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Composing a Melody for Instruments - My Music Theory

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Grade Five Music Theory - Lesson 13: Composing a Melody - Instruments

The Grade Five Music Theory Composition Question
In your Grade Five Music Theory exam, youll be given the first two bars of a melody, with the key and time signatures. (It could be in treble clef or bass clef.)

The instructions will ask you to choose from two instruments and to continue writing the melody for the instrument youve chosen. (There is no wrong answer- choose the instrument you are most comfortable with).

The choice of instruments will be from different families, for example the violin and oboe, or the bassoon and cello. You will never have to write for an instrument on which we usually play several notes at the same time, like the piano, harp or organ.

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Heres an example question:

Compose a melody for unaccompanied violin or oboe, using the given opening. Indicate the tempo and other performance directions, including any that might be particularly required for the instrument chosen. The complete melody should be eight bars long.

Choosing an Instrument
Its a good idea to choose an instrument that you know something about! If you play the clarinet and you have the choice of bassoon or cello, youll probably write a better melody for the bassoon, as it is also a wind instrument.

If you choose to write for a string instrument, you will need to include bowing notation, (specific instructions for using the bow).

If you write for a wind instrument, you should include articulation (slurred, tongued, staccato) and breathing indications - clarinet players can play very long phrases without needing a breath, but flute players cant.

Whichever instrument you choose, you will need to know its range, i.e. what its lowest and highest notes are. As long as you dont start using lots of ledger lines you should stay within the range required, but dont forget that some instruments are less/more effective in different registers. For example, although the flute can play from middle C, this first octave is quite weak and much less bright than octave above. (Dont forget to write which instrument you have chosen on your exam paper!)

If neither of the instruments offered are very familiar to you, you might be better off choosing the alternative question- writing a melody for voices, (see Lesson 14: Composing a Melody for Voices ).

Melody Length
The melody should be 8 bars in total. You usually get 2 bars to start you off, so you will have to write 6. Notice whether the melody starts with a complete bar or not - if it starts with an incomplete bar, then your last bar should make up the beats, (so youll finish up with 7 complete bars and 2 incomplete bars). Dont forget to finish with a double barline!

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Performance Directions
Whatever instrument youre writing for, you will need to include performance directions for the player. You must include:

Tempo (speed). Use the accepted Italian or German terms. Dynamics (volume). Indicate a starting dynamic (e.g. FF ), and indicate gradual increase/decrease of volume with hairpins e.g. Articulation(attack). (See below). Adding the right articulation indications will increase the marks you get for this question - but make sure you use them in the right places and dont overdo it!

Wind Instruments
Articulation
Wind instruments usually play

legato (mark with a slur)

, or

tongued (no marking needed), or

staccato (small dot)

Breathing
Wind players will need somewhere to breathe - either write a rest about half way through (or more frequently), or indicate places where the player can grab a quick intake of air by using a small comma above the stave. Keep in mind the tempo youve indicated, and remember that although clarinet players can play without breathing in for quite a long time, flute players cant!

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String Instruments
Articulation
String writing can include up-bow and down-bow markings, (which are always placed above the stave). Up-bow marking

Down-bow marking

Other techniques include spiccato (bouncing the bow lightly on the string), legato (played with a full bow),and portato (sounding the note for about 3/4 of the length of the notated value). For more on string terminology, click here.

Notes with a legato slur are usually played with one stroke of the bow:

String instruments are capable of playing more than one note at the same time (this is called "double-stopping") - but dont attempt to write this unless you know the instrument in question well.

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Exercises for this Lesson >>>

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