In writing a melody, it's critical to keep your audience surprised. Sincewe speak English in iambic pentameter, it's natural to assume we can writein the same meter. Unfortunately, it's deadly boring. So I suggest youdeliberately vary the lengths of your lines, and the number of notes ineach, along with the number of lines or bars per section, to avoid yoursong sounding predictable. After all, it's your job as an artist to tellyour audience something they aren't expecting. The range of most contemporary singers is an octave and three - theinterval from middle C, for example, to the E an octave above it. If youwrite a tune with a range greater than that, you'll be hard-pressed tofind a singer with the chops to handle it. My song, "An American Hymn",which I wrote with Lee Holdridge, was only recorded once in twenty yearsuntil Lee figured out how to revise the bridge melody, reducing our octaveand five to an octave and three. Now the song is recorded at least once amonth. Most hit "power" ballads, such as Daughtry's "Home," end their verses onnotes lower than the ones on which the choruses start. To create tensionand drama in their melodies, I urge my clients, and you, to go up into thechorus, not sideways or down. Doing the latter is like letting air out ofa tire. So go up and stay up. And although some contemporary songs breakthe rising-into-the chorus rule, you can bet their rhythmic hooks at thebeginning of and throughout the choruses are strong enough to overcome themelody's drop, and keep us listening. ~Molly-Ann Leikin (rhymes with bacon) is a song marketing consultant inCalifornia, who, for a modest professional fee, works one-on-one to helpyou find the right writing partner and then helps you market your finishedwork to all the right people. A Eurovision finalist (American Idol inEurope), Molly is the author of "How to Write A Hit Song, Fifth edition",(June, 2008) from which this article is excerpted, and "How to Be a HitSongwriter", both published by Hal Leonard. She has a house full of goldand platinum records plus an Emmy nomination, has written themes and songsfor over four dozen TV shows and movies, including "Eight is Enough" and"Violet" that won an Oscar. From the USA and Canada, you can reach Molly,toll-free, at 800-851-6588, or from anywhere in the world, atwww.songmd.com. Please note: Molly does not accept unsolicited material.© 2008 Songwriting Consultants, Ltd.
written Molly-Ann Leikin
