How to Write a Standout MELODY • Music Theory from PJ Harvey "A Child's Question, August"

Ray Harmony · May 7, 2023 · 3m

How to Write a Standout MELODY

Step 1. First Impressions

There are many ways to write a standout melody, but it’s difficult to improve on the method PJ Harvey uses in her new single “A Child’s Question, August”. That’s because nothing grabs our attention like a bold first impression. And by first impression, I literally mean the first note of the melody.

You see, PJ Harvey starts her melody in the Dorian mode, and the very first note she sings is the major 6th. That’s the one-and-only note that makes Dorian different from the super common scale that we hear all the time: the natural minor…