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Lydian Melody PDF

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152 views7 pages

Lydian Melody PDF

Uploaded by

z5f2j9czcw
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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LYDIAN MELODY.

Simple music can be great music. Depeche Mode’s lead single “Ghosts Again” from
their new album “Memento Mori” is proof. It has a well-written and creative vocal
melody in the verses, but it’s really simple. So, here’s a method for writing melodies
from a band that’s been going for over 40 years!

Step 1. Mode
If you’re going to write a simple melody, it helps to choose an interesting mode.
They chose Lydian, which is an uplifting but quirky mode. So, we’ll use F Lydian
for our example, which is all the white notes from F to F.

F Lydian

© 2023 Revolution Harmony


HackMusicTheory.com
Step 2. Roots & 3rds
Write a simple four-bar chord progression, then mute your chords and only play
the root note of each chord on your bass. That’s the only thing Depeche Mode
plays under the vocal melody in their verse.

Chord progression (root notes highlighted)

Bass line consisting of each chord’s root note, played in a straight 1/8 note rhythm

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HackMusicTheory.com
Right, are you ready for a melody masterclass from Dave Gahan? So, most of his
vocal melody consists of only the 1, 3 and 5 of each chord. These are known as
harmonic notes, as they form the chord. Over the first two chords, he only sings
the 1 and 3 of each chord, and over the third chord he only sings the 1 and 5.

Example: Root in bass along with ♭3 and 5 in vocal melody create the Em chord (highlighted)
[Also note that most of the vocal melody consists of harmonic notes, i.e. 1, 3 (or ♭3), and 5]

But, his melody sounds extra beautiful for two reasons: First, it’s in Lydian, which
makes it unusual. And second, there are no chords playing, so his vocal melody is
what creates the harmony and therefore the emotion.

The 3rd note of each chord is the most emotional note, as it makes a chord either
major or minor. And because there are only root notes in your bass, your melody
will create that uplifting sound when it plays a major 3rd, and that sad sound when it
plays a minor 3rd. To learn all about this topic, read Hack 9 in our Free Book.

© 2022 Revolution Harmony


HackMusicTheory.com
The uplifting 3 (major 3rd) over Fmaj chord | The sad ♭3 (minor 3rd) over Em chord

Also, in a F Lydian melody we wanna use the note B somewhere, as that’s what
makes the mode different to the F major scale, which has a B♭. Wanna learn
about the modes and how to use them? Read: Songwriting & Producing PDF.

Melody must use B (highlighted) in order to sound like it’s in F Lydian, and not F major

© 2022 Revolution Harmony


HackMusicTheory.com
Step 3. Variations
Over the last chord in the progression, Dave sings the 2 and 4.

These are non-harmonic notes. In other words, they’re not in the chord. This is
what makes them sound like they’re floating, as they’re not anchored into the
chord.

So use a couple of non-harmonic notes at the end of your melody, to avoid it


becoming predictable.

Playing a couple of non-harmonic notes (4 and 4) to prevent melody becoming predictable

Then lastly, in the second cycle of their melody, Dave sings a small variation to
keep it fresh (see MIDI below), so change a few notes when you loop your melody.

© 2022 Revolution Harmony


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Final melody, first cycle

Final melody, second cycle (variation highlighted)

Please note that the bass line (i.e. dark notes below melody) is muted. It’s only there for reference.

© 2022 Revolution Harmony


HackMusicTheory.com
Make Music You LOVE!

A message from Ray Harmony (multi award-winning college lecturer, teaching since 1995):

“I know you want to be a confident producer who finishes songs, and loves the
results. In order to become a confident producer, though, you need decades
of knowledge and experience. To gain that knowledge, you need a good teacher.
To gain that experience, you need decades of practice. That’s overwhelming!

I understand that searching for a good teacher is frustrating. Most courses are
taught by YouTubers who are not qualified in music, and are not qualified
teachers either. And the few who are qualified in both, have no industry
experience.

I feel your pain. Truly. Most of my music teachers were bad. That’s why I studied
music and education in order to become a college lecturer, and why I later
created Hack Music Theory.

Also, over my 30+ years of composing, I developed a unique method called


Song-Whispering, which I’ve used to make music with multiplatinum
Grammy-winning artists. In this one-of-a-kind online apprenticeship, you’ll learn
my method and turbocharge your music with my decades of knowledge and
experience.

Enroll now and stop wasting years of your life learning from bad teachers and
trying to get better through trial-and-error. Transform into the confident
producer you would be in 10+ years now, and start loving your music!”

“Song-Whispering may be the single greatest concept ever!”


–Glynne Owen (Japan)

“I followed their YouTube for a while before taking their course. I wish I'd taken it sooner!”
–Sagar Saluja (India)

“I wrote the first song in my life that I actually like!”


–Anastasia Lucas (USA)

© 2022 Revolution Harmony


HackMusicTheory.com

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