Emphasis in Melody
Some notes in a melody have more impact than others. Just as we emphasize important words when speaking, we can musically emphasize particular notes.
Since emphasized notes have greater impact, they shouldn’t be wasted. You can place important lyrics at those points. And you can ensure that those notes are musically interesting and move the song forward.
In this post, we’ll look at different ways a note can be emphasized. We’ll then consider how to take advantage of these critical opportunities in your songs.
Strong and weak beats
Perhaps the clearest way to emphasize a note is to place it on a strong beat.
Beats are the underlying pulse of a song. When you tap your foot to music, you’re probably following the beats.
These beats are organized in small groups called bars. In popular music, the most common grouping is 4 beats per bar. When you count 1, 2, 3, 4, you’re counting the beats in a single bar:
| 1 2 3 4 |
The first beat in a bar is stronger than the others. That means we hear it with more emphasis. Metronomes often accent this beat with a different and/or louder tone.
The third beat is not as strong as the first, but stronger than beats 2 and 4. Let’s call this medium strength.
If we label our beats “S” for strong, “M” for medium, and “w” for weak, we can label a single 4-beat bar like this:
| S w M w |
| 1 2 3 4 |
This pattern of stresses applies at a higher level as well. That is, if we zoom out to bars instead of beats, we can label the relative levels of emphasis as:
| S | w | M | w |
| 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 |
Here each of these bars has 4 beats. The first note of each bar is the strongest in that bar, but their relative strength across bars looks like the above.
We might even be able to zoom out another level and apply the same structure, but we’ll leave that question for another post.
The emphasis of a single note depends in part on which beat it falls on. The stronger the beat, the stronger the potential emphasis on that note.
Beginning of a phrase
Melodies can be subdivided into phrases.
A phrase expresses a complete musical thought and normally ends at a “breathing point”. Phrases are often 2 or 4 bars long.
A note is often emphasized if it starts a phrase. Of course, this is true if that note lands on a strong beat (which is not uncommon).
But even if the first note of a phrase is on a weak beat, it can feel emphasized because of its relative importance to the phrase.
An exception is if the phrase begins with a pickup, which is normally a note or two leading to a strong beat. In that case, the note falling on the strong beat often feels like the “real beginning” of the phrase.
Phrases are normally grouped together into larger structures. Two phrases might form a kind of “question and answer” structure. And a song section (like a verse) groups together the phrases within that section.
Just as we saw that bars have different strengths relative to each other, so do phrases have relative strengths. These relative strengths depend on a number of factors, but the first phrase is almost always relatively strong.
End of a phrase
The last note of a phrase receives a special kind of emphasis. When a phrase ends, we feel a certain level of tension or repose, in part depending on how unstable that last note is.
When the note is unstable, it sets up a desire for resolution. This can be a strong position for emotionally charged lyrics.
When the note is stable, it can provide a sense of resolution or repose. This can have the effect of a payoff or punchline.
As you might imagine, the last note of a section normally feels more emphasized than the last notes of the other phrases in that section.
Long notes
So far, we’ve been considering how emphasis comes from structural points in a melody. But there are also ways to emphasize a note within the middle of a phrase and the middle of a bar.
One of these is by holding the note longer than the surrounding notes. Try singing a bunch of short notes with one long note in the middle. That long note sounds like it’s particularly significant.
A related effect can be created if you keep repeating a single note in the middle of a phrase. Those repetitions can function like a single longer version of the note.
High and low notes
Another form of emphasis comes from the high note and the low note in a phrase, particularly if they are relatively far away from most of the other notes in the phrase.
This same point applies to the high note and low note in a section, which receive even more emphasis. And of course, the highest note in the whole song can sometimes feel like the peak of the song.
Another form of emphasis comes when you leap up to a note, even if it’s not the highest. That leap accents the note, particularly if you then hold on it.
Syncopation
The last form of emphasis we’ll consider comes from syncopation.
A syncopation is where you accent a weak beat. Think of the rhythm guitar in traditional reggae, which normally lands on the weak beats in the bar.
Noticeably accenting a syncopated note makes it stand out from its surroundings, and can add interest to the melody.
Don’t waste your emphasized notes
We’ve seen that there are many ways to emphasize a note. There are other ways besides those we’ve discussed, like the loudness of a note or its perceived dissonance.
Keep in mind that the notes in your melodies can be emphasized by these factors whether you intend it or not.
If you place unimportant lyrics or pitches at these emphasized points, your song will suffer for it. It will sound less coherent, less confident, and less clear.
Think of the emphasized notes as opportunities. Probably the most straightforward way to take advantage of them is in your lyrics.
Try to write down the words you’ve chosen to sing over these notes. If you see a lot of filler words in your list, experiment with placing more impactful words in their place.
Another thing to check is whether your emphasized notes move relative to each other. The listener can implicitly hear them as part of a skeleton melody. If that skeleton melody is too static, your song can feel like it’s going nowhere.
As always, don’t take the theory too seriously
Thinking about points of emphasis in your melodies can help you take advantage of musical opportunities. But this is no substitute for building up your inner store of melodies.
It’s generally better not to build your melodies like an engineer. Still, understanding theory can help you identify and fix trouble spots in your melodies, and can also help you explore new approaches.
Just remember that musical intuition and your ears come first.