Melody

What makes a melody memorable - pitch, rhythm, and phrasing. Learn the key ingredients that make notes singable and catchy. Free interactive lesson.

Melodic contour explained - ascending, descending, arch, and wave shapes. How the direction of a melody affects emotion. Free interactive lesson.

Steps and leaps in melody - conjunct (stepwise) vs disjunct (leaping) motion, and how to balance them for natural melodies. Free lesson.

How to target chord tones on strong beats and use passing tones to connect them. Essential melody-writing technique. Free interactive lesson.

Musical motifs explained - how short melodic ideas are repeated and varied using sequence, inversion, and retrograde techniques. Free lesson.

Call and response in music - how antecedent-consequent phrasing creates musical conversation. Hear question-and-answer melodies. Free lesson.

How the rhythm of a melody shapes its character and interacts with harmonic rhythm. Create urgency or calm with rhythmic choices. Free lesson.

How chord changes influence melody note choices - targeting chord tones, using tension notes, and making melody and harmony work together. Free lesson.