Home › Forums › Active Melody Member Challenge Response Submissions › May 2023 Challenge – Less is More – Sunjamr Steve
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June 2, 2023 at 3:33 pm #344322
When this challenge was announced, I wondered exactly how “less” could I go. There is a song called “One Note Samba”, but after listening to it, I discovered that actually it uses 2 notes. So I decided to start with 2 notes, then add one more note for each cycle of the jamtrack. By the time I got to notes 1, 2, 3, and 4, I thought “Wow, you can do a lot with just 4 notes.” It was an interesting experiment, and I learned yet more about music composition.
Sunjamr Steve
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June 2, 2023 at 3:45 pm #344329
Hi Steve, really nice composition and a fascinating progression of adding in additional notes. I like the descending bassline in your chord progression. It lends a sense of destination and ties the chords together. And the melody keeps building as you go. Lots of fun!
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June 2, 2023 at 4:10 pm #344342
Nice approach to this challenge Steve😄
Awesome rendition
Very relaxing in the different guitars
Thanks for sharing
🎸 Vincent 🎶 🇳🇱
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June 2, 2023 at 4:17 pm #344343
This was really clever and engaging. Your chord progression was pretty much the same as the one use in Mr. Bojangles, by the way. You got a remarkable amount of melody out of all this and the variety of tones and instruments didn’t hurt, either. Lots of fun.
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June 2, 2023 at 6:56 pm #344368
Really liked your approach to this one Steve; how each section build on the last. Really cool!
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June 2, 2023 at 8:43 pm #344419
What a fantastic creative approach here Steve, you’re always taking things to another level. Great instruction video and awesome to see and hear what adding an extra note and different guitar can do to a piece of music. Keep on pickin’ and all the best! 🥸🎸🥸
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June 2, 2023 at 9:10 pm #344428
Excellent submission Steve.
You added notes as you go but not too many.
Well done.AndréM
AndréM
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June 2, 2023 at 10:04 pm #344435
Great timing and mood Sunjamer. Liked it. Thanks for the lesson.
Blues Bob -
June 3, 2023 at 2:47 am #344492
A very enjoyable and at the same time instructive composition and rendition! Liked very much your original approach: for sure a lot to learn from this one about how to build a melody starting from very simple phrases and then adding something step by step! Really a pleasure to watch and listen to your video!
Guido
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June 3, 2023 at 5:40 am #344517
Brilliant Steve. So we can compose anything with just four notes! That was so beautifully put together and played.
Thank you.
Martyn -
June 3, 2023 at 5:55 am #344524
What a really sweet melody you coaxed out of those few notes Steve – I loved it. I thought there was a melancholic feel to it myself. Nicely explained & recorded – great piece of work.
However, I am a bit concerned about that cup of coffee on your Focusrite!
Gary
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June 3, 2023 at 8:35 am #344570
Wow, just great, reminded me a little of “Fools Rush In” by Elvis. Good job!
Joe
The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
--Graeme Edge -
June 3, 2023 at 8:58 am #344581
Very nice Sunjamr! Great melody. Sounded wonderful and the entire video as well as being a very nice listen was like a tutorial in how to build a song. You also seem to have quite the guitar collection!
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June 3, 2023 at 11:08 am #344641
Steve-
Interesting how you can use so few notes and really move a person to tears. This performance is beyond wonderful. Love every angle you took. Even the blistering electric solo has a peaceful resolution. Well done. Thank you for sharing.John
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June 3, 2023 at 11:57 am #344666
Steve, I like the approach to the challenge. It made sense and sounded really good. Nice array of guitars shown too. Cheers. Pap
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June 3, 2023 at 1:04 pm #344697
Dear Steve, what an outstanding top of the class contribution. I like it very much – very entertaining and a lot to learn. Thank you
Werner
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June 3, 2023 at 1:50 pm #344722
Well done, Steve. I like your simple melody and the different instruments added to the idea that you can make a lot of music with a few notes.
James
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June 3, 2023 at 2:16 pm #344733
I knew you would come up with an experiment for this challenge and I’m glad you did! I think our brains are more wired to just a few notes and simplicity because this immediately sounds like music, not just an experiment or exercise. The build up from 2 to 5 to eventually all 7 notes on the strat was an excellent idea, it sounded great! I think this is also the first time you played all your guitars in one submission! 🙂
🎸JoLa
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June 3, 2023 at 2:17 pm #344734
Steve, that’s some really great work from you. Well put together and well explained. Masterful. Not too much and nothing superfluous.
Play guitar just like you live; don't get bogged down in theory, it's just a tool without feeling.
Wilfried
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June 3, 2023 at 3:52 pm #344789
Another masterclass Steve. I don’t suppose many people have composed a song with such a sparse beginning and then filled it out to such great effect. The backing track with the descending bass line was a bonus.
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June 3, 2023 at 4:21 pm #344797
Hi Steve, I really liked your song. Simple but effective. A lovely gentle, feel to it which I really enjoyed. Keep up the writing
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June 4, 2023 at 12:23 am #344878
Hey Steve,
Well I’ve been looking forward to your contribution as I knew you’d come up with something fun and interesting.
This was exactly the right approach to the challenge building up an up until you hit the big gun at the end.
Way to go.
Liam.
“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams. “
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June 4, 2023 at 6:17 am #344931
A creative arrangement that started out as a sound experiment and then pow this is the result. Because of the way you did it our ears could tell the difference with the changes building on the other from two till the big 7 note finale at the end.
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June 4, 2023 at 1:36 pm #345041
So true Steve! With just TWO notes, you made a beautiful melody!!! Like Cinnamon Girl – the best ONE NOTE solo on the planet! LOL. Great job my friend! B
Bob U. (aka Bobby Ut)
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June 4, 2023 at 2:14 pm #345058
Yep very cleverly put together I like the way you built those layers it’s amazing what you can create with a restricted form that’s a sweet melody that grabs the ear throughout.
Martin
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June 4, 2023 at 7:00 pm #345133
Very provocative take on the challenge Steve. How low can you go on melody tones? Your examples are so interesting and reinforce the notion, in my mind, that the key to success with a melody is how it relates to the chord progression and everything happening in the song structure instead of depending on how many tones you use. Thanks for sharing your take and stimulating thought.
Cheers, Tom
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June 5, 2023 at 4:13 am #345201
That was really instructive as well as being a very entertaining and delightful peice of music. It certainly got me thinking as to what can be ‘left out’ as well as what to choose to put into a melody. You’re reference to the one note samba made me recall an advert in UK for south american coffee, probably 40 or mre years ago. The soundtrack consisted of just whistles and percussion. Being into Prog Rock at the time I felt it had no right to sound sooo good. I know better now!
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June 5, 2023 at 8:13 am #345233
Hey Steve, what a great response to the challenge! I love how you started with just 2 notes. I think you embodied the spirit of Less-Is-More perfectly.
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June 5, 2023 at 10:59 am #345264
Hi Steve
It is a piece with perfect joints.
A fascinating result that caresses and excites you.Livio
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June 5, 2023 at 7:00 pm #345344
Simply delightful. Loved how this grew, yet stayed so simple and happy.
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June 6, 2023 at 1:28 am #345367
This is really a very interesting experiment, Steve. In this way it can easily be seen, how the first notes lay the foundation for the rest to come. And you expand it very masterfully. Sounds great!
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June 9, 2023 at 2:06 am #345598
Hey Steve this compo is very nice !!! Bravo
Guy -
June 10, 2023 at 3:48 pm #345671
Nice. 4 notes can seem like a lot after just 2. 3 dogs in the house seems like hardly any after 11 :-). Duke Ellington Satin Doll starts with a motiv which uses just 2 tones into a 5 note pattern. Then he sequences the pattern up a whole tone, then up a minor third then back down a minor third. It sounds like a great tune ( which it is ) but it’s built of a pattern of just 2 tones.
Be kind to yourself (especially when you're trying to play this instrument!)
Brian Clough“Got a lotta sinful ideas but they seem kinda sensible” Jim Casy the ex-preacher in The Grapes Of Wrath
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