WRITE A GREAT MELODY with this Formula | Sentence Form in Music Composition

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Today we're talking about my favorite musical form, the Sentence!
📚 Many of the ideas in this video come from my favorite music book of all time: Analyzing Classical Form by William Caplin geni.us/lxrqx
Learning this form helped me to compose music by allowing me to write melodies and themes with a good shape and satisfying arc. Learn how to write a melody using the Sentence form to improve your composition, songwriting, and film scoring.
So many books on form talk about the Period as if it's the only way to structure a melody, but if you look at real music you quickly realize that that's not the case. Thanks to Arnold Schoenberg and William Caplin, we have a powerful form that is concise, easy to understand and use, and full of potential for writing great music for film, video games, and TV.
If you haven’t seen Part I about the Period Form yet, check it out here: • HOW TO WRITE A MELODY ...
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Stock footage provided by Videvo, downloaded from www.videvo.net
Other photos from Unsplash thanks to Emily Morter, Dollar Gill, Roman Mager, Daniel Mingook Kim, Nicholas Sampson, and Kaur Martin.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Introduction
1:43 What is the Period Form
2:02 Beethoven’s F Minor Piano Sonata
5:46 Period vs. Sentence
7:31 Spirited Away
10:01 Writing a new melody
13:09 Why I love the Sentence Form

Опубликовано:

28 май 2024

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Комментарии : 263

@darwinshamster 2 года назад

I've been a violinist for over fifty years, never been a composer. With just the two videos of yours that I've heard, things make so much sense, and I realize that music doesn't have to be the mystery that it always has been for me. Even if I don't compose anything, your explanations are amazing, clear and satisfying.

@mihailmilev9909 9 месяцев назад

204 1

@mihailmilev9909 9 месяцев назад

I'm so glad!

@mihailmilev9909 9 месяцев назад

Congratulations on cracking into the mystery

@mihailmilev9909 9 месяцев назад

@@paperdenise5268right!

@marcoconutty7167 9 месяцев назад

I've watched many RU-vidrs teaching about music stuff and you are the one who fail to make things easy to understand the most... mehhh

@MiScusi69 11 месяцев назад

I cannot believe I wrote a melody without knowing this, and yet adhering perfectly to this form you exposed in the video!

@jackdennis9286 4 месяца назад

I find that stuff happens to me too. I think it’s because our ears are so cultured to these patterns that we subconsciously follow them ourselves when writing.

@ne0romantic 2 года назад

Two thoughts about periods and sentences when you generalize. These forms can be nested in two ways, and if you want to look in a more general way, perhaps many already are nested. 1. Make a period out of two sentences. Your sentence does its thing and ends with half cadence, now repeat it and end with full cadence. Presto, it's a large period made out of two small sentences. There was a video a long while back by a different composer youtuber suggesting more to this relationship, suggesting something like all periods can be thought of as two sentences. Question and answer. 2. Make a sentence that starts with a period. You have your question, then your answer, but then it continue it with fragmentation. The initial question and answer are treated as the two statements of your basic idea and you move into a continuation, and round it off with a larger cadence. Now what was a period on initial hearing has turned into a sentence when looked at from a higher altitude. This may seem a stretch, but look at the Spirited away example. Just take the melody of the two basic idea statements. If you think in C major, the first one ending on D, the 2, can be thought of as a half cadence. The second one ending on C, the 1, can be thought of as an answer with a full cadence. This is not the long version I'm talking about, but already the first two statements can be thought of in this way as a "little period" nested into the beginning of the sentence.

@bobwerber2984 Год назад

I'm a three chord country/garage rock songwriter who doesn't know what on earth a fermata is. But you explain this in a way that illuminates the possibilities of even very basic song formats. Thanks so much. Great lesson!

@MrTaykad 3 года назад

I had stumbled upon your old tutorials a while ago. Nice to see you on RU-vid too. :) As for future topics, it’d be nice to see your take on how to communicate various moods in music and the harmonic choices behind them. I remember reading your tutorial on movement by thirds; it’d be nice to learn about other techniques too.

@RyanLeach 3 года назад

Thanks Taylan, glad you liked the old tutorials and I appreciate the suggestions!

@xeztan Год назад

Blinding lights by The Weeknd is the first example that comes to mind with this format of melody, crazy when music theory clicks in that way. Makes you feel empowered.

@anatomicallymodernhuman5175 2 года назад

RU-vid kept pushing this vid at me until I watched it, and I'm so glad it did. I had composition classes in college and studied privately later. No one ever taught me the period-sentence distinction. It's more a design principle than a formula. Formulas are like cheat codes. This is more of a strategy. Super helpful.

@MrDavidSLewis 2 года назад

These videos are killer, Ryan. You manage to put a lot in here without over-explaining, so it really feels as though you're fostering creativity for those watching, as opposed to telling us "how to do it properly." Thanks, and please keep it up.

@Flewti2 8 месяцев назад

What is "over-explaining"? Shortcuts in the knowledge universe do not always effectively work for clarity's sake.

@kenneth1767 2 года назад

I always appreciate when content creators give references of where they've researched, so that one can also do ones own research. You can do any videos on Form and I'll be interested.

@detlefkrystofiak3838 2 года назад

I watched both videos on period form and sentence form. For me, these are really very interesting approaches that no one has ever conveyed to me in this form in such an understandable way. Now it's up to me to try out these different approaches in practice in my compositional attempts. So it only remains for me to thank you for your effort, also in the other contributions on RU-vid. It's really nice to meet people like you who get it really teach you something. So thanks again!!!

@brandoncooke6564 2 года назад

I just stumbled across your channel, and you are an incredibly gifted teacher. My sister has this same skill set (though applied in conjunction with sports and coaching) where you really understand fundamentals of a certain subject and are really good in explaining those fundamentals in a way that a wide range of people, from beginners to professional musicians, can grasp what you are describing that makes it almost seem so silly that we didn't quite understand it so simply before. Thank you so much for this! This topic specifically is something I have really been struggling with in terms of melody and sound phrasing. There is a reason that popular music is popular, and as melody really refers to the vocals in pop music, this is the piece that I really have trouble with - kind of "bringing things home", or applying a pattern especially in a chorus that makes a song "easy" to listen to, but not necessarily boring or overly repetitive. Thanks again. Subbed.

@Yonikaii 2 года назад

This type of content is some of the best (if not the best) I've seen in the past years, hands down. Really useful material for a self-taught "composer"! Extremely useful approach! I'll definitely be looking more into harmony stuff like more on cadences and sequences mentioned at 12:20 or stuff like that to add color to works! Really really like this content and definitely I'll be sticking around for a while!

@tedmorgan7037 2 года назад

Hi, I'm a new subscriber and I am so glad I found you. You lay out your topics in a way that even a novice (like myself) at classical composition can understand. You are an excellent teacher. Very rare. Thanks for tutorials!

@scrummyvision 2 года назад

instant subscribe. my music theory understanding is enough to get what you're doing but would never be able to think of on my own. can't wait to watch more and get to the next level!

@mrCetus 2 года назад

I really enjoyed this video and will be trying some of it right away. I too can come up with 8 bars that I like but sometimes get stuck with it getting boring and as you said "not going anywhere". Your explanation on these two forms was really enlightening.

@ShadokoComposer 2 года назад

This youtube channel is a real gem for composers. Thank you very much for your videos. I have learn a lot with period and sentence form, I still wonder how you deal with this melody structure in regard of the main structure of a track. Is there any relationship between these structures or the track structure depends of the musical piece you want to write ?

@whatchrisdoinmusic Год назад

Absolutely love this topic and would love more videos on this! So interesting to me.

@ryanchain9746 2 года назад

bruh I just realised all my best and most catchy songs follow either the sentence form or period form. yeah Im subscribing

@3clrdsqrs 2 года назад

Wonderfully presented material. Thank you!

@av65 Год назад

Thank you so much for this video, Ryan Leach. This is so powerful!

@davelanciani-dimaensionx 7 месяцев назад

This really simplifies things. Arrangement of notes is just as important as the notes themselves (or perhaps more important?). Thanks for this explanation.

@IfWhatYes 2 года назад

This is the video that finally filled the last bit of knowledge I needed to understand this. Thank you for the tutorial

@CarlineFrancois Год назад

Thank you for this video on sentence form composing. I like this form, because it does help to move the music forward and gives you ability to write a new phrase. I also like the cadence at the end. Sometimes I let the music linger (in the mixing session) at the end or let come to a soft stop. Awesome! 🎶🎵🎶💕

@ili626 2 года назад

i think i tend to do this when casually improvising

@joshvanv5281 2 года назад

I’ve learned so much about music theory from just this one video. Definitely subscribing. I wanna see more

@mr88cet 7 месяцев назад

Really-excellent illustrations! Thanks, Ryan.

@johnmac8084 2 года назад

Great presentation, no waffle, thanks

@midasthehighest Год назад

Amazing work. Thank your for this!

@jimkangas4176 11 месяцев назад

Excellent. I'm a jazz guitar player exploring solo and the form is an important part of this for me for improv. I'd like to hear more about styles and which forms they gravitate toward (especially jazz). This makes so much sense now - thanks.

@lawrencetaylor4101 Год назад

I'm too much of a Newbie to compose, but this is great for understanding what's going on. Merci beaucoup.

@rebeccaleek3852 6 месяцев назад

Absolutely fascinating. Checking out Caplin's book, too. Thank you, Ryan!

@tracker87 2 года назад

thank you so much for all the information you are putting up. Changed my life for ever. Thank you. Grateful.

@davidhepworthmusic 2 года назад

Your explanation is so much clearer than those I've found thus far in theory textbooks. I'm feeling that excitement you mentioned of understanding and new possibilities. Thanks for sharing

@RyanLeach 2 года назад

That's awesome, thanks

@correametal Год назад

This is such an excellent video! Now I have another approach I can try to write better melodies and solos. Thank you so much, you are great Ryan!

@nanob0zo 2 года назад

First time to this channel. Love it. Subbed!

@GabrielBacon 4 месяца назад

You’re a great teacher & your music is on point

@turtletracks7657 Год назад

Awesome description and analysis!

@Q24G 2 года назад

Thank you thank you thank you! I was stuck for a long time and this video was exactly what I needed

@Daniel-lc6ol 7 месяцев назад

thank you so much for this lesson

@OnkelPanter Год назад

Hey, Ryan! I just recently found your channel and I'm finding it a godsend of easily digestible, concise lessons and presentations on compositional ideas. Thank you! I've particularly enjoyed your videos regarding period and sentence forms for creating melodies. I was wondering if you'd consider making a video about how to think when creating melodies where the basic motives are longer than 2 bars, and also when the structure doesn't conform to the standard 8-bar structure, like 6, 7, 9 or 12 bars, for example.

@goldbond1034 2 года назад

This is great, I do all this subconsciously already!!

@raulbondarev1160 11 месяцев назад

Ryan, you are awesome. Thank you!!

@ercumentturkses6041 Год назад

Mr. Leach, it gave me a very inspiring impulse for my stuck composition. Trying to work on it by benefitting from both period and sentence forms. Thank you for your efforts! Greetings from Turkey!

@christopherheckman7957 2 года назад

The sentence form reminds me of the 12-bar blues progression, where the last eight bars (5-12) have been compressed into four bars.

@RyanLeach 2 года назад

That's a great observation, I really like that!

@bret6484 2 года назад

I even heard a quote from WC Handy, a very early blues musician, that said the same thing, and they intentionally played blues in 12 bars instead of 16 so they wouldn't have to repeat themselves so much.

@ShaharHarshuv 2 года назад

Amazing! Greatly explained and very easy to follow and apply. Will be thinking about that next time I write.

@misslillysdaddy 2 года назад

Very good explanation. Looking forward to trying this with guitar.

@ontrada 7 месяцев назад

Fantastic video. I would love to see more videos on expanding the sentence form and going ape in the continuation sections. Thanks!

@vj7248 2 года назад

I understood the basic idea for periods, but like you said i was feeling stuck. Thanks for breaking down the sentence form.

@gavinleepermusic Год назад

Thanks for this one, Ryan!

@RafikCezanneTV Год назад

Excellent tutorial. Thank you~!

@nanaandbump. Год назад

Cool stuff, very good job explaining things! Thanks for the vid

@baloothedrummer 2 года назад

Yessss!!!!! I Also love musical forms i think your vídeo is súper clear and interesting, i loved it

@andrewkratz226 2 года назад

Great knowledge in a well done video- thanks for sharing

@thirdjaruda4202 2 года назад

Exactly my problem right now! I'm stuck, but this gave me a some ideas! Definitely will watch more of your videos and you got a new subscriber!

@dagmarintreble Год назад

Thank you for your really interesting videos, that are easy to follow even for a composition beginner :) I really enjoy it!

@musicjst 3 года назад

Such a wonderful simple explanation, I'd heard of both of these forms but never quite understood till now. Thanks!

@RyanLeach 3 года назад

Great to hear! Next in this series will be some more detail on how they compare.

@balbino4 11 месяцев назад

Very very very very good! Thank you very much!

@kirkraab9495 Год назад

Excellent content. Subscribed.

@danielhornbeck6588 Год назад

Very well done, super helpful

@JanPanCygan 2 года назад

Super, thank you

@DarthTingleBinks Год назад

As someone who has taken music theory 1 and 2 (and no further, because the program was removed the university I was supposed to transfer to), this was a good reminder of the cadences. I already knew what they were and how to do them, but it's a still a good reminder. However, I've always felt that deceptive cadences are not only much more tonally interesting than authentic cadences, perfect or imperfect, but they feel more resolved as well. But I guess that's just me. Edit: That is, the most common deceptive cadence, by using a first inversion vi chord, I find more resolved than authentic cadences.

@sandrofischer3959 Год назад

super cool video, you are really helping me out thank you so much

@Ocidad 2 года назад

you are a great teacher

@lizziesmusicmaking 7 месяцев назад

I just took this video and the one on period form, and wrote an 8 bar section of each starting with the same first two bars. Interesting to compare and contrast the forms. Thank you. I think this will help me understand what I'm doing better.

@maxjohn6012 Год назад

This was extremely useful, and very well presented - thank you! I came across this concept a few months ago in another video, but it was so badly explained that it turned me off. I'm very pleased I'd seen some of your other videos and was confident that you'd explain it clearly, or I might have missed it all together!

@user-uu5xf5xc2b Год назад

i also get excited over musical forms! 😊

@davidgoode7416 9 месяцев назад

Thanks for the great insight

@robbiedaug 2 года назад

Thanks. Very helpful

@kappabravomusic2101 10 месяцев назад

Very interesting and informative. Thanks again!🎉

@aaronaragon7838 Год назад

Wow. I learned a ton in just 15 minutes...thank you.

@valerideldjezu5032 Год назад

Excellent thanks

@billyvitale8994 2 года назад

This and your period video are extremely insightful and for me clarify much. Thank you. You asked for feedback on other topics to cover... what comes to mind is more about how one may use harmony and modes as key reference points to use in creating melodies using these 2 forms. Also now that the basics are provided.. can you show how you can do some of the things you mention.. expanding, shortening..how can you perhaps make something just as functional using a different number of Bars 10.12 or maybe even an odd number?.. (just for starters :-)) Thanks again.

@mavaction 2 года назад

Mendelssohn Octet starts like this... exactly fitting your description.

@Thepeopleofsyria 4 месяца назад

This is an extra super fantastic lesson , to help every musition to become a powerful composer, for seens in movies , TV and computer games.

@urd4651 2 года назад

wow that's really helpful. thank you

@TheBoglodite Год назад

This was super helpful! Please make more videos on melody!

@RyanLeach Год назад

One coming on Wednesday this week!

@danielbrandt9072 2 года назад

Super interesting! And you are a good pedagogue.

@rigbyb Год назад

Great video, thank you.

@jammusique 2 года назад

Great stuff

@paradoxinmotion 2 года назад

this is great

@KandMe1 9 месяцев назад

I got a lot from this. Thank you.

@insightfulgarbage Год назад

Nice vid, many of the things you explain (like cadence being like punctuation) are applicable to other aspects of music which is very interesting.

@danielharris9403 2 года назад

That's the BLUES mannn!

@HeavenestStCyr Год назад

6:36 Is a great visual to help one understand the difference between the two.

@winterrain870 Год назад

Yes continue the form.

@jitterjive4711 2 года назад

Hi Ryan, I don't play piano or classical music. I play guitar. That being said, I love music theory and try to apply the things that I learn along the way to improve my playing. Your lesson on the sentence form has just opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at songwriting. Subscribing to your channel is a no-brainer. I look forward to watching more of you instruction. Thank you. - Cheers!

@darkopesevski9829 2 года назад

Dear Ryan, I love the video! Do you have another videos where you go note for note analysis? -for example the note choice in the left hand in the second bar of G7, why the third is out etc. Also the voice leading, and how it connects to the other chords. Thank you very much, I am learning so much from your videos!

@RyanLeach 2 года назад

Hey Darko, interesting question. You might like some of the stuff on my second channel where I go into much longer analysis and discussion, especially going through thought process as I'm writing. ru-vid.com/show-UCxOWcx_NSZ4Hd6KaDmzphSA

@ChrisZemdegs Месяц назад

Thanks very much

@franciscoaragao9672 2 года назад

Muito bem. Obrigado.

@Jvaldes609 2 года назад

Well this was helpful.

@roman_volkov23 Год назад

Very good videos man :)

@NoahNCopeland 2 года назад

Cool cool! I was taught Sentence form like this, Idea A, Idea A variation, Fragment, Fragment, Cadence Thinking of the "continuation" as a two fragments, can be helpful. That section often has a truncated version of the main idea. Imperial March is a good example. But obviously this is not always the cause.

@moo639 10 месяцев назад

A very basic form that explains both the limerick at one extreme and the opening of Beethoven's Fifth at the other.

@fazelmorowat851 6 месяцев назад

you are awesome Ryan

@andrewolivetreemixing 2 года назад

I know it's not really the same, but this kinda feels good in the way that AABA stuff feels good

@zlodr9369 Год назад

Как хорошо ютуб мне выдал ваш канал, сразу подписался) Очень интересно рассказываете и показываете

@jonesy5185 Год назад

Very interesting video. It does open doors. Love more of this Ryan

@MrRelax3737 2 года назад

Ryan, I just found your channel. Y O U are an E X C E L L E N T teacher and composer. Top notch !! Thanks for all of the useable composition tips. You are appreciated! doug gemmell in LV

@RyanLeach 2 года назад

Awesome, thank you!