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By Mary Dawson

This is the fifth in a series of articles called Build-A-Song which present a step-by-step method for creating a song. By no means is this "the only" method for writing songs. In fact, the approaches to songwriting are as many as the writers themselves. But our Build-A-Song series will offer a sequential template for covering the basics of successful songwriting. I hope you will follow along and perhaps even try this method as you create your own. If you missed the other articles in the series, you may find them in the archived issues.

Part 5 -- Creating Hit Melodies

This is the way I heard the story.....

Several generations ago, there lived two spinsters (Miss Hill and her sister, Miss Hill) who both taught elementary school in a one-room schoolhouse. Every morning when they would enter the classroom, the students would sit up straight at their desks and sing:

"Good morning to you

Good morning to you

Good morning dear teachers

Good morning to you"

One day, a student in the school had a birthday. To celebrate, the teachers decided to change the lyrics of the opening song slightly to honor the student. The "revised" version went like this:

"Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday dear Johnny

Happy Birthday to you"

Being the savvy sisters they were, they immediately realized they had a "hit" on their hands and they had the foresight to copyright their new song. Over the decades that followed, it earned the title of the Most Sung Song in History -- a title which it still holds to this day. And every time the song is recorded or publicly performed, the copyright owners collect royalties! Don't you wish YOU had written it?

Is this simply an interesting bit of trivia? Or something much deeper? I would suggest that this timeless classic, Happy Birthday to You, summarizes exactly what we've been learning so far in our Build-A-Song Series

1)The Sisters Hill had a Great Idea for a song! (Build-A-Song, Part 1) Talk about a universal concept that every person on earth can relate to! We all have birthdays -- whether we like them or not -- and we all celebrate them.

2)They hung the Great Idea on a clear, focused Hook -- Happy Birthday to You (Build-A-Song, Part 2)

3)They already had a Cadence from the previous Good Morning song that they adapted slightly to fit the new words (Build-A-Song, Part 3-4)

4)The Melody (also kept over from the Good Morning song) is memorable, singable, trans-generational and as universal as the Idea itself...which brings us up to today's segment on creating hit Melodies

Up to this point in our Build-A-Song Series, we have been concentrating primarily on the lyrical content and rhythm of the song. But, as you may recall, songs are comprised of four elements: Lyrics, Rhythm (or Cadence), Melody and Harmony. It is now time to turn our attention to the creation of melody.

It is at this point that many aspiring songwriters begin to feel intimidated. While all of us have studied language and word usage in school, many of us have had little to no music training. We may not be able to read or write music well -- or at all -- and we certainly would never be able to write notes down on music paper! We therefore assume (mistakenly) that we do not have the skills to compose any kind of melody and if we hope to write songs at all, we will have to restrict ourselves to writing lyrics only.

Would it surprise you if I told you that many of the greatest composers of contemporary hit songs can neither read nor write music? Would it further surprise you to learn that writing melody is a completely different skill than playing a musical instrument, reading music or understanding music theory? Would you be relieved to know that most music industry professionals do not expect your song to be written out on music paper? If your answer to any of these questions is "yes," read on.

Writing hit songs is really more about communication than it is about technical knowledge of either words or music. Songs transmit emotional truth from the heart of the songwriter to the hearts of (hopefully) millions of listeners. Most of those listeners have less knowledge of music than you do and they really don't care if you have skillfully used a "flat 9" or not! What they are looking for is a song that touches them, that calls out an emotional response from their hearts. As hit songwriter, Sandy Knox, says so eloquently, "At the end of one of my songs, I want my listeners to laugh, to cry or to want to make love....it's as simple and as challenging as that!"

The melody of the song transmits the message of the lyrics to the heart of the listener. If it is well written, the melody is the part of the song the listener usually remembers first and longest. It's the part we can't stop whistling or singing in the shower. The harmony -- or the chord structure used under the melody -- exists to support and enhance the melody and can be changed to create different moods.

Like an elegant, well-tailored basic black dress, a great melody is beautiful alone, but it can also be accessorized with a variety of harmonic "jewelry." The important thing is to make sure the basic black dress -- or the melody of your song -- is masterfully crafted and "fits" well before you begin to add the accessories.