The lesson
What Is Melody? is the Young People's Concert broadcast by CBS on December 21, 1962, with Leonard Bernstein leading the New York Philharmonic. The starting question: why is some music considered "without melody"? Bernstein's answer: melody is not just the catchy little tune, but exists in many forms, and what seems "unmelodic" to us is often just unfamiliar to our ear.
The forms of melody according to Bernstein
| Form | What he means | Examples cited |
|---|---|---|
| Tune (song) | complete, singable, self-sufficient melody | Gershwin's "Summertime," Schubert's Serenade, "Mack the Knife" |
| Theme | melody designed to be developed, leaving "room" for symphonic work | themes of the symphonies of Beethoven and Mozart |
| Motive | small seed of 2–4 notes from which long lines grow | Beethoven, Fifth Symphony; Wagner, Prelude to Tristan |
| Long line | melody that unfolds without obvious repetitions | Bach, Italian Concerto (second movement); Hindemith, Konzertmusik for strings and brass |
| Basses and inner voices | melodies that sit under or within the texture | Bach fugues |
Key concepts
- Repetition: it makes a melody memorable ("you can hold on to it"). The more a melody repeats, the easier it is; long, non-repetitive melodies demand more attention.
- The "1-2-3" method: a phrase, its varied repetition, then a "take-off" that goes beyond. This is the sentence scheme (presentation and continuation) explained to an audience of young people; Bernstein also shows it in the theme of Franck's Symphony.
- Shape of the melody: it rises and falls like tension and release.
- Counterpoint is not the absence of melody, but an abundance of melody: in Bach's fugues there are several melodies at once.
- Taste is learned: what seems to lack melody today may become familiar tomorrow (the case of Wagner, initially judged "without melody").
- Closing example: the finale of Brahms's Fourth Symphony, built on an eight-note theme with 30 variations (a passacaglia): a minimal melody that generates an entire movement.
What a producer learns
- Distinguish tune from theme: a pop hook is a tune (complete, repeatable); a theme for a film score or for a long instrumental piece must be a theme (incomplete, developable).
- Use the 1-2-3 method to build a hook: phrase (2 bars), varied repetition (2 bars), take-off (4 bars that climb to the peak and cadence).
- Treat bass and inner voices as melodies: that is where an arrangement becomes "rich."
- If a melody feels weak, try increasing the repetition before changing the notes.
Exercise
- Write a 3-note motif.
- Use the 1-2-3 method to build an 8-bar phrase.
- Rewrite it as a "long line" with no repetitions and compare how memorable it is.
- Add a bass line that is also a melody (contrary motion).
Related entries
Bernstein: What Is Orchestration, Bernstein: What Is Sonata Form, Bernstein: What Is a Mode, Bernstein: The Unanswered Question, Motif and motivic development, The phrase (sentence), Passacaglia and chaconne, Motivic analysis.