Although I have already addressed some of this before, this topic is so important I could write about it in every blog post. You have to know the purpose of your melodies and make sure they are written to achieve that purpose. Do you want people to sing your melodies or just enjoy listening to them? There is a big difference in how you handle your pitch range and rhythmic selection depending on what your goal is.

Let’s start off with pitch range, do you want folks to sing along with your song? Some songs are specifically written so the majority of folks can easily sing along. Other songs are written slightly higher to produce songs for folks to enjoy listening to. If your intent is to write singable songs, then you don’t want to go outside the range of the D-D octave on the treble clef. Even that range may be a little big, as some people will struggle toward the ends of that range. However, most folks are able to sing the melody or find easy to sing harmonies if you stay in that range. Unfortunately, melodies in this range can seem a little uninspired and dull… So for melodies that are slightly more inspirational to listen to, you will most likely start exploring notes that can get as high as the G or A above the staff… Maybe even higher depending on the singer.

Along with pitch range, the rhythmic content is one of the most important considerations. My background is as a percussionist… So it took me a little time to realize that triplets and notes that are faster than eighth notes can be difficult for the average musician. If you are looking to create singable melodies you may need to keep the melodic rhythms simple and surround them with rhythmically interesting instrument parts. Regardless of if you are writing singable or just for listening melodies, writing rhythms that are complementary  (not the same) as your rhythm instruments will help your melodies stand out.

Although we are looking at these considerations individually, they all combine to create one experience, the melody. In my experience, the starting point always comes from a moment of melodic or lyrical inspiration. Then, I will start to adjust the range and melodies to achieve my goals. The most important thing is. To know what you are trying to achieve, it is impossible to hit a target that doesn’t exist.