Melody: Find a Line Worth Singing

Think in shapes before notes

Every melody has a contour, the line you would draw if you traced its rises and falls in the air. Listeners remember contour long before they remember exact pitches. When you sketch a new tune, hum it first and draw its shape in your notebook as a simple wavy line. If the drawing looks like a random scribble, the melody will probably feel random too.

Three contours work especially well for relaxed outdoor songs: the arch, which rises to a peak and settles; the step-down, which begins high and walks gently home; and the question and answer, where one phrase lifts and the next resolves.

Keep the range friendly

Many untrained singers are comfortable across roughly an octave, and a sing-along chorus is safest within six or seven notes. Write your verse in the lower part of that range and lift the chorus slightly, so the chorus feels brighter without asking anyone to reach. If you cannot sing the highest note quietly, it is too high for a picnic, where you will want to sing softly.

Borrow the pentatonic scale

The major pentatonic scale, five notes instead of seven, is the shared language of folk songs from Scotland to the Appalachians. In G it is G, A, B, D and E. Because it leaves out the two notes most likely to clash with your chords, almost any line you hum from it will sit comfortably over G, C, D and Em. "Amazing Grace", with words by John Newton, is a well-known melody built almost entirely from this scale.

Repetition is generosity

A hook that returns three or four times gives late listeners a way in. Repeat the chorus melody exactly, and consider repeating its first line twice within the chorus itself. Songwriting teachers such as Pat Pattison, author of Writing Better Lyrics, and Jimmy Webb, author of Tunesmith, both write about balancing repetition and contrast: enough sameness to feel familiar, enough change to stay interesting.

Let the words set the rhythm

Speak your lyric aloud and notice which syllables naturally carry weight. Place those on strong beats. When a stressed syllable falls on a weak beat, the line sounds awkward even if the notes are lovely. Keep phrases short enough to sing on one comfortable breath; outdoors you may be breathing harder than you think, especially after setting up.

Practice sequence for this lesson