5 Tips to Write Better Melodies
There is method in the madness
When composer’s write melodies or tunes, the average listener may believe that it occurred to them in the shower or while going for a walk in the country, or any number of other clichés presented in films, and it is possible. However, composers, especially those ones who write for media can not wait for inspiration to strike. They write exactly when they have to. Sometimes just starting is enough to gain an idea. Just begin…
Thankfully, composers have a few tricks up their collective sleeves to aid in this task. Several tools to use to make melodies come to life, or at least lead to other ideas which they might prefer more. There are 5 that are commonly used:
1 - Passing Notes
Often melodies sound pleasant when they use the same notes as the harmony (chords). However, as I mentioned in other newsletters, these can become tiresome. So notes from the key/scale can be used to add some drama to the tune. And when a composer plays a note from the chord, then a note next to it from the key (but not in the chord) followed by another note from the chord. The note in the middle is referred to as a ‘passing note’, because it is a note you are playing ‘in passing’ between the safer chord tones (notes in the chord). So for example:
If we have a C major chord
C E G
and we are in the key of C
C D E F G A B
A composer may play a C note then D (passing note) on the way to E or the same thing but backwards. Or F between E and G.
Some may say what about A and B?
This is slightly more complex because both A and the B are not in the chord (C E G). So they are both passing notes with no immediate resolution point. However, a slightly fancier chord called Cmajor7
C E G B
does have a B and so in this case, playing an A note would be heard as a passing note.
The well known tune ‘Frère Jacques’ provides a classic example.
2 - Auxiliary Notes
These begin in the same way as passing notes however, they end in a different way. So if a composer is creating a melody with a C chord (C E G). They could play a C then D but then, and this is crucial, return to the C. If a composer wants it to sound like an auxiliary note, they must play a chord tone then a scale tone beside it and then RETURN to the original chord tone they started on. They can also involve notes outside the key when the composer plays chord tones and then go up/down a semitone and then back up/down again. The ‘Mexican Hat Dance’ is a fantastic example of this technique. The beginning of Happy Birthday is also a good example.
C-D-C or C-B-C. Or E-F-E or E-D-E Or G-A-G or. G-F-G
Chromatic versions - E-Eb-E or G-Gb-G
3 - Appoggiaturas
These are also sometimes called ‘Accented Passing Notes’. As we saw with the first device, normal passing notes play non-chord tones only in passing but do not linger on them, so as not to draw attention to them. Appoggiaturas on the other hand do the opposite. Playing non-chord tones strongly and usually on a downbeat, to emphasis them rhythmically as well as melodically. For example:
If the chord is a C chord
C E G
then playing a D note first with confidence before resolving it to either C or E that are nearby would be an appoggiatura.
or F before playing E or G
or A before playing G
or B before resolving upwards to C
Remember the scale
C D E F G A B C
The B would resolve up to the octave C (The higher of the two Cs)
This melody from ‘The Beach’ by Angelo Badalamenti is a great example;
4 - Échapée Notes
This one is very similar to the Appoggiatura except that instead of resolving the tension immediately, the composer can draw the drama out a little longer by going from one non-chord tone to another before resolution. For example:
Instead of D then C
It could be D then B then C
Or
Instead of F then E
It could be F then D then E
The Bebop genre of Jazz uses a highly complex and chromatic version of this, sometimes referred to as encirclement. ‘A Night in Tunisia’ is a personal favourite.
5 - Pedal points
This was an often used tool in the Baroque era of European Classical music, and then largely due to the influence of Ritchie Blackmore, Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen, it became a common device in Rock and Metal.
A pedal point is a single note that keeps being hit and returned to whilst playing many other notes around it.
Either every other time
E G E A E B E D E C E B E
or
various other patterns, one of which may be
G E E E A E E E B E E E D E E E
Here is typical Baroque use of it. Fast forward to 3 minutes in, as the fugue has the most obvious examples.
And here is a use in the Rock world. If you listen to the idea at 37 seconds in, you will hear a pedal point in use.
There are many other things that make up beautiful melodies, but that was a few devices that help, and good composers will mix all of these together in a tasteful way. There is no ultimate device or tool. Composers would be wise not to over use any one thing, as even the most interesting sounds become boring and predictable when played in abundance.
Warm Regards