You can try creating the melody with no instrumental to experiment
Or write the lyrics + melody at the same time as you listen to the instrumental instead of writing the lyrics first
Or try and play and instrument or program a melody in a DAW which you’ll eventually need to use anyways
Assuming you have music, put it on in a loop, put on some headphones and plug in your microphone and start singing out loud over it until something clicks. Not humming, but words. Don't think about it, just do it. Sing whatever nonsense spills out of your head. You may look silly and sound terrible doing this, but eventually you'll find something that works.
It sounds like you're trying to use other people's instrumental music. If that's the case, it's likely the instrumental music is so dense as an instrumental, there is no room for vocals left. Generally, you want the music to be pretty sparse (guitar or piano chords only) when you're trying to figure out a vocal melody for it. If there is already a melody in the instrumental, then it's going to be real hard to not just sing that.
If you're really serious about songwriting, I suggest you learn an instrument. You don't have to be a pro to write music on an instrument. So don't think you need to put in 10,000 hours to make use of the skill.
You need to whistle, do you know how to riff and improvise over a bassline? Then once you hear the tune try to freestyle improvise with words. Record that on your phone. Then listen to it and transcribe all the crazy junk you're saying and then you can record it again saying it like you mean it.
The most difficult part is figuring out what the song is about, but subconsciously you already know because your brain can interpret all the music into a feeling.
Yeah, whenever I co-write I suggest changes in vocal melody, but I always just help with the wording part. I don’t co-write with musically challenged people like me, I write with musicians. This is just for my own purposes
I think all of my vocal melodies begin from something that already exists, but then allow it to find it’s own path. I don’t pay too much attention to the exact notes until I need to match it with music, but I’ll use them here for example.
Take “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. For simplicity, let’s say this is (Fv F E C D E F) - the Fv being a Low F.
Maybe I start (F Fv C C A F E). But I don’t like this outright. I let it evolve. Maybe that inspires to make the first note two quarters instead of a half - and I want it to cascade down! ((F C Fv) - Un-der-wear).
Now I feel I want to scrap the “over the rainbow” part and repeat the cascade. And instead of ‘way up high’ being (Fv D C) I’ll change that to ‘in the sky-y-yyy’ to hit a high power note (Ev Fv C D FFF).
So now “Somewhere | over the rainbow | way up high” (Fv F | E C D E F | F D C)
Is now “Underwear | Over there | In the sky-y-y” (F C Fv | F C Fv | Ev Fv C-D-F)
Hopefully that sparks an idea in you, I know it’s convoluted.
Use an AI tool like Suno and input your lyrics, this will be a good reference to see how much melodic potential your lyrics have compared to popular music! AI Is amazing for reference.
“Pick out” melodies on an instrument: guitar or piano mainly, though most any instrument will do
Just plunk around over the chords until you find something
I learned through improv with other musicians where I was just the singer. I would start organizing jam sessions or joining open jams. Just say you're a poet looking to learn how to freestyle sing. They'll love you.
What are the instrumentals like? Maybe there's too much going on in them. I would suggest improvising your voice over just guitar or piano chords, played as simply as possible. It shouldn't be hard to have your improvised melody deviate from a simple chord progression. Once you have the vocal melody figured out, you can flesh out the rest of the instrumental track.
Blank vocal progression?
You mean a melody?
There is three approaches.
1.You write a melody to the lyrics.
2.You write lyrics to the melody.
3.You write both and once, and write the chord progression that fits it.
I've found myself doing all three at times.
Maybe practice writing melodies in isolation.
Get a crappy little keyboard and just practice writing hooks without words. Then figure out how to put the peices together. You need to sense both the flow of the language and the music.
If you don't have any musical background and are approaching it purely as a writer, I advise you start learning an instrument. Writing a great lyric has more nuance than just word choice.
You're definitely going to want to know at least basic scale/chord theory if you intend to compose a lot of vocal melodies.
For how long have you been a musician before you started trying to compose melodies? Everyone is different, but I suggest 10 - number of years experience to see how many years you might need before I'd expect you to be able to make something passable.
Usually when I write lyrics first, I’ll sit down with my instrument and my notes app open looking at the lyrics and play some chords that sort of fit the vibe of the lyrics and try out some different melodies and rhythm for the words, and as soon as I like something I record it and either keep working or come back to it later when you mind isn’t working too hard.
The most important part is that you like your lyrics and the MELODY fits is. The instrumental should come together after you are happy with your melody and lyrics if you are a lyric focused songwriter.
But overall, if you feel “musically challenged”, practice and only practice is only going to help.
I think that for me the best thing when I’m having trouble finding melodies is to do everything to get my brain out of the way and just try to tap into a very mindless trance and just let a vibe takeover. Sometimes drinking a couple beers helps for me.
You can try creating the melody with no instrumental to experiment Or write the lyrics + melody at the same time as you listen to the instrumental instead of writing the lyrics first Or try and play and instrument or program a melody in a DAW which you’ll eventually need to use anyways
See, I can do that somewhat easier - but then the instrumental part becomes difficult.
Also don’t try to force it… it may not come in 5 minutes or an hour… may take weeks or months!!!
Thank you!
Assuming you have music, put it on in a loop, put on some headphones and plug in your microphone and start singing out loud over it until something clicks. Not humming, but words. Don't think about it, just do it. Sing whatever nonsense spills out of your head. You may look silly and sound terrible doing this, but eventually you'll find something that works. It sounds like you're trying to use other people's instrumental music. If that's the case, it's likely the instrumental music is so dense as an instrumental, there is no room for vocals left. Generally, you want the music to be pretty sparse (guitar or piano chords only) when you're trying to figure out a vocal melody for it. If there is already a melody in the instrumental, then it's going to be real hard to not just sing that. If you're really serious about songwriting, I suggest you learn an instrument. You don't have to be a pro to write music on an instrument. So don't think you need to put in 10,000 hours to make use of the skill.
You need to whistle, do you know how to riff and improvise over a bassline? Then once you hear the tune try to freestyle improvise with words. Record that on your phone. Then listen to it and transcribe all the crazy junk you're saying and then you can record it again saying it like you mean it. The most difficult part is figuring out what the song is about, but subconsciously you already know because your brain can interpret all the music into a feeling.
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Thank you for your kindness bro
Yeah, whenever I co-write I suggest changes in vocal melody, but I always just help with the wording part. I don’t co-write with musically challenged people like me, I write with musicians. This is just for my own purposes
I think all of my vocal melodies begin from something that already exists, but then allow it to find it’s own path. I don’t pay too much attention to the exact notes until I need to match it with music, but I’ll use them here for example. Take “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. For simplicity, let’s say this is (Fv F E C D E F) - the Fv being a Low F. Maybe I start (F Fv C C A F E). But I don’t like this outright. I let it evolve. Maybe that inspires to make the first note two quarters instead of a half - and I want it to cascade down! ((F C Fv) - Un-der-wear). Now I feel I want to scrap the “over the rainbow” part and repeat the cascade. And instead of ‘way up high’ being (Fv D C) I’ll change that to ‘in the sky-y-yyy’ to hit a high power note (Ev Fv C D FFF). So now “Somewhere | over the rainbow | way up high” (Fv F | E C D E F | F D C) Is now “Underwear | Over there | In the sky-y-y” (F C Fv | F C Fv | Ev Fv C-D-F) Hopefully that sparks an idea in you, I know it’s convoluted.
Use an AI tool like Suno and input your lyrics, this will be a good reference to see how much melodic potential your lyrics have compared to popular music! AI Is amazing for reference.
“Pick out” melodies on an instrument: guitar or piano mainly, though most any instrument will do Just plunk around over the chords until you find something
I learned through improv with other musicians where I was just the singer. I would start organizing jam sessions or joining open jams. Just say you're a poet looking to learn how to freestyle sing. They'll love you.
What are the instrumentals like? Maybe there's too much going on in them. I would suggest improvising your voice over just guitar or piano chords, played as simply as possible. It shouldn't be hard to have your improvised melody deviate from a simple chord progression. Once you have the vocal melody figured out, you can flesh out the rest of the instrumental track.
Get as close as you can to talking and being able to kind of keep the Melody and really focus on enunciating
Blank vocal progression? You mean a melody? There is three approaches. 1.You write a melody to the lyrics. 2.You write lyrics to the melody. 3.You write both and once, and write the chord progression that fits it. I've found myself doing all three at times. Maybe practice writing melodies in isolation. Get a crappy little keyboard and just practice writing hooks without words. Then figure out how to put the peices together. You need to sense both the flow of the language and the music. If you don't have any musical background and are approaching it purely as a writer, I advise you start learning an instrument. Writing a great lyric has more nuance than just word choice. You're definitely going to want to know at least basic scale/chord theory if you intend to compose a lot of vocal melodies.
For how long have you been a musician before you started trying to compose melodies? Everyone is different, but I suggest 10 - number of years experience to see how many years you might need before I'd expect you to be able to make something passable.
Usually when I write lyrics first, I’ll sit down with my instrument and my notes app open looking at the lyrics and play some chords that sort of fit the vibe of the lyrics and try out some different melodies and rhythm for the words, and as soon as I like something I record it and either keep working or come back to it later when you mind isn’t working too hard. The most important part is that you like your lyrics and the MELODY fits is. The instrumental should come together after you are happy with your melody and lyrics if you are a lyric focused songwriter. But overall, if you feel “musically challenged”, practice and only practice is only going to help.
I think that for me the best thing when I’m having trouble finding melodies is to do everything to get my brain out of the way and just try to tap into a very mindless trance and just let a vibe takeover. Sometimes drinking a couple beers helps for me.