Music to my ears Toby! Metaphotically speaking. When you record your melody that will transform to become literal!
The pairs are a road map to help navigate up and down the neck. Once you have good familiarity with the fret position on both strings, then of course you can burst out, slide around, use various techniques (hammer-on, flick-off, bending, legator sliding along one string etc.). You could even punctuate your melody with a tiny sprinkling of a double-stop 3rd for a little je ne sais qua (without playing too much in 3rds together as that would be akin to harmony, not melody).
My take on this is
Riffs are rhythmic repetitive phrases that repeat throughout a song at key points, intro, verse links - Think Smoke On the Water
Licks - Short phrases that enhance support and punctuate the chord progression, supplement the melody, especially lyrics - call and answer. Licks can and are linked to create longer bridges and solos.
Melody - Most frequently the “note line” that the lyrics follow and flow through the song parts - Verse Chorus etc. I am sure there is a better expression than “note line” but struggling for the find one.
You read my my mind in respect of direction but wanted to confirm there were no specific restraints ala those old ring fenced Mode exercises. Hoping this can sprinkle some life into the PMT “work in progress” piece and spice up the 1/4 notes. But I’ll map this out as a starter. Thx.
The comprehensive notes and backing tracks are very helpful, and I’m happy to work through all this exciting stuff in my own pace once again.
There have been many lightbulb-moments for me.
However … when I’m practicing these note pairs on the two thinnest strings I always end up with the lead lines of “Margaritaville”
The melody work I have given here over eight bars could be the springboard for a guitar solo or a vocal melody such as might fit a verse or chorus. Or it might simply be an instrumental stand alone piece.
A lyric to a song is definitely sung with melody and that is repeated throughout. The verses tend to have the same melody - perhaps little variations as the lyric-story and song develop. The chorus contains the same melody and is the ‘hook’ (think of the Chris de Burgh song again … no lyric in most of the chorus but a catchy melody …
laa - lala - laa - lala - laa - lala - laa
A guitar solo / lead guitar part can also been thought of as being played melodically. George Harrison’s solos in The Beatles re renowned for their melodic quality - so melodic you could whistle many of them.
Not all solos are melodic or contain melodic sections. Some contain melodic phrases mixed in with free form improvised parts. Here is a small excerpt from a much larger solo. The structure of this melodic excerpt could be described as [ A ] [ A ] [ A’ ] [ B ]
Gunhild @Gunhild
I thought the same as you I can play the riff from Margaritaville with these pairs of notes.
Also not quite but the intro riff for Brown Eyed Girl uses similar pairs of notes.
Michael
The live classes are a great idea and will hopefully be continued in 2024!
One question: is there a certain expression in music theory for those note pairs? I always find it helpful to class information in relevant context.
Sorry, if this has been mentioned during the session, but I missed your whole introduction and the last part due to connectivity problems.
Thanks Toby! I really have to catch up on theory Grade 3, when life is a little less rough again than this year . At least, I know now what needs to be learned . !
Andrea, I did consciously avoid terminoligy hoping that it would free people up to play, explore and create unencumbered. I was asked in Q&A at the end of the session so added it to the final page of the downloadable notes also.
As Toby has said, they are 3rds.
@GeoffMolyneux You get a special Santa gift this year for being the first person to share a recording.
One sliggtly pedantic point that I do not want to give you any cause for concern or worry. I did show the notes as pais so this is all down to my lack of clarity in exllaing. I should have demonstrated more examlles. You were playing the 3rds as double stop pairs = harmony. The concept I wanted people to take away as an exercise in melody was for single note playing. Single notes = melody.
Listen to the four examples I have shared as audio files and follow the tab too - all single notes.
Thanks for getting the ball rolling!
I totally appreciate this approach, as it avoids hitting those “felt barriers” of music theorie we probably built up due to negative experiences in school some decades ago .
But, as you can see, interest in theory is growing and growing because you are able to transmit knowledge in a different way, by applying it in a practical way.
It does seem to be. And one of the negative / critical feedback comments I received came from the perspective that my deliberate avoidance of the technical vocabulary and the naming of the 3rds was unhelpful.
You can never cover everybodie’s needs… . I feel, we are extremely blessed to have teachers like you and the whole team and Justin. Your and the team’s personel invest of time and energy to transfer knowledge is exeptionel and much more than anybody could expect. So from my side and a BIG BIG thank you !
. At least, I know now what needs to be learned 
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from my side and a BIG BIG thank you