Teach 1 Tuesday
Teach 1 Tuesday
Unveiling the Magic of Counter Melodies: The Alchemy of Musical Enrichment
Ever wondered how a simple melody can transform into a captivating masterpiece that resonates with your soul? Let's embark on an auditory journey as I peel back the layers of music to reveal the intricate dance of counter melodies. We're talking about those hidden threads in the tapestry of sound that can take a tune from catchy to a hauntingly beautiful composition. I'm excited to share my personal insights and discoveries on this topic, especially as I weave my own musical narratives in the upcoming 'Kingdom Radio' project, set to enchant your ears this June.
This week, we're spotlighting the wizards of counterpoint - musicians and vocalists who've mastered this art, turning their songs into rich, multi-dimensional experiences. Listen closely as I dissect the works of Robert Glasper, Kenyon Dixon, and Alex Isley, and expose the raw beauty of their musical arrangements. By the time we reach the crescendo of this episode, you'll grasp the significance of a well-crafted counter melody and perhaps find the inspiration to infuse your own music with this potent element that keeps listeners yearning for more. Join me, and let's unravel the melodies that will keep your audience spellbound.
The Toolkit for musicianship mastery: http://bit.ly/3k5v9Vi
Youtube Channel: https://youtube.com/@thetonikingexperience7645
Rare Keys Production- https://rarekeysproduction.com
Toni King link: http://www.linktr.ee/toni.king
The Toni King Experience
Welcome back to another great episode family of Teach One Tuesday. We're going to get into a great subject today. That I think is really important, but before we do that, let's get into that theme family. All right, all right, welcome back, man. Welcome back to another great episode. Welcome everybody. Uh, let's get into this man.
Speaker 1:Um, before I get into my subject, I'm just going to run down some links for you guys. For you to go check out my class, the toolkit for musicianship mastery. You can also find this uh class on udemy, but there there's a link there to this class calling all my musicians laying out the things that you need to be a professional musician, the things you need to hone in on. It's very, very important as you go along in your journey. Next, my YouTube channel the Tony King Experience. Go there, like and subscribe. Learn something new that would change your life forever, all right? Well, you're listening to the podcast. Do me a favor, go and tell other people about this great podcast. We are helping artists, vocalists and creatives achieve their goals. Next, rare Keys Production, my business. If you want consultation, if you need production work done, mixing and mastering, reach out to us. Last but not least, if you want to learn more about me. There's a link for you. If you want to learn more about me and who I am, please go and check those things out.
Speaker 1:All right, let's get into our subject for today. What I want to talk about today is counter melody. Counter melody and I'm talking about this as it pertains to a song I'm not really talking about uh, it doesn't. It does apply to compositions as well, but I want to talk about songs today because I'm I am um giving tips and techniques as I am on my uh journey, creating my uh next project, kingdom radio, that will be dropping in june of this year. I'm very excited about that, but, as I'm on my journey, I want to share what I know and what I have learned and what I'm still learning, because I'm still learning great things. All right, so, yes, I want to talk about counter melody.
Speaker 1:There are some great artists out there that I want you to go and listen to. As far as counter melody is concerned, whether it's a synth or some type of sound, or whether it's being played on the keys some type of counter melody, or there are counter melodies. As far as vocals is concerned, two artists that come to mind right off the bat is Robert Glasper. You see, I would tell you to go listen to him because he's a musician, he has understanding. It's not just computers and plugins and stuff like that, but he has an understanding of music, which is very important. I know that today we have so much plugins we got stuff that could do stuff for you automatically, but you need to have some level of understanding, some foundation. Go listen to robert glasper, go listen to his black radio stuff. You can even go further back. Go listen, listen to his ensemble stuff, his jazz stuff. Please go listen to his music and listen for the main melody and listen for the counter melodies. Another person that I want you to listen to, as far as whether it's the instrument playing the counter melody or whether it's vocal, kenyon Dixon is another great artist that I want you to go listen to. Um, that creates some amazing, amazing vocal feelings and harmonies and all that kind of great, uh, amazing stuff. Another artist I want you to to go listen to is alex eisley. Another great, amazing artist does some amazing vocal arrangements. There's other, there's kind of melodies that are happening in the music as far as the instruments are concerned as well. But I want you to go listen to these artists, because it's very important.
Speaker 1:Now let me answer the question what's? Why is it so important to have a counter melody? Well, it keeps the interest of the listener, and that's really what we want to accomplish when we are creating our music. We want to create something that is so, um, alluring, and something that that really keeps the attention of people that listen to your music. That's really what the goal is. Also the message also. Uh, first, for me it's a message, but after that, to keep their attention, and this is one of the ways that you can do it. So, uh, also, a counter melody is is not the main melody, but it's something that is something that can be played at the same time, but it has a different personality, rhythmically, dynamically, it can be played in a different octave.
Speaker 1:All right, these are different, these are different ways that you can differentiate between the main melody and the counter melody, and so I really I'll direct you to to go listen to some classical music. This happens, and in orchestral music, this happens all the time. There are all kinds of different counter melodies that are going on, and so, uh, I would encourage you to go and expand your ear. Don't listen to the same stuff over and over again. Rap is great, you know, that's, that's, that's cool, um, but go listen to some other stuff. Go listen to you know three genres. I'll give you um, gospel, um, country music, definitely, because country is is written so well. Yeah, country, uh, uh, classical music, you know orchestral music. Go listen to these genres, uh, and these different styles of music, and you'll really begin to hear, obviously, the main melody and then you'll begin to pick out the counter melodies and the melodies that are around the main melody.
Speaker 1:And this is something that I make sure I have in my music, because I think, first of all, I just love to create new ideas and love to create surprises. Now, I do have a musical foundation, all right, I do have a musical foundation, but if you don't have that, fear not. Fear not, because what you can do is contact a musician, someone who has a real Well, if you are a vocalist, you are a musician. Contact someone who is an instrumentalist and who has more understanding, at least some level of understanding as it pertains to theory, all right, because really, I don't care how many plugins you buy, okay, okay, how many tricks and all that. It still comes back to having a foundation and knowing what fits where.
Speaker 1:I know today, in our fast-paced world, we just want to get straight to the hits, and there are people who will sell a lot of plugins based on this concept, and they know that people don't want to take the time to learn, so they just give you a plugin with a bunch of chords and all this kind of stuff. You can just throw it in there and boom, there it is, but you still it still has to match. Okay, it still has to match, and so, um, that's very, very important. So I encourage you to expand your mind, listen to different genres, look for the main melody and for songs that should be fairly easy, and look for the counter melody, melodies that are around it. All right, listen to where it's being played, the rhythm of the dynamics, all that, and I think that you'll be able to pick out what is that counter melody, using the main melodies played first, especially orchestral music, the melody is played first and then there may. Then then the counter, counter melody will come in. So I think this is very, very important. Also, do me a favor, family, go and check out an episode where I give even more information on this subject counter melody. Go to my youtube channel, the tony king experience, um, and and listen for even more information on this subject.
Speaker 1:All right, I want to thank you so much for checking this out. I hope you're having a wonderful day. Before I do that, though, before I do that, let me give you these links one more time. All right, the Toolkit for Musicianship Mastery my class, my YouTube channel, the Tony King Experience. Go and like and subscribe. All right, the Teach One Podcast, which you're listening to, but go tell others about this great podcast. My Business, the Rare Keys Production and Music School. We are here to serve you, creatives, musicians. All right, and if you want to learn more about me, there's a link for you. If you want to learn more about me and who I am, all right. So, again, I want to thank you so much for checking this out. I hope you're having a wonderful day. If you're not having a wonderful day, you can change that by your mindset. Thanks so much.