Light Melody Generation Practice

Alright, theory is done—now it's time to actually create music! Aren't you excited?

If last time you learned about the tools, today you become a composer. "But I don't know anything about music"? Don't worry. After reading this, you'll be able to create at least 3 songs.

Today we'll mainly use Suno because it's the easiest and produces great results. Shall we begin?

Preparation Stage - Takes Only 5 Minutes

1. Creating a Suno Account (2 minutes)

First, you need to sign up for Suno. Don't worry, they don't ask for credit cards. You just need a Google account.

1. Visit suno.ai (type directly in address bar)
2. Click "Sign Up" or "Get Started" button
3. Simple login with Google account (done in 1 minute)
4. Start with free plan (automatically granted 50 credits per month)

What are credits? Credits are like "points" you use when creating music in Suno. Creating 1 song uses 10 credits, so you can make about 5 songs per month for free. That's plenty to start with!

2. Exploring the Interface (3 minutes)

Once logged in, you'll see a clean screen. It's not complicated, so you'll get familiar quickly.

What you'll see on the main screen:

• Create button: Create new music (this is our workspace!)
• Library: View all music you've created
• Explore: Browse other people's works (tons of great pieces)
• Credits: Check remaining generation count (top right)

What should you do when you first enter? Take a look at the "Explore" tab first. When you see what music others have created, you'll think "Oh, this is possible too!" and get a sense of it. If you like a song, you can see what prompt they used.

Creating Your First Melody - Finally!

Nervous? It's okay, nobody's watching if you make mistakes. Let's start comfortably.

Step 1: Simple Piano Melody

We'll start with the most basic prompt. Don't overthink it—just describe the music you want in one sentence.

Prompt:

A simple and beautiful piano melody, peaceful, slow tempo

Korean explanation:

• Simple and beautiful piano melody
• Peaceful feeling
• Slow tempo

Why is this prompt good? It has all three key elements:

1. Instrument: piano
2. Mood: peaceful
3. Tempo: slow tempo

This is enough for AI to understand and create exactly.

Generation Process:

1. Click "Create" button
2. Paste above sentence in prompt box
3. Click "Create" again
4. Wait about 1-2 minutes (time for a sip of coffee)

Generation Results:

• Takes about 1-2 minutes (faster than you think!)
• 2 versions generated (AI creates 2 versions automatically)
• Each slightly different feel (listen to both and choose the one you like)

How it feels the first time you listen You'll think "Wow, it really made it!" When you see the piano piece you imagined actually playing, it's amazing. I felt that way too.

Step 2: Adding Guitar Melody

This time let's use guitar.

Prompt:

Gentle acoustic guitar melody, warm and cozy, fingerstyle

Features:

• acoustic guitar: specifies acoustic guitar
• warm and cozy: warm and cozy atmosphere
• fingerstyle: fingerstyle playing technique

Step 3: Multi-Instrument Melody

Let's mix several instruments.

Prompt:

Soft piano and strings melody, emotional, cinematic, gentle

Result Analysis:

• Piano and strings harmoniously blend
• Feels like movie OST
• Emotional atmosphere

Trying with Udio Too

Same Prompt, Different Results

Let's use the same prompt in Udio.

Prompt:

A simple and beautiful piano melody, peaceful, slow tempo

Suno vs Udio Comparison:

• Suno: Brighter and more cheerful feel
• Udio: More lyrical and deep feel
• Both excellent but subtly different

Creating Short Loops with MusicGen

MusicGen specializes in short background music.

Practice on Hugging Face

1. Search huggingface.co/spaces
2. Search "MusicGen"
3. Select facebook/musicgen

Prompt:

peaceful piano loop, meditation, calm

Settings:

• Duration: 10 seconds (suitable for loops)
• Model: melody (more melodic)

Use:

• Loop on repeat
• Suitable as background music
• Use as video BGM

Prompt Writing Formula

Let's learn the structure for creating good melodies.

Basic Formula

[Instrument] + [Style/Genre] + [Mood] + [Tempo]

Example 1:

Piano + Classical + Peaceful + Slow
→ "Peaceful classical piano, slow tempo, gentle"

Example 2:

Guitar + Folk + Warm + Medium
→ "Warm folk acoustic guitar, medium tempo, cozy"

Example 3:

Strings + Cinematic + Emotional + Slow
→ "Emotional cinematic strings, slow tempo, dramatic"

Practical Practice Assignments

Try creating these melodies yourself!

Practice 1: Morning Vibes

Bright piano melody, morning vibes, uplifting, medium tempo

Goal: Piano piece with refreshing morning feel

Practice 2: Cafe Atmosphere

Soft jazz guitar, cafe ambience, relaxing, slow tempo

Goal: Jazz guitar good for playing in cafes

Practice 3: Night Vibes

Dreamy synth pad, night time, ambient, slow tempo

Goal: Dreamy nighttime synth atmosphere

Improving Generation Results

What if you get results you don't like?

Method 1: Regenerate

• Try same prompt multiple times
• Slightly different results each time
• Select the good one

Method 2: Modify Prompt

Original: "Piano melody"
Improved: "Gentle piano melody, soft dynamics, peaceful"

The more specific, the closer to desired results.

Method 3: Add Reference

"Piano melody in the style of Yiruma, emotional"

Can reference famous artist styles

Common Mistakes

1. Too Complex Prompts

❌ Bad example:

Very complex piano and guitar and violin and drums melody with changing tempo from slow to fast with emotional and happy and sad feelings

✅ Good example:

Piano and guitar melody, emotional, medium tempo

2. Vague Expressions

❌ Bad example:

Nice music

✅ Good example:

Uplifting pop melody, energetic, bright piano

3. Mixing Genres

❌ Bad example:

Classical jazz rock hip-hop fusion

✅ Good example:

Jazz-rock fusion, energetic, electric guitar

Saving Generated Music

Download from Suno

1. Play generated music
2. Click "Download" button
3. Save as MP3 file

Download from Udio

1. Select completed track
2. Click "..." menu
3. Select "Download"
4. Choose WAV or MP3

Save MusicGen Results

1. Bottom of player after generation complete
2. Click "Download" icon
3. Save as WAV file

Today's Key Points

Congratulations! You created your first AI music today. How is it? Easier than you thought, right?

What We Learned Today:

1. Creating and starting Suno account - Takes 5 minutes
2. Basic prompt writing - Instrument + mood + tempo
3. Experimenting with various instruments - Piano, guitar, multiple instruments
4. Improving prompts - More specific leads to better results

Why It's Okay to Make Mistakes:

• Free credits available so experiment freely
• Can delete and recreate if it goes wrong
• Failures accumulate to build intuition

Next Steps

Today we practiced basic melody generation. Next time we'll learn how to adjust mood.

Even with the same piano piece, you can make it "sad," "exciting," or "moving." We'll learn how to express emotions through music!

Today's Assignment - Please Do This!

Required:

1. Create 3 piano melodies (each with different mood)

   • 1 bright mood
   • 1 calm mood
   • 1 emotional mood

2. Create 2 guitar melodies

   • 1 acoustic guitar
   • 1 electric guitar (challenge!)

3. Save the one you like best

   • Download MP3 with Download button
   • Name file well for easy finding later

Optional (if you have time):

• Sign up for Udio and create with same prompts
• Compare the two and feel the differences

Assignment Checklist:

• Created Suno account
• Tried generating first music
• Completed 3 piano melodies
• Completed 2 guitar melodies
• Saved best song
• Understood prompt formula (instrument+mood+tempo)

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TIP: Start with simple prompts at first. 3-4 words like "Piano melody, peaceful" is enough. As you get comfortable, make them more specific! And don't be discouraged if you don't like the results. Even professional composers try dozens of times to find one good song!