Rhythmic Placement of Melodies

So far we’ve focused mainly on the vertical aspect of melodies—pitches.

This time we’ll discuss the horizontal placement of melodies.

1. Who Leads the Way?

The timeline of a song is divided by the unit “bar” and “beat”¹.

And There are 3 forms of the timings where the head of a melody is placed, namely:

• At the very head of a bar (synchronous form)
• Before the head of a bar (preceding form)
• After the head of a bar (latecoming form)

Above all, it is especially important in popular music how the melody of the chorus part starts. Check how their musical characteristics differ.

2. Synchronous Melodies

Synchronous melodies are the simplest form of melodic placements.

Imagine you’re the conductor of these songs and swing your baton “1,2,3,4” like classical concerts and see how your swinging down “1” corresponds to the head of the melody lines.

Since this form is the most primitive style of placing melodies, It’s a perfect fit for simple rock songs, as can be seen in “We Will Rock You”, “American Soul” or “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll”.

Or it is second to none when it comes to making a catchy, pop, easy-to-sing melodies; “Video Killed The Radio Star” or “That’s the Way” are the typical examples.

3. Preceding Melodies

Semi-Preceding Melodies

Having melodies precede the head of the chorus part is very effective choice (especially in vocal music) because it can draw listeners’ attention to the main melody before the part starts.

Your ears are naturally led to the vocal and the note at the head of the chorus part is emphasized.

In a strict sense, however, the examples above can be labelled as “semi-preceding” because what precede there are relatively unimportant words, followed by rather more crucial words politely placed at the head of the bar.

So it’s like a “springboard” before a big jump, building a momentum for the chorus part. A part of a melody preceding the bar is termed Anacrusis or, more casually, Pick-ups. And the notes preceding the bar are called Pickup Notes. They can highlight the note on the first beat of the next bar²..

Full-Preceding Melodies

On the other hand, there are cases where the preceding phrases themselves are rather important.

The entire words like “let it be” or “this is it” precede the part. In these songs, the very head of the next bar is just overlapped by the sustained note preceding the bar. Therefore it is the pickup notes themselves that are highlighted.

In terms of expression, preceding phrases can convey hasty or propelling feelings as it’s literally hasty and pushed forward. “Beautiful Day” is a good example where the melody takes the lead in the song and powers the propulsion.

Or it can make an appeal that they’re telling an important message since the melody stands out from accompaniments and draws strong attentions from listeners. “Let It Be” and “Let It Go” are the typical examples.

Whether “semi” or “full”, preceding melodies can highlight the vocal so it is quite common and frequent pattern in vocal music.

4. Latecoming Melodies

What about melodies coming later in the bar? You can assume what mood latecoming melodies bring and in what kind of expression they excel or in what scene they fit by rough logic that the latecoming makes a total contrast to the preceding.

And you can think of several ways to utilize these characteristics.

Modest and Relaxed Mood

Latecoming melodies tend to sit in the mix rather than to stand out from it, in the equilibrium with accompaniments. Therefore it is expected that they’ll be fit for dance-oriented tracks, whether old-school disco or recent EDM, where an eloquent vocal telling a strong message could be more of a hindrance than a help.

Especially good at creating optimistic or relaxed moods, as you can see from “Sir Duke” or “Get Lucky”.

One practical reason for keeping the head of bars empty is that you can allot more volume to other instruments like kicks or synths! Since beats play as important a roll as vocals in these genres, it is reasonable for this form to be chosen.

Mood of Left-Behind

Considering that a preceding melody has the pulling power and provide propulsion to the song due to its literal placement, a latecoming melody, conversely, should be able to produce a sense of getting left behind because it literally fails to catch up with other instruments.

Therefore Latecoming melodies can be utilized as expressions of depression, loneliness, weakness, indecision, stagnant, escapism, that sort of feelings.

“Tears In Heaven” by Eric Clapton is distinct in that every part starts with a latecoming melody. It can be said that the depressed and lonely atmosphere is enhanced by the absence of melody at the head of bars.

You can find some more hit songs using the same structural strategy for similar themes like heartbreak or loneliness.

Surprise Effect

Another useful purpose of choosing this form is just simply delaying the accent for a surprise.

“Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” covered by Mariah Carey is unique in that the crux word “Santa Clause” is delayed until the 2nd beat. This works as a great accent that goes against listeners’ expectations.

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To sum up, though it may involve some simplification, the characteristics of 3 forms of melodic placement can be described like following:

• Synchronous
  Primitive, straightforward, clear or powerful.
• Preceding
  Bold, standing out, propelling or hasty.
• Latecoming
  Modest, relaxed or imposing / depressed or lonely.

Preceding melodies seems to be dominant in popular music. I took a survey of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of the 2010s to see which form is frequently used in the chorus part and the result is below:

Preceding melodies alone constitute more than half! Probably this is a result of natural selection—A hit song needs to have something catchy and a preceding melody is what can easily draw listeners’ attention and hopefully make a song memorable.

But remember that each form has its own strength! And it will be worth analyzing your songs to check your own tendency.