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A melody can be any number of musical tones, from two to a thousand. It can be short; it can be long. It can sound cheerful, lonely, scary, or complicated. But above all... it is a single entity. ONE.

A way to think about melody is like a line. Now within a line, there are points, certainly. But more than the points individually, a line is ultimately the concerned with the connection between them. How they relate. Where was the previous point? Where is the next? How do I get from here to there? If I were looking at a map, what direction would I travel in?

A melody, in this sense, has only three directions. A melody can go UP; it can can go DOWN, or it can STAY THE SAME.

When working with melodies, it is important to remember that it really is that simple. That one, and only one, of these three ways for a melody to move will be correct for any given point in a melody, from how to get from here, to there.

Whenever we use someone else's pre-packaged musical information, whether it be TABS, TUTORIALS, or SHEET MUSIC, to learn a song, we're not dealing with this reality directly. What we should be doing, instead, is seeking for ourselves, a firsthand grasp of what it is actually like to discern the motion of melody, UP, DOWN, or STAYS THE SAME, for ourselves. If we're not doing this, we are NOT learning anything meaningful about Melody. We're simply regurgitating technical instructions. And that means an emphasis on technique over musicianship. And we all know which of those two is more valuable and sustainable over the long run when it comes to freely moving about in music, and being able to make the kind of music we want to make.

Learning how to read sheet music will not take us to the place we want to go. Memorizing note names and perfecting techniques will not get us there. Only actively engaging with Melody firsthand and paying attention to what's going on in our ears and minds will connect the music we love to the music we make.

See the rest of the Melody Module on https://warrenlain.com/

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