Next Note Melodic Invention Technique

A method for improvising melody "Next Note Melodic Invention Method" (or "One note at a time")

• No specific tonality in a melodic sentence other than the preceding note.
• What note do you hear - it should come next.

One might dismiss this as a very basic approach to melodic construction, but this simplicity is the key to its ability to produce unique melodies. Melodies that are likely to be unique to the player rather than melodies derived from a common scale or pattern. Each melodic line is inherently organic rather than derived! The player is playing melodies based on their own language.. their own instant assessment of what note should come next... not intrinsically based on a theoretical formula.. (this is not to say that the melodies will necessarily be atonal, or nonsensical, on the contrary! Should the player have a grasp of the notes on their instrument might not the melodies composed using this method have a more natural speaking quality; the melodic voice of the player as opposed to the more robotic, genre and pattern based melodic lines one is most often subjected to in most improvised solos?

A player versed in, for example, the blues idiom, who, in his head, instinctively hears blues phrases, will potentially, or naturally, if using this 'next note melodic invention method' tend to choose notes as part of their melodic invention based on the players understanding, or interpretation, of the blues language.

The resultant invented melodies, one might expect, could well sound idiomatic of, in this example, the blues genre.

What use then is this method, one might ask, for a player whose chosen language, or whose training and ear, is versed in the blues or any other genre, or combination of genres?

1. By employing the 'next note melodic invention method' would not the player's intention shift toward consciously inventing melodic structures that are part of their current musical language?

2. Even if the resulting melodies come across as genre specific, is there not great potential that these melodies will be influenced more so by the player's musical language, an exploration of the player's language, as opposed to a going through the motions genre specific melody by rote?

3. By consciously constructing melodies based on one's own musical language, will it not lead to a player pursuing the development of their own language further?

4. Will employing the method give the player an opportunity to play melodies that are more interesting for both the player and the audience as opposed to generic repetition?

5. "So what" if it still sounds like the blues!

6. Let's not get too bogged down in how this technique may or may not be useful to a 'genre' player as the whole point of the approach is to encourage the construction of melodies that are unique, or that are at least a unique construct of the player's developing language.

Relative Pitch

As a soloist on a single note instrument you generally only play one note at a time. So excellent relative pitch allows you to find that next note regardless of the underlying harmony (if any).  

So could we get away with suggesting that an improviser armed only with excellent relative pitch is truly on the path of being able to play melodies using their own voice or language? Have we demystified the process of a player having the ability to play using their own unique voice? i.e. all it takes is a rudimentary grasp of playing sound on an instrument, relative pitch and the conscious decision of the player to play the notes they hear next! (Let's leave perfect pitch out of this for the moment. Suffice to say that perfect pitch would seem ideal though from talking to people with perfect pitch there are pro's and cons)

Conclusion

"Next Note Melodic Invention Technique" might be all that a single note instrumentalist requires to free themselves from genre playing allowing one to authoritively forge ahead creating one's own unique melodic language or improvisational style.

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