Create Your Own Melodies with Jacob Collier
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- Опубліковано 15 тра 2024
- What makes a melody? Here, Jacob Collier shares the intervals, motifs, and structures behind iconic melodies, from "Amazing Grace" to "Kumbaya." Then, he offers tips on creating your own tunes. For more, join Jacob on Skillshare: skl.sh/3r6J3qv
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JACOB COLLIER MELODY QUICK JUMP MENU
00:00 Exploring Melodic Intervals
01:38 Tunes That Use Melodic Intervals
04:10 Variations on These Intervals
05:23 The Bridge Section
06:07 Repetition and Motifs
07:20 Creating Your Own Melody
11:34 Join Jacob on Skillshare
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ABOUT JACOB COLLIER
It’s not often one encounters an imagination with the depth and prolificacy of Jacob Collier’s. The London-based 28-year-old is dubbed by many as one of the most innovative musicians of his generation. In 2012, Jacob's self-made UA-cam videos achieved legendary status in the music world, attracting the praise of such luminaries as Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones, who manages Jacob to this day. Jacob’s debut album, In My Room, crafted entirely in his room at home, went on to win two Grammys. His success has led to musical collaborators and fans including the likes of Coldplay, John Mayer, Ty Dolla $ign, Tori Kelly, Daniel Caesar, Charlie Puth, Jessie Reyez, T-Pain, and SZA (to name a few). - Навчання та стиль
Do you recognize the concepts Jacob explains in any other melodies? Which are your favorites?
I’m reminded of Phantom of the Opera. The big interval jump from “The phaaaaantom” and then the run down of the smaller intervals “…of the opera is here”.
despacito
Yeah in... every melody like ever?
@@endodouble6691 oh yeah?, name one!
@@justgivemeanumber8215 Das Wandern by Schubert starts with a melodic leap of a perfect fourth like he was talking about. Happy?
11:13 I love how Jacob "uhms" in key - just brilliant
Uhm in F
I was thinking the same!
I might be wrong, but to me that uhm in key is a very powerful skill demonstration - even if it is unconscious. He often refers to his approach to music as speaking another language. What is in the uhm is like what an interpreter does when she interprets simultaneously: listens, understands, translates and speaks in another language all at the same time. The uhm vocalized in key certainly shows how his consciousness immersed in the musical 'layer' of he's inner processes translates to vocal language - while he's analytically explaining a theory at the same time (!!!). Seeing a live MRI feed of his left and right brain doing this excercise would be quite a spectacle as these functions normally stem from different halves of the brain. I'm sure his background had built and strenghtened quite many unusual neural pathways - highways in his case. That uhm is ways past hats off.
All of you probably harmonize with external sounds, but it's so natural you don't notice it in yourselves
Damn you're right
That melody you sang was very reminiscent of Canon in D.
Yeah, exactly. Also like Maroon 5's song Melodies
Ah yes, one of my favourites by Maroon 5, Melodies.
I thought he was gonna say that his friend was listening to Maroon 5. Who copied Canon in D
@@JoelJohnson24 Maroon 5’s ‘Memories’, not melodies haha. And it feels like Maroon 5 almost completely borrowed the first line from Canon in D, perhaps subconsciously. It takes nothing away from the song though, the rest of which is unique and comes together beautifully melodically.
and he says "I just improvised that" amazing
I’m a firm believer that great melodies aren’t ever composed. They’re instead discovered. And once discovered it’s impossible to imagine the world without them. It’s like revealing a part of the very fabric of reality.
Exactly right imo also.
god damn it, you are right !
Dang that’s deep and true
Agree
Goosebumps reading that
12 minutes that felt like 10 seconds. His way of talking, of explaining complex concepts in the easiest way possible through how they make you feel, not how they look, he’s a brilliant musician but more than that, a soulful human being.
Yet he explained Nothing.
This is quite the acquisition for skillshare. Now I am seriously considering joining.
What a brilliant lesson. Imagining somebody else sing a melody to you is genius. What a powerful concept.
Is it?
It's still just you imagining a melody though
@@nuberiffic Reality is just a hallucination in your brain so who cares what's actually going on. It's brilliant because it provides a seed for your melody.
@@TheRealJackfrog no.
Put down the bong dude.
@@TheRealJackfrog a hallucination is a very specific biological reaction. our subjective experience of reality is contained within our minds, but its not a hallucination
@@nuberiffic In the end you're right it is just you imagining a melody. But this method distracts you from focusing on perfecting the melody too much. By imagining that someone else sings you a melody, you tend to come up with a melody that radiates a similar feeling you feel when you see that person. It's a great way to put emotion into a melody instead of analytically putting it together.
Okay, that "listen to someone else sing a melody in your head first" tip was actually something I had never heard before. And it seems SUPER useful. Especially for someone so "harmony first", like me.
Now imagine somebody showing you a new rocket design or something
@@rodschmidt8952 why are people like you so hilarious... 😂😂 had me crying laughing because if you put it that way... reality kicks in super hard 😭 Building a new rocket is still extremely hard 🤷🏾♂️
It's a lot more intuitive to pull a melody out of your ass than to pull a rocket design out. That's probably for the best, too.
Sure, super useful, if you are schizophrenic thus hear other people's voices in your head.
@@GizzyDillespeeyeah because why would I have a rocket up my ass? Actually let me not kink shame 😂😂😂
This guy's pretty good. I think he could win a grammy someday if he works hard enough
I laughed. Good one Zion.
maybe even 5...
Maybe he could record songs in his bedroom … and win a Grammy!
He had won Grammies already...not just one
I think he already has
My own personal trick to make a nice melody when I'm "out of ideas" is:
First, make something "good"
Second, make something "bad"
You'll realise that the "bad" version is what you were holding from playing on the good version, and is what actually makes your song interesting and brings new ideas.
But if you only try to make it bad, you'll start making random things and everything will sound ok. So it's nice to keep the quality in check and your brain working, but also allowing randomness. I don't know, it's kind of a balance
All of my good ideas are bad ideas went in the right direction 😅
@@DaveChips Exactly! Haha
Digital artist here, this thought process definitely translates across disciplines. Part of why I love listening to Jacob
The elusive thing about melody is that you can analyse 100 melodies that most people consider good. Then write a new melody that has all the characteristics of the 100 good ones and there is no guarantee that it will be good. It will probably be OK but not necessarily as good as the ones you analysed. There is something elusive that makes a melody stand out that is hard to quantify. That's possibly why Jacob with all his skills still considers this hard and is still fascinated by this aspect of music.
Smartest comment I've read this whole thread, especially about the elusiveness and magic of melody that keeps music fascinating for Jacob.
I couldn't agree more.
elusiveness is good, keeps music on it's toes.
@@eugenemitchell9231 _its_ toes, even
That's because this is a spiritual world with spiritual underpinnings.
What makes a melody sound good has to do with the human archetypal nature.
Seeing as how all of humanity is connected, and genetically linked, what happens during one time period has the power to both affect the future and past.
In essence; current melodies are a result of survivorship bias. They are only good because they are remembered as such.
Shift a melody into a propaganda piece and it can forever alter its 'meaningful' nature.
A song that is about violence sounds good to a violent world. In a world of peace, sweet, peaceful sounds are more welcoming.
This is why humanity enjoys different genres yet still find some melodies universally "good'.
We may all be scattered and distorted in our ways (musical genres) but we all share the same goal, the drive to become one with God again.
We seek those melodies which evoke a sense of God within us. That remind us of our everlasting, omnipotent, omniscient selves. The self from. where we
came and from where we end up. The alpha and the omega.
The melody sounds good because you make it so.
The perceived beauty is a reflection of your current spiritual state.
I think has integral to the music in a way that feels right to the song or piece, the direction you want it to move in. That said each thing you add moves the song in a direction so it becomes a matter of taste, is it moving in the direction you want and what feels good to you hopefully others too.
I'm probably not the only one but I could listen to this guy creating melodies for hours
Anything he talks about I could listen for hours for a daily dose of feelgood nutrition! He's _that_ sympathico and also competent to my ears. (I'm speaking about _music_, not personal or "weird" affection or such, o.k....? 😜 )
Its easy to forget that singing is such an intuitive writing tool.
the way he is speaking in this video tells me he is getting wiser.
kinda scary when you think of how much further he might get
@@nathanmaxwell1195 compared to when
Since I’ve known about him (6-8 years?!?), he has always struck me as quite down to earth and wise. This has often between amazing to me given his age and all his extraordinary gifts.
11:13 I like how that 'um' is on pitch
um in F Major :D
I love this part of the video
Haha true
Norah Jones's "Don't know why" actually starts with a major 7th. :)
The Bob Ross vibe is undeniable.
Right from the start I knew he's going to mention Somewhere Over The Rainbow. That song is timeless
This guy just made me connect more to "over the rainbow" 🌈....such a satisfying feeling.
Wow!!! Impressive what a teacher you've got !!!
Perfect way to recognize the intervals with popular song examples. You helped me a lot. Thank you. 👌
The story of his lesson had the best bit of insight. Thank you for that. It was very helpful to hear.
Excellent demonstration of how melody works. I like how you chose good models and also created something from scratch. The enthusiasm you have for music is inspirational. Keep doing what you do !!
I've taught intervals a lot to students but never the way Jacob just taught me. What an incredible way of telling a story and imparting knowledge.
Thank you! Absolutely beautiful lesson and explanation! Cheers!
I am just starting to learn how to play piano. I love your videos because hearing how you explain these concepts in songs is so beautiful. It really makes me look at music in such a new light.
Wow, you take me back to my childhood days! Those were among the first songs then that I learnt on the recorder and the glockenspiel ❤️ perfect man, you're my hero, love the examples! (and this one here again exemplifies why I think you're the truest embodiment of genius where I'm concerned)
This is the most beautiful piano I’ve heard in my entire life. Life has been kind to me this day, and I am grateful for it
wow, honestly best music teacher i've listened to
He truly loves music. He knows his purpose. ♥️
I've learned so much about teaching (my profession) just by watching JC deconstruct his own music elsewhere. Students of his class are so lucky to have him.
This guy has that gift of explaining the musical feelings along with his deeply thought out analogies to aid that along, enjoyed this thoroughly... Firm handshakes big sir, top man... Ten hut
I think it isn't difficult to learn these concepts because they are in videos like this one. However, it seems like nobody teaches that melody also needs to follow the harmony. Once you know how non-chord tones work, it's like your melody and harmony are finally able to communicate with each other and you can adjust the melody to fit the harmony or the other way around. It's not the only thing that makes a melody sound good, but it's one of those things that pitifully don't appear in melody tutorials on UA-cam.
Edit: I'm sorry if it wasn't clear enough, but you can make the melody first if you want to, the order doesn't matter. Try to do it the way that works best for you. This is more about them agreeing with each other.
What are non-chord tones?
@@jukka2979 I think it's useful to look it up rather than putting a whole theory lesson into a comment. There's also a free online book called Open Music Theory that you could use.
I think it's usually best to make the harmony fit and support the melody, but sometimes you have worked out a harmony you like first and need to do it the other way around.
Or maybe the harmony should follow the melody ? If you have the melody first, the harmony is a blank canvas for you to make it match your melody
They usually go hand in hand but music is an open landscape for your creativity. You can have all melody and no harmony and conversely vice versa although more uncommon and somewhat interwoven if all harmony that functions as melodic at they point. Melody is the building blocks as he states.
So humble, giving seeds to everyone… a gift to the universe… he is love, universal energy…!!! ❤
Brilliant, I find it very difficult to make a melody I feel comfortable with, and the way you explained it is more simple and comprehensible than other videos that focus on also important chord built melodies, but i like more your examples
This is good. Not just theory, but following your gut.
Brilliant!
Imagining someone else who is singing a melody leaves the door open for the image of that person to have created something. I get a specific impression of a person who I might imagine and I guess I can assume something about what they might sing to me.
Instinctively, I want to imagine the environment they are standing in, their clothing, etc...
to inspire a visual element. I never would have thought to do this. What a great idea!
Thank you very much Jacob Collier and Mike Walkers! Great lesson and great ideas!
Amazing how he visualizes the sound and manages to express it vividly, at such a young age had mastered a lot, good on u, old chap.
I feel like that's something you would expect more from a young brain than an older one.
@@darkskinwhite experience plays a big part in mastering stuff so I was surprised at his level of knowledge for someone so young
@@khiljinagor8976 true, but it doesn't really apply if the guy is a genius, he's created many new variations of music theory that you wouldn't expect anyone to do in their lifetime, no matter the experience.
Absolutely loved this!! Please consider doing a similar one about vocals! 💚
You are a great musical story teller! Very inspiring.
So thankful I found your channel. You are wonderful. Many thanks for sharing with us.
I like this lesson thank you! When I write vocal melodies I usually wait to hear it in my head, sometimes they're garbage and I trash them and wait for another moment, sometimes a different hour or different day. Then I listen back and decide what I like about it if anything and re-do what I don't like. On good day it just flows and most of it is a keeper on bad days the song goes in the trash. Writting songs is free, you only spend time which I guess isn't really free.
Wow Jacob is such a good teacher, thank you!
Great lesson. Thank you!!!
love this guy, he articulates the ideas so well
Tks a bunch, mate! Personally, as a songwriter and composer, I definitely disconnect from theories, I mean, the do’s and don’ts, so I can feel free to be an artist in its real essence, which is creation. Music is the key. All the best!
JC is absolutely a brilliant musician. This vid is brilliant as well..More like this please. Thank you SkillShare.
One thing about melodies I learned at piano classes (actually about improvisation) is that the best ones are the singable ones. That's why it's better to create a melody by singing it or imagining someone doing it. Sometimes it has to breath, it has physical limitations when it comes to intervals and range. That's why we often see skilled performers singing while they're improvising.
Yes. But i still have problems to find the notes i "sing". And when i found the right note, i have forgotten what i have sung... ;-)
Maybe i should record?
Giant Steps, not.
IT WORKED, THANKS I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS FOREVER, BUT NO TUTORIAL COULD EXPLAIN IT AS YOU DID
9:07
Yes. Great technique. Story, imagery, setting, feeling, then witness it and repeat it.
Beautifully explained. Loved it
I’ve been watching more cinematographers and the majority do prefer use a diffuser separately from the light to choose distance, angles e diffuser materials. I’m using more and more like this. Great to see one photographer who know this. The majority of photographers just talk about octaboxes. Good stuff!
Hey all. Hey Jacob!!! Just to be clear... the lesson was about what you play on your instrument when searching for melodies.. and what you sing if you allow yourself to hear something.. and.. and here's the thing.. how different those two things can be. Why? Because when you play your instrument you can go into automatic pilot and your fingers do the walking and your creative ear stops working properly. So you can easily move into the digital pattern domain and not even realise it. So, take a breath and just listen and allow something to come to you. Even if the notes arn't quite right yet, you'll get some kind of natural organic rhythm that uses space and held notes as well as movement. There are many technical aspects also to writing melody, but this one has a natural, intuitive path, and works well alongside the more obvious methods of melodic curve, structure, repetition, etc etc. Stay safe and well in these troubled times.
I like to think of melodies all day cause they help me relax
I didn't plan on watching the whole thing, but this man can teach and keep you engaged. SUBBED
"How satisfying is that " how beautifully poetically put into words
OMG THANKS SO SO MUCH THIS HELPED!!!
I like how his thinking noise just accidentally lined up with the key 11:13
Wow, what a great person you brought! I'm going to register rn to see this haha
Awesome! So well explained that everybody could follow!
Ima download it thanks for sharing!!
❤ Awesome Jacob. Thanks
The greatest ever explaining how to think abput melody. Priceless
Ah, we're glad you found it helpful 🌟
When he was talking about how is friend was teaching him how to make a good Melody it really reminded me of how that was my problem as a kid I always wanted to make music I had some interest in it but everyone kept trying teaching me the rules, like there is 4th 5th and if you weren't to understand how chords work and didn't work hard enough you probably aren't going get anywhere. But when he was talking about when just letting it come to you, that's something I just recently discovered and I full on understand him completely and I wish someone had told me something like that sooner. If someone told me as a kid you just had to enjoy it you just have to enjoy making music - that probably would have changed my perspective completely and I probably would have made so many songs back then but it's because even though I have a good ear I still in my mind believed that since I don't know what chords are and I don't know what A fifth is and all this stuff I don't know the notes on the keys my song is not legit and not good enough and there's no way that could be a proper Melody because I had no clue what I was doing instead of just listening if it sounded good or not. Now since I've come to that conclusion I started working on music more I'm now 20 it's taken me that long to realize that and because I'm enjoying it and I know that I have a good ear and I know what a good Melody sounds like just from listening I've actually learned how to play the piano just by practicing I now know what notes are on the keys without even really teaching myself! Since I don't have that in my head that I don't have to work hard I just have to enjoy it it's open up such a big path for me now, I'm making so many songs and they actually do sound good I understand that like knowing the fundamentals really help with making music, but I feel like some people who are like me as long as you have a good ear, fundamentals can be learned after, and along the way while you are making me songs! I'm understanding what fifth is, it's so freaking simple, the piano is actually incredibly simple maybe not when you come to classical bloody songs where you break your freaking fingers, but yeah obviously you got to have fun and if you're enjoying learning, obviously when you work hard if you're enjoying it of course you're going to work hard, if it's something you love. If someone told me this sooner, I would have called myself a musician. But now I can finally say so. I remember some of the melodies I created when I was seven but of course I didn't think it was a good Melody because why would it be I didn't know shit, but now I'm improving it and making it into an actual song because it deserves recognition finally. Thank you so much for this lesson this is absolutely beautiful💖
8:01 is the most important part of this lesson. If can only take one thing away from this video, this should be it.
thank you ❤
this is the best advice thanks!
I love how he's a professional but still teaches with basic nursery rhymes
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is a Golden Age standard 32-bar AABA song, not a nursery rhyme.
Could be I'm just in a receptive mood but I found I learned more in this video then I have in last two years of melody composing.
OMG! This is insane!🤯
Great video! Thanks!
Thank you for this
At 11:10 his "um" is a perfectly tuned F, he just can't help it
Muy bueno !!!! Gracias !
There are always the same examples in those “Intervall videos”. But nice to see that he goes a step further and explains why those melodies work so good.
Probably the best teacher in music for me! how simple he can explain being that advance! this is a treasure to follow the course!
I love it, thank you, Jacob!
Interesting to see that the last melody took inspiration from "Canon in D (Pachelbel's Canon)" with the form of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" 🔥🔥💯💯
LOVE, Love Jacob Collier! Brilliant musician, all around 🎹
Agreed! 💚
Love you Jacob❤
Tbh this video is all you need. When you learn theory you approach music like it's engineering (atleast I do), when it's an art form. Listen to the music in you and transcribe it into reality :)
Good video! 👏✨
As a person with Perfect Pitch, I've never had many problems figuring a melody (not only the intervals but Key included). That's because I can visualise it in my mind as clear as I could visualise a drawing before painting it. I want to make a melody that sounds like Spring? I just think about songs I remember which sounds like Spring to get some inspiration, I figure it in my mind and I start directly playing the piano (because I already know more or less what notes must be played) like if it was a pencil colour to draw.
Of course, I often make mistakes due to skill issue playing piano. 😅
As I said before, great video! 👏✨🎶
Best ad ever. Jacob is good.
Wonderful!
at 9:30 the melody he hums sounds like Canon in D.
First thing i thought of, too
More like Canon in F
I thought of memories by maroon 5
@@sql64 Right. It borrows its melody from "Canon".
It’s because the way he writes melody is wrong, by imagining someone sing a melody to you only led to some melody you heard before!
I think, it is not an good friend I am listen to. I am carefully listening to my Inner Child. It's us together: My Inner Child, my Inner Adult - and other parts of me. Having good Conversations, mostly about Love. The universal love.
My music is very simple. I am not a professional Musician. But, in the moment I play "my" music, (for me) the whole world lies in it. 🌈
I like how he says Sixths. Sickth. Im gonna start saying it that way. Genius!
Thank you!!!
ace ventura of music
I love it how Jacob eventually leaves theory and ends up in just how it makes you feel as the main important factor.
I don’t have a musical bone in my body but still loved this.
I love him. He is a genius musician.
Masterclass that you teach us!
I really love the fact that we dive into what I would call his "personal area" where he just shares what he is currently thinking by a melody, directly from his mind without any embarrassment or else. Also he shares stories of his and I admire him because he is such a great artist , yet is still "learning" as he told and very humble. Thanks for sharing !
His what? 🤨 Are we watching the same video?
Beautiful
Fantastic info!!
Glad to see the fella regained his voice..
this was insanely helpful
So glad to hear it! You can see even more in full Jacob's class on Skillshare: skl.sh/46sSOSh
Great Post! Always loved the song "People" for major 2nd, "Here comes the Bride" for a 4th, and "OH WEE OH, WE OH. OH" the song the guards sang at the witches castle in " The Wizard of Oz:" LOL