Today we’re going to talk a bit about melody. As a lifelong songwriter, I can tell you honestly that melody has been the hardest part of songwriting for me. It’s the thing that took the longest to get my arms around, and the last thing I really became focused on. My progression toward writing quality commercial songs can be chronicled as follows:
• I started writing love songs in my teens, to communicate with girls
• I grew tired of average and started hunting for chords beyond Kumbaya
• I started finding chord progressions that really interested me
• I discovered inner rhymes and interesting rhythms
• I excelled at writing ballads and ignored up-tempo songs
• I worked my butt off to write better up-tempo songs, which took while
• And lastly…I started concentrating on melody as my top priority!
This progression through the process took years! I guess I couldn’t have really skipped any of these steps, as they’re all important. But I have to kick myself for not becoming more “melody aware” earlier on. Truly, melody is the most important part of a song. It’s the very thing that listeners take away, and the one thing that is remembered long after the words are forgotten. I do not know all the verses to This Land Is Your Land. But I know the melody cold. So do you.
Here’s how I forced myself to write a better melody. It will work for you too. Are you ready? This is so simple; it’s almost laughable…
Sit on one chord for at least twice as long as you normally would when you begin to write a song. There! That’s the whole trick! LOL. If you’re going to make that song interesting, you will have to write a decent melody, right from the start. Try it. It works.
You can always go back and augment chord changes and the progressions, if you want to. You may also decide to let it lie. Melody is actually the thing, or the ingredient, that makes a song magical. There’s a little more to consider as well. Note that the melody of the verses and the melody of the choruses should be different, but they should both unfold in a familiar and natural way for the listener. Melodies should also be singable and original. This is very difficult to do. You’ll find this out. Writing brand new, interesting and easy to sing melodies could prove to be the most challenging thing you ever do as a songwriter. Perhaps that why there are so few great songs.
You’ll discover that your songs come together so much easier when you start employing the Harper Melody Method. And here’s another melody trick: When I write country songs I will often compose a unique melody hook (known as a motif) for 1) the musical intro, 2) a brief intro-related line between the end of the first chorus and the beginning of the second verse, and 3) the intro motif repeated at end of the song for closure. This is, again, more melody writing; the lines just don’t have words, that’s all. The same rules apply. This practice will glue your songs together and give them a very professional feel.
Practice these tricks that make melody an integral part of your songwriting. And if you can, give your songs many reality checks as they progress. Failing to do so spells disaster every time. You see, we as writers, and the folks that give birth to these creatures, we know our songs too well. By the time they’re mixed and mastered our ears are glossing over important stuff. Like proof reading, it’s all too easy to pass the point of no return. Have new ears critique your songs often because ultimately the public will be the judge of them. And when your song gets to people hearing it for the first time, they will give it about 30 seconds for an audition. Those little motifs and hook lines had better be there to give them a level of comfort. You either deliver what they can sing or hum along with or they’ll find another station that will.
Remember that TV series called Name That Tune? I think about that show every time I write a melody these days. Will my lyric be recognized in 5 notes? That’s my acid test, my bottom line.
Now I can guess what you’re probably thinking… most of the newer songs on today’s radio will fail this test. Yeah… you’re right. But that doesn’t get you off the hook as a budding professional songwriter. You should carefully design your songs to become standards that will enjoy years of radio play. The melody, my dear young songwriters, is the key to making that happen.
Contract David Harper at:
musicbydavid@gmail.com
* Call it trickery, call it skill… the end result of this one simple technique will result in songs with much better melodies. Learn to write like a pro.