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sevenways
New Here
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Dear guys,
I would like to compose melodic-death-metal like Kalmah, Children of Bodom, Dark Tranquillity...etc.
When I study their tabs with Guitar-Pro software, I see they use very complex melodic riffs in composition. I think, they use chord progressions in most of chorus and aggressive riffs in other part.
So....
1. Please advice me how can I write complex melodic death metal. I'm not classically trained musician. Should I need to know classical music for melodic death metal writing?
2. I want "secrets to writing killer metal" book. But I can't find it anywhere yet. So plese recommend me some books that help in Metal songwriting. Should I buy "Total Rock Guitar" book for Metal song writing ?
3. I see "songwriting for dummies" and other songwriting books at amazon. But most of them are for Mainstrem songs and for lyrics. That books can help in metal writing?
4. I also want to write melodic-black-metal like Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. But when I see their tabs, they don't use any scales and most of their notes are out of scales and chords, IMO. (please correct me if i wrong, i'm just a beginner and i say what i think :P) Their melody are dissonant but still melodic. So can I combine both Consonance and Dissonance sound in same melodic part? (is there any unique scale for dissonance?)
5. I find melody writing techniques in some websites...such as... "one melody phrase always end at home note", "when we want to continue a melody, we have to end with dominant of a scale"... so is that essencial theory in melody writing? Do I have to know that kindda techniques ?
Please explain me as a beginner 
Thanks,
sevenways
(Edited by sevenways at 2:53 am on Sep. 24, 2006)
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Total Posts: 7 | Joined Sep. 2006 | Posted on: 2:41 am on Sep. 24, 2006 | IP
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SantoG3
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The keyword here is "melodic" hehe. Well, I think you need two things:
1. Getting the technique. Bands like Children of Bodom sound really hard to play so probably you´d figured out that you have to work on technique really hard, so get Speed mechanics.
2. I think the best book for you on what you want would be Metal Lead 2. The major part of the book deals with "melodic" concepts as you like: modes, classical cadences, chromaticism, neoclassical concepts, harmonic minor, arpeggios, etc, so it´s exactly what you want.
BTW, there´s a point N.3 I would like to discuss... no offense intended, but when someone says I want to play like... how can I sound like... and alike, probably he´s an upper beginner or maybe an early intermediate guitarist who is not to sure what to do with his playing... in that case I would recommend you to start with first things first. Buy the Primer or Metal lead 1, and metal rhythm 1 or 2 first, because the books I mentioned are pretty advanced. With patience, everything, including songwriting will fall into place alone.
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Total Posts: 366 | Joined Sep. 2002 | Posted on: 3:08 pm on Sep. 24, 2006 | IP
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Daniel
Member
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An other beginner question:
"How can I write complex melodic death metal?"
Start with simple death metal, and as the years go, you will compose better and better songs.
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Total Posts: 145 | Joined Dec. 2005 | Posted on: 4:45 pm on Sep. 24, 2006 | IP
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sevenways
New Here
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Many thanks for ur reply
yeh...I'm just a beginner in metal theory and also beginner in guitar playing.
I havn't any books for rock/metal guitar techniques but My goal is not to be a great guitarist. I think, I have to know metal playing techniques and At least I wanna be an upper-intermediate level guitarist in Metal genre
So plz advice me;
1 "Total rock" (or) "metal- lead1+rhythm1", which one should I choose for beginner metal guitarist/songwriter ?
2. Do they have some basic stuffs like left/right position, alternate tuning drop D or somethin like that...and do I need some guitar playing experienced before playing those books ?
3. hehe...this is really beginner question.....i think... I see some web they say like Technical metal, technical death metal, technical riffs...so what is the meaning of "Technical" in metal genre ?
hehe...sorry for my dumb questions...plz advice me if u hav time :D
(Edited by sevenways at 11:31 pm on Sep. 24, 2006)
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Total Posts: 7 | Joined Sep. 2006 | Posted on: 11:28 pm on Sep. 24, 2006 | IP
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Daniel
Member
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I would recommend Metal Lead Primer, or ML1 and R1. These are quite technical books, I think. If not, Santo will kick our ass.
Technical means: "I have no thoughts on music, I don't know what is melody, but look, my hands goes soooooo fast..." Well done, boy...
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Total Posts: 145 | Joined Dec. 2005 | Posted on: 8:36 am on Sep. 25, 2006 | IP
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SantoG3
Advanced Member
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Yeah I´ll kick you both! LOL. No, I just think it´s better for anyone to start from the beginning, so it makes sense to start with primers or volume 1s and stuff.
About "technical Metal" when I was starting, I looked on tablature books a lot of fancy names on metal compositions: Amadd9#11 and "mixolydian" or "phrigian"escales and thought: wow this guys really know theory!, what a complex composition, how can I do that, etc... DO WHAT! they don´t have a freaking clues about what they´re doing. I mean some guitarist like Frank Gambale or Steve Lukather knows, but the rest of them just use their ears.
So when I read about "black metal complex composition" it´s really funny because the guys of Mayhem for instance just strum octaves and single note passages tremolo-wise like 100 times in a song, scream like fat girls with throat cancer and justify their lack of musicallity with the so called "chaotic" concept, but the music is so simple that you´d be really disapointed about what you think is so "technical" or "complex".
Of course there are bands with symphonic members, opera singers and so on, but the large majority just have big ears.
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Live and let rock!
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Total Posts: 366 | Joined Sep. 2002 | Posted on: 1:18 pm on Sep. 25, 2006 | IP
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sevenways
New Here
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Thanks so much
Now I hav decided to buy ML1 and MR1.
but I would like to know the differences between ML1 and Primer. Which one should I Choose?
and for composition,
Melodies,
Can I use the notes which is not include in particular scale ???
coz... when I compose black metal with the common scales I know, it doesn't sound like black or evil mood. But I forget about scale and just playing the notes which make evil mood, it sound good .... so can we break the music theories and rules for music composition ???
Chords,
and in Chords... can I combine any notes for some dissonant sounding chord ??? I mean... I play 2 or 3 notes at a time on a keyboard...but I really don't know what chord will happen ....it may be chord or it may not be chord...hehe... ok..can I do like that ???
and I hav read in this forum, Children of Bodom use Circle of Filth all time, so... which book can explain me abt circle of filth and basic essencial theory ???
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Total Posts: 7 | Joined Sep. 2006 | Posted on: 12:29 am on Sep. 26, 2006 | IP
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VitaminG
Advanced Member
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"circle of filth" lol
it's actually circle of fifths. If you google that (circle of fifths), you'll get more information (and diagrams too!)
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Total Posts: 760 | Joined Aug. 2001 | Posted on: 3:17 am on Sep. 26, 2006 | IP
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SantoG3
Advanced Member
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They use the circle of fifths a lot? well who doesn´t?, Sevenways this is going to far I think, remember that when they compose all that songs they were not playing his instruments for a about a year or so, they´re professional players. Why don´t you go with patience, learn some techniques first, and then compose something you like and that´s all?, all this "theory" stuff it´s worthless for now, believe me.
This reminds me something, when someone´s just learning, he wants to learn everything overnight, but when you go to a music school, this is the most common comment after a harmony and theory class: "wow, I don´t know how to incorporate all this stuff in my playing, I always do it by ears"... a really silly thing.
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Live and let rock!
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Total Posts: 366 | Joined Sep. 2002 | Posted on: 3:47 pm on Sep. 26, 2006 | IP
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dukedevil231
New Here
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If you want to see some amazing melodic death metal check out the band wretched. And if you wanna get that really dark evil sound than you wanna look at the harmonic minor and diminished scales. The harmonic minor scale is basically the aeolian(minor) scale with a sharpened 7th. So first things first choose a key. Lets say we chose A. The A minor scale is ABCDEFG. So to get the harmonic minor scale we sharpen the 7th and we get ABCDEF and G#. If you play these notes and constantly return to the A and G# notes then you will get the very evil sound of A harmonic minor. The diminished scale is every 4 notes on the fretboard. learn some diminished and minor arpeggios, work on some alternate picking and legato, put this all together, play what you feel, and you will get some pretty badass riffs/licks, btw speed is nice but emotionless speed loses to soulful slow playing anyday. but if you can play fast with soul(like jason becker) then go for it, if you have any questions about theory, writing, or speed tips just facebook me "karim sultan" and let me know what your asking about......peace and happy playing
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Total Posts: 1 | Joined Jan. 2010 | Posted on: 1:17 am on Jan. 11, 2010 | IP
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Digittydog
Junior Member
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Just want to say:
Yes, all music theory and songwriting books can be related to "death metal" or any other style. Studying music theory and ear training will give you the tools you need.
Troy's books will help.
When you are able to describe what your favorite bands are doing musically, the way a jazz or classical musician would.... And you can physically play the stuff you are describing.... Then with some creativity you should be able to write similar music.
(Edited by Digittydog at 7:03 pm on Jan. 11, 2010)
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Total Posts: 63 | Joined Oct. 2009 | Posted on: 5:00 pm on Jan. 11, 2010 | IP
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tsherkin
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I think you may actually be going in the wrong direction by studying leads first if you're getting into metal.
Personally, I'd recommend getting a grip on the rhythm passages first, because those are what initially give the song its sound and feel. For example, the sort of "galloping rhythms" that a band like Iron Maiden uses all of the time are really emblematic of their style, and has little to do with their soloing. In fact, Adrian Smith frequently said he just strung together fast legato passages for his solos; obviously he's exaggerating a little, but the basic principle for him wasn't very complicated. Dave Murphy, on the other hand, used a lot more theory to give his stuff a separate sound.
With death metal, it's a hyper-aggressive genre. You get a lot of heavy riffs, a lot of fast playing, some very distinctive "vocals" (e.g. usually screamers) and a lot of double-bass action from the drums. That helps build the sound.
You're on the right track, I think; study the way their riffing goes. See what kind of keys they play in and all that, sure. Try replicating some of their riffs yourself. If you can play the riff, then move it around the fretboard a little to see if you can get a slightly different sound, tweak the rhythm a little, that sort of thing.
That's probably the best way; imitate what they do to start, and then learn from what you hear in their methods and start applying it to your own music.
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Total Posts: 8 | Joined Feb. 2010 | Posted on: 11:32 am on Feb. 24, 2010 | IP
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garrybones
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I think this is something new concept of writing songs. Pretty interested.
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Total Posts: 1 | Joined Jan. 2012 | Posted on: 4:35 am on Jan. 19, 2012 | IP
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JaCkMaARTin
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Well,
this is the most common comment after a harmony and theory class: "wow, I don´t know how to incorporate all this stuff in my playing, I always do it by ears"... a really silly thing.
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Total Posts: 5 | Joined Feb. 2012 | Posted on: 11:02 pm on Feb. 9, 2012 | IP
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RickHardcastle
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I kinda feel like melodeath follows more of a poppy format as far as song structure goes (verse-vhorus-verse-chorus-bridge, etc.)
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Total Posts: 1 | Joined Feb. 2012 | Posted on: 6:39 am on Feb. 20, 2012 | IP
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Modern Rock & Metal Guitar BBS
Melodic Metal Writing
