Bill Troxler
  • Home
  • Handouts
    • Creating Melody
    • The Common Ground of Music
    • Just Enough Music Theory
    • Understanding the Modes
    • Bodhran >
      • Beginning Bodhran
    • Hammer Dulcimer - beginners >
      • Play Along Files
  • The Lab
  • 3 Sheets
  • Articles & Blog
    • Blog
    • Broadway Musical
    • Bluegrass
    • Barbershop Singing
    • The Hammered Mbira - A New Musical Instrument
    • Military Bands
    • Troubadors
  • Resources
  • About Me
    • Contact
  • Recordings

Getting Started

All musical compositions begin with the hint of an idea.  That hint is called a motive.  Classically trained musicians often use the French term motif.  Call it what you will, this hint of an idea is two to six notes long.  From this hint will come a complete musical idea called a phrase.  The resulting phrase will be passed through one or more well established development techniques.  The result of that motivic development  process will be one or more phrases that will be finally structured into a complete melody.   

Monday and Tuesday are focused on how to create or find a motive and how to develop a motive into a phrase.

Follow the buttons below as they appear in order to access the course content.  Use the back button on your browser to return here to explore each of the topics.

Audio examples are embedded in the text that follows.  Examples can also be access via the class's SoundCloud account.  
CLICK HERE to listen to those examples.  Opens a new page in your browser



1. Assignment
3. Common Approaches for Creating Melody
5. Creating a Motive From the sound of Nature
2. Process of Creating Melody
4. What is a Motive
6. Eight sources for motives
Creating Melody Home Page
Proudly powered by Weebly
✕