It may seem overly obvious to state that melodies, like all other aspects of a song, can be improved with continued work and attention.  But I’ve found – with myself and many other writers I’ve worked with – that developing and improving the melody can be one of the most self-deceiving and elusive, yet rewarding, areas of Songwriting.

Any kind of writing is a tricky blend of the subjective and the objective.  One way to think about it is that you wear the ‘writers’ hat’ (subjective creativity) and then the ‘editors’ hat’ (at-least-somewhat objective analysis).

I believe it serves me well to take the time to listen with some objectivity to my melodies before I get locked in to them.  In Songwriting, as with so many things, it’s easy to form habits, inhabit comfort zones, etc.  And there’s nothing wrong with tilling a fertile field for as long as it yields.  But it’s SO easy to keep writing the same things over and over again; the same words, the same story, the same chords… the same melodies.  And sometimes it takes a conscious effort to move out of that comfort zone.

If I sing or play my melody by itself – no chords to cover weak spots – I often find that my melodies can be improved; that is, made more interesting, memorable, catchy.  But sometimes – at first – the ‘revised’ melody doesn’t sing as naturally for me.

Sometimes this does mean that I’m getting too fussy with it – simple and obvious can be good.  But it can also mean that I just need to get used to singing the new, ‘improved’ melody.  I need to sing it a bunch of times and see if it starts to feel natural.  If it does, maybe I have something.  If not… I can always go back to version 1 (or 8).

My voice (and the melody-maker in my imagination) usually wants to go down its familiar pathways.  So just because a melody doesn’t feel ‘natural’ right away doesn’t mean that it won’t end up sounding inevitable – like it always had to be that way.  I have to sing/play it for a while; give it a chance.

When the first burst of a song’s melody comes, it often feels like it arrives fully formed and inevitable.  But that impression can be very deceiving,  With a little work – and taking the time to get used to a new melody direction – I often see that that first draft of the melody was just that – a start, not a finished product.