Some consider melody the most important aspect of music making. Of course, there’s harmony and rhythm, but melody is the one part that listeners hold to memory more than any other, and, it’s also the easiest part to create!

For example, in the lesson Oriental Sunrise, we have two chords. Now if we just play these chords, if we just fool around with them, we get textures and whiffs of sound that drift away and do not hold. But, as soon as we add in melody, the whole piece becomes alive and discernable.

To create a melody really requires nothing more than playing around with the right-hand. The left has the chords and creates the harmonic background – an aural canvas if you will. Now, we can add in highlights to our sound painting using melody.

We improvise and are amazed at the fact that just a few notes is enough to create a wonderful sound – especially since you use the pentatonic scale. You can’t go wrong by playing on the black keys. Every note you produce will sound good. We let go and allow our intuitive mind to come up with the melody and the music pours out of us.

Once you know the scale you’ll be playing in, (in this case, minor pentatonic) you are free to play any note you want from it to create your melody. The focus is now on making music and not on choosing melody notes – a very freeing experience!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

One of the most well-know eras of music is the nineteen-eighties. In this period the virus AIDS hadn?t been quite discovered yet and everyone was still under the notion that having a good time with as many people as possible was the best way to live. Hair styles and clothing looked as weird they could, with long hair and mullets being in fashion throughout the decade. And of course, the musical genre was forever changed as many, many rock bands made a name for themselves and created well-known hits we still play on the radio today. The eighties was a great time period for musical lyrics, and this article will focus on what made them so great and some of the more popular ones that were created.

To start out with, the nineteen-eighties was the time to rock and roll. Many songs words said nothing besides this fact. Everyone wanted to rock and roll and they went ahead and did so. The songs would often be filled only with fun lyrics, as the American economy and culture prospered throughout the decade without any problems, none like we have today at least. In addition, a common theme attached to rock and roll was sex and drugs. Drugs were not as highly banned as they are today, and it would be quite common to see people smoking a bag of weed or other drugs while at a concert of a high profile rock band. It makes sense, therefore, that many rock hits focused on the good times of this era and what made it so great.

Upbeat is the keyword when it comes to the eighties. It would be a hard matter indeed to find musical lyrics as depressing as sad as one can find today. Whereas today it is easy to hear about child abuse, suicide, and massive terrorist attacks through the radio, those were topics unheard of in this golden era of rock and roll. Many songs would focus on dancing and having a good time, as mentioned before. But there would also be songs intending to lift the spirits of the listeners. The most popular of these was written and performed by Journey. ?Don?t Stop Believin?? is still a popular hit for people of all ages even to this day.

Van Halen was another popular eighties band that was good for many great lyrical music pieces. While their hits about being hot for a teacher, smoking in school, or running with the devil certainly aren?t as deep as some of the hits today, that doesn?t change the fact that they reflected the time period they played in perfectly. Eighties lyrics, above anything else, showcased the prosperity and good times of the decade we left behind twenty years ago.

Overall, the eighties was a great time for the country and nation as a whole and it shows in the musical lyrics still played on radio stations today. While the clothing and hair styles have long since been out of fashion, the music remains to inspire and cheer up people all over the world and sends the message that good times do exist and can happen.

Joe Kenny is the webmaster at the free music lyrics website, http://www.lyricspost.net

Visit today: http://www.cardguide.co.uk/

Often times music lyrics are simply used to create catchy words that people hear. These words are designed to appeal and convince people to buy CDs and attend concerts of a certain artist. There are other reasons, however, that artists choose their lyrics as they do. Lyrics are heard by all of an artist?s audience and can occasionally be beneficial to a cause or an idea. This article will explore the different reasons artists create lyrics in the way that they do.

A common usage of lyrics in this day and age is to critique the current state, or even form, of government in a country. It is quite common for folk of any nationality to be unhappy with their governing powers for one reason or another. In the United States there is much concern over the way President Bush has handled the issues of terrorism, oil, and even immigration in recent days. Rather than coming out publicly with speeches, many artists hide messages of their disgust into their lyrics. Often times people will hear their message more often and more clearly through music than in a boring speech in which people can simply change the channel. A musical group who created these type of lyrics often was Rage Against the Machine, although they have been broken up for quite some time now.

Lyrics can also be used to reminisce about good times or bad times had as a child or teenager. Often times these years are the ones that shape a person and who he or she is going to be when they grow up. So it makes sense that as an adult, many artists feel the need to pay homage to this crucial part of their life. Many of these song?s lyrics focus in on past relationships long forgotten, good times had with best friends, and even sometimes traumatic experiences with abusive or uncaring parents or relatives. Whatever the topic is, being able to sing about their past memories allows artists to release whatever emotion they are feeling.

Of course it would be a mistake to claim all lyrics are meaningful and are made with some ulterior message underneath. Often times artists are simply looking for songs to make them more money and just garble together some nonsense about dancing and making money into a song. While these lyrics certainly do not have any real positive message, most of the time, they are still among the most popular of the youth today. There is no real problem with this, however, as kids shouldn?t be worried about deep meanings at every point of their life. They should be able to feel good about themselves and have fun for no reason when they are young!

Song lyrics are something that almost every genre of music has, and it is important to realize that some songs are made with interior meanings. Without recognizing that a song may mean more than simply the words it displays from the exterior, it is easy to overlook an artist?s true creation and art and to give them less credit than they deserve.

Joe Kenny is the webmaster at the free music lyrics website, http://www.lyricspost.net. Visit today: http://www.cardguide.co.uk/

Its no secret that virtually everyone loves music in some form or other. After all, music is the universal language. In one way or another we all participate in it from our cradle song to our wedding song to our funeral song, with thousands of other s stops along the way.

The country-western fan may not like jazz, but he or she sure loves the sound of pickin & grinnin.

And thats as it should be. If we all liked the same kind of music, there just wouldnt be the variety that is available to us now. We can choose from musical styles ranging from heavy classical and opera to rock to childrens songs to Broadway musicals to gospel music to the blues.

Each has its place, and each seems on the surface to be drastically different than another form of music. The key word is on the surface. But beneath the surface of all music is a commonality that is organic to all forms and styles of music.

So what does all music have in common? What makes music tick?

At least 3 things sometimes more, but never less:

1.Melody

2.Rhythm

3.Harmony

The melody is the part of a song or composition that you whistle or hum in other words, the tune of the song. In one sense, it is the most visible of the 3 elements, because melody is what identifies a song. Without melody, it would be difficult to even conceive of a song or piece.

In musical notation, the melody is almost always written in the treble clef also known as the treble staff. It consists of a horizontal line of notes that move up and down on the clef as the tune moves higher or lower.

Rhythm is the beat the swing the throb of the music. It happens in repeating patterns, depending upon the type of music. It is like a horizontal line of beats which occur at regular or semi-regular intervals. A waltz, for example, basically consists of a heavy beat followed by two lighter beats. So we say that a waltz is in triple meter one strong beat followed by two weak beats, then repeated.

A march, on the other hand, generally consists of a heavy beat followed by a light beat, then another heavy beat followed by another light beat. (Im simplifying, of course there are many varieties) So a march is in duple meter as you might expect since we have two feet and we march in left-right-left-right patterns.

All rhythms are some combination of triple meter and/or duple meter, and the possibilities are endless from boogie to R&B to mambos and sambas and bossa novas and.on and on.

Harmony, the 3rd aspect of music, is the musical background of a song the chords, or intervals behind the melody. Without harmony, a song sounds empty like a vocalist singing without an accompanist or accapella. Music doesnt HAVE to have harmony to function, but in actual practice it almost always does, even if it is just the interplay of two melodies, as in counterpoint.

You could spend a lifetime learning all the nuances of music, but it its most basic form, it is these 3 elements combined together; melody, rhythm, and harmony that comprise music.

Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and music educational materials such as DVD’s, CD’s, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for both children & adults. His book & DVD course titled How To Dress Up Naked Music On The Piano! is used by adults around the world. He holds advanced degrees from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Piano University in Southern Oregon. He is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions with over 59,700 current subscribers.

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