Music scales are the basic ingredient that goes into making a melody.
The foundation of the melody is the musical scale.
Turning the musical scale into a song is something that takes knowledge of music theory and artistry.
A scale is a series of tone that follow a specific pattern.
There are two basic categories of a scale.
These are major and minor.
The major scale is the more popular of the two types.
Most melodies are written using the major scale.
Music Sound Frequency Each tone has a specific sound frequency.
This frequency is heard because instruments like the piano or flute create vibrations that move air.
Longer waves make lower tones and shorter waves make higher tones.
By shortening or lengthening a tone a musical scale is created.
Each frequency is identified with a letter.
Tones and Semi-Tones Western music is based on twelve tones.
These twelve tones will repeat as the frequency of the tone raises or lowers.
Each set of these twelve tones is called an octave.
Imagine that these twelve are arranged like a ladder.
Each rung on the ladder is called a semi-tone.
Two semi-tones will make a whole step.
A semi-tone is also called a half step.
Building a Musical Scale To build a musical scale a pattern of whole step and have steps is used.
A scale uses seven of the twelve tones.
For the major scale the pattern is: Whole - Whole - Half - Whole - Whole - Whole - Half.
As mentioned previously, each frequency is assigned a letter name.
In this example let's assign letter names to each step.
The letters are C D E F G A.
On a piano these notes are represented by the white keys.
Selecting a Key Since our series of letters start with the letter "C", this is called the key of C.
This is one of the most popular keys to write songs.
This is also a great place to start when first writing a melody.
Tone Characteristics Within the series of notes, each tone has a certain feel.
There are two types of tones.
There are unstable tones and there are stable ones.
The stable notes are the strongest feeling tones.
They have a sense of rest and destination.
They don't have the need to go anywhere.
On the other hand there are unstable tones.
These are weaker tones.
They have a sense of wanting to move.
These notes must go somewhere.
Where they want to go is to a stable tone.
Usually they move to the nearest one.
For sake of illustration, I will assign a number to each letter in the scale.
Each of these numbers represents a degree in the series of notes.
Here is the assignment.
C = 1 D = 2 E = 3 F = 4 G = 5 A = 6 B = 7 The Stable Tones As mentioned before there are stable and unstable tones.
The number one note is called the tonic and it is the most stable of all the notes.
It is also represents the key signature.
There are two other tones that actually consist of a major triad.
The next most stable note is found in the 5th degree.
After that the next stable note is found in the 3rd degree.
To recap the stable tones in order of stability are: 1, 5 and 3.
Or in the Key of C the notes are C, G and E.
The Unstable Tones The remaining tones are considered unstable tones and need to resolve to the nearest stable tone.
These tones are 2, 4, 6 and 7.
Each of these like to move is a specific direction.
In the case of the 2nd tone, it can resolve upward to the 3rd or downward to the 1st.
Next is the 4th.
This one likes to move downward toward the 3rd.
Next is the 6th, this one also likes to move downward to the nearest stable note which is the 5th.
Finally, the 7th wants to move upward toward the tonic note.
Basic Rules For Composing a Melody
The foundation of the melody is the musical scale.
Turning the musical scale into a song is something that takes knowledge of music theory and artistry.
A scale is a series of tone that follow a specific pattern.
There are two basic categories of a scale.
These are major and minor.
The major scale is the more popular of the two types.
Most melodies are written using the major scale.
Music Sound Frequency Each tone has a specific sound frequency.
This frequency is heard because instruments like the piano or flute create vibrations that move air.
Longer waves make lower tones and shorter waves make higher tones.
By shortening or lengthening a tone a musical scale is created.
Each frequency is identified with a letter.
Tones and Semi-Tones Western music is based on twelve tones.
These twelve tones will repeat as the frequency of the tone raises or lowers.
Each set of these twelve tones is called an octave.
Imagine that these twelve are arranged like a ladder.
Each rung on the ladder is called a semi-tone.
Two semi-tones will make a whole step.
A semi-tone is also called a half step.
Building a Musical Scale To build a musical scale a pattern of whole step and have steps is used.
A scale uses seven of the twelve tones.
For the major scale the pattern is: Whole - Whole - Half - Whole - Whole - Whole - Half.
As mentioned previously, each frequency is assigned a letter name.
In this example let's assign letter names to each step.
The letters are C D E F G A.
On a piano these notes are represented by the white keys.
Selecting a Key Since our series of letters start with the letter "C", this is called the key of C.
This is one of the most popular keys to write songs.
This is also a great place to start when first writing a melody.
Tone Characteristics Within the series of notes, each tone has a certain feel.
There are two types of tones.
There are unstable tones and there are stable ones.
The stable notes are the strongest feeling tones.
They have a sense of rest and destination.
They don't have the need to go anywhere.
On the other hand there are unstable tones.
These are weaker tones.
They have a sense of wanting to move.
These notes must go somewhere.
Where they want to go is to a stable tone.
Usually they move to the nearest one.
For sake of illustration, I will assign a number to each letter in the scale.
Each of these numbers represents a degree in the series of notes.
Here is the assignment.
C = 1 D = 2 E = 3 F = 4 G = 5 A = 6 B = 7 The Stable Tones As mentioned before there are stable and unstable tones.
The number one note is called the tonic and it is the most stable of all the notes.
It is also represents the key signature.
There are two other tones that actually consist of a major triad.
The next most stable note is found in the 5th degree.
After that the next stable note is found in the 3rd degree.
To recap the stable tones in order of stability are: 1, 5 and 3.
Or in the Key of C the notes are C, G and E.
The Unstable Tones The remaining tones are considered unstable tones and need to resolve to the nearest stable tone.
These tones are 2, 4, 6 and 7.
Each of these like to move is a specific direction.
In the case of the 2nd tone, it can resolve upward to the 3rd or downward to the 1st.
Next is the 4th.
This one likes to move downward toward the 3rd.
Next is the 6th, this one also likes to move downward to the nearest stable note which is the 5th.
Finally, the 7th wants to move upward toward the tonic note.
Basic Rules For Composing a Melody
- A melody can easily move in a conjunct fashion.
Meaning it can move up and down by going to its closest neighboring tone.
This is the most popular way a melody moves. - A melody can also move according the notes of a chord or triad.
Most song melodies will follow this pattern. - On occasion a tone will leap unexpectedly more than a third.
If this happens it is recommended to immediately move in the opposite direction moving toward the nearest stable tone.
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