How to write a MELODY using Melodic Manipulation

This is such a helpful walk-through. Most walk-throughs are just people saying “oh I do this, I do that” but not really explaining the process. great!

Wonderful - thank you!

can you please redo this in piano roll

your voice just sounds malicious

11:21 because of the minor v chord this is more like C# aeolian. Great video!

Edit: Nvm, you get the phrase with the half cadence to G#. Btw I loved the final result. Did you orchestrate it separately, because it sounds to be more than what is written.

I’m subscribing.

Grande Maestro !

Do you think you can get AI to help you modify your voice? It would be so much easier to listen to 🙏🏼 I truly do not mean to be rude so please don’t be offended. Your content is really great. Please do remember musicians are auditive beings 🙏🏼

thank you! your melody got great, too

Finally somebody explain this well! Thanks

My piano tutor gave me an assignment, writing a melody over the chords arranged by her. Your video is helping a poor student of music who has no clue. Thanks a lot! You have a new subscriber here.😊

This is gr8!!

Nothing like horrible synth strings playback to ruin a perfectly good composition!😔

Incredible tutorial. Wonderful real-life and practical examples. The only problem is that I haven't found your channel sooner. :P Thanks dude.

From this video it seems you have to know basic level music theory such as basic rhythm notation first, to expand a motif rhythmically using modern manipulation techniques. I make music by ear using a midi controller keyboard and a DAW that always help to get music idea out my head rightward and into a full composition. I made a lot music this way first aa a hobby. now that I'm older i have and more patience , I have an interesting need to know how did made music ear from music theory standpoint. I appreciate you showing instant application of music theory I can enjoyable easy to understand. Yet if wasn't for music technology like midi keyboard and DAW combination , I wouldn't even bother with trying to make music.

A genius is measured by what he or she does after 8 measures.

This was really helpful. Thank you!

I was waiting for the first example melody to turn into Grieg's morning mood lol

Thanks for putting things into perspective. Can you do a video on expanding short melodic phrases into longer ones? And also on through-composing? I would love to hear your perspective/approach to these practices.

the ending made me realized that maybe my writers block is not because I'm not feeling creative and only able to write boring melody, it's just because I'm not finished writing it yet

Excellent! I like the fact he said that the great composers did this instinctively without all the tech babble. Whatever helps, though. And I like the fact he said, a matter of taste. I liked his motif, but I didn’t like the diminished approach chord. That personal preference, I wonder, leads to individual style?

Anyone else not really listen to his explanation at all but just notice the gist of the tricks he's using?

Thats great, thnx.

Loved this video ..clarified so much for me and a great reference tool

I'm a nobody wrting songs noone will hear on a DAW in the moiddle of nowhere lol - but this has helped loads with all my moribund eight bars of tune and then - nothing. Because I didn't knw these 'tricks' excellent subscribed and liked

I'm not sure I would call them techniques, more like devices, a technique would be a specific way of using those devices

Outstanding! That was perfect 👌. Thank you 🙏

Been studying theory for years and never heard of most of these terms. Will use this knowledge. Thank so much! Subscribed instantly!

Thank you - my attempts have always been a bit haphazard. Will follow along with interest

Thank you! So useful

At 20:13 ...that little "dot" is not a staccato. If you put a dot with a slur it's called portmanteau. Otherwise good job!

Good ideas. But the piano sketch at 11:25 has an open octave between rH and the bass line. Maybe, it's intended, but in simple ideas it's better avoided.

Wonderful tips. Found these very useful since I tend to find it quite easy to write a motif but difficult to expand on it to see if it is actually good or a one-off thing..

However, critical note on typography from a typographer;
The typeface (‘font’) you’re using is not well-suited to longer text. In general using bold serif type in text is very rarely done in professional typesetting, they tend to be more useful in book covers or large digital headings. It’s hard to read them, especially when they have high contrast (i.e. the thick strokes are way thicker than the thin strokes. When watching on a phone, some diagonals like the rightmost strokes of v and w for instance disappear almost completely, thus the word-image suffers and becomes hard to recognise.)
I notice you still do it in your later videos, and I understand the wish to use typography consistently as identity, but I’d really suggest moving away from the bold bodonis/didots and using something more suited for running text for the sake of your viewers who wish to read it. If you like the vertical stress, consider something like Century Schoolbook (MuseScore’s revival is open source, it’s called Edwin) or for use in video, a humanist sans-serif might be the best option, such as Verdana. Or, to avoid system fonts, I’m very partial to Plein designed by Inga Plönnings for FontShare. Either way, I would avoid selecting a font for the enjoyment of its æsthetic features or for consistency in visual identity if that choice ends up being a nuisance to the reader..

I just randomly hit this video and it’s awesome. Instant subscriber-maker :-)

I want to start by saying I appreciate your understanding of music composition in a way that I don't. I'm not going to back up anything I'm saying here but I've always been envious of individuals who understand how a certain thing works that somebody like myself maybe stumbles on by accident.


For me, writing music in its best moments, noting that I have multiple horrible moments and many moments of doing nothing, but my best moments are when something happens without thinking. Like those moments when you're driving and you recognize that you weren't literally consciously aware of everything you were doing because you were subconsciously doing a bit of the driving.

I believe Billy Corgan once made a comment to the effect that it's like grabbing hold of some string and you ride it for the brief moment that you get an opportunity.

I know that there are people who can write purposely and do amazing things and that is breathtaking to know.

I think my best moments are when I find myself in the riptide of music and I look back and can't believe the melody just washed over me and almost drowned me.

I don't think tchaikovsky had any of that in mind. Melody is not really something that can be taught. You just have to practice and expand your horizons with new music.

And now what? Where to go?

16:40 that G#7 chord 😅 sure, let me get my Rachmaninov on. Great video!!!! ❤

Very nicely explained and illustrated! Both with presenting the ploys in the beginning, and then the evolving example of composing. Than you!

This is an absolute goldmine. Thanks so much.

This is good, and presented in a balanced way, presented for what it is, a useful toolbox. I subscribe! Nice melody, by the way.

Extremely awesome! Thank you, sir!