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Melody

Spotify playlist for this Musical Close-Up

Beatles created interesting, innovative melodies to a genre known for rather repetitive, simple melodies of prior rock ... even their early work revealed innovation.

Innovations of the Beatles creative approach to melody ...

• exploited larger range
• utilized melodic leaps in addition to scalar motion
• dissimilarity between various melodies (vs. Jim Morrison or the Stones)

 

And I Love Her

from A Hard Day's Night (1964)

look at the imges below (also included in the "Musical Close-Up" section in this chapter of the textbook) while you track
the ascending/descending and conjunct/disjunct portions of the melodic contour

Norwegian Wood

from Rubber Soul (1965)

 

 

Yesterday (conjunct melody)

released as a single, then included on Help! (1965)

• the Beatles had an instictive ability to create memorable tunes (complex or simple)
  • e.g., "Yellow Submarine," "Yesterday," "Michelle," or "Something"
• Gestalt interweaving of words, rhythm, & melody
  • whole is greater than sum of the parts
  • to some extent, at least, defies technical analysis

Disjunct melodies (vs. conjuct [or scalar]):

Got to Get You Into My Life (disjunct)

from  Revolver (1965)

Irregular text smoothed by melodic appropriateness:

Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite

from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

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