What is the best way to elaborate on a simple melody? | Yahoo Answers https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?

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…What is the best way to elaborate on

a simple melody?
I'm doing a project at school, and I've chosen to compose a bunch of
music. I've already got a direction with my melody and harmonies for
a classical piece, and am looking to elaborate that melody for a dra-
matic climax. I'm looking for ways other than directly adding the oc-
tave or something like that, because I don't want to sound like a
"noob".
I've been playing for 10 years now, so I'll be able to handle most any-
thing said, so please contribute!

1 following 2 answers

Answers

Best Answer: Here are some suggested approaches for develop-

ing your melody.

1. First, best to state your melody in its original form at the start. The
general rule of thumb is start simple and gradually add complexity.
The listener needs something to wrap their head around melodically
before you start introducing elements.
2. Transpose it to a new key. It helps if you have a background in har-
mony to understand the harmonic functions. For example, chords
have a tendency to want to go somewhere. Example: ii wants to go to

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What is the best way to elaborate on a simple melody? | Yahoo Answers https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100706081743AA2Ys4x

V. V wants to go to I. So you can apply this to your melody as well.

Perhaps repeat the melody in the V scale with a cadence returning it
back to I as a general example.
3. Expansion/compression of the intervals - if your melody leaps a
fifth, perhaps expand it to a 6th or octave?
3. Inversion (or transposed inversion) - rather than moving up a fifth,
go down a fifth in the melody, etc. So basically invert the intervals
down rather than up or vice versa.
4. Retrograde (or transposed retrograde) - play the melody back-
wards. It will sound familiar yet different.
5. Retrograde inversion – invert the intervals and play the melody
backwards.
6. Diminution – cut the rhythms in half so speed it up (so whole note
is now a half note)
7. Augmentation – expand the rhythms to slow it down (so half note is
now a whole note).
8. Counterpoint – add a melody that can be played against your other
melody. Best if you first state your melody alone then when repeating
the melody, add the counter line to make it more varied.
9. Ornaments – you can add more color on the melody when you re-
peat it by adding some flourishes such as a trill (rapid alternation of
notes where you might have had a long sustained note before), ap-
poggiatura (a leaning grace note), mordent (a rapid single alternation
of a note), etc.
10. Add greater complexity after you’ve repeated the melody – best to
state your melody cleanly first so the effect isn’t ruined. But an exam-
ple of greater complexity is something like a harmonic suspension
(you don’t resolve the harmony right away) or an anticipation (you
preface the harmony before it arrives).

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Other ideas:
1. Sequence - take a melodic fragment of your music and build it into
a sequence where the end of the phrase is a start of the phrase at a
different modulation.
2. Orchestration - if this is just for piano, on the second go around you
can always give the melody to the bass and the harmony to the treble
or give half of the melody to your left hand down low and the other
half to the right hand up high on the piano. Just ideas...
3. Repetition – find the best part of the melody and repeat it.

Since you mention wanting a "dramatic climax", sequences that build

by stepwise are a great dramatic technique. Especially if you surprise
the listener by a modulation at the climax. Example, lets say you build
the sequence from an important melodic part (you want to pick some-
thing memorable) and you stepwise modulate up three or so times.
The listener would expect your next phrase to be a stepwise higher
since you've established the pattern but the fourth time you surprise
them with something unexpected but related. So rather than the next
scale in the series, you do a substitution as an example or a relative
major/minor. This will break the pattern but have that sense of in-
evitability since it is related harmonically.

These are just some general ideas to get you going. Good luck.

Musicman · 9 years ago

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Maybe speed up the tempo to give the feeling of suspense toward the
climax you intend on using.

Victoria · 3 years ago

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