A blog about writing melody – Figuring Out Melody

Melodic Figuration Theory: The Hidden Logic of Melodic Behavior

by David Fuentes, Ph.D. If you sing the opening of “What a Wonderful World,” you’ve also sung the opening of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Same notes. Same order. And yet each song uses those notes to entirely different ends. In one, we hear the

The Vocabulary of Melody

Melody has a vocabulary. Composers have been speaking it for centuries without knowing it. Here it is—laid out, interactive, and ready to transform the way you write.

A Cognitively Grounded Framework for Melodic Figuration Theory

How a new framework for melodic behavior aligns with principles of cognitive science, including music perception, memory, learning, and intuitive reasoning.

Why haven’t we heard of melodic figures before?

Like a fish living its entire life in water, every second of our musical environment is so saturated with melodic figures that we don’t even notice them.

What is a Melodic Figure?

Composers rarely think about melodic figures, and that’s a shame because they offer so many ways to unlock your melodic potential.

How the Beatles Create 6 Dynamic Melodic Effects with Just 3 Notes

The 3-Note Scale is one of melody’s most common building blocks—and the Beatles used it six different ways. See how, then try the techniques yourself.

Proposing “AICA,” the AI Composers’ Assistant

Genius Melodic Gestures #1:
“Lovely,” by Billie Eilish and Khalid

What makes this excerpt genius? The melody perfectly reinforces the message of the lyrics. It does so using only 3 pitches. The lyrics are masterfully spare.

Genius Melodic Gestures #2
Adore You

words and music by Amy Allen, Thomas Hull, Tyler Johnson, and Harry Styles WHAT MAKES THIS MELODY GENIUS? AN OVERVIEW At first, “Adore You” seems like yet one more “simple pop tune” about infatuation. But if we listen closely to the melody of the

Melody, Meter, Momentum, and Meaning

Learn the practical laws of metric gravity, and you’ll have the power of expression at your fingertips.

Use Predictability to Make Your Melodies More Surprising

No composer wants to sound predictable. But unless you learn to combine predictability with surprise, you’ll have trouble writing interesting melodies.

How to Get a Melodic Figure to Do Anything You Want

Each of the seven songs in this blog uses the same 4-note melodic figure, yet sounds totally different from the rest. Why? Because each composer manipulates the figure in his or her own way.

The Building Blocks of Melody

This interactive table introduces the 36 foundational building blocks of melody, offering a versatile toolkit for crafting expressive, memorable melodies.

What is an Arpeggio?

To produce an arpeggio, a musician performs the notes of a chord one at a time rather than all at once. And this presents a conundrum. While most people think of a chord as a “block of sound,” an arpeggio retains its “chordiness” even