Hey Friend,
When I say the word melody, what do you think of?
If you’re like most Rockers, you immediately picture a lead singer belting out the main line of notes as they sing the lyrics.
And you are correct.
But there’s more to melody than just the primary string of notes you’d hum along with the singer. There are usually three or more melodic tracks going on in a song at any given time.
What Is Melody?
Technically speaking, melody is the stringing together of individual pitches (or notes) to create a musical phrase.
I like to think of it more like a sentence. Each note represent a word in the phrase.
The main melody is usually the focal point in the song, the part that is most noticeable. It’s where our attention goes as we listen to the song.
But here’s where I’m going to step off the main path for a minute.
There are many melodic lines going on in a modern recording.
You have a bass line. There could be a melodic piano run responding to the line the singer sings. The lead guitar has its own time in the spotlight as the foreground melody. Or guitar and piano swapping lines back and forth.
And then there’s the possibility of multiple instruments, each simultaneously playing separate melodies that harmonize with the others. This is known as polyphony.
A great example of this is listening to an orchestra. All the various instrumental sections have their individual parts mapped out to perform.
These parts act to both complement and contrast with the others in order to create a tapestry of cohesive (usually) sound.
These background tracks can also adjust the dramatic effect of the main line of a song. By creating multiple melodic runs, you can change the emotional direction and ultimately the destination of a song ending.
Of course, melody isn’t the only component that can do this. You can also move your listener with the harmony and rhythm.
But melody usually stands out front, and that’s what most listeners hear and focus on.
What's Next...
As you can see, there’s more to melody than just what the singer is singing. You can create all sorts of interesting melodic lines that act like hidden treasure for the ears.
Listeners usually don’t pay attention to the “sub-melodies” playing in the background, but if these were missing, it would affect the quality of the song and its message. So they're definitely important.
Next week we’ll begin looking into the basic building blocks of melody. Have a great Friday!
Peace~
Dave
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