Vocal songs, Melody?

[suzdoyle]

Hey Steve & Mojo;I stumbled across Cook, Dixon & Young on Public Broadcasting. Picked myself up and ordered their DVDs right away. They sashay effortlessly between Broadway, gospel, blues, classical, motown, soul and jazz. I love 'em!I recommend their "Cook, Dixon & Young: In Concert: Volume 1" DVD, and also "Three Mo' Tenors, Live in Concert". Majorly amazing stuff!!Anyone who can go effortlessly from La Donna E Mobile to Twisted is number 1 in my book!Suz

[tedsingingfox]

May 29, 2009, 9:02pm, suzdoyle wrote:2. skiing down a hill/ having a bowel movement for Rock **Ha! That's too funny.Did you know that Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones calls the way they write their songs "vowel movements".I usually find my melodies within a chord progression that grabs me as interesting.Just last night, I was about to head out the door to go listen to a writer's night but decided to grab the guitar for a few first. 20 minutes later, I had a "finished" melody. Verses, choruses, and a bridge. Granted, I doubt it's in its final version, but I sure was happy with it.I'm about to post it up on P2P, if anybody wants to give a listen. NO lyrics, just a fun (and hopefully interesting) melody. I call it "WooHOO!"Ted

[gerg]

I generally use the "sing nonsense" approach if I am happy with the music. However, if I am lacking in a vocal hook or catchy chorus then I will use my not so catchy chorus as a pre-chorus and visualize a melody that fits what I want, and try to fit chords under it that work into the song.If that does not work I will then resort to the extreme and go totally way off in left field. This sounds unorthodox but can be effective. Try doing something you normally would not musically, then try different melody styles over it. for ex. slow melodic over high energy or quick jack johnson style melodies over a slower part. Once again this is probably a strange method but it works for me for the most part. If it does not it will usually result in something I wasnt looking for And starts me on another concept,,(worst case scenario). I think the main thing is to keep artistically fresh and not limit yourself and your song by being totally committed to one melody or chord porogression just because it should be that way technically or ideally. Stay with your formula but think outside of yourself.I hope some of this makes sense, I am new here and wouldn't want anyone to think I was derranged!