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I have experimented with a number of techniques that have proven
unsuccessful. Random combinations of notes almost always lack an interesting
quality, and I rarely get inspired to extend them into a melody. Taking someone
else's melody and trying to change it usually just convinces me that the
original composer had it right in the first place. Trying to build a new melody
on an old accompaniment usually steers me in the direction of the original
melody, just because I know that it works and I can’t get that melody out of
my head. I have also tried various manipulations, like turning melodies upside
down, backwards, and shifting them down the scale. While these are
tried-and-true methods, I don’t find them useful. They make me feel like I am
generating notes at random rather than making conscious decisions about what
sounds good and what does not. After all, I don't want to find out if I can make
a melody by randomly shuffling notes – I just want to bring my own creativity
to the surface.
I have had some limited success with writing a chord progression first, and
then designing a tune to go with it. Many beginners use this technique
exclusively, but once you realize how few unique chord progressions there are,
every direction makes you think of fifty tunes that have already been written.
In fact, I try not to think in terms of chord progressions at all, since that
often causes you to force the harmony to follow the chord symbols, which is very
dull and very limiting. The harmony should flow naturally from the melody which
does not usually flow in nice, neat little two or four beat segments. Instead, I
try to think about how the notes will interact with each other from moment to
moment, creating a harmony that ebbs and flows. This tends to give a stronger
push to the melody, which is the whole point of harmony, at least the way I see
it.
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