Melodies and bass lines
Simple tricks for catchy melodies, and bass lines that lock in with the drums.
Writing a melody
The melody is the part you hum after the song ends. The good news: you don’t need years of lessons to write one. A few simple tricks go a long way.
Use the notes of one scale. The grid below only has notes from the C major pentatonic scale, the “no wrong notes” scale from the Scales lesson, so anything you draw will fit.
Tricks that always work
Repeat yourself. A hook is a short idea (just a few notes) that comes back again and again. Repeat it, then change the ending the second time.
Leave gaps. Rests (silence) give a melody room to breathe, and they make the notes you do play hit harder.
Mostly take small steps. Moving to the next note up or down sounds smooth and singable. Save the big jumps for special moments.
Rhythm matters as much as the notes. Try the same notes with a different rhythm and it becomes a whole new tune.
End on home. Finishing on C (the amber rows) makes a melody sound complete. Ending anywhere else makes it sound like a question.
Draw a melody below and press Play. Stuck? Try Example, or Surprise me for a random idea you can tweak.
| E | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | ||||||||||||||||
| C | ||||||||||||||||
| A | ||||||||||||||||
| G | ||||||||||||||||
| E | ||||||||||||||||
| D | ||||||||||||||||
| C |
Bass lines
The bass connects the drums to the chords. The simplest bass line that works is just the root note of each chord (the note the chord is named after), played low.
Play bass notes at the same moment as the kick drum and they lock together into one big, punchy groove. That’s what the backing bass here does. Switch it off and on to hear the difference.
Keep it simple and low. The bass is felt as much as heard, and a busy bass line fights with the melody.
Quick quiz
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