Melody
Do's - Tips for writing melodies
• Focus on rhythm. A good melody has a rhythmic pulse and flow. Use a combination of short and long notes. Repetition of rhythmic patterns can help make a melody catchy.
• Define a range. Don't have the melody jump all over the place. Define a range of a few notes for your melody to center around. Most melodies span around a fifth to an octave. Using scales like the pentatonic can help you to simplify melodies.
• Use motivic development. Come up with a short motif or musical idea to base your melody on. Then develop that motif by changing its rhythm, adding or removing notes, modulating up or down, etc. This helps give your melody cohesion.
• Include repetition. The repetition of melodic phrases, motifs or sections helps make a melody memorable. Repeat a short musical idea but vary it slightly to keep it interesting.
• End strongly. The end of a melody is the part people remember the most. So make sure your melody ends with a rhythmic and melodic flourish, not just fading away.
• Include space. Don't have your melody in constant motion. Include rests and longer notes to give the listener time to absorb the ideas. Brief moments of silence can add emotional effect.
• Use diatonic notes. For consonant melodies based on major and minor scales, focus on the notes in that key. Some chromaticism is OK for added color, but a melody based primarily on the diatonic notes will feel most natural.
• Cadence points. A good melody feels like it has a sense of direction and arrival points. Move toward intervals like the fifth, third and root/octave to establish points of rest in your melody.
• Sing it! The best way to tell if you have a good melody is to sing it. A memorable melody will feel natural to sing, with a good sense of phrasing and flow. Get feedback from others by having them sing your melody too.
• Listen for emotion. A good melody should evoke emotion in the listener. As you develop your melody, listen for parts that feel emotional or poignant. Focus on developing those into a emotive theme.
Don'ts - Some common mistakes to avoid when writing melodies
• Aimlessness: Having a melody that wanders without any sense of direction or purpose. A good melody should have a clear beginning, middle and end.
• Repetition without variation: Repeating the same musical idea over and over without any variation or development. This can make a melody sound boring and uninteresting. Variation and contrast is needed.
• Rhythmic monotony: Using the same rhythmic pattern for the entire melody. Having no rhythm variation. The rhythm of a melody needs to have a sense of flow, pulse and variety.
• Melodic monotony: Centering the melody around just one or two notes without much melodic variation or range. The melody needs to span a range of at least a fifth or more and contain an interesting contour.
• Abrupt changes: Having the melody make sudden, abrupt changes or jumps. Changes in direction or range should feel smooth and flowing, not jagged. Build up to higher or lower notes for a sense of phrasing.
• Ignoring cadences: Not having any sense of cadence points or arrival points over a phrase or period. Cadences give shape and punctuation to a melody. Without them, a melody can sound unfinished and unstructured.
• Being too complex: Packing too many ideas into the melody so that it ends up sounding complex and incoherent. A good melody has a simple and memorable character. Only introduce more complexity if building upon that initial simple idea.
• Being too square: Having a melody that conforms to a very simple and repetitive musical structure. Melodies need some element of unpredictability to capture a listener's interest. Simple melodic ideas are good, but develop them to avoid being too obvious.
• Not singing well: Not testing how the melody feels and sounds when singing it. A good melody should feel intuitive to sing, lying well within the range and capability of the voice. If it feels awkward or doesn't flow naturally, it needs more work.
Some more Do's - or at least things to consider
• Focus on phrasing. A melody should have a natural rise and fall, like language. Phrases in a melody should have a sense of breathing, with good cadence points. Listen for the melodic "sentences" in your melody.
• Use motives. A motive is a short musical idea that forms the building block of a melody. Developing a motive through rhythm, pitch, and variation helps make a coherent and memorable melody. Re-using motives ties a melody together.
• Consider speech rhythm. Melodies that derive rhythms from natural speech patterns tend to be memorable and singable. Listen for the natural rhythm of speech in lyrics or a poem and translate that to melody.
• Use stepwise or small interval motion. While larger leaps are dramatic, a melody with mostly stepwise or small interval motion (seconds, thirds) tends to be intuitive both for composition and listening. Save larger intervals for more pivotal moments.
• Find the peak. Identify the point you want to be the highest or climax of the melody. Build up to that peak by developing rhythm, range, and dynamics. The peak gives the melody shape.
• Sequencing. Re-using a short melody at a higher or lower pitch. This age-old technique creates coherence in a melody, while allowing exploration of a wider range. Transposing a melody up or down a third or fourth works well.
• Use arpeggios. An arpeggio is a broken chord, taking each note in a chord and using it as part of a melody. Arpeggios fill in harmonic space and add an accompanimental element to a melody. They also create a flowing motion that leads well to cadences.
• Rhythmic patterns. Using rhythmic patterns that repeat, often with syncopation or dotted rhythms, creates rhythmic propulsion and complexity in a melody. Duple vs. triple rhythms, or combining both creates rhythmic interest.
Link with lyrics. If writing a song, consider how well the rhythm, phrasing, and cadences of the melody link with the rhythm of the lyrics. Melody and words should feel seamlessly connected.
• Contrast high and low. Use a good mix of higher and lower notes, as well as a contrasting middle range. Don't make a melody stay in one narrow range. Exploring the full range of your instrument or voice creates more melodic possibilities.