"The Ideal Melody" from the book "Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy"


-Nearly all notes in the melody are to chosen from the seven note scale upon which the melody is based. When any of the remaining five chromatic notes are used, they generally should appear in positions that are unaccented and unemphasized so as not to undermine the prevailing harmony.

-Most of a melody's notes should be adjacent scale notes. Jumps should be few, and large jumps are rare.

-To avoid monotony, individual notes should not be repeated too much, particularly at emphasized positions in a melody.

-Harmonic resolutions, such as cadences that we'll consider in the next chapter, should occur at points of rhythmic stress in a melody.

-Similarly, rhythmic accentuations should highlight the melody's contour. Changes in melodic direction should generally fall at rhythmically important junctures.

-A melody should have only one instance of its highest tone, and preferably also of its lowest tone. The highest tone should never be a ton that naturally tends towards a higher one(such as the seventh note of the melody's scale).

-Jumps should always land on one of the seven scale tones, not on one of the five chromatic tones. The ear always hears a jump as emphasized(that is, the brain is more attentive to jumps, since they define the boundaries of submelodies), so jumping to a chromatic tone violates the rule about never emphasizing theses tones.

-Conversely, a melody should never leap from a chromatic tone. The dissonance of a chromatic tone creates tension in need of release. Yet jumps increase tension, and so contradict this need.

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quote:

Originally posted by dj_alfi change your avatar for fucks sake.

show me

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Found Atlantis - Mixography [mix archive/mokumentary/my soul]?
i writed a song.

quote:

Originally posted by Beatflux "The Ideal Melody" from the book "Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy" -Nearly all notes in the melody are to chosen from the seven note scale upon which the melody is based.

Notice the "nearly". The greatet melodies I know have some subtle scale change in them.



Some really great scale changes in here.

quote:

Originally posted by Beatflux -To avoid monotony, individual notes should not be repeated too much, particularly at emphasized positions in a melody.

Nice post, this was what ive been doing too much of.

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quote:

Originally posted by Morvan Notice the "nearly". The greatet melodies I know have some subtle scale change in them. Some really great scale changes in here.

What are some other examples...that one was pretty good.

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quote:

Originally posted by dj_alfi change your avatar for fucks sake.

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Found Atlantis - Mixography [mix archive/mokumentary/my soul]?
i writed a song.

quote:

Originally posted by Beatflux "The Ideal Melody" from the book "Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy" -Nearly all notes in the melody are to chosen from the seven note scale upon which the melody is based. When any of the remaining five chromatic notes are used, they generally should appear in positions that are unaccented and unemphasized so as not to undermine the prevailing harmony. -Most of a melody's notes should be adjacent scale notes. Jumps should be few, and large jumps are rare. -To avoid monotony, individual notes should not be repeated too much, particularly at emphasized positions in a melody. -Harmonic resolutions, such as cadences that we'll consider in the next chapter, should occur at points of rhythmic stress in a melody. -Similarly, rhythmic accentuations should highlight the melody's contour. Changes in melodic direction should generally fall at rhythmically important junctures. -A melody should have only one instance of its highest tone, and preferably also of its lowest tone. The highest tone should never be a ton that naturally tends towards a higher one(such as the seventh note of the melody's scale). -Jumps should always land on one of the seven scale tones, not on one of the five chromatic tones. The ear always hears a jump as emphasized(that is, the brain is more attentive to jumps, since they define the boundaries of submelodies), so jumping to a chromatic tone violates the rule about never emphasizing theses tones. -Conversely, a melody should never leap from a chromatic tone. The dissonance of a chromatic tone creates tension in need of release. Yet jumps increase tension, and so contradict this need.

Too many "shoulds", "nevers", and "always'" in there. It's like the author spent too much time compiling "rules" from misinformed forumites, rather than studying melodies and listening to what actually works. It's a good thing the great masters didn't adhere to these "rules", otherwise melodies would be as boring as fly shit. And, I really wish these tards would stop referring to concepts in music theory as "rules".

Also, notes and intervals alone do not make a melody. The author failed to mention the equally important parts, particularly the rhythmic aspect, but also interaction with the other voices (e.g., countermelody, harmony), expression, etc.

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Last edited by cryophonik on May-19-2011 at 18:01

Ideal = Formulaic
Not Ideal = Terrible or Innovative

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Too many "shoulds", "nevers", and "always'" in there. It's like the author spent too much time compiling "rules" from misinformed forumites, rather than studying melodies and listening to what actually works. It's a good thing the great masters didn't adhere to these "rules", otherwise melodies would be as boring as fly shit. And, I really wish these tards would stop referring to concepts in music theory as "rules". Also, notes and intervals alone do not make a melody. The author failed to mention the equally important parts, particularly the rhythmic aspect, but also interaction with the other voices (e.g., countermelody, harmony), expression, etc.

It's only a small excerpt of the book.

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quote:

Originally posted by dj_alfi change your avatar for fucks sake.

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Originally posted by Beatflux It's only a small excerpt of the book.

Then, how useful is your post? Aside from the fact that these "rules" are broken by many of the most well-known melodies in musical history, you've taken an absurd set of "rules" out of context - how useful is that? To take this point to an extreme, it would essentially be like me posting an excerpt on an art forum that essentially goes something like this:

The ideal theme for your art:

- always use complimentary colors
- never use contrasting colors

Not only would it be a stupid thing to write, it would clearly demonstrate that I've never looked at art and I've totally ignored the all-important point of what to actually do with those colors, the art style I'm after, the art medium, etc.

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Here is a melody that meets all of the author's rules:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...major_scale.ogg

Well, at least it follows the K.I.S.S. rule and it's memorable.

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quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Then, how useful is your post? Aside from the fact that these "rules" are broken by many of the most well-known melodies in musical history, you've taken an absurd set of "rules" out of context - how useful is that? To take this point to an extreme, it would essentially be like me posting an excerpt on an art forum that essentially goes something like this: The ideal theme for your art: - always use complimentary colors - never use contrasting colors Not only would it be a stupid thing to write, it would clearly demonstrate that I've never looked at art and I've totally ignored the all-important point of what to actually do with those colors, the art style I'm after, the art medium, etc.

Can you name one well known work that defies every single point?

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quote:

Originally posted by dj_alfi change your avatar for fucks sake.