The melody went up and then it went back down again…as if it was looking for somewhere to go
It’s a phrase I came across recently and it seems to have stuck. I’m using it in my attempts at improvisation. Playing it up, playing it back down, trying to find some place for it to go.
The melody went up and then it went back down again…as if it was looking for somewhere to go
Have you heard the phrase before?
Does it resonate?
Is it useful?
Yes, here
From Tatendrang, Lisa’s latest composition 
David @BurnsRhythm
It happens to me all the time when I am singing especially when it shouldn’t!!!
Michael
I found the phrase in this story.
At least they put an AI label on it… 
Ah, hadn’t spotted that!
Could still be a true story though and whether true or not, it’s a good story and I like the phrase….so I’m using it!
Nah- made up story, with fake imagery, narrated by a programme 
Having said that, it’s a good example of how ‘AI-slop’ can be the source of inspiration for people to be inspired, creative, kind, generous etc.
(of course, the opposite holds just as true 
)
yes. if you poke around youtube, you can locate a bunch of fake Carlos Sanatana stories. Too bad. I’d enjoy a story if I could count on authenticity. I have never looked at these since they were kicking my “FAKE!” trigger pretty hard.
@brianlarsen , @sequences
Guys, you’re loosing the plot. That video is simply the place where I found the phrase. Real, fake, AI or not doesn’t matter!
The phrase is about music, it’s about melody and where it goes or could go in a song or piece of music.
My questions are about using it to improvise or create a melody.
No… I got it. 
I was moaning about fiction being delivered as history.
I have a lot of fictional stuff that made it into things I do or say. When an author has a neat idea, it is neat no matter fact or fiction.
I try to use at least one or more elements of contrast when improvising e.g. low register to high register, slow to fast, simple ideas to more complex, sparse to dense, soft to loud.
@Socio
Thanks James, now we’re talking music!
So you’re using contrast as a thread.
I’m thinking that up then down and then some place else could be a thread. And, of course, it could be combined with your contrast thread.
Hehe, I lost the plot a long time ago…
The technical term would be “Somewhere to Resolve”. Justin talks about music resolving all the time so does every musician I know. Terms like “Don’t leave it hanging”, “Waterfall” (riff) or “Back to the 1” are all terms I’ve heard when practicing with other musician. including the one you’re quoting. Maybe not exactly in those words but the Idea of melodies moving and resolving is the whole point of a melody.
If a melody doesn’t go anywhere is feels lost r unfinished.
This is actually a good idea and not just for melody. It applies to phasing, riffs and licks. every thing that goes up must eventually come back down to rest.
@stitch
All good points, Rick.
Interesting thread, thanks for linking me Brian @brianlarsen.
Another possibility to look at it might be “call and response”. Even when speaking, we naturally raise our voices while asking a question, but answer in a lower register (except the question evoked some emotions, of course, but that’s another story 
). I often tend to use this concept while improvising or creating a solo, while during creating a melody for singing, I often let it flow without thinking - I don’t know why that is. When playing guitar, a lot more thinking is involved here.
I don’t know much, technically-speaking, about Blues but I tend to think of it as a series of cadences. Each pair of notes gives a cadence, e.g. tonic to 5, minor 3rd to b7, 5 to Major 3rd etc, then eventually you resolve back to the tonic. That’s how I think of players like BB King making all those sweet sounds that sound so conversational. They set up the resolution back to the 1 so well. It would sound weird if a player ended a solo on say the minor 3rd and didn’t resolve to the root!
Never heard it before, but it sounds like something to try at least once. Like anything else it might get repetitious or may only be applicable for certain genres.
I would be interested in knowing where the phrase came from and examples of its use.
I found it in the video above. (which some are saying is not a true story)
But even as fiction, it’s a story of a man selling his late father’s stuff in a garage sale. Some things were selling but no one wanted his late father’s old acoustic guitar which had a price tag of $75
When Carlos Santana (allegedly) happened along, he asked about the guitar but the man didn’t know anything much about it other than that his father played it every day and there was one song that he always played for years.
When asked what the song was, the man (who isn’t a musician) didn’t know the title but described it as - “The melody went up and then it went back down again, as if it was looking for somewhere to go”
The phrase keeps cropping up throughout the rest of the story. It’s a long story but I was gripped by it.
If it isn’t true……well it should be!
Got it. Skimmed the thread a bit.
Play on playa!