The_Complete_Idiot%27s_Guide_To_Music_Theory

Chromatic intervals—notes that aren’t in the underlying scale—are very difficult
for most singers to sing. For example, if you’re in the key of C and your
melody jumps from an E to a G♭, a lot of singers won’t be able to hit that second
note. They’ll want to sing either an F or G, both of which are in the scale;
the G♭ takes a lot of concentration to hit, out of the blue.
There’s another chromatic interval you should avoid at all costs, called a tritone;
it’s (depending on how you look at it) a raised (augmented) fourth or a flatted
(diminished) fifth. The tritone just plain sounds wrong; some early music theorists
considered this the “Devil’s interval,” and the musical equivalent of evil.
(Go ahead, play a tritone—F to B, for example—and see how difficult it is to
sing.)
Don’t put tritones in your melodies!
Keep the Rhythm Simple
At least when you’re starting out, it helps to keep the rhythm of your melody
relative simple. That means sticking to quarter notes and half notes, and using
sixteenth notes sparingly.
It also means avoiding, for the time being, what we call syncopation. Syncopation
makes for a jumpy melody, and is hard for some singers to sing.
Definition
Syncopation means there’s an emphasis in a place you’re not expecting
it—or when there isn’t an emphasis where you were expecting it. You
can create a syncopated rhythm by accenting something other than the
downbeat—or by putting a rest on the downbeat. This type of change-up creates
rhythmic patterns that might sound “off” to some listeners but often have kind of a
funky or jazzy feel.
Syncopated rhythms may be created by using a short rest on the downbeat or
other strong beats. If you find yourself writing a melody that sounds just a little
too “jerky,” consider simplifying the rhythm and using more straight eighth and
quarter notes—on the beat.
Chapter 8: Melodies
103
Tip
As with all things
musical, the real test
is in the singing.
Whatever intervals
you use, try to sing them,
and then check what you
sing against the piano. If
you have trouble singing a
particular interval, so will
others—and the best melodies
are the easiest to sing.