What is a Melody?
‘A sequence of single notes that is musically satisfying.’ (How to Write the Best Melodies, n.d.)
theproducerkit.com says “they are distinguishable and are easy to sing or hum along to… a well thought out sequence of notes with varying pitches one after another in an organized way.”
Shape:
The shape (or contour) of a melody is crucial as it often sets the mood of the song. An ascending shape (notes that go upwards) ‘will sound uplifting and joyful’ unlike a descending (notes that go downwards) melody. It can also incline or decline but it all depends on personal preference. The best way to decide on this is to play around until you find the shape you like the most. (How to Write the Best Melodies, n.d.)
Range:
The range of a melody is the ‘distance between the lowest and highest notes in the melody’. It can be as small as half an octave up to 2 or more octaves! However the broader the range, the more difficult the melody is to remember and the more limited the range, the less ‘remarkable’ and more ‘limited in pitch’ the melody becomes. (How to Write the Best Melodies, n.d.)
Intervals:
These are the difference in pitch between two notes played in a sequence. They are important as they help to provide ‘basic framework’ for most things in music. (How to Write the Best Melodies, n.d.) theproducerkit.com says they will also help you to “identify scales and the quality of chords i.e. whether a chord is major, minor, diminished etc…”
Scales:
Using scales is extremely helpful when building melodies. This is because they help you to know which notes are not diatonic and therefore do not sound right in your song and melody. These can also be useful when creating a harmony as they also help understand which chords are in the key. (How to Write the Best Melodies, n.d.)
Repetition:
This is important to think about when constructing melodies because music is only memorable if it has a recurring theme or motif. (Poe, 2017)
Variation:
This is when the same melody is used but in different ways. For example it may be played by different instruments or for different purposes like using it in the bridge on the vocals rather than the guitar to create a significant change. (Poe, 2017)
Call and Response:
Using call and response is a great way to ‘reinforce’ repetition and variation. It often builds and releases ‘tension’. This is created by using ‘passing tones’ which are the notes that are not within a chord (I, IV & V). Not using chord tones builds tension which must be resolved. (Poe, 2017)
Types of melody:
Conjunct – with small changes in pitch from one note to the next. (Melody | Music Appreciation, n.d.)
– relating to the movement of a melody between adjacent notes of the scale. (Conjunct | Definition of Conjunct by Lexico, 2020)
Disjunct – with large leaps. (Melody | Music Appreciation, n.d.)
Most melodies balance both of these types however a more common one is conjunct (step-wise) as it does not take large ‘leaps’ and therefore flows better.
A Few Things to Think About:
- Simplicity. If the melody is not simple it may not be memorable.
- Memorability. If it is not memorable it is not a good melody.
- Is it interesting? If not it will quickly become boring for the listener and they won’t want to listen to your song.
- Make sure that the experience becomes easy listening so as to not confuse or overwhelm the listener.
(Poe, 2017)
Bibliography:
The Producer Kit. n.d. How To Write The Best Melodies. [online] Available at: <https://theproducerkit.com/blogs/news/how-to-write-the-best-melodies> [Accessed 24 March 2020].
Lexico Dictionaries | English. 2020. Conjunct | Definition Of Conjunct By Lexico. [online] Available at: <https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/conjunct> [Accessed 24 March 2020].
Lexico Dictionaries | English. 2020. Melody | Definition Of Melody By Lexico. [online] Available at: <https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/melody> [Accessed 24 March 2020].
Poe, A., 2017. Four Ways To Write Better Melodies | Musical U. [online] Musical U. Available at: <https://www.musical-u.com/learn/four-ways-write-better-melodies/> [Accessed 24 March 2020].
Courses.lumenlearning.com. n.d. Melody | Music Appreciation. [online] Available at: <https://courses.lumenlearning.com/musicappreciation_with_theory/chapter/melody-an-overview/> [Accessed 24 March 2020].