Alphonse Nguyen

This article is a continuation of an earlier one, because I think I can go through a few more examples on how to write a melody. But first, let’s review the fundamentals from that previous article:

1. Keep in mind the flow, tone, and mood of the melody, along with the overall fit/structure.
2. Sing the melody out loud to get a better idea of how it sounds and how it feels.
3. Sometimes it’s best to keep the melody simple if possible. This is often good advice even for the more-advanced composers out there.
4. Trial and error, sweat and blood.
5. Try to use 4 or 8 bar phrases (applying incomplete/complete endings), sequences (repeating the phrase at a different pitch), and rhythmic motives (provides unity and consistency).

Alright, so I want you to select the key of your piece as well as the starting chord. While playing that chord on your preferred instrument or while imagining it in your head, sing out loud a melody note to go with that chord. It could be a note that belongs to the chord or it could be a non-chord note. Then I want you to instinctively sing the next note without too much deliberation. This second note should naturally follow from the first note, and if it feels right to you then you can keep it (if it doesn’t feel right to you then repeat the whole process). This natural progression in the melody should be accompanied by a natural progression in the harmony, so you can either stay on the same chord or move onto a different chord as you see fit (e.g. if your first note is a non-chord note, then likely your second note will be the resolution of the first note, in which case you would want to maintain one chord for both notes).

Going from the second note to the third note is the same idea, except that you need to sing all three notes. It’s not enough that the second note goes to the third note, because you can’t get to the second note unless you go through the first note. Everything must make sense. For instance, if you want to figure out the fourth note, sing the first three notes repeatedly until the fourth one suggests itself to you. And etc!

Yes, it’s a long process, but you’ll get better at it. If you’re able to speed through and compose the majority of the melody in a single shot, then by all means go nuts. Just check that the flow is maintained by singing it over and over again, and the rest of the melody will naturally emerge.

In addition, you should be mindful of the rhythm/meter. If you feel that you need to put in a rest here and there, do so (silence can be part of the melody). As well, the shape of the melody line is important: you don’t want your melody to constantly stay static on a single note, so have the music rise and fall (but beginners should initially keep their melody within an octave range). Overall, you need to give your melody enough variety/contrast in the notes and timing to make it interesting.

Now all this information so far is fine and dandy, but you’ll need direction or else the flow of your melody will be aimless. So let’s go through the following points to guide you further along.

Although I’ve already touched on phrasing, let’s elaborate a bit more. 4 and 8 bar phrases are commonly utilized because the endings take place at natural breathing locations (but once you’ve mastered the art of writing melodies, you can make your phrases as short or as long as you want). The simplest 8-bar phrase is one where you split it into two equal halves, phrase 1 and phrase 2 (each one being four bars long), with phrase 2 being a repeat of phrase 1 except for the ending.

Simple but effective. You should also observe that each phrase ending consists of a perfect cadence (V – I), but they don’t sound identical to each other. This is because in phrase 1, the melody ends on the mediant (semi-closed), while in phrase 2 the melody ends on the tonic (closed, which sounds final). Use open, semi-closed, and closed effects to your advantage, as they will help give your melody the sense that it’s actually going somewhere instead of sounding like it’s lost.

Let’s add some non-chord notes to decorate the melody for fun:

This adds further interest and complexity to the music. See how I’ve employed a new rhythmic motive based on the old one (but I didn’t overuse it in order to prevent excessive repetition, but that’s just my preference). I’ve also changed the cadence (I – V instead of V – I) since I felt that it was how the music wanted to flow. As well, see how the 16th notes are reserved for the weak beats in order to move towards the stronger beats. And so as I’ve been demonstrating, melodies can be flexible.

However, you don’t always need a lot of extra notes or a large amount of variation/intricacy to make the melody sound good. Simplicity is sometimes best, as seen in this short segment from Mozart’s Piano Sonata for Four Hands in D major, 1st Movement (I’ve condensed the score):

In the first half, the melody line naturally rises before landing on the E. But in the second half with the simple repetition of the E, the melody changes ever so slightly to produce a refreshing feel.

On the other hand, sometimes you are more than welcome to go crazy! In Liszt’s La Campanella, listen to how the melody has been changed while remaining recognizable.

Going back to the concept of phrases, if you don’t want phrase 2 to be an exact repeat of phrase 1 (aside from the ending), then you could always just change it up. For instance, phrase 2 could be sequence of phrase 1 (with a different ending), or you could write phrase 2 as a logical continuation of phrase 1 in a similar style (using motives), or phrase 2 could even be vastly distinct from phrase 1.

Let’s look at that last scenario using Mozart’s Piano Sonata in D major (1st movement), where there are two obvious halves to the phrase. The contrasts actually work well together to make the phrase fit as a whole. (Note that in the first half of the phrase, you can also feel the direction of the music as it moves toward the A in bar 2.)

The second phrase is a sequence of the first (with the ending altered), which sounds just fine to me. And in both phrases, watch the gradual and natural rise in the melody line, followed by the fall:

To see an example of phrase 2 as a logical continuation of phrase 1 in a similar style, look at “But Not For Me”. Carefully observe the rhythmic motives and its slight variations, the rising melody line, along with the tension, climax, and eventual resolution.

As a side note, let’s revisit Mozart’s Piano Sonata for Four Hands, because near the end of the movement he converts our familiar melody into its minor key version:

This changes the character and colour of the music, which makes it sound interesting. I believe that every composer should possess the ability to convert a melody from major to minor and vice versa. Obviously not every melody can be converted, but I still feel that it’s an important skill you need to have. Think of it as an exercise in harmony, so go practise away.

And finally, the very last technique I want to discuss in writing melodies is the usage of contrapuntal devices. These are mainly used in fugues (i.e. writing two or more melodies, imagine that!), but are often found elsewhere.

1. Inversion: The melody is turned upside-down to form a mirror image of the original.
2. Retrograde: The melody is played backwards.
3. Retrograde inversion: A combination of the two methods above.
4. Augmentation: Stating the melody with longer note durations.
5. Diminution: The opposite of augmentation.

Using the subject from My Contrapuntal Nightmare: