In a line, how does one emphasise the tonic? Traditionally we have used repetition of the tonic; leading tone resolving to tonic (or subtonic to tonic modally); the dominant scale degree falling or rising to the tonic. We can also rest on the tonic, mediant or dominant to imply a tonic resting point. What then of the supertonic, subdominant and submediant? Is there use of altered scale degrees to put emphasis on the tonic? Should tonic emphasis be the main focus of a line?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
On melody
What is melody? What makes melody? And how does one write melody? Does melody exist on its own, wholly independent? Does it merely coincide with the music around it, does it co-exist with the music, or is it derived from it (or vice versa)? What is the music without melody? How does one differentiate good melody from bad melody? Is there a distinction between melody in counterpoint, melody with harmony and melody alone? Do we differentiate the following: fugue subject, counterpoint entrance, aria, sonata theme group? Can we? Would we want to? Does there exist something in the absence of melody? In answering these questions, what can we say then about countermelody?
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2 comments:
Melody, for me, is generally the solo-esque line that sticks about above either harmony or constant, though softer movement in the accompaniment...I think without a melody, the whole piece becomes kind of an entity, or a melody in itself. Kind of like one of those proverbial rainbow things- 'it's not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it's the journey down the rainbow that counts' type of things. I don't know about you, but that saying has never pleased me very much, especially when put into context, like watching a movie. A movie can be awesome for its entirety, but if the ending sucks its value goes right down the drain. Hopefully the same thing doesn't apply to music.
And the tonic, like you said, is just banged into our heads through resolution and repetition. I think what you can do, to have a melody that doesn't necessarily rely completely on the harmony is to have the harmony constantly changing under it- maybe once every two bars or so, and have the melody kind of lead into it sometimes or change to the new tonality a beat too late for interest. I don't think I can give you an answer for what you should do- that'd be like telling you what you can't do. I'd say just go with gut instinct and listening to your ear. Write for whoever you want (yourself, the audience, no one) and write what you want. Yaaaay freedom!
So many questions! Good ones, too. But it might be a productive exercise to attempt your own answers to these questions, because ultimately your own answers are the ones that matter most, since they inform the way you compose, and interact with music in a more general sense.
My sense of things in tonal music is that the different scale degrees create a relationship that, in essence, define tonality. Some notes have a "pull" in a particular direction, especially when placed in the context of chords. Some notes seem like a place you could rest (i.e., can be used as a phrase ending), again within a context of harmony, but only one note (tonic) seems to be the one that feels like the one that a melody should end on, if the effect one wants is to create a sense of conclusion at the end of the melody.
So the challenge for modern composers is how to create a musical language that has anything like the equivalent syntax and relationships of tonality, or, if working within tonality, how to do so in a way that is fresh and personal, and not sounding like an attempt to emulate what thousands of composers have done before you.
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