basics of melody

27 Apr, 2026

DEFINITION OF TERMS:

melody - succession of pitches in rhythm

motif - musical atom / idea, must have a distinct intervallic succession and distinct rhythmic pattern

melodic phrase - musical sentence / complete musical thought

conjunct motion - moving stepwise / interval of a scale degree
disjunction motion - moving by leaps / large distances of intervals (larger than a second)

a good melody has:

rhythm
contour
repetition
memorable intervals
and is singable

ANALYZED SAMPLES:
(transposed in the key of C)

digital witness - st. vincent

digital^(8-3-3) witnesses^(3-4-5)
what's⁽⁸⁾ the⁽³⁾ point⁽³⁾ of⁽³⁾ even^(3-4) sleeping?^(5-1)
if⁽¹⁾ i⁽²⁾ can't⁽³⁾ show⁽²⁾ it⁽²⁾, you⁽²⁾ can't⁽²⁾ see⁽³⁾ me⁽¹⁾
what's⁽⁸⁾ the⁽³⁾ point⁽³⁾ of⁽³⁾ doing^(3-3) anything?^(3-4-1)

notes: first line starts with a leap to the octave note (8) and then does a bunch of repetition and stepwise motion around (3). this repeats except for the second line when the musical phrase changes. the biggest intervallic leap in the melody is from 3 to 8 (m6) and vice versa. it also leaps from 5 to 1 (p5) and 3 to 1 (p4) when it resolves to the end of the chorus line.

PRACTICE & APPLY:
(in progress)

main reference:

melody in songwriting by jack perricone

supplemental resources:

#log #music