Recipe
A base, some topping and a touch of spice. Remember their musical equivalents?
So to cook tasty melodies just make a mix of…
- mostly chord tones;
- some ‘chord extensions’ (topping);
- and go easy on the ‘wrong’ notes (all other notes) – add just one or two for each melodic line; if any (matter of taste and style).
Ratios
Use more (harmonic) topping and you will add more ‘color’ creating a more modern/’open’ sound – feels like ‘flying’. Antonio Carlos Jobim’s compositions are a great example. Use more (harmonic) spice and it will become like modern/avant-garde/jazz music; lots of harmonic tension/conflict.
When nature calls
Spicy notes create a lot of tension. And we instinctively feel that tension needs to be released.
The only way (without diving into something as complex and best suited for instrumentalists as adding chord progressions) to do that in a logical manner – a way the audience will perceive as logical – is nature’s way! The path of least resistance as well as the shortest path.
In other words; towards an adjacent tone (up or down is your choice, but if the melodic phrase was going in a certain direction, maintaining that direction will feel more logical, changing direction more surprising/spicy!). If the adjacent tone is still spicy, which is rare but can happen, go to the next one in the same direction (up or down).
If you then hit a ‘topping’ – a tone that adds color to the chord – you can either choose to keep it this way or move in the same direction (like rivers flow in one direction) towards the nearest chord tone – the base – to release all (additional!) harmonic tension. Want less rhythmic tension as well? Place your notes on the beat (no additional tension) or on a logical subdivision of the beat (some additional tension).
Go with the flow
Melodies ‘want’ to flow – just like the chord tones, little melodies themselves; 2nd, 3rd etc. voices. To the nearest notes that don’t create a harmonic conflict. Thus scales are formed naturally. Where do rivers flow towards? Towards the lowest point. In music, it’s the 1. The root of the chord. But above all the 1 of the key: the keynote, the origin.
This is – for example – the essence of the major scale: 5,6,∆ upwards towards the 1 – 4,3,2 downwards towards the 1. In other words 5,6,∆ > 1 < 2,3,4. Logical, from the perspective of any individual note it’s the shortest path towards the nearest 1. Preferably – a huge understatement (!) – the 1 of the key. If not, the 1 of the chord will do.
The 3 and 5 of major keys and b3 and 5 of minor keys come in second place as a final destination. They have very little tension.
And the 6 in third place!
Naturally, the chord tones themselves are places of the least added (!) tension. Especially the 1 of chords, followed by de (b)3 and 5 and the 6 – when possible, meaning when they are in the chord or eligible as topping in the case of 6.
You can go against this principle, but it will create tension.
Because in the end, all notes long to be harmonically and rhythmically…
1
…’beat as one’, one vibration, one vibe, ‘the one’, etc. All different expressions for the highest form of unity – of divine harmony, peace, rest.
Music is nothing else but disturbing this optimal state – throwing a rock in a pond. The water wants to restore the optimal state of tranquility, but you try to prevent this with all possible means. Music is, therefore, a form of sadism :)
Back to the flow
When going from one chord to the next it’s most natural to continue your melody ‘where you left it’. Sure, you could make a ‘jump’. But it will feel less natural thus cause tension. Nothing wrong with tension, if used strategically :)
Exerspice
Using spice in your melodies takes practice. You’ll feel these notes are ‘wrong’ thus tend to avoid them. The easiest way to practice using spice is by using the chromatic sequence (semitone sequence). On any tune you like. Just start on any note and go up and down along the chromatic sequence – or randomly – within your instrument’s range.
