Melodic Musings

Some musings on melodic design.

Rhythmic Reduction

Here one changes all the notes of the melody to a single pitch, ideally the same pitch (A4, or whatever) so that there is a better basis of comparison for different melodies so reduced. Higher notes (as with louder notes) may sound "better" to the listener on account of being higher or louder, so reduce to the same pitch. Also use the same instrument, as much as possible—Olivier Messiaen had limited access to instruments during World War II, for example—so that timbre changes do not color matters. Good melodies sound good on a variety of instruments, while a not so good melody may sound good only on a particular instrument, or maybe all the fancy effects piled onto a sample mask various melodic faults. A piano would be a good choice for a rhythmic reduction, ideally in a studio environment to cut down on echo, reverb, and other such distractions.

Rhythms usually repeat, so a melody that does not repeat is perhaps weaker than one that does. Repetitions are often paired with sequences, or can be grouped into phrases with structure: drum parts often follow an ABACABAD form, where A would be the first rhythmic pattern, B a small variation of A, C even more different and with a small bridge, and D very more different and with a lot more of a bridge to the next section. A bridge here would vary from fill notes to nothing at all, and should lead up to the start of the next section. There are other forms; simple repetition of a sequence might result in an AAAA pattern as a sequence is stepped through at different starting pitches, or the "call and response" or "solo and tutti" ABAB form is also typical. Also the patterns can be applied at different levels, or are fractal, so there might be a small scale repetition of a few notes within larger units that span phrases or sections.

Leaps

These depend on the musical style, and see less use in, say, 15th century choral works compared to works from other periods. Too few leaps may sound boring, while too many may make the music too scattered or disjoint. A clever use of leaps is to make fast jumps between two different voices, where each individual voice moves more by step. This is typical for vocal or even violin work where playing two different notes at the same time varies from difficult to impossible; in modern terms this would be one of those monophonic leads that cannot play two notes at the same time. By jumping around you get two different voices on one instrument, and if done quickly and well enough the listener should be able to hear both of those voices.

On the too few leaps front, there are however musical styles that go on for long periods of time using only, say, four notes, so while leaps and an embiggened range can be good they may not be necessary. The four notes can be expanded somewhat on a flute that can pitch bend, or by singers who aren't exactly on those four pitches all the time, but the range is very limited here.

As a practical point, a step descent is the most typical resolution of a non-scale tone, e.g. "G F E" above a held "C" below, where the F (according to some but not all composers) is a dissonant note that needs resolution to E. Other options are to instead step up "G F G" instead, or to leap elsewhere to spice things up. What one is doing here is trying not to be too predictable (that is, boring) though if one is too unpredictable that can also be a fault. Intent and style may also be relevant here; calm music should probably use typical downwards resolution of dissonant notes, while unexpected leaps may raise tension. Counterpoint is the art of making voices that work together, so studying that may help you put melodies together, even if it is just a melody over some chord sequence, something that is perhaps too common these days.

Range

This is the delta between the highest and lowest note in a melody, or ambitus if you want a fancy term. The range may be restricted by the style of music or the instrument involved; a 48 key harpsichord will have difficulty with a work written for the full range of a grand piano. Singers, especially those who are not professionally trained, will have a much smaller range. Also note that some instruments sound different at the extremes of their range, e.g. having a bassoon play up at its highest notes, or to use the lowest and thus open string on a cello. The timbre changes, in other words. Guitars tuned one way will sound different as one moves around or between different strings, differences that may not be present in the pitch perfect recordings used in samples. So timbre can be important, even if we ignored it during the rhythmic reduction phase.

Monody

This is where you use only the melody, possibly doubled in various voices (chorus) or at different octaves (to fill the space e.g. with cello, viola, violins). This is in contrast to an accompanied melody (the perhaps overused "chords below, melody above" thing) or counterpoint (multiple melodies going on at the same time). Good composers may use all three forms mixed together in the same work, e.g. one might open with a monody, do some counterpoint or accompaniment, and then go back to a monody, or the monody could take turns being played with or in contrast to the full orchestra.