% rhythm, and there's no limit to the amount of different rhythms you can easily think up. Put all that together and you have an endless resource when it comes to melody. There's no reason to accidentally or otherwise 'borrow' someone else's melody.

It's difficult though, because all the most compelling melodies have a sense of familiarity about them. I've written songs before with such familiar-feeling melodies that I've had to put writing the song on hold while I ask around if people recognise the melody. But those tend to be the best songs.

Rodders, if your melody sounds like another song, don't worry; it happens to us all. But there are ways to keep your original idea without ripping-off other songwriters. Play around with the rhythm and intervals, and before you know it you'll have something unique.

[Schavuitje]

Many many many songs are written off the back of other songs. For instance, almost everything Oasis did

relied heavilly on copying The Beatles. A bit too closely for my liking. Unlike what the member of Oasis might think,

they created nothing new. And unless you are really willing to experiment and go way out there, everything will sound in some way

like something else. Like it or not we are all influenced by what we hear, even the stuff we don't particularly like :p

In any good book on songwriting you will be encouraged ( If being successful and popular in the POP world is what you are looking for ) to listen to

things like the top 40 regularly. Not only to get a good feel for what is hot at the moment, but is a song gets to no.1 then if you could immitate

that song without ripping it off you are surely on to a winner. Unforunately in the POP world, it is all about repeating the formular. The right chords

that have been used millions of times. Music X-ray will even mathematically evatluate your song to see if it has any of the ingredients that song that have

been a success in the past have. The more it sounds like something that has been a hit before... The more likely it is to be a hit.

Personally I hate this, but that's the way popular music is. It is basically nursary rhymes for adults as I like to call it. It is about making money, not music.

However. I would like to make some money so I'm trying hard at it too. I find it difficult though because I'm torn between trying to make something

that would sound Popular and the natural more inventive and creative stuff I like to write.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the more it sounds like something esle the better, without it being a direct rip off. If it has been popular before,

there's no reason why it won't again because most people who are not musicians don't care. They want a nursary rhyme they can sing along to.

So don't worry if it sounds like a song that has already been a hit. Alter it a bit, melody wise or rythmn wise depending on how it sounds like another song.

[nooms]

on the nail there schav tone,

[Innominate]

I have experienced the same conflict when re-creating existing melodies. It's really deflating to work on a song for an hour then come to the sudden realization that your melody is actually the same as an existing song. At that point I just throw the song out.

However, I think creativity is actually somewhat the act of remembering incorrectly. The point for me as a writer is to try and evoke the desired emotional feel.  Writing a sad song will invariably make it share similarities with other sad songs that influenced you because this feeling is already associated to the music that made me feel it in the first place. Sometimes that's very specific to a band's sound or a specific song even, a piece of a melody or bass line. However, I think remembering it incorrectly forces your mind to fill in the spaces in a way that is more unique to your experience, more personal. The result is a sound that is influenced by another band or song, but is itself distinct enough.

It's best for me if I never actually figure out what my song sounds like and i've since stopped trying to figure out what my music sounds like when I get that 'this sounds too familiar' feeling(that isn't always possible mind you). That way i'm free to take that piece of the melody or rhythm(or whatever the similarity is) in a direction that's my own without the constraints that accurately remember the song I know it from invariably shackles me with. Once you figured out your melody was very similar to 'It's Raining Men' it probably made it hard to hear anything else. The better you remember it, the more similar it ends up being.

Additionally I don't think any writer or artist really "owns" music. No one has the right to deny fresh ears the opportunity to explore a melody or sound simply because they got their first. That to me is incredibly sad and somewhat culturally crippling. This becomes more true when the already existing song no longer has much cultural relevance or impact. There is a finite amount of pleasant sound combinations. Each generation has the right to explore and express those in a way that is their own, that is personal and unique to them, a way they can connect and identify with. So....yeah, there we go. (:

[chrislong170273]

There is a finite amount of pleasant sound combinations.

maybe, but there is an infinate number of contexts you can put the 12 possible notes and their combinations.

[Innominate]

chrislong

maybe, but there is an infinate number of contexts you can put the 12 possible notes and their combinations.

I agree. That's part of my point, perhaps poorly expressed. Not to worry so much about copying other people(unintentionally anyways) because there is a finite amount of pleasant sounds so it's all the other stuff that creates freshness, uniqueness, interest. It's the context, the texture, the pairing of new mediums, the expression of old ideas WITHIN the new mediums. It's combining banjo with flute and electric guitar with operatic vocals. The notes on the page may be the same but the new context creates a brand new song. Covers are one of my favorite things to listen to for this very reason, hearing a familiar song in a way much different than I know it. So yeah, we're both thinking the same thing. (: