There are 2 ways to create an original melody. The first has to do with improvisation. Here you simply "come up" with material and either transfer it directly to sheet music or record it so it can be remembered later on.

The second way and the one I'm going to show you how to do is actually composing a melody from scratch. Some think this method (as opposed to free improvisation) is more difficult. Not if you use rhythmic patterns!

What are rhythmic patterns? They are simply note values, i.e. half notes, quarter notes, eight notes... etc.

Let me show you exactly what I mean...[/b]

Let's say you're walking around and a melody comes to you. Now most people do not have perfect pitch (myself included) and can't jot down the note qualities, i.e, a d note or a f# note. However, when you work with rhythmic patterns, you don't have to know the quality or name of the note, You just have to be able to jot down the pattern.

Here's how I do it. First, I only jot down the first 2-bars of the pattern. Why? Because this allows you to capture an idea without having to compose the whole thing on the spot. It's like a quick sketch visual artists might do. They capture the mood or feeling of a scene and later flesh out a full composition when they get home.

Now, you can draw out 2-bars anywhere. You don't need sheet music to do this and I never use sheet music. Any piece of paper will do. Then you simply notate the musical idea. For example, it might be something in 4/4 time. The first measure may be a half note and 2 quarter notes and the second measure could just be 4 quarter notes. With this idea, you can really remember your initial idea.

Remember Beethoven's Fifth Symphony? Of course you don't remember the whole thing - but the first few notes you do… da da da duh… da da da duh…

This is the foundation for the entire symphony! That one rhythmic pattern. Of course it took the musical genius of Beethoven to create an entire movement out of it but you get the idea.

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Play New Age Piano
http://www.quiescencemusic.com

A bit overly simplistic, don't you think... Just being able to jot down a rhythmic idea doesn't mean you'll be able to create anything useful out of it.

Reducing the compositional process to a series of easy-to-follow steps doesn't work. If composition were a paint-by-numbers method, then everybody would do it, and the results would be trite music with no spark to it.

Overly simplistic? I hope so. Have you ever seen some of the classical composer's theme books? Pages and pages of nothing but the first 2-bars identifying the major theme of the music.

Simple is good. But it does go against the grain of those who like to make things more complicated than needed.

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Play New Age Piano
http://www.quiescencemusic.com

Not simplistic in terms of the musical motif itself, simplistic in terms of making someone think that by simply coming up with a rhythmic idea they're going to make something musically useful out of it.

I agree with you in that many of the best themes are the simplest ones. But a theme is just that - a theme. And unless you put some creative elbow grease into it, that is all it will ever be.

That is one way of composing, and there are many. A good composer uses many different techniques to overcome writer's block. A story about Ravel: he was walking down a street and ran into an acquaintance who noticed he seemed deep in thought. They asked him if he was composing and he told them yes, that he was working on a particular piece. A few days later, the two ran into each other again, and the person asked how the composition was going and Ravel responded that he had completed it, now he just had to fill in the notes!

Sometimes you can write with gestures and form, and then go back and choose the exact pitches later. All methods are valid as long as they get the results, right?