In this video, we join Martin as he attempts to write a melody for the verses of My Town. Martin strums sequences of notes and chords on his guitar and sings the lyrics over the top to come up with some ideas for a melody. Notice that he pays particular attention to creating a melodic shape (for example, he talks about ascending and descending melody which is what we have called an arch shape this week).
He also focuses on coming up with a melodic form that will reflect the structure of the lyrics. You’ll see him decide on a form of ABAB with variations at the end - which is what we have called an A-B-A1-B1 structure this week. As Martin plays his melody he automatically begins to harmonise with chords. Melody and chords are often inextricably linked, with the notes of the melody fitting with the chords underneath.
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