IM: MELODY WRITING

Definition and Characteristics of Melody

In a very simple term, melody is assigning pitch to rhythm. That is, each of the notes that make up the rhythm is given a specific pitch. It can be defined as single notes that are arranged in succession. This implies that the tones that make up a melody are heard one after another, in a way similar to a scale. We can even say that melody is the arrangement of the notes of a given scale in a certain manner or order.

Graphically, melody can be shown with the use of music notes on a staff, or through the use of tonic solfa. In this way, melody can be reador interpreted from left to right, as we would a sentence in the English language.

From the way the notes or tones of a melody are selected and used, certain features can be identified. These features or characteristics are: motion; tonality; shape; and range. Generally, melodies come in one of three kinds of motion. First, there is the melody whose notes move in stepwise manner, which is from a note to anther above or below it. Second, there is the melody whose notes move by leaps or skips (a direct opposite of stepwise movement). Third, there is also the melody that combines the features of the other two kinds – it employs both stepwise and leap movement of notes. In all these examples, there may be repeated notes. See the illustrations below exemplifying the three kinds of motion.

Kinds of Melody Motion

Second, most melodies are constructed with a particular key in mind, and the notes of this key feature more prominently. Such melodies usually begin and end with a feel of a certain key. Where there is a change of key (modulation) within the melody, the sense of the new key is established, and the melody usually returns to the original key at the end. However, there are some melodies, which do not maintain a given key centre, especially in atonal music. In atonality every note of the melody is treated in its own right, and not in relation to a common tonic or tonal centre. In the examples given above, each of the exercises is based on a specific key – C, F, and G, respectively.

Third, melodies have shape or contour, which describes the up and down linear movement of the notes. To help in identifying the shape of a melody, you could draw a line to connect all the notes from beginning to the end of the melody. There are five possible shapes of melodies. These are: undulating; arched; terraced; irregular; and a combination of all the others.

Finally, a melody has range. Range is a term used to describe the distance that exists between the highest and the lowest pitches of a given melody. Such distance may be described as narrow, wide, or in between.

Forms of Melody

The form of any piece of music is determined based on the overall form or structure of its melody. Form is a product of how the different parts or sections of the complete melody (and therefore the music) are put together. A section of a melody is made up of two phrases. The first phrase makes a statement to which the second phrase responds. The first phrase can be called the antecedent phrase (question), and the second the consequent phrase (answer). A melody may have one or more sections. The sections may not change, or they may be similar. They can also differ from one another in remarkable ways. Some of these forms are: binary form (AB) and Ternary form (ABA).

A melody is said to be in binary form if there are two contrasting sections. In other words, the first section (A) is different from the second section (B). In this arrangement, the melody does not return to the ideas expressed in the first section, rather it ends with the second section, usually on the tonic or rarely any note of the tonic chord. Each of thesections may be repeated without any other intervening section, thus: AAB, or AABB, all of which translates as AB. The melody of the Nigerian national anthem can be described as AB form. See illustration with the words below:

Ternary (ABA) form describes a melody or piece of music in three sections. The melody usually begins with a musical idea, and takes on a second contrasting idea, then returns to a statement of the first idea as it was initially stated, or with some modifications. This presents three sections: A –B –A. An example of melody in ternary form is the hymn “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” based on the choral of Beethoven’s ninth symphony, Ode to Joy.

Steps in Writing Melody

Writing or composing melodies is not a mechanical exercise, which involves mere “dabbing” of notes indiscriminately. Rather, it begins as a spontaneous outflow of musical ideas or tunes, which is a product of intuition or inspiration. It, however, requires some conscious efforts to modify such ideas, where necessary, to accord them musical sense. Putting the tune down in writing using staff or solfa notation is to ensure its preservation for recall by the individual or for future performance. An exercise that would result in good melody entails a process. Some steps toward writing good melodies are therefore, presented below, with some illustrations/exercises.

A melody grows organically from a fragment or a small idea. This unit of idea or thought is called motive or phrase. The motive may be a short one made up of usually four bars, or a long one that spans over four bars. Once this initial idea or phrase is identified, the first step is to hear it in the head. After hearing it in this way, sing aloud, or hum or whistle the said tune. The purpose of this is to enable you commit it to memory.

The next step is to clap the rhythm of the idea or tune, and then think of each beat (or clap) in relation to the music notes studied earlier. Then write down the notes that represent the duration of the sounds. Once youare satisfied with this, proceed to add pitches to the notes by using tonic solfa. The initial step might be to sing the scale in tonic solfa so as to get re-orientated in relation to the pitches that make up the tune. Apart from the music notes, add the various marks (the use of colon; semi-colon, dot, dash, etc) to show the duration of each of the pitches.

Another approach might be to use time names instead of the music notes, such as Taa–aa–aa-aa for a semibreve, which lasts for four counts (refer to our discussion on this in unit 2 of module 2). These time names can later be translated into music notes, especially when the staff is going to be involved.

After undertaking the above, clap what you have written down if it correctly represents the rhythm of your tune. If it is satisfactory, then sing the pitches according to the rhythm, and ascertain if this also agrees with your initial, original tune.

You are encouraged to begin with a melody of two phrases, where the second phrase is a “natural” flow from the first. In addition, a phrase should be of two bars in length. The first phrase should end on soh, te, ray or me, and never on doh. Because the last bar of the second phrase is the end of the music sentence, it should end only on doh, and on the strong beat of the bar.

If you are able to sing your tune easily, it is an indication that it is a vocal tune; therefore, ensure that the melody comprises mainly stepwise movement or motion. Skips or leaps should be limited to intervals of third, or between any of the notes of the tonic and dominant chords in a major key.

The first phrase of a sentence is regarded as the “question”, which is “answered” by the second phrase. Therefore, the sense of incompleteness conveyed at the end of the first phrase, is complemented in the second phrase where the use of doh ends the phrase to give a sense of finality or completeness to the music sentence.

From all the above the process of writing down a tune could begin with identifying the rhythm, using time names (or music notes) thus: Ta–te Ta-te Taa-aa Ta-te Ta–te Taa –aa. And proceed to identifying the pitches thus:

Then converting the time names to musical notes combined with the pitches, thus

From the above tune, other materials can be added in developing the idea into a melody. Meske, E.B. Pautz, M.P. Andress B. & Willman F. (1988) say that the growth of the idea into a melody can come by:

1. repeating the motive the same way it is stated initially
2. making a slight change to the motive in its next appearance
3. varying the motive
4. bringing in a new contrasting idea
5. re-introducing the initial motive for the purpose of unity; and
6. introducing other ideas which are new, and sometimes integrating them with the original motive.

In the exercise below, points a, d, and e (above) are adopted in extending our initial tune/idea (above)

SOURCE:NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA