How To Write A Melody: Scale Degrees and Relationships

This week we'll be continuing our discussion on how to write a melody for your chiptunes -- more specifically, we'll be learning the relationships between tones and how they can be used to create an effective  a melody.

Let's start by learning the names of the tones in a scale. As we discussed last time, there are 7 tones in any given diatonic scale (but not in other scales such as the chromatic scale and pentatonic scales). While in some cases it is beneficial to list the specific notes of a scale every time you write one --

C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C

D  E  F#  G  A  B  C#

-- it can become tedious and is too specific for some situations. Instead, it's easier to refer to the tones by their scale degree and number in the scale:

Tonic (1)   Supertonic (2)  Mediant (3) Subdominant (4) Dominant (5) Submediant (6) Leading Tone (7)

The most important thing to remember about these scale degrees is that the tonic is what we can think of as the 'home' of the scale. When you're writing a melody, you should strive to end your melody on the tonic. This is what's known as resolution. Resolving to the tonic adds a satisfying sense of completion to a melody.

On the other side of resolution is tension. When you end a part of your melody on something other than the tonic -- especially the 2, 5, or 7 of the scale -- you create tension, which results in the listener expecting and hoping for resolution.

Think of it like starting a sentence, but


not finishing it.

To experience tension firsthand, play a C Major scale, but stop playing when you reach the 7th tone (B). That feeling of anticipation created by stopping short of the tonic (and failing to resolve) is tension, and it's an important tool in composing effective melodies.

fig. 1: Eight Melodies, lovingly transcribed by me in Photoshop

If we look at the 8th measure of Eight Melodies, we can see that it ends on an A. Since Eight Melodies is in the key of D Major, that means A is the 5 of the scale. If you were to pause the song at the end of the 8th measure, it would feel unsatisfying. That's because the composer has carefully created tension at the halfway point of the song.

Now pay attention to the last note in the song. That's right -- it's a D. We learned that D is the tonic, and a resolution to the tonic is inherently satisfying.

Go forth, my friends and use tension and resolution to create satisfyingly sweet tunes.

Works Cited and Additional Reading.

Miller, M. (Year of publication). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory: Second Edition. New York, New York: Penguin Group.

Tanaka, H., Suzuki, K. (1989). Eight Melodies. On Mother Original Soundtrack [NSF File]. (n.d.).