MUSICAL COURIER
January 12, 1922
A Little Primer of Basic Principles by
FRANK PATTERSON
(Copyright, 1922, by The Musical Courier Co.)
THE PERFECT MODERNIST
SEVENTH INSTALLMENT
Why does this simple open chord result in a melody that has lived nearly a hundred years? Mystery!	,
This lovely melody uses the trill and chord forms combined, (Example /U.)
Ex,70
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It is exquisite, and again one asks, why?
The following, from Chaminade, uses passing harmonies with trill, repeated notes and chord forms. (Example 71.)
Ex, 71
etc.
Tonic
Notice in this the various passing chords, leading from tonic to dominant; also that the rhythm is strengthened by every note of the melody being harmonized—not single melody notes, but chords!
Ex.72
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Tonic
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Ex. 74
Dom.
Tonic
Ex.75
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The note on the sixth of the scale in major is used as a sort of combined scale and chord note, probably because the passage from the sixth to the fifth of the scale may be either tonic or dominant. (Example 76.)
Ex.76

Thus the “Valse Bleue” (Example 77) :
Ex,77
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And the following, with its interesting harmony (Example 78)
Ex. 78
“Loin du Bal” furnishes splendid examples of repeated notes, scales and the use of the ninth. It illustrates the importance of rhythm. (Example 79.)
Ex, 79


ERRATA. Ex. 66: G flat in third bar; Ex. 73: B flat in melody in third bar.
[In the next installment the subject of melody will be continued, especially witk relation to melodic form and to the puzzling question of modulation, or apparent modulation, and passing chords and keys.—The Editor.]
[The author of “The Perfect Modernist” contends, no doubt with very good reason, that the greatest weakness of modem music is its lack of sustained melody. Under the general heading of “Melody” he analyzes in great detail the essential features of the sort of melody that has been successful in the past, assuming, with perfect right, that the melody of the future will derive from the same basic principles.—The Editor.]
Melody.
It has often been insisted that melody cannot be taught, and this is no doubt partly true. But it is only partly true. A small talent can often be greatly developed. Hidden wealth may be exposed, made useful. And, conversely, genius may be forever lost for lack of technic. One may have the soul of the runner, but one cannot run without legs.
In offering a few hints upon melody it must be insisted upon at the start that no phrase is so beautiful that it may not be sacrificed to form and freedom. Most students find that the first notes, perhaps the first few bars, of melody suggest themselves quickly, but that the continuation cannot be found. Many a good melody has-been abandoned on this account. The student, discouraged, puts it down to lack of ideas. It is rarely that. It is much more frequently an obsession, an unwillingness to change the original idea, or a lack of knowledge how to effect the change.
In popular melody and, to a certain extent, also in serious music, there is _ what might be called a circle of chords. Actually it is a more or less extended series of passing chords or passing keys, leading to the dominant, or through the dominant back to the topic, or to some new key, generally through the dominant of the new key or perhaps ending on the dominant. (Example 65.)
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Tonic		LjJ	#r		r f Dominant.1.		'• -1-44-1■ .’.	ionic.J	• - f 7.
Tosti’s “Good Bye” (Example 72) uses a pure chromatic scale—and note that the entire opening phrase is a tonic, although the passing harmonies look like a modulation into the key of the sub-dominant. Compare, also the “Song to the Evening Star” from “Tannhäuser” (Example 73), the “Habanera” from “Carmen” (Example 74) and Debussy’s “Mandoline!” (Example 75). The last chord in the Wagner example (Example 73) is a tonic with the fifth, D, raised to E flat, and the third, B, lowered to B flat.
Ex. 73
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Dominant.
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Tonic.
The second sixteen bars would go through some similar succession of harmonics, probably through the sub-dominant, and close on the tonic. It must not be felt that there is any actual modulation in this. The bass, and the other notes of the accompaniment, are merely counter-melodies used simultaneously and would admit of much variation without change of the basic harmony.
Ex.66 / *K L IV p					J. 	*־2
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This (Example 66), on the other hand, actually includes a modulation. There are many such passages in modern music. Their construction and possibility rests upon an extension of the chord-circle principle so well planned that the unmusical listener is not aware that there has been a modulation.
It is especially to be noted that such phrases always end at a certain rhythmical point. This rhythmical point is of extreme importance. Until the student ceases to be a student and attains absolute technical efficiency it cannot be abandoned without loss of clarity.
Owing to its rhythmic simplicity the “Love’s Death” is easier to understand and far easier to remember than either of the following (Examples 67 and 68), a point that it is well to observe if you are planning to compose in ultra-modern idioms!
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Ex.68

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These melodies are notable owing to the fact that the melodic circle ends at the conclusion of the fourth bar, and is not resumed in what follows. Both melodies are, therefore, difficult to remember, at least for music lovers without professional training, and could never become popular songs, like folk songs, although they are deservedly popular as art songs.
The “Flower Duet,” from “Madame Butterfly,” is, on the other hand, absolutely clear and simple in form in spite of its many modulations. In it circle is followed by circle, some longer. than others, but all clearly defined. That this clarity is not the result of the repetition of the same phrase or figure is evident from a comparison in extended lyric form like Schubert’s “Wanderer.”
Melody consists of the expression of harmony and rhythm. Melodic motion may be broadly divided into five classes: Notes of the chord, trills, scales, repeated notes, and turns. The “Blue Danube” opens with pure chord forms. (Example 69.)
Ex. 69
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