How to build a strong melody?

maximedupre

New member
I'm having a hard time building some really good melodies. I really really like this melody at the drop: Siméon - Pablo VIP [FREE DL] - YouTube, so I went and recreate it too see if I could find any patterns with the scale degrees. Considering each bar have 6 notes, this is what I found:

First bar:
-tonic
-dominant
-mediant
-dominant
-subdominant
-leading tone


Second bar:
-supertonic
-tonic
-leading tone
-dominant
-tonic
-leading tone


Third bar:
-tonic
-subdominant
-supertonic
-mediant
-tonic
-dominant


Fourth bar:
-tonic
-dominant
-tonic
-dominant
-subdominant
-mediant

Total in the 4 bars:

tonic: 7
supertonic: 2
mediant: 3
subdominant: 3
dominant: 6
submediant: 0
leading tone: 3

What I retain from that is that the most used notes of a scale should be the tonic and dominant when building a melody, that the leading tone is often the last notes of a bar and that the tonics are mostly at the beginning at the bar, but is there any other thing I should know? Because this isn't very concluding! I know I should not be trying to follow a recipe and use my imagination, but I'm pretty sure there are some good techniques to follow when making a melody.
 
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I beleive your basic analysis of how tinics and dominants have the most impact on most melodies and where in a given melodic line those parts of a scale may fall - I do think you may be over thinking this. While writing a strong melody is an important part of the writing process and by default certain theory may apply - there are other considerations.

Does the melody build as it goes into a chorus? Does the melody resolve coming out of a chorus? If a bridge is used, does the harmony structure (chords) make a dramatic change to allow the melody to emphasize the bridge. Probably the most important factor is - is the meloy memorable and realtively easy for John Q. Public to sing/hum/whistle.

I respect people who try to use theory to write intellegent music - but don't lose track of the emotional content as well!
 
I want to point out that you're getting some terms mixed up. Tonic, dominant, mediant, etc etc all refer to the CHORDS built off of those scale degrees. If you want to talk about individual notes in the scale, then you call them scale degrees or if you're writing it out, a number with a little karat on top.

As for how you analyzed that melody, I think you kind of went about it the wrong way lol. You shouldn't be concerned with how many times certain notes occur in a song, but more concerned with WHEN the notes occur (i.e. do you land on a chord tone, do you step down to nonchord tones, etc), where they go after, the countour of the melodic line, and also all of those other things Xdrummer said. You said yourself, simply knowing how many times a note is used isn't very concluding =P

Good techniques to follow when making a melody? Ask yourself these things:
Is it catchy, relatively simple and memorable?

Then there are some other things that, depending on the melody and context, you should ask yourself:
Is there tension? Does it resolve? Does it go somewhere?
 
I beleive your basic analysis of how tinics and dominants have the most impact on most melodies and where in a given melodic line those parts of a scale may fall - I do think you may be over thinking this. While writing a strong melody is an important part of the writing process and by default certain theory may apply - there are other considerations.

Does the melody build as it goes into a chorus? Does the melody resolve coming out of a chorus? If a bridge is used, does the harmony structure (chords) make a dramatic change to allow the melody to emphasize the bridge. Probably the most important factor is - is the meloy memorable and realtively easy for John Q. Public to sing/hum/whistle.

I respect people who try to use theory to write intellegent music - but don't lose track of the emotional content as well!

Thank you for your answer.

Does the melody build as it goes into a chorus? Does the melody resolve coming out of a chorus? If a bridge is used, does the harmony structure (chords) make a dramatic change to allow the melody to emphasize the bridge
I am still very new at making music, so I don't have the answer to that. It's just a simple melody at the drop and I'm trying to know how the producer did it. I don't think he was messing around with his keyboard and foud that melody, I think he was following a pattern or something, because he always make amazing melodies.

Probably the most important factor is - is the meloy memorable and realtively easy for John Q. Public to sing/hum/whistle.
Of course!

Now my question is: can I use scale degrees to help me build a melody? If yes, how?
 
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I want to point out that you're getting some terms mixed up. Tonic, dominant, mediant, etc etc all refer to the CHORDS built off of those scale degrees. If you want to talk about individual notes in the scale, then you call them scale degrees or if you're writing it out, a number with a little karat on top.

As for how you analyzed that melody, I think you kind of went about it the wrong way lol. You shouldn't be concerned with how many times certain notes occur in a song, but more concerned with WHEN the notes occur (i.e. do you land on a chord tone, do you step down to nonchord tones, etc), where they go after, the countour of the melodic line, and also all of those other things Xdrummer said. You said yourself, simply knowing how many times a note is used isn't very concluding =P

Good techniques to follow when making a melody? Ask yourself these things:
Is it catchy, relatively simple and memorable?

Then there are some other things that, depending on the melody and context, you should ask yourself:
Is there tension? Does it resolve? Does it go somewhere?

Oh yes, that is definitely a good idea:
You shouldn't be concerned with how many times certain notes occur in a song, but more concerned with WHEN the notes occur (i.e. do you land on a chord tone, do you step down to nonchord tones, etc), where they go after, the countour of the melodic line, and also all of those other things Xdrummer said.

But I still can't conclude anything about the song I analyzed ^^. Except for the fact that the tonics are mostly at the beginning of the bars and the leading tone is the mostly the last note of the bars, like I said. But thank you, I'll think about that!!
 
Well of course you can use scale degrees to help build a melody, because single lines (aka scales) are what make up melodies.

The only answer I can give you is practice. You're not gonna write amazing melodies when starting off, and as you do it more and more it will make more sense to you. Melodies are as much emotional as they are logical. Sit down with your native instrument and just play around until a line catches your ear. If you don't have an instrument, hum or whistle.
 
Then maybe you should be asking yourself different questions about why you find that melody so appealing. Is it the rhythmic placement? Melody is just as much about rhythm as it is about note selection. Is it how the melody works with the chords? Is it the contour? Is it the timbre (the way it SOUNDS i.e. what instrument is playing the melody)?

Another suggestion I have for you is to play the melody yourself on whatever your native instrument is. Transcribe it, play it, internalize it, and really get a feel for WHY you like it so much. The more you do this with all your favorite melodies, the more those melodies will just kind of naturally manifest themselves in your work.
 
Then maybe you should be asking yourself different questions about why you find that melody so appealing. Is it the rhythmic placement? Melody is just as much about rhythm as it is about note selection. Is it how the melody works with the chords? Is it the contour? Is it the timbre (the way it SOUNDS i.e. what instrument is playing the melody)?

Another suggestion I have for you is to play the melody yourself on whatever your native instrument is. Transcribe it, play it, internalize it, and really get a feel for WHY you like it so much. The more you do this with all your favorite melodies, the more those melodies will just kind of naturally manifest themselves in your work.

Excellent! I think you are right. I really like the rythmic and the timbre (violon), but I also like the note selection, so maybe it's just a combination I like. I need to focus on all of this instead of only the note placement. Also the melody does not have any chords (only single notes) and what is a "contour"?

I am definitely playing around with that melody on my music instrument: Maschine : Systèmes De Production : Maschine | Produits ;). I guess practice will train my ears!
 
Contour is shape. How the melody rises and falls over time.

And you're right, it IS A combination you like =) All of the best melodies are all of those things combined into a very nice package. Also there's nothing wrong with focusing on note placement, it's just that you were focusing on note frequency.

Yep! Practicing definitely will train your ears. The ability to take what's in your head and play it on an instrument is a very, very important skill for a musician to have.
 
Contour is shape. How the melody rises and falls over time.

And you're right, it IS A combination you like =) All of the best melodies are all of those things combined into a very nice package. Also there's nothing wrong with focusing on note placement, it's just that you were focusing on note frequency.

Yep! Practicing definitely will train your ears. The ability to take what's in your head and play it on an instrument is a very, very important skill for a musician to have.

Then note placement means the same thing than rythm?

EDIT: Oh sorry you said note selection not note placement in the post above your last post.
 
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I want to point out that you're getting some terms mixed up. Tonic, dominant, mediant, etc etc all refer to the CHORDS built off of those scale degrees.

I am very sorry but you are wrong - the names tonic super-tonic, mediant, sub-dominant, dominant, sub-mediant, leading tone refer to the scale degrees. They can also be used to define/name chords built on those degrees but they are key independent (note name independent) names for referring to each position within a scale.

If you want to talk about individual notes in the scale, then you call them scale degrees or if you're writing it out, a number with a little karat on top.

this is only true if you are adhering to a particular theorists version of how to do this: according to Jean Phillipe Rameau in 1723 the names of the scale degrees are as given above.

As for how you analyzed that melody, I think you kind of went about it the wrong way lol. You shouldn't be concerned with how many times certain notes occur in a song, but more concerned with WHEN the notes occur (i.e. do you land on a chord tone, do you step down to nonchord tones, etc), where they go after, the countour of the melodic line, and also all of those other things Xdrummer said. You said yourself, simply knowing how many times a note is used isn't very concluding =P

Good techniques to follow when making a melody? Ask yourself these things:
Is it catchy, relatively simple and memorable?

Then there are some other things that, depending on the melody and context, you should ask yourself:
Is there tension? Does it resolve? Does it go somewhere?

the rest of this is reasonable, if somewhat biased to thinking of the melody as a result of the harmony rather than the harmony being the result of the melody

to the op: safer to write your melody out as follows:

1-5-3-5-4-7 | 2-1-7-5-1-7 | 1-4-2-3-1-5 | 1-5-1-5-4-3 ||

However, what becomes apparent in either attempt is that there is no concept of direction

you could perhaps write it out as

1/5\3/5\4\7 | /2\1\7\5/1\7 | /1/4\2/3\1\5 | /1/5\1/5\4\3 ||

if a note were to stay at the same pitch then you write it as 1-1; if it were to jump an octave then you might use 1/1 or 1\1 or 3/3 or 4\4 etc

if you then analyse the melody in terms of the underlying chords you might want use a layered or tiered approach, so that you can show beat placement, accents and chord tones
 
to the op: safer to write your melody out as follows:

1-5-3-5-4-7 | 2-1-7-5-1-7 | 1-4-2-3-1-5 | 1-5-1-5-4-3 ||

However, what becomes apparent in either attempt is that there is no concept of direction

you could perhaps write it out as

1/5\3/5\4\7 | /2\1\7\5/1\7 | /1/4\2/3\1\5 | /1/5\1/5\4\3 ||

if a note were to stay at the same pitch then you write it as 1-1; if it were to jump an octave then you might use 1/1 or 1\1 or 3/3 or 4\4 etc

You mean instead of writing:
First bar:
-tonic
-dominant
-mediant
-dominant
-subdominant
-leading tone
...
?

Yes I think it is way more readable, thanks for the tip!

if you then analyse the melody in terms of the underlying chords you might want use a layered or tiered approach, so that you can show beat placement, accents and chord tones​

Ok, I'll look into that.

Thank you.
 
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What i've learned from reading melody theory, is try and start with the tonic and then make sure the melody is repeating in some way. Like if you have a certain rhythm in the first 2 bars, then have that rhythm repeat in the the second two bars around the same time... Also, another trick is to make a melody in the first 2 or 4 bars and then have it go up a note in the scale in the second 2 or 4 bars. Another thing to do is try to have your melody not jump around too much, try to skip 1 note at a time. This helps a lot more with singers since some arent as trained to jump from note to note. If you have progressions, try and have the melody begin with a note in the progression. Also try not to repeat your highest note, it loses some power when its repeated in a melody. None these rules are set in stone, you dont have to start with the tonic or anything like that, just try and make a melody that you will remember after you make a beat.
 
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