understanding a melody-making strategy:  You can play music better when you know music better, when you understand the melody-making strategies – based on principles of harmony – that we see in...

the patterns of three chords:  When you ignore the upper Bars and look only at lower Circles,* you'll see patterns in the red notes (LOW high high), blue notes (LOW, high, high), and green notes (LOW high high).  All three patterns are the same.  Each is a chord pattern that is formed by the “every other note” spacing (1-3-5, LOW-high-high) of a red chord, or blue chord, or green chord, where each LOW is the chord's 1-note, is called the root (or root note) of that Chord.  All of the Red LOW's – they're special, with a white dot – are “The Home Notes” (the 1-Notes) of The Key that has a “red chord” and “blue chord” and “green chord”.  Playing melodies that feature the notes of chords (red & blue & green & others) is the most important melody-making strategy, and it's the foundation of music theory.    /   * Circles & Bars show chord-notes for Major & Minor.

connecting chord-colors with numbers & letters:  My system of colorizing is designed for the Key of C Major, with all of the white notes (no more, no less) being the scale-notes that usually are featured when playing chords and melodies.  My colorizing uses the same logical connections (between note-letters & note-numbers) that are used in standard music theory.  Everything is the same, with or without colors;  nothing changes.  But using colors can make learning easier-and-better.   /   This diagram shows how one fact – that “each 1-Note is a C” – lets us easily translate my colors (red-blue-green) into standard letters (for chord-notes & chords – 1234567, CEG,FAC,GBD  &  C-F-G) and numbers (for chord-notes 135,461,572  &  chord-symbols  I-IV-V), and to reverse-translate letters & numbers into colors.  By studying the diagram, you can see the logical ways that everything is connected.  You will learn-and-play more skillfully when you learn these connections between colors and letters & numbers.  This page is written with minimal music theory, with only what I think is necessary for you to skillfully play harmonious melodies.  But you may want to learn more, because...

music theory offers many benefits:  Knowing music theory isn't necessary, but it's useful.  Although “without theory” you could play skillfully by using the chord-notes of red and blue and green, I encourage you to learn the logical language of music theory.  Why?  Because "you can play music better when you know music better," when you develop a cognitive-and-functional knowledge of music theory that is cognitive (to understand music) and is functional (to play music).  Playing a colorized keyboard "is an excellent way to improvise melodies" and is an effective way to learn music theory (partly due to its visual structure that is “simple yet significant”) and it offers many valuable benefits (for time-and-life and in other ways).

you can understand music theory:  You shouldn't be worried that basic “theory” will be complex or difficult, because it isn't.  It's just a way to describe musically-logical patterns by using a “language” that musicians understand, that we have found useful for thinking about music and communicating with each other, and for making music.  How can you learn?  The logical organization of Music Theory will help you understand.  My clear-and-thorough explanations for the Key of C Major and A Minor will help you construct a solid foundation with deep understanding of these keys, and then you can “use logical analogy” to develop a deep knowledge of all keys.    /   * In case you're wondering, my unconventional colorizing (with red,blue,green) leads to conventional music theory and mainstream music playing.

learning from your discoveries and my explanations:  Both ways to learn can be effective, in different ways in different situations.  Each provides benefits, and deciding how to optimally combine them can be difficult — during in-person coaching and (even tougher) when teaching with a web-page — but for this page I've made a decision.*  I will try to clearly explain music-making strategies (instead of letting you self-discover them) because you'll have plenty of opportunities-to-discover while you are using the strategies, are exploring the wide range of musical possibilities, are creatively inventing melodies.     {* Why?  Because I think “clearly explaining” is the most time -efficient way to learn, and is the best way for most people. }

a process of internalizing strategies:  An effective way to learn is by alternating times of learning strategies, applying strategies, and playing freely.  During this process you will internalize the strategies, will “make them your own” so they become an intuitive part of your playing.  I think the strategies will be most useful when you're beginning to improvise, but also later.  They're useful whenever you are doing experiments (are trying new ways to play) because your musical strategies can stimulate-and-guide your musical exploring.  Because you can learn strategies in two ways (by your discoveries & my explanations), some of your "learning strategies" will happen while you're "applying strategies and playing freely" so if you ever think “this is too much” while you're reading about strategies below, you can take a break from music or – to continue improving your musical skills – shift from reading (or reading-and-playing) to only-playing for awhile. 

In case you're concerned — because you don't want to learn “unusual music” during my “unusual teaching” that uses a colorized keyboard — maybe these explanations will help you feel more comfortable.

unconventional colorizing ➞ conventional music:  Three paragraphs (one early and two late) explain that my colorizing leads to "conventional music theory and mainstream music playing," that "using a colorized keyboard is an effective way to learn standard music theory," with easy translating of color-terms into standard theory-terms.

my terms and our strategies:  Although my terms — like melodies that are mainly-red & mainly-blue & mainly-green (above) and (below) chord-melodies & scale-melodies & skip-melodies — are not used by other musicians to describe melodies,* we are using the same melody-making strategies when we improvise melodies.  My approach (using a colorized keyboard) is innovative, but the results — using our strategies for making melodies — are traditional, are in the mainstream of music.    /   * In common musical language, my chord-melody is called an arpeggio, and a scale-melody is just a scale.  AFAIK, the concept of a skip-melody isn't used by others, although I think it's useful for analyzing melodies.

[[ == two essential skills, harmony-matching by chord-changing, playing melodies (mainly-red, mainly-blue, mainly-green)

Stage 1 – a general Music-Making Strategy

When using three ways to play (1, 2, 3) the quickest way to reach the ultimate goal – it's playing chord progressions in 3 – is to skip 2 and go directly from 1 to 3.  How?  You can...

learn from your discoveries:  For awhile, do red-1 by playing red melodies that use only red notes;  then do blue-1 with blue melodies using only blue notes,  then green-1 to play green melodies using only green notes.  After you've played each 1 for awhile, in 3 you “alternate the colors” by playing a melody spanning a time of 16 beats;  first play a red melody during 4 slow beats, then a blue melody in 4 beats, and a green melody during 4 beats, and return to a red melody in 4 beats.  Then do it again.   /   You also can do 3 while playing along with a video.  First listen to this video and “hear the progression of chords” when the harmony changes from a red chord to a blue chord, and green chord, and red chord.  After awhile, begin playing harmonious color-melodies (red, blue, green, red) that match the changing chord-color (it's red, then is blue, green, red) so there is musical cooperation between two harmonies, in your melodies and the video's chords.

and...

learn from my examples:  Hopefully your experiences have been helping you learn how to play skillfully during a chord progression, and enjoy the harmonious music you're making.  You probably have been discovering melodies like this "135_468_579_851_" where where each "_" shows that the final note (5_ or 8_ or 9_ or 1_) lasts two beats instead of the one beat used for other notes, to produce a rhythmic structure of four 4-beat bars and a 16-beat phrase. 

Even though each 3-note melody is simple (with one color, as in 1) the overall result is musically complex, producing beautiful music because 3 (with a “changing of chords” during the progression) is inherently more complex than 1 (without any chord changes) or 2.

use repetitions with variations:  The first three mini-melodies (135_,468_,579_) are “the same melody” repeated, just beginning on different notes.  But the different starting points prevent it from being boring, like “135_135_135_” would be.  Or the melodic variation could be a slightly modified rhythm, as in 1355468_5799851_ .  This musical strategy — by repeating a melody (usually with variations, but sometimes with no change) — is common in all types of music.

use neighbor-notes for chord changes:  This is one musically artistic way to produce a smoother melodic flow from one chord to the next chord, for "the old chord" to "the new chord."  e.g. "135_648_975234201_" shows two directional next-neighbor approach to a chord-note of the next color ---- Later you'll see a strategy that is much more common, that is used during a chord progression when the harmony changes from “an old chord” (at the end of one bar) to “a new chord” (that begins the next bar), when the target-note is a chord-note in the new chord.

Stage 2 – specific Melody-Making Strategies

We'll begin with the basics, when you...

use three kinds of melodies:  In a general melody-making strategy you make melodies that are mainly red {or mainly blue, or mainly green} by mixing brief times of chord-melodies (with only red notes) and brief times of scale-melodies (with consecutive white notes, and later by also including black notes), plus occasional brief times of skip-melodies (it's “something else” you play, is “anything else” that isn't a chord-melody or scale-melody).   /   How?  You can learn to use these melody-making tools by learning from your discoveries and my examples.  Because both ways will be effective and fun, I recommend using both, alternating them by doing one for awhile and then the other for awhile, beginning with...

learning from Your Discoveries

two ways to play-and-hear harmony:  You can “hear harmony” in two ways, when there is sequential harmony (during a chord-melody) and/or simultaneous harmony (during a chord).  Therefore you can “play harmony” in two ways.  You can play melodies with red harmony {or blue harmony, or green harmony} while only you are playing (this is easy, is probably the best way to begin) or while you're playing along with a video (this is fun, is a great way to continue).  How?  In three ways to play (1-2-3), before playing 3 (the ultimate goal) it will be easiest if you first...

play melodies with red notes:  Begin playing only-red melodies (1) with chord-melodies that use only red notes.  After awhile, move on to playing mainly-red melodies (2) with mainly chord notes (red) but also some non-chord notes (not red).  How?  Because people can "hear harmony" in two ways, to "play harmony" you can...

    play melodies by yourself:  While you're playing in a variety of ways, in any ways you want – try new ideas so you can listen and learn – play scale-melodies (with only red notes),  then play scale-melodies (with consecutive white notes) that feature red notes,*  then mix chord-melodies with scale-melodies,  then play these two and also add skip-melodies, so you're "playing with the white notes" in all ways.    {* If you want, also play

    play along with videos: 

"play red harmony" with Basically it's best to begin with simplicity and gradually increase the complexity in various ways.  but also by mixing chord-melodies with scale-melodies that have consecutive white notes.  , and then include skip-melodies so you're playing whatever you want, with

1) play only-red.  When you improvise a melody that has only red notes, everything you do will sound good.  But even if you're playing creatively — by moving rightward & leftward (upward & downward in pitch), sometimes skipping red notes, trying different rhythms — while making melodies that are only-red (or only-blue, or only-green), soon this will become boring.  To make your music less boring, you can...

2) play mainly-red by including some non-red notes.  This gives you more options for creatively making melodies that are mainly-red,  then after awhile you shift to mainly-blue,  and then mainly-green.

But no matter how well you play a 2 (with red, or blue, or green), your music will be MUCH more interesting when you...

3) alternate times of mainly-red (for awhile) and mainly-blue (for awhile) and mainly-green (for awhile) during a chord progression.     { you can hear chord progressions in videos }

two ways to play 3:  You can “hear the chord changes” either while you're playing melodies (that are different “colors”) or while you're hearing chords (that are different “colors”).  How?  This is possible because people hear two kinds of harmony — sequential harmony (during melodies) and simultaneous harmony (in chords) — so we hear two kinds of harmony changes.  Therefore you can do 3 {or 2} while only you are playing melodies, or while you're playing along with the chords of a backing track in a youtube video for a chord progression with only major chords (e.g. simple or blues) or — more common, and a little more challenging — also a minor chord (50's or popular or jazz), at a tempo you choose.     { or you can “play along” in other ways, including jam sessions }

This is useful, but isn't necessary.  Why? 

As you'll see in most of the examples below, often the "brief times" are so brief that it's more useful to think of them as melody fragments (instead of full melodies) that are used as building blocks for your melodies, are component parts of your melodies.   And eventually to often not think about them at all.

learning from My Examples

During a red chord, some ways to use this concept of “three melody-types” are to...

play chord-melodies:  Two simple examples are 13553585 and 5315358_ , where "8_" shows that this final note (in the 4-beat bar and 8-beat phrase) lasts two beats instead of the two beats used for other notes.

play scale-melodies:  These include 567898765 and 345654321 and 345432101, and many others.     { more examples }

combine a chord-melody and scale-melody:  1354321_ and 31358765.... where "...." invites you to extend the melody beyond 31358765 by inventing your own ways-to-continue, with experimental exploring that helps you discover some of the many melody-making ways that are possible, to improvise (or compose) many new melodies.  Of course, you also can play continuations with every other melody-example in the page.

combine a chord-melody and skip-melody:  135864201.... includes a chord-melody (1358) plus (6420) that isn't a chord-melody or scale-melody so it's “something else” (it's a skip-melody) to complete this 8-beat phrase;  a brief additional scale-melody (01) begins the next 8-bar phrase with 1, then you can extend the 1.... to invent a 16-beat melody;  or “just keep playing” to improvise a melody with more than 16 beats;  or stop the melody after 9 notes, so it's 135864201___ with a long final 1-note.     { a precise way to define skip-melody }

combine three kinds of melodies:  A few examples, of the MANY possible, are 1354301_ and 1354201_ and 1354021_ (these all have the same beginning, 1354, but different variations of using neighbor-notes in the final 3 notes), and 1356423_ .   /   The first example contains a brief chord-melody (135), scale-melody (543), skip-melody(30), and scale-melody (01).  You can see the “overlap” that occurs whenever you shift from one melody-type to another, in 13543 (with 5 in both), 5430 (with 3), and 301 (with 0).

Above, the melody examples illustrate practical melody-making strategies when you...

emphasize target-notes:  During a melody, some notes – usually chord notes – are "musically emphasized" by using them as target notes, and in other ways.  For example, you can...

end (or begin) on a target-note:  In two common melody-making strategies, a target note can end a phrase or begin a phrase.  Above in the “teaching examples” I've chosen, most phrases end with a chord note that is a target note.  But in one example an 8-beat phrase (135864201....) ends on a neighbor note (0) so the next 8-beat phrase (1....) can begin on a home note (1) that is the target note.  Later you'll see how a common strategy – that uses target notes to begin phrases – can help you produce a smooth flow-of-melody during a chord progression.

use passing notes:  While playing a scale-melody (commonly called a scale)

use neighbor notes: 

play more notes:

For example, a scale  These musically-important notes can be target notes (usually a chord note) , This

use a home note:  Most of my melodies end on the key's home-note, either 1 or 8.

use a target note:  During a melody, some notes – usually chord notes – are "musically emphasized" and they can be used as target notes.  For example, a scale  These musically-important notes can be target notes (usually a chord note) , This is like "use a home-note" but is more general, because a target note can be a home note or (less commonly) a chord note in the chord now being played, or (even less common) another kind of note.  In my 12 examples of 8-beat phrases, I chose 7 to end on a home note (1 or 8), 4 on a chord note (3 or 5);  and 1 on a neighbor note (0) because this is one way to...

use a neighbor note:  A common way / musically artistic way to "use a target note" is to approach this note with a scale-melody (that can be short or long) from either one-note-below or one-note-above.  Each of these is a “near neighbor” of the target note, is a neighbor note.  For example, you can approach 1 from its lower neighbor-note (...01) or its upper neighbor-note (...21);  or use both (as in ...021 or ...201) to form an enclosure.   /     /   In my examples, three other melodies end with a neighboring note preceding a chord note (that's a target note), with ...65 and ...65 and ...23.

[[ use more notes:  iou – this paragraph will be developed tonight, May 11 ---- it's a way to add spice/variety to your melodies with your note-choices and rhythm-choices -- Obviously you can to "fit more notes into a melody" when you play the notes shorter/faster, show by changing an alway-quarter melody into a melody with some eighth notes ---- one note per beat (quarter) to two notes per beat (each lasting 1/2 beat) ---- this also is a way to show 012101-type melodies ---- use examples I've recently composed.]]

use rhythmic variations:  You can experiment with a variety of rhythms so you're combining artistic note-choices and artistic rhythm-choices, with “art” defined as music you enjoy making & hearing.

{ more about melodic rhythms }

invent different melodic variations: 

use other strategies that are described later in the page.

All strategies use musical rhythm, so (to help you understand it) here are some...

terms for timing – rhythm, beats & bars, tempo, and phrase:  The basic unit of rhythm is a beat – you “tap your foot” with each beat – and a bar (aka measure) typically has 4 beats;  but it's 3 beats-per-bar for a waltz.   The “speed” of a song – the tempo of its beats – can be slow or (with a higher rate of beats-per-minute) faster.   /   A musical phrase is defined as "a series of notes that sounds complete, even when played apart from the main song."  My examples above are 8-beat phrases (they're two bars, with each bar having 4 beats), and my examples below are 16-beat phrases.  These short examples are intended to be used for teaching, but in actual real-world music "the main song" would be much longer than 8 beats, or 16 beats, because it would contain many phrases.

  This is a common way to musically emphasize a home-note, and this is one way to produce-and-resolve tension, in an overall strategy of making music with some mystery, but not too much.

And the 1-note can be included (as in 01201 or 21021) in a melody fragment that uses neighbor notes.

scales and scales:  Yes, this term has two meanings.  In this page I'll clarify my meaning with colors:  • a scale is a group of scale-notes (e.g. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7) that can be played in any way;   • a scale is playing a consecutive sequence of scale-notes, as in the full-octave scale of 12345678 or 87654321, and in the mini-scales (of less than an octave) that I define as scale-melodies and use in my melody examples, that are used in most of the music we hear.

It's either a group of scale-notes (e.g. C,D,E,F,G,A,B) that can be played in any way, or (with a more-restrictive meaning)

thinking and not-thinking:  Both can be useful.  Sometimes – especially during slow playing – you'll want to consciously think --- but other times

use thinking strategies to regulate metacognition (quote from ws#mcreg or home#mcreg)

These concepts (for "three kinds of melodies") can be thought of as heuristics that can be useful – especially during slow playing (when you have time to consciously think about options-for-experiments)

You can use these strategic concepts (chord-melody fragments, scale-melody fragments, skip-melody fragments)  The strategies can function as practical heuristics that are defined as useful ways of "helping to learn, guiding in discovery" while you're exploring possibilities with your experimenting, so you can listen & learn, to internalize the melody-making strategies. conscious plus subconscious -- "mental shortcuts that allow people to... make judgments [about which notes to play while making melodies] quickly and efficiently." ---- The strategies can function as practical heuristics that are useful ways of "helping to learn, guiding in discovery," with "mental shortcuts that allow people to... make judgments [about which notes to play while making melodies] quickly and efficiently."

During a scale-melody the non-red notes are called passing notes because they let you musically pass between two chord notes, i.e. between two red notes.     { examples of chord-melodies & scale-melodies & skip-melodies and combinations }

analogy, use strategies to overcome writer's block (https://www.google.com/search?q=improvising+music+analogy+writers+block), especially when you're beginning to improvise (i.e. to compose) because knowing "what can I do?" is helpful when you're wondering "what should I do?" [writer's block] -- slow + faster (both can use intent-plus-flow and conscious-plus-subconscious, although slow tends to favor intent and conscious

whether your playing is flowing freely or you're

block -- If you're ever wondering "what should I play?" when you know "what I can play" because you know a variety of melody-making strategies.

whether you're experiencing the improvisor's equivalent of "writer's block" or

analogy, use strategies to overcome writer's block (https://www.google.com/search?q=improvising+music+analogy+writers+block), especially when you're beginning to improvise (i.e. to compose) because knowing "what can I do?" is helpful when you're wondering "what should I do?" [writer's block] -- slow + faster (both can use intent-plus-flow and conscious-plus-subconscious, although slow tends to favor intent and conscious

[[ iou – Here I'll summarize ideas about in-person coaching and web-page learning plus learning from your discoveries and my explanations.  In this page (and section) I'll focus on explanations by trying to clearly explain useful strategies (by using word descriptions + illustrative example-melodies) and will link to "discovery games" in other pages.  And I'll emphasize your opportunities to do MANY explorations and make many musical discoveries, with wide variety, when you do experiments that are stimulated-and-guided by strategies.  I think this combination — so you'll have explanations (in this page) and discovery games (in other pages) — will be the most time-efficient way for you to learn, and will be the best way for most people. ]]

melodies for goal-directed education:  These melody-making strategies – and others – are illustrated in my example melodies that are intended for teaching, to help you convert abstract ideas (in your thinking) into concrete reality (in your playing);  i.e. I'm not trying to compose “hit songs”, 🙂.   Instead my objective is educational, to show you how melody-making strategies can be used to make mainly-red melodies;  or to make melodies that are mainly-blue or mainly-green.  Each melody is a goal-directed Aesop's Activity that (analogous to an Aesop's Fable) is designed to illustrate a specific strategy you can use to improvise your own melodies.

13553585 and 5315358_

567898765 and 345654321 and 345432101 ---- 1354321_ and 31358765 ---- 135864201 ----

1354301_ and 1354201_ and 1354021_ and 1356423_

home 8, chord 4, neighbor 1

21 21 01

201 201 021

2101

65 65 23

sometimes use simplicity:  An easy way to begin experiencing the wonderful music of chord progressions (in 3) is by playing a simple melody, 135_468_579_851_ .  Even though each 3-note melody is simple (with one color, as in 1) the overall result is musically complex, producing beautiful music because 3 (with a “changing of chords” during the progression) is inherently more complex than 1 (without any chord changes) or 2.

use repetitions with variations:  The first three mini-melodies (135_,468_,579_) are “the same melody” repeated, just beginning on different notes.  But the different starting points prevent it from being boring, like “135_135_135_” would be.  Or the melodic variation could be a slightly modified rhythm, as in 1355468_5799851_ .  This musical strategy — by repeating a melody (usually with variations, but sometimes with no change) — is common in all types of music.

use neighbor-notes for chord changes:  This is one musically artistic way to produce a smoother melodic flow from one chord to the next chord, for "the old chord" to "the new chord."  e.g. "135_648_975234201_" shows two directional next-neighbor approach to a chord-note of the next color ---- Later you'll see a strategy that is much more common, that is used during a chord progression when the harmony changes from “an old chord” (at the end of one bar) to “a new chord” (that begins the next bar), when the target-note is a chord-note in the new chord.

Later you'll see a common strategy (with a target-note on the first beat of a bar -- with each chord being a new phrase, ideally with smooth connection between all phrases during each melody lasting thru all four chord changes in the popular progressions - 50s, common, jazz) that is used to produce a smooth flow-of-melody during a chord progression. 

4 underlined notes taking 2 beats, so each note is 1/2 beat.  This illustrates a general principle, that "to fit more notes into a given time slot, each note must be shorter."

or 54321_ "54301_" or "54021_"

"34201_" or "34021_" or

"45321_"

8-beat plus resolution at start of next 8, with skip melodies -- 135864201_ -- 135875421_ -- 135875401_

use eighth notes

"...975_4321_" or "...975_4301_"

"...975_43201_" or "...975_43021_"

with a short scale-melody.

4321_, 43201_, 432

with underlined notes being 1/2 beat instead of a full beat (they're eighth notes instead of quarter notes)

"1356798_" and "1356778_" show a neighbor-note approach to a home-note. 

"1356758_" and "13567X8_" show a chord-note approach to a home-note.

what should follow this?  maybe...  A) Mystery w 135 examples,   B) begin w simplicity of only-chord, later only-->mainly w link to WPW

  In a simple example, the melody notes in "135468579851" can be rhythmically modified to make “1355468_5799851_” where "_" shows that this final note (in a 4-beat bar) lasts two beats instead of the one beat used for other notes.   /   some analysis and terms:  This variation converts the original rhythm of “3 beats per bar” (135 and 468, ...) into “4 beats per bar” (1355 and 468_ , ...).   And at a longer level of time, you can hear/feel the 16-beat phrase (1355468_5799851_) — with phrase defined as "a series of notes that sounds complete, even when played apart from the main song" — that is four 4-beat bars.  [[maybe cut this -- It contains two rhythmically matching 8-beat bars, but is "moving harmonically" until it ends on the home-chord (red) and home-note (1).]]    

1234567 are scale notes that are all of the white notes (no more, no less) in the "colorized" Key of C --

NEIGHBORS -- as illustrated in brief melody fragments, you can use a lower neighbor-note (01_) or upper neighbor-note (21_), or use both (021_ or 201_) to form an enclosure.  And the 1-note can be included (01201_ or 21021_)

135_648_9752101_" (where 0 is a passing toneor (with "135_648_" abbreviated to "....") "....9752431_" (where the "24" is a skip-melody fragment, i.e. it's "something else" that isn't a chord-melody or scale melody")

10431

135_648_9752101_

135–648–9752101–

9-7-523454321--- (w 8th notes)

also ....9752431_

135_648_975_431_ (w all directional flows) or 135_648_975_401_ with skip-melody (40) and neighbor tone (01)

135_648_9752101" or "....975210120"

97523454321_ or

It contains two rhythmically matching 8-beat bars, but is "moving harmonically" until it ends on the home-chord (red) and home-note (1).

use two kinds of scale-melody:  In the Key of C, a scale-melody can include all consecutive white notes, or all consecutive notes, both white & black.  In a very simple melody, a brief chord-melody (1-3) transitions into a brief scale-melody (3-4-5) to form “1-3-4-5” with only white notes.  Or the melody can become “1-3-4-5b-5” when the scale-melody includes all notes – both 4 (white) and 5b (black) – between 3 and 5.

make rhythmic adjustments:  Because these two melodies have different numbers of notes, making each “sound musically artistic” requires finding (by experimenting) different rhythms for each.  You can play each in a variety of “rhythmically artistic” ways, but you'll find that a way that sounds good for one melody probably won't work well for the other.

[[ iou – For several days I've been wanting to "tie up some loose ends" in later parts of the page, but instead I've been fascinated with questions about the relative benefits of "discovery" and "explanation" because each offers different advantages for a learner.  And while I've been playing the keyboard, I've been trying to construct "discovery activities" with a reasonable difficulty level, to illustrate strategies while giving a reader opportunities for discovery.  And I've just enjoyed making music.  It's fascinating and fun.  Therefore the loose ends (and rough edges) remain, with lots of IOU's.  I'll continue working on them later today, thru Thursday-Friday, and think I'll make fairly rapid progress AFTER making decisions about this question:   As a teacher, this morning (May 9) I'm struggling, trying to "find a balance" between sharing strategies (like "ending on a home-note" and "using neighbor notes" or "ending on a neighbor note, so you can begin on a home-note") -- in this section (and this page as a whole) probably I'll describe strategies and give examples, will put games for "do-it-yourself discovery" in another page, and will just share strategies here, illustrated with examples; although a reader will have fewer discoveries-of-principles now, they then can begin using the strategies to explore, with many opportunities to USE the principles for making a wide variety of melodies.]]

improvise DIY-Melodies:  Play “each kind of scale” between two other pairs of notes, beginning with first 5-and-2, then 5-and-7.   Next, for each of these four scale-melodies, continue playing a melody beyond the end-of-scale, beyond the 2 or 7 (going lower & higher than the 0 & 9 on my diagram, if you want) with additional notes.  When you have extended each scale-melody (by playing 1-8 extra notes) several times to invent your own DIY-melodies, continue reading. [[say "extend by 4-8 notes"?]]  [[ change melody to 1-3-5....2 and 1-3-5.....7 each with two ways, but recommend starting melody-extnsions with 135...7 because it leads to better rhythm-continuity for including other-neighbor 9 === by contrast, 135....2 tends to end with 1354321, cannot artfully end on a 1-after-0 or 1-after-2 ]] [[ maybe use 135...2 for home-note, and 135...7 for neighbor note?? ]]   /   Probably you'll recognize that you've been using two common strategies, with a home-note and neighboring note(s), when you...

end on a home-note:  Did you sometimes end “5....2....” on 1 so it's “5....2....1”?   And end “5....7....” on 8 to make “5....7....8”?   If yes, you're using a valuable strategy by often (but not always) ending a phrase on a home-note, on either 1 or 8.  If no, try it.  And before a home-note ending, maybe you sometimes...

use neighbor notes:  A musically artistic way to end on 1 is to “approach it” from below and/or above, with the next-to-last note(s) being 0 and/or 2 (the neighbor notes of 1), and maybe also including 1 as a not-yet-final home note.  And in the other DIY, you can “approach 8” by using 7 and/or 2, which is analogous to (and very similar to) “approaching 1” except now you've been playing an upward scale, so the melody-making is a little different.   /  ==== [using neighbor notes during chord transitions, e.g. "

135_648_759_851_ [[later describe A-vs-B as different shapes, one ascending, other bouncing high-low-higher, medium-low-high, small down then big up]]

135_648_975_431_ [[also do example with 012...89X for 9-X transition?]]

135_648_975_4320,135_648_975_431_

[[ maybe use the next 3 paragraphs somewhere in "using process to internalize strategies" ]]

re: benefits of specializing in one key"  --  He [julian bradley] recommends beginning with simplicity by playing in one key — it's a valuable time-use benefit of a colorized keyboard — "for anything composition-related," which includes improvisation.

[[ maybe do creative explorations (using experiments) within this "strategies" structure. / strategies (based on principles) can serve as a solid foundation for your musical explorations --- to get ideas for explorations --- While you're making melodies that are mainly red (or mainly blue or mainly green) in 2 and 3, although I say "play creatively" you can do this confidence by using can use reliable strategies that work, to build a foundation / a roadmap for exploring -- first use common principle-based strategies to build a solid foundation,

{ more about music-making strategies and learning by doing }

[[ techniques of using your fingers ---- begin playing by doing whatever you want -- but soon, learn how to use thumb + 4 fingers so your hand is moving less;  doing this is useful because your thumb-plus-fingers can quickly reach a wide sideways-range of keys without forcing your hand to move -- like when you do efficient touch typing instead of inefficient "hunt and peck" with one finger.

[[ maybe use "important benefits" and "other benefits" in section about slow-plus-faster ]]  it's productive to alternate between slow playing (with important benefits) and faster playing (with other benefits).

You can improve 3 by improving 2,

using cycles of Whole-Part-Whole.

[[ iou – almost all ideas below are now (although in slightly different form) in the section about whole-part-whole, so what's below will be "worked into" that section, or deleted ]]

only chord-notes ➞ mainly chord-notes:  When you begin doing 3 it will be easiest – and best, I think – if you play only chord notes, so your melodies are only-red & only-blue & only-green, as in these two examples.  While you're doing this for a particular progression, during each chord your melodies will automatically (because you're using chord notes) be harmoniously pleasant, and you'll be improving your ability to “hear the chord changes” and “internalize the harmonies” in your musical memory.   /   After you're comfortable with the progression, move onward to playing mainly-red & mainly-blue & mainly-green by also playing non-chord notes in your melodies.  While you're making this transition in 3 — from "only chord notes" to "also playing non-chord notes" — it will be useful to recognize that the keyboard has...

identical chord-note patterns, but different overall patterns:  Although the isolated chord-note patterns (with “every other white note”) are the same for all three colors, each overall pattern is slightly different due to the “visual context” provided by black notes.*  Therefore some visual cues will be different for each color, when during a chord progression (in 3) you're playing a mainly-red melody (during a red chord) or mainly-blue melody (during a blue chord) or mainly-green melody (during a green chord).   /   Because of this you can improve 3 by improving 2, by improving your melody-making skill with each color during a red-2, then a blue-2, then a green-2, so (during each kind of 2) you can fully focus on improving either your red melodies or blue melodies or green melodies.  An effective way to improve 3 is to use whole-part-whole cycles (with or without a single-chord video) by playing the whole (3) and then parts (red-2, blue-2, green-2), whole (3), parts, whole,...

Your 3-skill will improve when your 2-skills improve.  Why?  During 3 you are playing red melodies and blue melodies and green melodies.  You can improve your melody-making skill with each color (thus improving your 3-skill) by focusing on each individual color during a red-2 (playing mainly-red melodies), and then a blue-2 (with mainly-blue melodies), then a green-2 (with mainly-green melodies).  In this way, during each “kind of 2” you can fully focus on improving either your red melodies or blue melodies or green melodies.  After you have improved your skill with each kind of melody (in the 2's) you'll play more skillfully in 3, during the time when each chord (red or blue or green) is being played in a chord progression.

* You can hear the most important difference when you play a five-note major scale starting on 1 (it's 1-2-3-4-5) and then starting on 4 (but to sound the same it must be 4-5-6-7b-8 instead of 4-5-6-7-8, where 7b is called 7-flat).    {more about the differences}

two ways to play 3:  You can “hear the chord changes” either while you're playing melodies (that are different “colors”) or while you're hearing chords (that are different “colors”).  How?  This is possible because people hear two kinds of harmony — sequential harmony (during melodies) and simultaneous harmony (in chords) — so we hear two kinds of harmony changes.  Therefore you can do 3 {or 2} while only you are playing melodies, or while you're playing along with the chords of a backing track in a youtube video for a chord progression with only major chords (e.g. simple or blues) or – more challenging – also a minor chord (50's or popular or jazz), at a tempo you choose.     { or you can “play along” in other ways, including jam sessions }

practice 2 in two ways:  [[ iou – this paragraph will be revised-and-condensed by referring to my description of this for 3, quoting from it, and customizing it for 2 ---- During 3 you can “hear the chord changes” either while you're playing melodies (that are different “colors”) or while you're hearing chords (that are different “colors”).  How?  This is possible because people hear two kinds of harmony — sequential harmony (during melodies) and simultaneous harmony (in chords) — so we hear two kinds of harmony changes.  Therefore you can do 2 by playing a melody that is mainly-red (or mainly-blue or mainly-green) in two ways, either while only you are playing, or while you're playing along with the chords of a backing track in a youtube video,* using a single-chord video that is a non-rhythmic drone (useful for playing slow) or a rhythmic vamp (useful for playing faster).     { benefits of playing slow and playing faster }   {* or you are hearing chords in other ways } ]]