Sweet melodies are artforms, the piece of a craftsmanship who has

mastered the act so well, that there is no need to be guided by rules. This is
exactly where we are heading to. But before we get to painting melodies
the exact way the mind conceived them, working with some rules could be
a better way of learning than trial and error method. So, what we want to
achieve is to win ourselves off the rules and create melodic melodies
spontaneously!
"You are remembered for the rules you break"
"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun"
"Learn the rules well, so that you can break them effectively"

Melody is the succession of single tones in musical compositions : a

pleasing series of musical notes that form the main part of a song or piece
of music. It is a horizontal approach to music, as opposed to Harmony
which is a vertical approach. A melody can contain lots of different
intervallic progressions but the primary law of melodic construction is that
a smooth and convincing melodic outline is achieved only when your notes
form a progression in seconds
1. Build with Seconds
Minor seconds Major Seconds Augmented Seconds
D D D in the key of C major
The real building unit of melody are seconds. They perform some
functions in melodic spaces.
They are used to fill out the harmonically stronger intervals.
They are also placed immediately before the first tone of such an
interval or after the second one.
We will be using a simple song as example to show the evidence of the
rules. It is a old & yet popular melody known by both young and old.

I LOVE JESUS's melody states

d r m d
d r m d
m f s
m f s
s l s f m d
s l s f m d
rsd
See the above;
The points to the presence of seconds and the direction they
are facing (either Major Seconds or Minor seconds)
This songs proves that melodic construction that flows smoothly needs
some building blocks of seconds movement in it.
2. Use Same Note as the Last note
The first note could be the same as the last note you are returning to at the
end, you give the listener the feeling of formal, tonal rounding off and
completeness

The song I love Jesus sounds satisfying because. It is resting back on the
tone it started from.

I LOVE JESUS's melody

drmd
drmd
mfs
mfs
slsfmd
slsfmd
rsd

rsd

d started the melody of the song and ended it. Giving it a sense of
rounding off and completeness. This song melody has proven it, that this
rule can help us achieve sweet melodies while still learning the weaves of
creating sweet melodies
3. The direction of melodies motion should be
changed after a few while.
The direction of melodic motion should be changed after four (4) to five (5)
tones in order to avoid too pronounced an ascent or descent of tone line,
melody direction axis should be changed!!

I LOVE JESUS's melody

d r m d
d r m d
mfs
mfs
s l sfmd
sl sfmd
rsd
rsd

See how the melody line changes direction after moving in a direction for a
while. They keep the ear perked up and ready for more.
4. Precede the final tone with 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th as
prescribed

Seconds (major or minor) from below or above

Thirds (major or minor) from above
Fourths from below
Fifths from above.
All others weakens the closing effects!!

I LOVE JESUS's melody

d r m 3rds d
drmd
mfs
mfs
s l s f m 3rds d
slsfmd
r s 5ths d
r s 5ths d
Example of another movement!!

You would have noticed that ( t minor 2nds d ) Would have a great
ending too, follow up your melody.

Because it has this leading tone sound of wanting to resolve a minor

second higher.
5. Do not skip or make too much leaps in a
direction.

Two (2) leaps in a direction will form a group of notes, making it seem like
a chord tone (which might in turn draw attention to itself as the ear senses
chord tones fast, there by devaluing the surrounding notes. Instead, change
directions after leaps!!

s m this is a leap s

Check out what the melody composer did

Immediately. He/she leapt there was a change in direction

s m this is a leap s changes direction f

The melody composer could have leapt twice e.g

s m this is a leap s another leap t

From this (we have a chord tone already. m s t) The listeners will pick it
as a chord tone and that devaluate other surrounding notes of the melody.

Several successive tones must not form a tone group which can be
perceived as a broken triad (arpeggiated chords). Such tone groups would,
through the compactness, focus attention of listeners on the chord unit the
and thus devaluate the surrounding tone.

Keep the good music alive

Shalom.