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Malody preview mode7/2/2023 Most melodies are eight bars long and tend to be broken into two four-bar phrases. It features a combination of steps and leaps.It starts on the tonic, pauses on the dominant at the halfway point, and ends back on the tonic.Let’s start by looking at an all-time great melody, one that is universally loved, one that stuck in your head the first time you heard it, and one that has all the features we’re going to cover: “Over the Rainbow,” with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Yip Harburg. But many of the world’s greatest melodies have some features in common, and it’s good to familiarize yourself with them. For every tip I’m going to offer, for every feature I point to, there are countless exceptions. The hope is to help you turn a great idea, fragment, or motive (aka motif) into a fully fleshed out melody that will get audiences singing along at your next show.īefore we dive in, let me be clear: there are no rules to writing melodies, or music in general. (After all, if everyone could read one article on the Internet and go and dash off a great melody, everyone would.) But while I can’t give you an exact recipe for creating a great melody, I can point out some common traits great melodies have and show you how to use techniques to improve your melodic skills. Of course, writing a “great” melody is an elusive art, and it’s hard to say why one melody grabs us and why another doesn’t. They’re the viruses that spread your music to the masses. They’re what people sing in the shower and when walking the dog. For most music, melodies are what listeners latch on to. While one can certainly cite great songs with no melodies, the ability to write a catchy melody is a tool every songwriter should learn. While I can’t give you an exact recipe for how to write a great melody, I can point out some common traits great melodies have to help improve your melodic skills.
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