How To Vary Melodies

Melodies are the key to any successful song. A strong understanding of how they work is essential. There are thing a melody MUST have to be able to function at full potential. Number one is a rhythm. A rhythm is how long the notes are and how long they will be held for. The second thing any melody must have is pitch. Pitch is how low or high the note sounds. These two elements work together to form the tune of the song.

So I have my melody. How can I spice it up to make it suit the style of music or simply my personal preferences?

There are many ways you can vary melodies each with their own unique effect, and if you put a few techniques together, im sure you’ll come up with something that is pure genius. There are literally hundreds of ways for you to vary a melody, but I’m just going to outline a few of my favourites.

- Change the rhythm from simple time into compound time (or vice versa).

E.g. changing from 4/4 into 5/4. For this variation you will have to slightly edit the notes in order to make the melody fit the new time signature. Usually by adding or subtracting one note.

- Reverse the melody.

E.g. if the notes in your melody go: A,C,G,F,E, then reversed it will become: E,F,G,C,A.

- Invert the melody.

To do this you must find the interval and direction of interval of the previous and current note. You then simply flip the interval direction. E.g. if your intervals go: E,G,C then inverted it will become: E,C,F.

These types of variation can be extremely powerful and emotive if used in conjunction with each other.

Thanks for reading.

Jayde Cohen