How to write the melody of a pop song?

Hey everyone! So today, I’m going to share with you all how to write the melody of a pop song. 

Let’s talk about it

Melody writing 101

So what is a melody? 

If you’re brand new to music, you might not know what it is.

In a pop song, it’s usually the line of music that the singer sings. 

But in music, there can be different melodies. 

It’s not just what the singer sings. 

But how can we make our melodies sound good? 

Let’s get into it. 

Pop Melody writing 101

So there was this songwriting show called Songland that appeared a few years ago on NBC.

And the Show actually involved taking a few musicians and having them work with established musicians. 

One of the musicians that they were supposed to be working with was Ryan Tedder who is the lead singer of OneRepublic. 

And this singer, actually said something that I thought was absolutely fascinating. 

And he said, “Sing every line like it’s a hook, and save your best hooks for the chorus

And actually when I heard that bit of advice, that transformed my songwriting abilities so much. 

Because I know that general direction that music is supposed to take place, but I don’t know how to go about writing the most intimate details of the songs. 

And this actually gave me the details. 

So now that we have that written down, there is one last thing that I should mention 

Melody Contour

So, there are some general directions that we as musicians should be aiming to write our music. 

There is the Flatline melody, Ascending, Descending, Zig-Zag, and there’s two more but I honestly don’t use them enough to actually talk about them.

The Flatline Melody

I think this is one of the most used melodies written by Taylor Swift. 

If you look at it, it’s really just the same note being sung over and over again to give a sense of urgency and anxiety. 

It actually helps to give those emotions because it causes a sense of tension with the listeners. 

It doesn’t have to be strictly that note, Like if you change chords, it can change notes to the note in the chord that you went to. 

Or the notes can change, but remember to fall back to the note that you were on. 

The ascending and Descending melody

So these melodies actually help to create a valley and hill shape on the musical staff. 

And you can use these to actually make different emotions. 

An ascending and then descending melody can sound happy, but if you were to start descending and then go ascending, it would have the adverse effect on the listeners. 

So use these tools to create different sounds in your songs. 

Zig-zag melody

Zig-zag melody is almost the same as the flatline melody, except you are alternating between 2 notes. 

These two notes can be far apart, 

Like, I think that there are a few songs out there that have big leaps and they call them zig-zag melodies. 

If you place two notes close to each other and sing them as a hook, it actually sounds really cool. 

So with all that being said

So with all that being said, use these tools that are tried and tested with other musicians to make great hits and go out and make your own great hits. 

Always remember God with your successes and never forget that he got you there.

Broadcast

I sure hope that I have been an inspiration and a hope to you all. Please remember to pray, read your bible, go to church, and love God above all else. Like, comment, share, subscribe, and I will see you all next time.

If you want to go to heaven, then believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven. (John 3:16)

Thank you all for listening in on this blog post. 

German Gonzalez, signing out!