Tips on writing vocal melodies/vocal lines

Alvis

Hello my fellow KTVA students, I have a question for you!
As I'm now working on some original songs with my band, I'd like to know if there's any resources/tips on how to come up with good vocal melodies/vocal lines. I do have Ken 2.0, but does it cover this topic?

Just a bit of my background in case this is relevant:
I can't really play any instrument. I'm a keyboard newbie, though.
And the genre of my original band is somewhat rock'n'roll, hard rock, and perhaps doom metal (think of Black Sabbath) too. I think i do have a good ear and can often harmonize ad lib, but I have zero song-writing (ie vocal lines) experience...

Thanks for the help!!

Peace out!

Alyona

I heard somewhere two interesting tips -
1 - if you have a text line - just listen to the silence first - then tell this line into the silence several times - tell it as if you are telling the story to someone - and then it can come up with a melody.
and 2 - you play a chord on the piano and choose some sounds from that chord. Use this chord as a base for your melody, if the melody consists of half - predictable sound changes and half unpredictable - usually it makes a hit. Use some very simple melody line like several notes in a row and then add there some unpredictable jump.
See if that works. Let me know if you tried!

Alvis

then tell this line into the silence several times - tell it as if you are telling the story to someone - and then it can come up with a melody.

if the melody consists of half - predictable sound changes and half unpredictable - usually it makes a hit.

Thanks for the pointers and sorry for the late reply, @Alyona ! I'll give it a go!

Does the Indie Bible in the Ken 2.0 pro pack cover this topic, too?

SongwriterX

My favorite way of writing a song is to come up with a chord progression (call it verse one) and sing nonsense words to it. Record yourself and experiment with different melody lines. When I find a melody i like I'll try small variations and by then some lyrics lines usually pop up in my head to go with the melody. Record yourself as you try different melodies as you will definitely forget some great melody lines and cool lyrics. Then work on a complementary chorus the same way. Be ready to change the chords as you get more musical ideas. Once I have the melody down for verse and chorus I will have some ideas as to what the song is about and the lyrics usually come very easy for me. If you think the song needs a bridge, come up with some tension by coming up with something different, not complimentary. This is the last song I posted to youtube, written in the manner I've just outlined. https://youtu.be/xhpeS5IE-UY

highmtn

That's a very good song, my friend!

Alvis

@SongwriterX Cheers for the detailed breakdown, and I liked the harmony part in your song.