Comments on: Think You Stole Your Melody From Another Song? You’re Probably Right… And Wrong

By: TonyConniff

TonyConniff — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 20:21:33 +0000

In reply to Adam Howard Schneider. Great points and ideas, Adam; thanks!

By: Adam Howard Schneider

Adam Howard Schneider — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 17:24:46 +0000

Tony… if I have the feeling I lifted something, or close enough to something that it’s noticeable, I first try to figure out what song I lifted from. If I can’t figure it out (after trying for five minutes), I will tweak the notes but keep the rhythm of the melody. While I intentionally lift these melodic rhythms all the time, it’s the notes that sometimes make what I lifted a little too close to the original, so when I think I did that by accident, I make those slight changes. To me, it’s the melodic rhythms that are the real source of catchiness in melody anyway- and rhythms on their own are not copyrightable, and just like in jazz soloing, commonly used rhythms are part of the language of the music we play!

By: TonyConniff

TonyConniff — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 07:17:00 +0000

In reply to Trinity Huey.

Trinity,
As I said in the post, just because it feels like you’re stealing doesn’t mean you are. That’s a nagging feeling many of us have.
Google the lyric phrases that concern you. If nothing substantial shows up, charge forward!
Tony
ps Sorry for the delayed reply.

By: TonyConniff

TonyConniff — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 07:13:55 +0000

In reply to Jeff Baker.

Jeff,
As I mentioned above, there’s a video about melody writing on this website in the Resources section, at the bottom of the ‘Ask Tony’ videos page: https://tonyconniff.com/ask-tony-videos/
Thanks,
Tony

By: TonyConniff

TonyConniff — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 07:12:32 +0000

In reply to Nishant.

Nishant,
There’s a video about melody writing on this website at the bottom of the ‘Ask Tony’ videos page: https://tonyconniff.com/ask-tony-videos/
Thanks,
Tony

By: TonyConniff

TonyConniff — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 07:10:28 +0000

In reply to Leslie Smith.

Leslie,
I agree… slim!
TC

By: TonyConniff

TonyConniff — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 07:09:44 +0000

In reply to Steve Lewis.

Steve,
Bluntly put, but that’s pretty much the story. If you break it down, EVERYTHING sounds like something else.
Thanks,
Tony

By: TonyConniff

TonyConniff — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 07:08:23 +0000

In reply to Peter Castillo.

Peter,
If you ever go public with the song and make any money from it, Loggins & Messina’s publishers will send their lawyers after you and probably get ALL the money.
Doing what you’ve done just for fun or private enjoyment isn’t unusual and in my opinion does no harm (again, I’M NOT A LAWYER), but if you ever want to go public with it you could have a major problem.
Sorry but, to the best of my knowledge, it’s true!
Try changing a few notes in the melody…?
Best,
Tony

By: Trinity Huey

Trinity Huey — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 04:49:54 +0000

Mr.Tony i wanna write a song which i’m writing but i feel like i’m getting the lyrics from somewhere else can you help me because I don’t wanna be known as a thief. Can you please respond soon.

Sincerely yours,
Trinity Huey

By: Trinity Huey

Trinity Huey — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 04:44:52 +0000

In reply to Tony Conniff.

Mr.Tony i wanna write a song which i’m writing but i feel like i’m getting the lyrics from somewhere else can you help me because I don’t wanna be known as a thief. Can you please respond soon.

Sincerely yours,
Trinity Huey

By: Jeff Baker

Jeff Baker — Mon, 04 May 2020 08:26:17 +0000

Thanks so much for the tips Tony. I have been known to have “paralysis by analysis” and stopped cold in my tracks because of this. My biggest problem is that I love writing lyrics and have been for years but can’t read or write music. Kills me because I will have some great lyrical ideas but just sit on them because I can’t put together a melody. Any suggestions???

By: Tony Conniff

Tony Conniff — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 19:36:36 +0000

In reply to Natasha. Thanks for reading and writing, Natasha!

By: Gina

Gina — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 10:06:24 +0000

In reply to Joey.

Firstly, nobody owns anything created except the Creator Himself the source of all thought, sound waves, melody, and creation itself. So let’s remember to give ALL creative licence and credit to GOD ALMIGHTY and not allow pride and envy strangle our gift to make beautiful music.
If you can honestly create a melody using a combination that has never ever been used in part by any other artist – then you are a creative savant and based on your comment I think you’re not a savant but someone who has felt ripped off? But this day and age, millions upon millions of musicians and songwriters are publishing to the web, and we are exposed to so much music now that is not even famous – just a melody from an indie artist nobody knows about – and you hear the melody and it downloads into your subconcious mind – and sometime in the future you unintentially begin to hum part of that riff and create your song from it, that is not theft all all.

By: Natasha

Natasha — Sat, 21 Dec 2019 08:06:13 +0000

Tony,
thank q for telling me this
I have been worrying about this because the first two line of the chorus in my first written songs sounds really familiar though I can’t recall where I heard it
Natasha

By: Nishant

Nishant — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 13:18:33 +0000

I have lyrics with a good rhyme but I am stuck finding a melody if you can help me by guiding me in any possible way it will be a great help

By: Leslie Smith

Leslie Smith — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 20:17:56 +0000

I do often think I’m copying a melody but ,as you point out, the odds of it coming out the exact same are slim so I don’t let it inhibit the writing process. Sometimes good lyric lines come I even think I’m going lyrics and it turns out I didn’t know the lyrics to the song I’m copying

By: Steve Lewis

Steve Lewis — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 19:39:42 +0000

Sailed close to the wind in your songwriting? You’re hardly alone: Start!, Every Breath You Take, Grace Kelly, My Sweet Lord, Creep, Why Don’t You Get A Job, I Love My Label, Do You think I’m Sixty, Just the Way You Are and many many more are close cousins of earlier tunes. Even very similar is not the same – ripping off is part of being a songwriter. But crucially, it’s never the whole deal.

By: Peter Castillo

Peter Castillo — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 23:46:36 +0000

Very interesting read. Thank you…The other week I decided to use the Lahaina(aka centipede song)song by Loggins & Messina. I even emailed Jim Messina about it. Changed a great majority of the words, after reading your article I’m pretty sure I used the same melody, for sure similar ukulele cords. Called the song In Honolulu( the cockaroach song). Still wondering if I committed a crime or wrote an original song which I credit Loggins & Messina for. Or do I need to do more?
And I’m no musician or songwriter by any stretch, just a Dad to two girls than happens to also teach at the University of Hawaii. Pete

By: Tony Conniff

Tony Conniff — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 03:40:29 +0000

In reply to Jon Gordon. As always, thank you, Jon! TC

By: Jon Gordon

Jon Gordon — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 16:27:26 +0000

I think it’s disingenuous to imply, as one of your commenters did, that in order to be creative you may not take inspiration from anyone else’s work. In practice, everybody does.
If you’re going to be a purist, how far do you take it? Not use a twelve tone octave, or eight note scales? Not use chords or established ideas of tonality, or rhythmic organization?
I think it’s not so much what you borrow, except for obvious legal considerations, as what you do with it that counts.
Some wacky ideas for dealing with a borrowed melody:
1) invert it
2) try it in retrograde (turn it backwards)
3) write the notes on pieces of paper, throw them in the air, and make your melody the order in which you pick them up.
4) think of the thing that the borrowed melody makes you feel that is special, and try out stuff until something else strikes you the same way.
5) borrowed from Henry Mancini: Never be afraid to throw away something that isn’t working. A little off topic, but great advice.