More varied/less repetitive?

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More varied/less repetitive?

Postby Feedback » 28 May 2014 17:40

Lately, I've been feeling like my music is kind of...well, repetitive and predictable. The structure is almost always the same "intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus" ad nauseam, and the melody over it is almost always the same "verse melody/chorus melody/verse melody with one or two notes different/chorus melody with one or two notes different" ad nauseam, with one verse or chorus replaced with a guitar or piano or organ or other instrument solo. Hell, half the time I can't even think of ways to fit a bridge in that aren't awkward.

I'm not in a funk with it or anything, I'd just like to be able to make more varied musical structures, and incorporate different melodies instead of the same ones for the verses and choruses over and over without it feeling incoherent. Help?
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Re: More varied/less repetitive?

Postby Alycs » 28 May 2014 19:04

Well, one great way of incorporating new melodic structures into a song is by writing your melodies in Soprano-Alto-Tenor-Bass form; then once you need a new melody, you can switch the Voices around. This will keep a level of coherence to the song, but keeping it varied.

Another thing you can try is simplifying your songs to basic chords, then trying to make small changes to the chord structure rather than the melody, then when you build back up again from the new chords, you have new patterns and structures to work with without having lost the feeling from before.

Finally, listen to a lot of music. Don't stick to just one genre - look everywhere and far outside your comfort zone. See what other people do; listen to the songs and make specific note of how they are doing transitions, what they are keeping between sections and what they are changing, how they keep the songs fresh. Just doing that can give countless ideas on how to better your own writing.
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Re: More varied/less repetitive?

Postby Callenby » 28 May 2014 19:09

Okay, so this might be a little rambling.

It sounds like you need to break the mold and try something really different. Like something that's only a series of verses, or something with a chorus that changes just a little bit each time, or even just a continuously evolving melody. None of these have to even sound good, just experiment. Don't worry about releasing them. Sometimes you just gotta make music for yourself.

I don't know how much theory training you have, but with little to none I can definitely see why things would get stale after a while. I always plug this website where you can take music classes online for free. It's a decent alternative if music school isn't an option. I see that one class, Fundamentals in Music Theory, begins in July. There are composition lessons on YouTube, as well. Also look up other resources, such as this series of composer workshops that I discovered today. In short, there are many resources at your disposal, so by all means take advantage of them!

Listen to more music; music you love or even music you plain old dislike. Study it closely. Find out all the individual components that make it it. Take note of structure, timbre, lyrics, all of it. Ask what makes it resonate with people, what parts do you enjoy and what others do you not, etc. In my opinion, you can always learn from other songs (even ones in completely different genres). For you, I'd recommend looking up improvisation. I think that'd be a good change of pace. Not just piano or organs, but on any instrument. There's more to music than just structure, after all.

Another thing, if you don't already know about it, look up counterpoint as well. It can go a long way towards giving your music more depth; more "meat" to "chew on". Again, you can find some preliminary courses on YouTube and elsewhere. There are various kinds (known as species) and the first kind is actually pretty easy to get the hang of. Then you can work your way towards more complex compositions.

My last point would be to not shun repetition! It can definitely become dull, but if use well it can sound wonderful! Just look up minimalism and tintinnabulation, which are two of my favorite genres. Remember, it's not just what you have, but also how you use it.

I hope some of that could help. I know I spoke in pretty vague terms, so if you want some more specific examples of what I'm talking about, just say watcha need!
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Re: More varied/less repetitive?

Postby Feedback » 28 May 2014 20:20

Thanks for the advice guys. Going to work with some of the ideas and resources suggested, and see how they work over the next few weeks. :grin:

To clarify since Callenby asked, my training is kind of weird; I took guitar lessons for years, but most of them were teaching the technical/performance side of the instrument rather than the theory side. I've taken a few college theory courses, but the farthest I've gone before required courses caught up to me was a 101 level understanding of scales, modes, majors/minors, triads, keys, and time signatures/syncopation. Hoping to expand that with some more advanced courses now, but at the moment that's about the extent of my understanding of theory at the moment, so anything beyond that is hit-or-miss for me. Hopefully that info can help get into more specifics for helping with this?
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Re: More varied/less repetitive?

Postby Callenby » 29 May 2014 18:35

Here's a list of various sites I've come across. It's by no means the end-all be-all collection, and some of them are based on my own interests but hopefully they'll still be of use.

General:
IMSLP (has TONS of sheet music available)
MusicTheory.net
Music Theory at About.com
Music Theory at HubPages
Music Theory at Wikibooks
AdvancedMusicTheory.com
AudioTutorials+
Music Composition
Modal Theory
Theory, Analysis of Certain Composers, and Instrumental Writing

Specific/Niche:
Arrangement for Strings
How to make a Chopin Prelude
"Cadencing" in modal music
How to create modal chord progressions
Augmented chords and when to use them
How to use augmented and suspended chords

Videos/Video Series:
Composition and Orchestration
Orchestration Online
Art of Counterpoint
Advanced Theory and Analysis of Certain Composers

If you would like specific examples of minimalism or any other things I mentioned, just give the say so.
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Re: More varied/less repetitive?

Postby Feedback » 30 May 2014 14:41

Callenby you are a godsend <3

Reading through some of those now, hopefully I can get something helpful from them!
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