Composing a melody 33 Instrument or voice? General advice Performance directions Listen to your melody [At Grade § you wil ned to compose a short melody of no more than eight bar. ‘You can dacise whether to compose for an instrument, £9. olin, cllo, clarinet or rurnpet, or for voice. ‘You do not need to know @ lot about the instrument that you choose, but you shouid think about its style ‘and characteristics. For example, you need to know the lowest note that the instrument can play, and it {you are composing fra valn, for exarnple, you coud include some pizcato iit is sultable forthe ‘melody. (The AB Guide to Music Theory, Parl, Chapters 19-20 has more information about inctuments) In the Grade 5 exam you wil have these options > Ifyou choose to composs for an insturont, you will be given the stat of the melody. > Ifyou choose to compose for voice, you wil be given words but not an opening. IF you decide to compose for voice, remember thatthe pitch range is usually much small’ than for an Inetrument, Try to keep within a range ofa 12th > You do not need to write more than eight bars this includes the opening for an instrumental melody. I |. a goad idea to write exactly eight bars since elghi-bar melodies are very common and ae the easiest ‘to compose. Much instrumental music and mary well-known songs, new and old, are made up of ‘ight-bar melodie. >» Your melody shouldbe frished — do not lave it open-ended so that the melody sounds as iit needs ‘something else to frish tof. Ince some performance rections (you wal not need many in an eight-bar melody) Hete are some suggestions: > Decide how fast you want the melody to be performed and acid a tempo direction, e.g. Allegro, ‘Andante or a metronome mark > Show the dynamic level that you want, e.g. mf, p. if you want to change the speed or dynamic lavel, ‘lve the necessary droctions, 6.9. tit, ——=— > Add phrasing (articulation) marks, €.9 6gato slurs and staccato dots. Be careful when you draw slurs. Be clear at which note they stat and frsh. if theres only one voice o instrument onthe stave, you ormaly place the slur on the same side as the note-heads when these al go in the same direction. the stems go up and clown, the slur usualy goes above the notes. Put tes and staccato marks inside or below the a, not above it \Witing a melody is a challenge to your inventiveness ard imagination. You should always try to hearin Your mind what you have written. During the exam you wil not be able to try your melody on an instrument o sing i ut oud. However, itis very helpful to do this when prectising, perculary inthe early stages; and itis ahvays a good idee to play & melody when you have fished i, to s9e whether you have ‘actually written the sounds you intended.84 | Composing a melody Rhythm = The most important features in a melody are () ts rhythmic organisation and (the melodic shapes and pitch produced by the pitch of each note. Look atthe rythm and pitch shapes inthe examples tht follow, ln most ofthese extracts you will ea a 'V’ printed below the stave, hal-way through the melody, This indicates a cadence point, which you will read more about on page 28 sit Pete, 1602 While shep = hewswstcbed ther focks by sigh A sest ed on te geund, The e+ gol of lord came com, And go y shone 8+ round Sina, Petonchta (The Stove Fa) © eto, “Yestonl "Saba Alen v. bo Sear-it town, whero 1 wea bom, There was a fir mahal Mode ery youn oy wel away Hor name was Bar = bia Al fo, 4, Gh, Tho Pana of Derma March ' 2 a ‘ * . 7 . Andante argo ump Grcet nd nComposing a mslody | 85 Hane Sebloe (Mach G . Taster She a some of sk - pores, A poc- ket tl of ne, Fours ends twen = bck - bie eked np, © Whan ho pio was 0 - panad the bids be- gan to sre © wee -nt that a deny dah fo ad be- be 8 thy 2 Meza, Piano Corestn K. 55 tat) Allegro a " SS : 2 2 ‘ Peat Nymphs and shep-hec oma a way come a = wey Nymphs. and shop - hes te. come 8 = way, come, come, core, come = way86 | Composing a melody Rhythm When you plan the rhythm ofa melody, look at what was said about fou-har rhythms in Grade 2 (pegre 23-26) and Grade & (pages 62-34) of Music Theory in Practice. Those suggestions apply equally to the ‘hythms of eight-bar melodies. Look atthe folowing features in the melodies on pages 34 and 35 of tis ‘book, (The letters in brackets below refer to the examples, but now only their rhythms are shown) (1) The thythm of bars 14 is repeated exacty in bars 5-8: mas did id dd lds ddle dle dds Usd sid d dl I aD TIT by FUT FUTTI dy (2) The two halves are very neatly but not exactly the seme: etd IL dL OSS aD DALAL Ma Sia (8) The two halves start the same but fish ciferenty: ot) J ladies ss less dd lh doi lsd i | O8ITN ITI od db DITIJTIS 71 INST) | GARR) i) FAITNNIT] by | (4 The two halves start iferently but frsh the same, or very nearly 60: QO OOP: ce le ch Papell al JILIN J TT OdPitch Shape Composing a meiody | 37 (6) The opening rhythm is used again in the second quarter ofthe tune: @ ATT NIT IT 1s Fd ETI GIT GAL be 0 (6) The melody does not civide into equel sections: ‘Nymphs and shepherds’ consists of 3+ 8 bars, with the opening rhythm occuring again in bar 4 a ses AOI Wid TT se ‘When an opening rythm ecours again later in a melody the same notes may be played again, s0 the repetition ofthe music is exact, 98 in Exerpies(¢) and (). However, an absolutely exact repetition can sound boring. To vokd this, the pattern of the notes may be modifed, e.g. n Example fo) where the notes are all moved down one degree: Each haf of tune () contains another hythmic repetition: Kian Wie aim ae Here, the notes in the sacand hal (bare 6-8) ae not the same as those inthe frst half bars 2); however, the three descending quavers atthe start of bar S are matched by three descending quavers at the stat of bar 7: ' > ye : 5g See SSeS ae Exact or mode epetitns of he opening muse occur moat Fequenty athe taro the second ha of the maddy, as i Example (). They ae algo common a the begining ofthe second quater, 6 In Exar (a 3 ‘The ovevall shape produced by the notes Is very important, (1) Amelody should have a sense of cirecton. In a) “While shepherds watched’ for example, the melody gradually moves upwards until it reaches the D in bar 5, and then gradually comes down again. The frst half of the melody goes up, and the second half goes down: upward movement is balanced by downward movement. But neither half goss salt up or straight down, Both halves contain smatier ‘scents and descents. Tis is only one possible shape, however: the high point does not have tobe half-way through a melody. There are mary ways in which ascencing and descending movement may be ‘balanced and! contrasted, But ty to avoid crcing around the same few notes!88 | Composing a motody ‘to words (2) The second point concerns eadlances, anc tha chortis that they imp. Apart from some folksongs. ‘and other special cases, most melodies ee inseparébly connected with their supporting harmonies, particularly atthe cadence points. Thus, the fnal note of @ melody wil belong tothe tone chord (the Cchotd that most compostions almost always end with, and wil usvaly be the toni nate ise, The chord ‘most commoniy found at a cadence during the course of a melody (generally half-way through) wil be the dorian. Notice that, in mast of the melodies (a) tof on pages 84-25, the note atthe hlway point belongs tothe dominant chord ~ though fis nat necessary the dominant note itself (These points have been shown by a 'V" printed below the relody} ‘A melody set to words nesds to be shaped in the same way as purely instrumental melody. The words themselves may suggest musical ideas ~ mood, rhythmic pattems, piich shape, and go on. The dificult 's that the melody must fit the words, andi will be partly judged by its sutabty asa setting of them (eee ‘Muse Theory in Practice, Grade 4, pages 29-23) For example, the characte ofthe melody must reflect ‘the mood of the words: a bright and cheerful melody would clearly be unsuitable for sed words, Silay, the shape of the melody should help to highight the Important words, Look atthe two settings below of a verse by Allan Cunningham, its rhythmic aspect wes dlscussedlin Music Theory in Practice, Grade 4 (pages 29-31). The following settings both use ‘Version 4 rom that book: i.e. their rhythms are identical. The tet seting (below) adds emphasis to certain words (cold, snow, seep, primlroses), by placing them at the top of each melodie cue, with ‘sleep’ as the highest note of ‘l, The second setting Is poor because the music does not match the words: the shape of the melody does nothing to bring out the meaning ofthe words; and its high point he top G)is not sutable for a weak sykabie, Setting 1 (good v) oe ——_f>— === = Gone wervbut the winter cok, And gene wwe but erm old =—, = —S= eso fh te wid woods Where prin) m+ ee bom Setting 2 (poor x) Andante P. (Gone werebut the witer ox, And gone warbut the nou od psc i= os iy re wid wooo; mew prm = fo. = eee _lom In both of hese settings each sylable has only one note. However, sylables may of course be eet to two ‘oF more notes, as in Setting 3 on the next page.Exercise 1 Example Oboe Composing a melody 1 89 Setting 3 (good v) 4 P. Gore wore but fo win-tor Gold, And gana warebut the snow, 1 ou — sep the wld wade Whew prin = 0s blow Setting particular sylabes to two or more notes can help to bring out the meening ofthe words — but be _werneck it can also do precisely the opposite! For the best results, tis Important to try end hear what you write, Only the clot and the key signature should be shown at the beginning of the second and later staves not the time signature, The only exception is when there is a change of time signature at the start of a new stave = and then the new time signature should also be shown after the bar-ine at the end ofthe previous stave. Compose a melody up to eight bars in length, using the following openings. Write for one of the suggested instruments (write out your choice on the line before the first blank stave). You may substitute a different cle for the one given, provided It Is appropriate to the selected instrument. Remember to include performance directions (tempo, phrasing, dynamics etc.) for voin, oboe or trumpet for voIn, fute oF ob0840 | Composing armelody for fute, oboe or clainat for viola, clarinet or hon for vioin, oboe or clerinet @ {or colo, bassoon or tromboneComposing a melody I 41 o Ge Fe] tovioin, oboe or ctanet for oboe, hom or tumpet {or viola, clarinet or bassoon for voin, fue oF oboe42 | Composing a meloay {or calo, horn or trombone w for vol, tute or trumpet {or von, vila or trumpet for cat, bassoon or trombone