The moment that people create a melody which they feel is
great, many think it already sounds like another song. This is
common, and I suffered from this many times. What you've got to
understand is that ALL SONGS are RECYCLED MELODIES.

Every song has a 'portion' of the tune which will be the same
as another. So don't worry if you feel your song sounds like
another.

What's important to know here is that if your melody is a
familiar one, then that's a GOOD THING. I'm not talking about a
'rip off' here, I'm talking about a part(s) of your melody that
sounds like another song(s).

Why is it a good thing? Because it means PEOPLE can RELATE TO
THE MELODY even more. They will want to listen to your song
because of the familiarity.

Remember, most people aren't songwriters. So chances are, most
people won't even realize where it may or may not have been
inspired from. And what if they do? Well... ultimately, as a
whole, it will be your own words, your own tune and eventually
with your own music. So it will be YOUR SONG. So don't fret.

Here, I'll share some methods that will jump start the process
of creating a melody:

- Pick a song that you like and know *quite* well, and when you
are NOT listening to it, hum the tune of the song. DON'T' SING
THE WORDS, just hum the melody. This way, you will think
'melodically'. Eventually, you should force yourself to sing
certain variations of the melody (ie. completely mess around
with the tune). When this happens, you'll end with your own
melody.

- If you play an instrument (it doesn't matter which or what
level you are at) try and figure out the melody of another song
on the instrument. If you figure it out easily, then mess around
and CHANGE certain parts of it. Then SING (hum, la, etc) this
CHANGED MELODY out aloud. If you can't figure it out, then
forget about it! CREATE A MELODY YOU FEEL IS CORRECT! Again,
don't prejudge while doing this. Just go where your fingers take
you and just 'la' the tune simultaneously. Loop this melody once
you feel you have something good.

- Grab a song that you DON'T KNOW AT ALL. Listen to the song
once, and then listen to it again. The second time around, sing
along to it. More than likely, you won't remember the tune. This
is normal! What do you do now? Yup. You guessed it. MAKE UPYOUR
OWN MELODY to this obscure song. NOTE: This one may work better
if you bought a CD of backing tracks that have no guide vocals
on the songs. This way, you HAVE TO make up your own melody to a
track that's already playing. Just make sure you DON'T KNOW the
songs....at all.

You have no idea how powerful this is. I've written fresh songs
on one's I had no clue about! And believe me, they are original
songs - they don't sound like a copy of anything at all. This is
because of what I said earlier - ultimately it will be your own
lyrics, your own message and your own music which then
translates into your own song.

*Keeping The Melody Simple*

Lastly, there is absolutely no point in making a melody that's
'musically clever'. You're not trying to impress musicians here.
What you want is to create a melody that's SIMPLE yet
INTERESTING.

So how do you do this? Well, melodies often re-occur several
times in a song. In fact, the verses and choruses alone will
often have the tune repeating itself. It's the basic structure
of nearly all songs under the sun. The verses will repeat and so
will the choruses.

SO....IF THE MELODY SOUNDS WORTHY ENOUGH TO BE REPEATED, THEN
YOU'RE ON TO SOMETHING.