Melody

What is the difference between melody and harmony?

A melody is a single line of music. Think of someone humming as they go about their day. They can only hum one note at a time. In order to move to the next note, they must stop humming the first note.

Generally speaking, we use scales to write melodies. The root note of that scale is our tonal center. Usually a melody will leave that note, and eventually come back. Let’s compose a small melody.

The first step is to pick our scale.

In this example, I will be using F major.

Remember, the major pattern goes as follows: whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step.

Press Play to Hear the Scale

Scale notes are filled in with color.

1
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2
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3
4
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5
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6
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7
1
F
G♭
G
A♭
A
B♭
B
C
D♭
D
E♭
E
F

Now begins the fun and creative part!

The next step to writing a melody is to pick your first note. In this example, I recommend using the note F, or what can also be referred to as the “one.” Why would we refer to F as a number rather than by its name? Easy: if we want to play the pattern we’re about to compose using another tonal center, we would then use the scale degrees to fill in the notes.

After picking your first note, you have a few choices. One option is to select a note somewhere in the middle of the scale. Another choice is to move, note by note, in succession. The student will develop a feel for what works best. After all, we are using this as a learning experience. So the student will need to experiment with each melody. We all have different tastes: my melody may not sound good to you. So don’t be afraid to alter yours as you see fit.

1
4
3
5
7
4
3
1
F
B♭
A
C
E
B♭
A
F

What if we want to play this melody using another scale?

This is accomplished quite easily. Below, you’ll see two diagrams. The first one diagrams the C major scale. The second one diagrams this melody, using the C major scale rather than the F major scale.

Notice both melodies use the same scale degrees.

Press Play to Hear the Scale

Scale notes are filled in with color.

1
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2
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3
4
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5
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6
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7
1
C
D♭
D
E♭
E
F
G♭
G
A♭
A
B♭
B
C
1
4
3
5
7
4
3
1
C
F
E
G
B
F
E
C

Notice how it's sound is similar, yet the frequencies are different.

This demonstrates the incredible power of thinking in scale degrees. This particular technique is called transposition. To transpose something is to move it from one key to the next, shifting its tonal center.

If I’m in the key of C major, that means I’m using the C major scale to build my melodies as well as harmonies. C is my tonal center. If I’m in the key of F major, I am using the F major scale. F is my tonal center.


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