What is a melody?

Melody is the singable or hummable part of a song. It’s the “tune.” It’s often the most prominent or highest voice or instrument because that’s easiest to hear and pay attention to. It doesn’t need to have words, though it can.

Imagine the song “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Now take away the words. Imagine it being played on piano. Now imagine it being played on violin. Now imagine it being hummed by a singer. That’s the melody. All of those things are the melody. It can be played on any instrument.

It’s the specific grouping of rhythms and notes to make one single line.

Now let’s imagine the “ABC” song. Let’s take away the words. Imagine it being played on piano. Now violin. Now hummed by a singer. Sound familiar to another song you know?

Those two songs “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and the “ABC” song share a melody. They have different words, but have the same organization of notes and rhythms. We can do the same thing with “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, because it shares the same melody with those two songs.

Not all music has a melody. Pop music almost always does. Most songs with singers do. But it’s not required for a piece to have a distinct melody. Lots of film music is more about texture than melody. There may be parts of it or pieces of it that are melodic, but it doesn’t have a single distinct melody.

It’s a bit abstract because it’s not about specific instruments or notes or rhythms. It’s the combination of notes and rhythms put together into one single line.

That’s a thing to remember too. It’s one single line. Not two. Not three or four or however many. It’s only one. You can sing a melody. But if it’s multiple notes played at the same time then it’s one melody, that’s two melodies.

Try to pay attention to the melody of the next song you listen to. Can you hear it as it’s own thing? Take it away from the song and see if you can hear just the melody.

ISJ