An exercise I set my Songwriting class at the Open Academy at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. To do this exercise, you'll need a lyric (you can use mine below, if you like!).

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The goal is to focus on two aspects of melody writing:
1. Making sure your melody matches the natural rhythm of the syllables in the lyrics (don't want no emPHAsis on the wrong syllABles...).
2. Using 3 melodic techniques to create contrast between Verses and Choruses.

SONGWRITING ASSIGNMENT SUMMARY:
1. Take a lyric you have not heard set to music (yours or others)
2. Set it to music (melody + chords)
3. Make sure the melody retains the natural pattern of syllable stress in the lyrics
4. Create melodic contrast between different sections types using 3 techniques:
i. Save notes
ii. Largest interval in the Chorus
iii. Longest held note in the Chorus

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LYRIC:

MACHINE IN MY CHEST (Copyright Keppie Coutts 2012)

There’s a machine inside my chest
Made up of spare and busted parts
The wires are loose; the circuit’s a mess
It’s as if it were built in the dark

There’s a machine inside my chest
I pretend that it’s steel and hard as stone
But a fuse will blow, and it seems as though
The whole thing was made to be broken

Oh, Oh, Oh
Everyone’s finding their way
Oh, Oh, Oh
I keep making mistakes

Oh, Oh, Oh
I want a heart that never

Aches, aches
That never breaks, breaks
That never aches, aches
I’ve seen them before
I want a heart like everyone else
Oh, do they make them like that anymore?

There’s a machine inside my chest
Fickle and flawed for all to see
And as hard as I try to know it the best
There’s no knowing a mystery

Oh, Oh, Oh
It could be state of the art
Oh, Oh, Oh
It just needs someone to start it
Oh, Oh, Oh
I want a heart that never

Aches, aches
That never breaks, breaks
That never aches, aches
I’ve seen them before
I want a heart like everyone else
Oh, do they make them like that anymore?

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