Write a melody with clear phrase structure and cadence, and notate pitch and rhythm using correct clefs, stems, beaming, accidentals and bar layout.

What this dot point is asking

Shaping a melody

A good short melody usually divides into balanced phrases, often a four-bar antecedent (question) answered by a four-bar consequent (answer). The antecedent ends on an open-sounding chord, typically the dominant, so the ear expects more. The consequent returns and ends on the tonic, closing the idea. This question and answer design gives a melody coherence even before you add harmony.

Contour is the rise and fall of the line. Aim for a single clear high point (a climax) rather than several competing peaks, and approach it gradually so it feels earned. Mix stepwise motion with occasional leaps, and balance a leap by moving back in the opposite direction, which keeps the line singable. Repeat or sequence a small motif so the melody sounds unified rather than random.

Cadences and harmonic implication

Even an unaccompanied melody implies harmony. End phrases on notes that suggest a cadence: arriving on the leading note or the second degree implies a dominant (an open ending), while arriving on the tonic implies a perfect cadence (a closed ending). Planning these implied cadences first gives your melody a skeleton to fill in.

Clefs, stems and beaming

Notation has firm conventions. Choose the clef that keeps the notes near the staff: treble for higher instruments and voices, bass for lower. Stem direction depends on the note's position: notes below the middle line have stems up on the right, notes on or above the middle line have stems down on the left. Beam notes together within a beat so the metre is visible, and do not beam across the middle of a bar in a way that hides the main pulse.

Accidentals, ties and rests

An accidental lasts for the rest of the bar in the octave it appears, and is cancelled by the next barline. Use a courtesy accidental in brackets if a return to the natural could be missed. Tie notes across a barline rather than writing a note value that cannot exist, and use rests to complete every beat so the bar adds up exactly to the time signature. In compound time, group and rest in dotted-beat units, not in simple-time groupings.

Laying out the bar

Every bar must total the value the time signature demands. Space notes roughly in proportion to their length so the eye reads the rhythm at a glance, and align notes that sound together vertically when writing more than one part. Add the time and key signatures at the start, the tempo and any expression marks, and bar numbers or rehearsal marks for longer pieces.

Checking your work

Before finishing, sing or play your melody to confirm it is singable and that the climax lands where you intended. Then proofread the notation as a separate pass: does every bar add up, is every stem and beam correct, are accidentals and ties right, and could a stranger play exactly what you hear in your head? Treating composition and proofreading as two jobs catches errors that one read-through hides.