~ Notation Exercise ~

Melody Composition in a Major Key

You will write a 4-measure melody, ending on the first beat of a fifth measure, in F major (this means using the key signature for F Major). You may choose treble or bass clef. It should follow the basic rules we found in "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and described below.

  • Requirements for this exercise:
  • A title centered at the top of the score, the text of the title is up to you.
  • Your full name should be placed in the composer field, below and to the right of the title.
  • You must have either a treble or bass clef, and a 4/4 time signature at the start of the piece
  • You must begin your melody on scale degree 1, in the key of F scale degree 1 is the note F
  • Most movement in the song should be by step. You are only allowed to leap/skip a letter between scale degrees 1, 3, and 5 (F, A, C). However, you must skip/leap at least twice in the composition.
  • Your fifth measure must be a whole note on scale degree 1, no other whole notes are allowed in the melody
  • Always try to submit assignments early so that the instructor might be able to give you some feedback. That way, if there are any problems you can resubmit a corrected version.
  • When using a notation program for one of these assignments, you will need to export your score as a PDF. Most notation programs will have an "Export as PDF", or "Print as PDF" option. If it doesn't, consider changing programs. Once you have your score saved as a PDF, upload it to the assignment in your course. Here are instructions for exporting a PDF in MuseScore. And here are instructions for exporting a PDF using Flat.io.
Here is a link to a video walkthrough of a similar assignment