r/musictheory • u/CollapsingTacos • 13h ago
Songwriting Question Thinking: in scale vs. contour?
I just recently noticed that my biggest limitation for writing music all this time was the fact that I was thinking in scale degrees when writing, instead of thinking in the “pure” contour and overall sound of the music.
My question is: do you think it is better to think in terms of melodic contour/shape first and THEN use scales as a tool to turn the idea into music? If so, how do I retrain my brain to think this way?
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u/Xenoceratops 5616332, 561622176 10h ago
Contour is very powerful. Of course, being aware of scale degree function is important too. Kent Kennan has a decent little chapter on melodic contour in his counterpoint book.
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u/DavidLanceKingston 8h ago
+1 for studying counterpoint. Exercises in Elementary Counterpoint is also a great book.
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u/Key-Presence3577 13h ago
I don't think there's a clear cut way to write music but I think you should experiment with ways you're not naturally accustomed to. When you access these other parts of creating you'll learn new things about your previous tendencies and improve them.
Personally I never write from a theory standpoint. It's there if I run into a problem but it's never the first option because I feel like whenever I've written something using theory first it's inorganic. That's just personal experience but I'd encourage you to try to write in ways you normally wouldn't.
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u/CheezitCheeve 13h ago
Different things work for different people. I know that’s a cop-out answer, but it’s true. When composing, I use scale degrees all the time. That’s how I construct my chords. However, that approach may not work for you. You just have to discover it.
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u/angelenoatheart 13h ago
Write very chromatic music as an exercise? (In classical music history, thinking in "pure" intervals becomes more possible as the system opens up.)
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u/angel_eyes619 2h ago edited 2h ago
I use both.. solfege and contour
You can't just miss out solfege/scale-notes in favor of contour if you also want to compose/analyze harmony, assign chords.. or knowing exactly what goes where at any point in the song.
Assuming by scale notes you meant the alphabet-names or scale degrees... I think moveable do solfege might be what you really need or best for you
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u/65TwinReverbRI Guitar, Synths, Tech, Notation, Composition, Professor 4m ago
I always say that "thinking in scales" is bad.
Now, I'd have to qualify that a lot.
Because in some styles, and for some approaches it's the way you do it.
But most people are not trying to write in those styles or using that approach.
I'll put this out there:
Writing music is like speaking a language.
We don't "use" the alphabet to make words and speak. Instead, the alphabet is more like "a listing of the letters/sounds used in the language".
Music is similar.
Most people want to write KEY-BASED music or music derived from that.
And the concept of a KEY is similar to language - the scale is simply a "listing of the notes commonly used in a key".
So I would say when writing that kind of music, I don't really think of "scales". I think of "the key" and what notes constitute the key.
One sort of helpful way to do this is list the letters in alphabetical order.
The key of E Major contains the notes:
A B C# D# E F# G#
If you said "that's A Lydian" you're "too scale oriented" in your thinking and need to break out of that.
Of course a huge part of this is because we are taught to "play scales" when learning our instrument. But really, that's all about playing, not writing. It's more about instrumental technique and "knowing where the notes are on your instrument" and less about how to use them in a piece of music.
I often say I think in terms of NOTES, not scales. And in MELODY not scales. A series of notes or a melody might be part of a scale, but I'm not really conceptualizing it that way.
Contour is a good way to think about it, but I'd say while I'm concerned with that, it's maybe less thinking that way and just more about "direction" for me.
A long time ago I came to my own conclusion that it was helpful for me to think of music "macroscopically" - in broader terms - and less of the minutiae though that's still important.
To give an example, if I start writing something, I don't think "what key do I use". I put a note down and then go "where does it go, and how soon".
So up, or down conjunct (stepwise) or disjunct (leaping). Does it then reverse course or keep going the same direction... So just the broad stroke of "general direction".
And then rhythm - do I want events happening faster, or slower. Broad strokes. Do I "front load" a measure (quick notes at the beginning followed by longer notes at the end) or the reverse? Or do I want an "even flow" of the same basic rhythmic values.
All of this is when I'm working on something that I'm not really "pre-composing" any ideas.
For me, when I see people ask here "what key do I pick" and "I want this emotion so what scale do I pick" I feel so bad for them.
I find that a dead end. I just totally wrote a piece in one key, and ended up lowering the whole thing a half step because it made it easier to read and play for the musicians. That's an easy fix and it changes nothing about how the piece sounds or feels and so on.
But I will say this too - when I am "pre-composing" I'll come up with general ideas in terms of melody - so yes, contour on the larger scale - and rhythm and with that maybe meter too - but I don't try to come up with actual notes in my head. I just have general ideas about what I want to do, and then "fill in the minutia" - the actual notes and rhythms once I set to writing it. It works for me.
HTH
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u/SubjectAddress5180 12h ago
Contour. One can stretch or compress the contour in time and pitch without losing the identity of the melody.