I want to write music, yet I don't know any notes...suggestions?

[shinderhizzle84]

Hello. I am really into writing my own music. My roommate has guitar pro 5 and I've been using it for a while, and although I don't know any notes, I love it.

I'm trying to write Melodeath. One of my favorite bands is Archeon, and they really inspire me.

These two songs, especially, have the type of stuff that I want to learn how to write:



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgztr0gZK1E&feature=PlayList&p=6F6FEC23F776A372&index=0&playnext=1[/ame]

I've been told that the best way to write music, in my situation, would be to pick a few scales and use the notes in those scales, yet I'm totally clueless as to which scales to pick.

If I wanted to write a song or two that would have a similar sound or feel to Archeon, what scales/notes should I be using?

Thanks so much, sorry if this sounds absolutely absurd, I know it kind of does

 

[waif]

I suggest you learn to play an instrument. As far as learning the scales, just study tab of some songs you write to get a feel for how the riffs are put together and shit.

 

[shinderhizzle84]

I suggest you learn to play an instrument. As far as learning the scales, just study tab of some songs you write to get a feel for how the riffs are put together and shit.

thanks for your input, it's really appreciated.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time, or the money, to learn an instrument. I'm a student at NYU and have a very busy schedule as a Freshman, and both of my parents are unemployed and are pretty much stretched to their financial limits.

There is a piano in my dorm, but I don't think I'll have a good amount of time to learn it, either way.

I'm not looking to learn how to write super advanced melodies and amazing choruses right away. But I am curious if there is a commonly used combination of notes, or a scale, or something, that I can work off of and fool around with, just to get an idea of what it might be like.

 

[BlackMetalWhiteGuy]

I can't watch the videos because I have dial up, but most metal bands use one or more of the following scales:

Natural Minor - 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12

Harmonic Minor - 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12

Phrygian - 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12

Phrygian Dominant - 0, 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12

If you look closely, you'll notice that Natural Minor and Phrygian overlap, and so do Harmonic Minor and Phrygian Dominant. The Phrygian scales begin on the "7" in the Minor scales, and the Minor scales begin on the "5" in the Phrygian scales.

This relationship between scales is what the concept of "Modes" is based on and there are seven modes in total; one for each white key on the piano.

A - Aeolian Mode (Minor Scale)
B - Locrian Mode
C - Ionian Mode (Major Scale)
D - Dorian Mode
E - Phrygian Mode
F - Lydian Mode
G - Mixolydian Mode

In general, this is how the modes are used:

A - Aeolian (Minor [and Harmonic Minor]) - Everything
B - Locrian - Jazz
C - Ionian (Major) - Classical, Rock, Pop
D - Dorian - Jazz
E - Phrygian (and Phrygian Dominant) - Jazz, Ethnic, Metal
F - Lydian - Jazz
G - Mixolydian - Jazz

For more detailed lessons, you might want to check out the site posted in this thread: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...10-free-metal-lessons-if-anyone-wants-em.html

Also, with regard to Guitar Pro, you might want to try TabIt instead, which I personally think is much easier to use. Rather than requiring you to choose note durations based on sheet music notes, you can just tap the arrow keys to move the cursor over. TabIt is also like ¼ the price of Guitar Pro.

Check out the trial version here: http://www.tabit.net/download.htm

I also recommend checking out the tablature area, as they have over 38,000 tabs

 

[Lateralus14]

I'm sorry but does it really not strike you as ridiculous that you're asking how to write music without devoting any time or having any instrument-playing abilities?

 

[BlackMetalWhiteGuy]

I'm sorry but does it really not strike you as ridiculous that you're asking how to write music without devoting any time or having any instrument-playing abilities?

No, because writing and playing are two different things and he may just want to improve upon an already existing hobby rather than try to make a career out of it.

For comparison, I write music all the time and have tabbed over a thousand original pieces in the past six years, but I don't play any instruments.

 

[shinderhizzle84]

yeah, this isn't really something I'm interested in doing for a career or anything, it's mainly just a hobby. My hope is that I'll get good enough at this and my death metal vocals--I'm not the greatest, but I feel like I'm always getting better--and find a band at my university that I can actually get some of my music put into real instruments and such...Not to make whole albums, just for fun, you know?

I'm going to school for writing, that'll be my "profession" (hopefully).

Blackmetalwhiteguy: two things:

1. great fucking name
2. that post helped me a lot. I'm really tired and haven't done any of the stuff you said yet, but just reading through it, it looks like it was exactly what I was hoping for.

If anyone has anything to add on the what he said, or disagree with what he said, it would be great to see other people's views on what I'm looking for.

Thanks.

 

[waif]

I'm sorry but does it really not strike you as ridiculous that you're asking how to write music without devoting any time or having any instrument-playing abilities?

It's fully possible. I just imagine the music would likely come out sounding stiff and boring.

 

[shinderhizzle84]

also, this will probably come off entirely the wrong way, but:

What do the numbers next to the four scales you gave me represent? Are they frets on a string? Or something else entirely?

I wiki'd the Aeolian mode and Phrygian mode and was only more confused. I know you're trying to help, and that post was most certainly much more detailed than I was expecting (which is definitely a good thing) but what notes should I be using with those two modes?

Also, can a scale be played on any string of the guitar? Does it have to all be played on the same string?

 

[waif]

I think you might want to start at the beginning. Which is much easier with an instrument in front of you.

 

[BlackMetalWhiteGuy]

yeah, this isn't really something I'm interested in doing for a career or anything, it's mainly just a hobby. My hope is that I'll get good enough at this and my death metal vocals--I'm not the greatest, but I feel like I'm always getting better--and find a band at my university that I can actually get some of my music put into real instruments and such...Not to make whole albums, just for fun, you know?

I'm going to school for writing, that'll be my "profession" (hopefully).

Blackmetalwhiteguy: two things:

1. great fucking name
2. that post helped me a lot. I'm really tired and haven't done any of the stuff you said yet, but just reading through it, it looks like it was exactly what I was hoping for.

If anyone has anything to add on the what he said, or disagree with what he said, it would be great to see other people's views on what I'm looking for.

Thanks.

I would imagine a degree in writing would definitely help out with lyrics, which is certainly important to someone with any interest in vocals. By contrast, I write loads and loads of music, but virtually no lyrics or vocals... sounds like we would make a pretty good team, don't you think?

Where are you going to college? I just graduated from State University of New York at Oswego with a psych BA.

It's fully possible. I just imagine the music would likely come out sounding stiff and boring.

You liked my music, didn't you?

also, this will probably come off entirely the wrong way, but:

What do the numbers next to the four scales you gave me represent? Are they frets on a string? Or something else entirely?

I wiki'd the Aeolian mode and Phrygian mode and was only more confused. I know you're trying to help, and that post was most certainly much more detailed than I was expecting (which is definitely a good thing) but what notes should I be using with those two modes?

Also, can a scale be played on any string of the guitar? Does it have to all be played on the same string?

Sorry, I assumed that since you've been using Guitar Pro that you would be proficient with guitar tablature. All the numbers represent the fret positions on one single string, with the 0 being an "open" note (pick the string, but don't press any frets).

Any scale can be played beginning on any string, though I would definitely not play the whole thing on one string, simply because no one's fingers can actually reach that far. The strings are arranged so that you can play the same note (with few exceptions) on multiple parts of the neck. For example, a 12 on the low E string would play the same note as a 7 on the A string, or a 2 on the D string. Here's an example:

Highest
e -
B -
G -
D - 2
A - 7
E - 12
Lowest

To further clarify the layout of a fretboard (in standard tuning), you must first be familiar with the chromatic scale, which is the series of 12 notes on which all Western music is based.

Natural notes are white keys on a piano.

Sharps (#) and flats (b) are black keys.

C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab, A, A#/Bb, B

When the same note is written more than one way (due to a flat or sharp), this is called an "enharmonic equivalent." It is also possible to represent notes such as B#, Cb, E# and Fb. On a guitar it really makes no different because there is no distinction between natural (white keys) and accidental (black keys) notes, but on a piano you would play the next sequential white key. It is also possible in rare cases to see notes with double sharps or double flats (C## = D).

Anyway, now that you have a chromatic scale reference, this is how enharmonics on a guitar are represented:

Let me know if you have any other questions

AFTERTHOUGHT: Actually, if I have enough time to do this, I should probably start contributing to insideac's Free Metal Lessons.

 

[waif]

You liked my music, didn't you?

I liked one short symphonic bm song (this is not to say I don't like the rest, but that's all I heard aside from some video game music). That could have been a fluke. In general songs and riffs etc written mentally without being heard are going to be boring, especially if they're just based around scales. This is exactly what people mean when they say something "sounds better on paper."

 

[shinderhizzle84]

Blackmetalwhiteguy: Thanks. I actually found out that on GuitarPro 5, they have a feature where you can choose a scale and it will show you all of the notes on the fretboard that belong in that scale, or even a mode! So I've been fiddling around with that.

About my writing, I go to NYU, in their dramatic writing department. I hate to sound like a bragger or a self-righteous asshole Saint but it's a highly selective program that accepts about 40 incoming freshman out of over 5000 (or so they said) applications.

The ironic thing is that I can't write lyrics for shit, either. I've got one or two good songs, but I feel like everything I write is either way too obvious, or so mysterious that I sound like an ignorant douchey hippey, or just plain out retarded. I write comedy, actually. My entire application was a full length South Park episode that the head of admissions called, "The most insensitive thing I've ever read."

But yeah, thanks a bunch for all of your help, to both of you. If I come up with something that I think sounds remotely good, I'll let you guys know

 

[Conti]

No offense, but if you write music with the intention of writing in the style of another artist song than your music will only ever be a joke.

 

[shinderhizzle84]

No offense, but if you write music with the intention of writing in the style of another artist song than your music will only ever be a joke.

Thanks for the input.

I guess I kind of worded the request in my original post differently. What I meant to say was that I really like the sounds used in those two songs, and they really inspire me. What chords and such did they use?

I found a guitar pro tab for Arising, but the second song, Dead World, is definitely my more favorite, and it's been virtually impossible to find.

Also, Conti, as said previously, this is just a hobby, for fun. While I'm asking in here to improve my writing skills, I'm not going to expect my work to come out as the greatest melodic death metal song of all time, you know? I realize it's probably going to sound somewhat crappy, but hey, pretty much anything is better than the stuff I've written before, so...

 

[Conti]

yeah, sorry I think I came off too rude haha. But you should really try and find a unique sound when writing, I suppossed writing with a certain style in mind may help when starting out.

 

[shinderhizzle84]

yeah, sorry I think I came off too rude haha. But you should really try and find a unique sound when writing, I suppossed writing with a certain style in mind may help when starting out.

No, you didn't come off rude, at least not to me. I definitely realize that I'm not going to come up with great material, and that it might even hinder my success ratio at actually coming up with decent original material if I want to sound like a certain band.

It's like they always say with death metal vocals--don't try and sound like somebody else, because each person has their own unique voice.

Thanks for the tips, everyone. That "Metal sessions" site has helped a lot, too!

 

[BlackMetalWhiteGuy]

I would agree that concentrating more on one style at first would be a good idea as it would help you ease into writing a little more fluidly. When I first started writing music six years ago, I had no idea what scales and keys even were, but fortunately I had my sights set pretty low (primary influences were Rammstein and Static-X at the time) and I enjoyed doing it. As I gained more experience and later took my first music class I learned how to follow scales and change keys intentionally and more importantly, I was able to apply my advancing skills to ever more ambitious styles of music, beginning with melodeath and trance, then full melodic metal and more symphonic type music. Later I discovered technical and progressive metal and most recently I started getting really into ethnic music and trying to mix and match different things together.

 

[Harry Hughes]

I suggest you learn to play an instrument

yep

 

[Ator]

yeah. i don't think WAIF was suggesting that you need dedicate tons of time to mastering an instrument, simply that having hands on experience with the rudimentary info that BMWG outlined would be of great help. If its not financially an option at this time, then so be it, but I would keep it in mind for the future-playing guitar is just fun. I don't think that music that you've written in your head will be weaker. My ideas often start that way and then I flesh them out on the guitar. hell, many great composers wrote their music in their heads(though they were also great players as well). You obviously feel compelled to write music, so go for it. If you do eventually pick up an instrument, that desire to write will encourage you to improve you playing so that you can do justice to your material.