All music
is plagiarised. All the accidental melodies that don't sound bad have
already been discovered.
Hearing a new song that subconsciously
reminds you of one from your past can be comforting - it can invoke fond
memories. Also, having an idea of what note should come next gives us
a sense of security. We also tend to stick with one genre of music for the same reason - we are comfortable with what we are familiar with.
My musical tastes are varied and that gives me the opportunity to find similarities others wouldn't notice. Sometimes an entire song is a copy of a classical piece and sometimes it's just a few seconds.
If you think you are going to write a brand new melody, you are deceiving yourself. Try as hard as you can the notes that come out are from a brain primed with a warehouse of existing music. And trying to find random combinations of notes that are new and pleasing ... well they're all already taken.
There are two ways to write music.
The first is to play away at your chosen instrument and with your knowledge of quads, triads and timing, play randomly away until you find something that sounds good to you. You can build this up with your training into a complete with. Just think 'It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth ...'.
The second way is to use mathematics. And I don't mean the relationship between notes. I mean listen to every genre of music over every era and just take less that four seconds of anything you like. This is how you make the big money. Just don't take too long a bite or you will be criticised or even sued.
My musical taste is diverse so to me
- 'We're not gonna take it' sounds like 'O come All Ye Faithful'
- 'I'm on Fire' sounds like 'Afternoon Delight'
- ;Just Like a Woman' sounds like 'As time Goes By'
- 'Mad World' sounds like 'Matthew and Son'
- '(Just Like) Starting Over' sounds like 'Don't Worry baby'
There are countless examples. The songs are different, but the catchy part in the middle sounds too familiar.
This doesn't take into account complete copies like Billy Joel's 'This Night' (Beethoven) or just taking the whole song as in Elvis's 'Surrender' (Torna a Surriento). These are acknowledged by the artist.
Suing another artist for plagiarism is a nonsense but it goes on.
