I try to write folk music but I hate all the melodies that come out when I sing :(

i try to write folk music but I hate all the melodies that come out when I sing :(
what do?

an hero

keep writing songs until you're able to come up with melodies that you don't hate.

Play piano/keyboard. It's easier to write on than guitar.

Stop trying to sing them and just try and hear them in your head.

All you have to do is keep thinking about melodies and eventually you'll find one worth singing. It's like how your mind constantly wanders all day about meaningless shit until you get stuck on an idea interesting enough to think about.

Stop trying, literally all good musicians let stuff come out without going out of your way to write a song. Like Xasthur for example wrote (Who cares about Nocturnal Poisoning) stuff in the middle of the night after waking up because something came to him.
This too.

Ask Rato: No Pic edition

0-4: Yes, 5-9: No

And Roll a Dubs: Rato will fucking kill you in your sleep for asking that.

And as a song I was writing is left undone
I don't know why I spend my time
Writing songs I can't believe
With words that tear and strain to rhyme.

>Stop trying, literally all good musicians let stuff come out without going out of your way to write a song. Like Xasthur for example wrote (Who cares about Nocturnal Poisoning) stuff in the middle of the night after waking up because something came to him.

this is bullshit advice and is the exact kind of thing an artist wants you to believe. that their greatest work "just came to them"
their greatest work is what they spend the most time poring over trouble shooting and revising.

what would you know about being a good musician

I know, some people are just like that. Take that bait. Xasthur's great though, and also your brain works more in the middle of the night.
Can confirm.

can confirm what? let's hear some of your stuff

Nah, I meant that I wouldn't know. Jus' a meem bro. I'm into Black and Death metal anyways you wouldn't dig it.

ah yes, which is why you ended up on a thread about folk music

We're just talking about melodies here, you can't just "pore" over a melody and make it better, plenty of musicians will agree that it's one of the more intangible aspects of making music.

Obviously it's gonna be different for everyone, but I think just suggesting to not try too hard to get it right is fair advice. Believe me, plenty of musicians will take any opportunity to brag about how much work they put into something, but it's just true that a lot of the best things come on a whim. Paul McCartney literally came up with the melody for Yesterday in his sleep.

pleb advice honestly.
guitar is the most beautiful instrument

Stop trying, your species is too retarded now. #folkmelodies

My melodies used to suck more until i realized my lyrics weren't meaningful. Write meaningful lyrics. Then sing the emotion that matches your lyrics. Good luck

melodic minor scale

Learn basic music theory.

>Figure out the key of your song.
>Figure out the scale of that key.
>Pick any one tone in that scale and sing it on top of whichever chord you want to start singing over.
>Focus on that one chord. If you didn't like that chord tone you just sang, then choose another one.
>Once you find the chord tone that you like, move up or down the scale. You can also use the chord tones in the triad of the key to create your melody. The same principle applies: pick one and move up or down.

There's a principle in music theory commonly described as "tension and release". This helps a lot when creating melody. What creates "tension" is when you play a chord tone that sits well on top of whichever chord you're playing. Often, these are the chord tones in the triad of the chord. To create a feeling of "release", you can play/sing those chord tones in the triad after creating tension.

Example:
>Key is F major.
>F scale is F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F
>F chord tones are F-A-C-F
>If the first chord in the song is F and the next chord is C (this is common), then to create tension, play any notes in the F scale over the F chord that aren't the chord tones, and to create release, land on any of the chord tones of the C scale when the C chord comes.
>The C scale is C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
>The C chord tones are C-E-G-C

So in that context, here's one melody:
>Play the F chord first.
>Sing A-Bb-C-Bb
>Play the C chord next.
>Sing C.

There are tons of possibilities, but experimenting actually becomes pretty quick when you're doing it in real time. You'll know what you like and don't like.

shit I fucked up on explaining the "creating tension" part. You play notes that ***AREN'T*** the chord tones to create tension.

so, to clarify, creating tension would be playing a note that ISNT in the triad, and then creating resolution would be playing a note that is?

also could you explain what a triad is?

Listen to traditional folk. The fact that writing good songs is hard is why there is a tradition in the first place.

Yes.

A triad is a group of 3 notes that "spell out" a chord. Depending on the type of chord (major, minor, sus, 7, maj7, diminished, etc.), the triad is built with a certain amount of steps in between the 3 notes. That's why you can use the same fingering for an F barre-chord on the guitar as a G barre-chord.

Actually, forget that wall of text above. Now I remember when I first started writing songs on the guitar. I found it was quicker to just:
>Play a chord
>Single out one note in that chord
>Sing that one note while playing the chord
>Decide whether you want to use that note as the beginning of your melody, or try another one
>Use trial-and-error for every note after this first note

Learning theory still helps, but it's difficult to understand it if you don't know the basics and the terminology first. Besides, this is folk we're talking about, not jazz or classical. All you need for folk melodies is really just your ear.

sing improvisationally and record everything

this

I'd take that advice as don't force it. Sure you have to try to write a good song, but sometimes its just not there. Take a break, come back to it in a few day/weeks.

write a chords-only song first, then figure out a sick melody after. if improvizing a melody by singing is too hard, take vocal lessons, and if you cant do that try improvving a melody on piano.