Par t 3:Tunes
There’s something else interesting about this particular melody. The first half of
the melody has an insistent upward motion; the second half uses a downward
motion to deposit you pretty much where you started. Even though not all the
notes go up (or down), the general flow of the melody moves in those direc-
tions, and thus propels the melody forward.
You need to have some sort of motion in a melody, or you’ll put the listener to
sleep. That motion can be in the tune, or in the rhythm, but it needs to be
there, to help the melody get from point a to point b.Michael, Row the Boat Ashore
Next up is the traditional folk song “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore.” The
words to this tune, simple as they are, can actually help us see the melodic form.
When you read the words, you can clearly see that the song consists of two
near-identical halves—rhythmically, anyway.
The first time Michael rows his boat ashore (hallelujah!), the melody has a
slight upward motion, and ends with a slight bit of tension on the fifth note of
the scale (A). The second time Michael goes boating, the melody sways down-
ward slightly, and resolves itself by ending on the tonic of the key (D).
Symmetry, repetition, tension, and release—these techniques are used over and
over to create memorable melodies.94
The melody for the folk song “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore.”The two quarter notes
before measure one are
calledpickup notes;that
little half measure is called
apickup measure.Yo u
use pickup notes and
measures when the melody
actually starts up before
the first beat of the first
measure.NoteThe melody for Bach’s Minuet in G—also appropriated for the pop song “A Lover’s Concerto.”