Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Trying to learn composition, strapped for cash though

So I've posted on here before about a similar subject.
https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubb...%20learn%20music%20theo.html#Post1961162

I've been doing A LOT better on getting theory down. Still working on getting the keys I want to work with down to muscle memory, but progress is being made.

I've messed around with trying to write some of my own stuff. I'm starting to run into the issue though where everything just sounds...really similar to everything else, if that makes sense. I just can't seem to make a melody, for the most part. I can make some good progressions on the bass end, and have come up with some pretty good sounding harmonies. I just can't for the life of me come up with a melody though.

I have a good ear for harmony, but don't really have a good ear for melody it seems like. Anything past completely basic I just can't seem to come up with. I know there's tons of books out there on things like tones, melody, composition, counterpoint, etc. The issue is that I'm about as strapped for cash as you can get right now. Even throwing $15-20 down on a book right now would just be too much.

I'm determined to learn this stuff. Composition has been my goal from day 1. I've searched Youtube, google, etc, and just have trouble finding resources on this subject. I don't think I've listened to anything but piano music (literally) for months (Just to note, I actually LOVE listening to David Nevue, Ludivico, etc, so I would have done this regardless). I do sit down and practice this daily, but I just don't seem to be making any progress at all on the melodic side of things. I watch these "learn to compose piano music" videos, and they'll say to just use the notes of the scale, but when I try that it just doesn't seem to come out very well.

I guess I'm just frustrated. Not having a teacher and not being able to afford books hasn't really hurt me too much until now. Hopefully this post made sense, I'm sure I started ranting at some point =/

Stop making excuses, and follow me over here:
http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1968285.html#Post1968285

Ed

Have you checked out Melody in Songwriting by Jack Perricone? I've skimmed through it and worked through the exercises in the first chapter this morning, and I already can tell it's better than any other book I've seen on the subject.

http://www.amazon.com/Melody-Songwr...1&sr=8-1&keywords=Perricone+jack

Oops, sorry, I just saw your money limitation! A thousand pardons. It's really a book worth having though, next time you feel less strapped.

Try writing some derivative stuff. Try and duplicate melody lines you hear on the radio or TV. Commercials are a good source because they are so short. Odds are that if you can't write original melody lines, you won't be able to accurately duplicate them either. The good news is that an inaccurate duplication, will be some what original. Problem sort of solved.

Spend time on it. It might take a beginner half an hour to sound out a simple melody line. That's okay, a person will learn a lot by doing. Don't worry so much about getting it "right," the exercise is its own reward, I wouldn't even bother checking if you did get it right, that's not the point. The point is developing the ear, the mind, the fingers into some different sounding melody lines.

As for books, the library can be a resource. Unfortunately, there will be a hundred books full of sheet music and/or history and/or biographies for every book on songwriting or composition. The main reason is that the tribe of songwriters is a relatively small one compared to the tribe of musicians.

I'm sure if you have the time and not simply the money, you're more than likely able to find myriad resources across the internet that could teach you valuable theory/advice that would slowly translate into compositional skills.

Just a couple few free sites that could legitimately keep you busy via information and exercises for months:

• http://music-theory.ascensionsounds.com/
• http://www.improvtutor.com/How_This_Site_Works.html
• http://www.emusictheory.com/practice.html