Elizabeth Cotten, who died in 1987 at age 94, was a unique blues singer/songwriter/guitarist. After performing in her youth, she didn’t play and sing for many years until she was rediscovered late in life by Pete Seeger and his family. But that’s another story…

I praise her today because her most famous song, the blues standard ‘Freight Train’, on the surface fairly straightforward, illustrates a few principles, basic but always worth remembering, that you’ll find in most good melodies of any genre. (Listen below.)

One is how it handles being an 8 bar melody, consisting of four phrases of 2 bars each.

8 bar sections split into 4 phrases are probably the most common format in all of traditional popular song. Though you don’t hear this kind of 8 bar melody as much in new songs these days, there’s a reason it was (and still is, to lesser extent) so popular – when done well, it’s very satisfying.

(This song is in the ‘AAA’ form. So the chords and melody stay more or less the same throughout, though the words change.)

In classic style, the first phrase of ‘Freight Train’ states a theme. The second phrase repeats the theme with a slight variation.

In this kind of melody the third phrase is usually where the biggest change/expansion happens, and so it is here. Then the 4th phrase resolves the musical thought, brings it home.

This goes hand in hand with another principle – even though it’s a “simple blues melody”, it has enough melodic motion to keep it moving, while still sitting comfortably in its genre. It doesn’t just bounce around between 3 or 4 notes. It’s a nice combination of scalar motion and repeated notes, plus a few jumps to keep things lively.

Though it looks like she’s playing it in the key of ‘C’, with the guitar tuned down (it’s hard for me to tell because she plays upside-down!), for simplicity’s sake I’m rendering it here in ‘A’. The chords:

||: A | E | E | A | C#7 | D | A/E E | A :||

(The ‘E’ chord in bar 7 comes on beat 4.)

I don’t have musical notation here, so I’ll give you the melody notes as they roughly correspond to the bars:

|| E C# B A | G# /\ E D |

| E D C# B | A /\ E C# |

| C# C# C# B | A F# A A B |

| C# A F# | A B A ||

( /\ stands for a jump up.)

Simple and elegant, making for a memorable melody, and a memorable song. And don’t sleep on her amazing finger-picking!

(Here are some more thoughts on 8 bar melody sections.)

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As with all generalizations, there are notable exceptions. Let’s think about some examples. Jobim’s ‘One Note Samba’ comes to mind (of course). And Tom Petty’s ‘Refugee’. Also, I recently heard Eurythmics’ ‘Here Comes The Rain Again’ (video below).

The melodies of the main section of all these songs have a lot of repeated notes, usually not a good sign. Yet they all work.

‘One Note Samba’ is a musical fantasia in which the music and the lyric explore the joys of monotony, to delightful effect.

‘Refugee’ is a harsh lyric in which the singer’s accusatory words and tone are well served by a driving melody’s use of repeated notes.

‘Here Come The Rain Again’ uses Rain as a metaphor for pain, tragedy, depression… the melody suits the flat state of mind of the narrator.

But – and this is key – these melodies are not too monotonous. They don’t just have one note over and over (even ‘One Note Samba’ goes up a 4th). They don’t cross the line into stasis. There’s still a ‘story’.

Notably, they all have bridges or ‘B’ sections where the melodies really move, creating a contrast to the darkness of the other, simpler section. Just when the lack of movement is about to stall out the song, you get a break.

Finally, with the exception of ‘Rain’ (for reasons stated above), the main melodies all have rhythmic unpredictability; surprises that keep the listener on their toes even if the notes don’t vary much.

Lack of melodic motion is a common songwriting problem, much more common than too much motion. But in certain cases, and I’ve cited some here in a variety of genres, holding the movement back can be very effective.

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One is Drama. A melody is like a story. A good story makes you want to turn the page. You need to know what happens next. There’s suspense, there’s surprise. There’s a combination of familiar and unpredictable. It starts somewhere, takes you on a journey, and (usually) brings you back home.

Melodies are similar. Writing a melody is musical storytelling. But instead of elements like character, setting, and plot, we have notes and rhythms as our tools for creating drama and suspense. (Harmony can contribute mightily too, but we’re focusing on melody here).

Another element, related, is Motion. With melodies, motion equals emotion. To use another cliche, melodies are like sharks – they either move or die.

The main thing we don’t want in a melody is for it be static; just hanging around, doing nothing, going nowhere. Stasis (defined as ‘a period or state of inactivity or equilibrium‘) is the antithesis of Drama and Motion… and the enemy of good melodies.

So give another listen to your melody – without words or harmony.

Is it telling a story? Is it moving – up, down, taking a jump or two? Or is it just repeating the same rhythms or notes over and over? Are its themes expanded and developed? Is it going somewhere? Is the journey interesting, with at least a few elements of melodic and rhythmic surprise?

Recently a songwriter I’ve worked with for several years said to me, “This is the best thing I ever got from you!”. I asked him what ‘this’ was. The answer was simple: that melodies can be improved (if you’re willing to push out of your comfort zone and work on giving them more [e]motion and drama).

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I’m not recommending being lazy or not trying to make a song as good as it can be. But, to pick an example almost at random, it’s like a car… If you’ve got a motor, transmission, steering wheel, axles, wheels… the thing’ll run, even if it’s dented, the paint’s chipped, the fender’s falling off, etc.

I’m suggesting that focusing first on the essentials is a good habit to get into. Get those right and you can color in the rest around them.

So what are the most essential aspects of a song?

(Keep in mind that there quite a few songs out there that don’t get all of these right and are still great because the elements that are good about them are GREAT.)

• Title/Chorus. Having a strong central idea, a phrase or section of words and music that the song is organized around.

Often I don’t start with this; many writers won’t start without it. But it’s something that I’m always keeping an eye out for as I wander through the writing process. When I find it, other things tend to snap into focus. Or the opposite – it becomes immediately clearer when things don’t fit.

Many an otherwise great song has fallen short of its potential due to a weak central idea.

• Structure. This connects directly to the Title and/or Chorus.

Am I supporting it with the right structure? Should it be a Verse/Chorus song or an AABA song; or something else? Should it have a Bridge, a Pre-Chorus, a Tag? Is the length of the Verses and Chorus right, as well as the amount of Verses? Is it the right structure for the story that’s in the lyrics, and vice versa? Too long, or too short?

This also has to do with the momentum of the song. Is it moving along at the proper pace? If not, does something need to be shortened, cut, or extended?

• Melody. The not-so-secret (but too often ignored) weapon of great songwriting.

Remember, melody has two aspects – pitches AND rhythm. Does the melody have motion in the notes AND in the rhythm? (Don’t forget that the rhythm of the notes needs variety too!) Without movement, things quickly get static and boring. Does the combination of short notes and longer, held notes feel right?

* Harmony. This starts with harmonizing the melody, which creates its emotional subtext.

But it doesn’t end there. It also includes riffs or chord progressions that go beyond harmonizing, musical signatures that can be so important to the character of the song that it’s hard to imagine it without these trademarks.

* Lyrics. Why do I put this last? Lyrics are obviously crucial to a good song. But I’d venture to say that there are more good songs with weaknesses in the lyric than good songs with weaknesses in the other areas we’ve discussed.

This isn’t true for extremely lyric-focused songs. But a song with a great Title or Chorus, appropriate structure, powerful melody, great harmony and key riffs… can get away with a mediocre lyric. Again, I’m not advocating this as a writing strategy. It just seems to me to be the case… generally speaking.

But I still include lyrics as essential. Not just the content of the words. I include the sound of the words, which in songwriting is just as important as the content. (In fact it’s the main reason why sometimes lyrics with weak content can work – because they just sound right – even if they’re not!).

So, in getting your car to run, think first about the engine, the wheels, etc. When those are in place you can spend as much time as you want on the paint job and taking the dents out of the fender.

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