Still 20% off plus a further 20% off via Justin’s link
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Did a little more tinkering on the melody today. Kept it simple with 1/4 notes and the odd 1/2, the idea being it can be tweak and moulded if and when lyrics are add.
https://soundcloud.com/tobyjenner/pmt-live-project-with-melody-reaper
Analysis shows mainly but not all chord tones. Dropped the midi from GP8 into Reaper and added some extra ethereal vibes with the courtesy of Spitfire Labs.
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The 1/4 note idea to be tweaked when working on lyrics is a good idea. Looking forward to hearing you hit those high notes!!!
I came to a standstill after writing a melody for the verses and am now thinking about playing around to lengthen the chord structure and then sit with that and some potential lyrics for awhile. I haven’t written many songs but there’s only 1 I recall having written the chord progression first, the rest have been lyrics first, or all together. I’ll see how tomorrow goes!
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The volume is about non existent for me and had to use the sub-titles to work out what he was saying. Could just about hear what he was playing. Didn’t hear @SILVIA (or the other two) chord progression at all!
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Thanks for that although this is fingerstyle which is something I’ve not really progressed. Did a bit for module 11 but that’s it. I’m guessing that this is something you can’t do with a pick.
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Finally managed to watch the remaining part of this class & have realised that the level of this class is beyond what I know at this point in time. Seems to be PMT Module 4.1+.
To be honest I’m not understanding the challenge of finding the melody of a simple song. When I play a song I’m just strumming the chords. Where’s the melody bit? As an example, and as simple as you can get, if I play the chords for Three Little Birds what’s the melody?
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The melody is the vocal part.
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Oh, Ok! Not something I have to worry about then as I don’t sing! Wouldn’t want to inflict my tone deaf singing on anyone 
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I am right there with you, Stuart! Although, when I do try to sing (in private, to a song I can play ok) it is super fun. Besides, as my voice cracks and breaks, I feel like I’m 13 again!
Definitely no need to worry about these exercises until you feel you are in a place where you are ready for them and may want them to enhance your playing.
It is nice to see how Justin is teaching it, and although I am not participating in the exercises, I do feel I have learned some interesting insights into my playing/learning by listening to the videos and these threads. I will eventually find my way to learning this more expressly.
Melody is not only about singing. The vocals usually carry the melody, but you can also play a finger style melody ans accompaniment, or some small picking embellishments t your strumming sing the melody, or use the melody to build an entire finger style transcription of a song. Understanding melody helps us understand more layers of the piece.
So it just depends on how and what you care to play, as well as whether you want to make your own arrangements, or adapt anything to your own style.
So, these lessons and challenges are appropriate for those at this stage of their journey and with the interest. You don’t need to be there, now, yet or ever. Take what makes sense to you out of this and if and when you feel it may be applicable to your journey go back to it.
Block cords or “chunk” cords are just plucking all (well up to 5 of) the cord notes at the same time, rather than strumming. Rolling cords are plucking the cord tones under the fingers and playing them in rapid sequence, like rolling through them, but plucked rather than strummed.
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That sounds very good to my ear Toby, the ethereal vibes also fit very well. Very relaxing too…how is it going with the Lyrics? They are not part of the challenge, are they? I think I’ m completing my homework tomorrow and hopefully share it in the weekend 
Last night I finally heard some kind of chorus in my head, and quite clearly as well 
I’ve got a few hours this afternoon to work on it!
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Anyone feeling like Mickey Mouse? 
I found this little gem last week and it’s definetely worth sharing! Ok …now I’ll go, grab my guitar and work out my melody… https://youtu.be/QDhdMF0qZI8?feature=shared
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Thanks Silvia, I’ve put the lyrics aside for the moment bar jotting down lines/ideas as the come to me. I’ll wait and see what Live #3 conjures up and take it one step at a time. Good luck with the melody investigation ! Loved the cartoon by the way.
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Here it is! My Melody 
I followed Justin’s advice to not overthink it 
Now I need to practice it!
Please do be indulgent at my doggy unconventional standard notation writing 
I’m looking foward to find out as well, there’s so much to learn from these challenges!
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I am sure there is a pitch/octave adjuster in the vocal side of my PlayAcoustic !
There is a Tinker Bell preset that could come in handy.
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Here’s my chord/melody 
…I recorded two clips, one for the verse and one for the chorus. The reason why I worked it out as a chord melody is because I could sing only single notes over my chord progression and I couldn’t imagine a melody straight away. For the verse I wrote down on staves the notes that sounded good and worked out the Rhythm on the guitar and on the paper at the same time: adding the filling notes helped me to understand where in the bar I wanted the melody notes to be. I was satisfied enough with the result but unhappy about being unable to imagine/hear a melody in my head, then I remembered about this TA (quarter notes), TATE (eight notes), TIRITIRI ( sixteenth notes) thing I learnt for the only one Music Exam at Uni ( a secondary school Music teacher from the school I was working at ages ago taught me about it)…and the same moment I started singing the notes in my head like ta tate tiritiri anything fell into place and my chorus melody was there! The day after I tried to play it on the guitar and wrote it down on the staves! 
I trusted my ear and didn’t overthink as Justin suggested…now I guess I should do some theoretical analysis as well, otherwise it would be only PM and not PMT
If you read the musicsheet I posted above, I’m now adding two Bs on the Em chord in place of the rest.
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@SILVIA that sounds lovely! Your notation looks quite good to me too. My couple of comments would be that in the first bar you’ve got the sharps noted on the F and the F, on the second line you’ve got the sharps correctly on the F and the C. Also, I’m not following what appears to be a C flat in Bar 3. There’s no C in that bar. C flat would also just be B. (And we don’t mix flats and sharps.) Finally, 4/4 is the presumed time if it’s not noted, so it’s very rarely noted (not in piano anyway!). It’s actually pretty amazing to me that you wrote out the notes using stave notation. I (infrequently) play piano so understand that notation but I would find it a big pain to score a guitar piece using that notation rather than tab!
Anyway you’re further ahead than I am. After I wrote a melody line for the verse I went back and fiddled about with the chords. So now I have a bit of a revised chord progression - and no melody! But maybe some lyrics lol.
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Hey everyone! A little late to the game here, as I wasn’t able to post for the week 1 challenge, but I’ve included my chord progression here along with the melody I wrote for it.
Started out like Justin said and sang over the chord progression and then transcribed it. Pretty fun exercise! I didn’t see a link or hashtag to upload the week 2 challenge video, so figured I’d post it here. It’s a little rough and had some audio sync issues with the video, so apologies in advance.
Intro verses (All Octaves): C# - G - F# - B
Chorus: C#m - G - B - F#
Notes in the Melody: C#, E, F#, and D#
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Hi Sean, it sounds really good despite the video sync issues!
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Hi Mari, thanks a lot for your comment, I’m happy it’s not nice only to my ears…eh it’s my own creature after all, one might not be able to be objective! I play C# on the A chord, second and fourth bar of the second line. I feel very comfortable with Standard Notation, more than Tabs, because it gives me all the information I need where with tabs one is asked to be able to give all that information for granted…to tell the truth
I think I’m not smart enough for tabs I study the Classical guitar as well 
Wow the piano…can you play the piano?
Your progression sounded really good but was complex, and longer compared to mine, maybe it’s this complexity that also made it more interesting to the ear…so I guess this second task was harder for you…but you kept on working it and you also have some lyrics already! Your melody will come I’m sure! Now is Justin going to ask us to write the lyrics as well?
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We’ll be finding out soon enough! Even if he doesn’t though I’m hoping to carry it all the way through.
Re C sharp, no issue there, there’s a C# in an A chord, you’ve got a C flat indicated in your notation though. 
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