Paul McCartney
(The Beatles)
The ex-Beatle is probably the most famous example of a great writer of pop melodies
(despite what reservations many have about his lyric writing). The following
classic Beatles tune, Eleanor
Rigby (click to hear song fragment via Real Audio)
has to be one of Paul's prized possessions. A seemingly simple song with very
few chords, Rigby, when put under more careful scrutiny, displays a number of
strong melodic ideas that give the tune it's character.
Eleanor
Rigby
One of the most
important things a songwriter can do with a melody is to ensure that it is in
some way thematic; that it references itself, and builds upon what it has already
stated. Eleanor Rigby does this emphatically. The above main phrase of the tune
is an unusual five bar phrase, which is broken into three smaller phrases, the
first being bar one, the second being bars two to four, and the last being bar
five. Notice how each phrase begins with the rhythmic figure of three eighth
notes and a quarter note (two eighths tied together); "Eleanor Rig-", "picks
up the rice", and "lives in a dre-". So, immediately McCartney has developed
a rhythmic theme in his composition. But there's more; a melodic theme is developed
in the second phrase. Beginning with "rice in a church", he sets up a melodic
and rhythmic pattern which he repeats three times. Each melodic figure, a quarter
note followed by two eighth notes, descends down a minor (dorian) scale. The
first pattern starts on D, and descends; D to C# to B. The second starts back
up one note and descends; C# to B to A. The last figure repeats this theme;
it starts back on B and descends; B to A to G. Were McCartney to keep this theme
going, the next figure would've been A to G to F#, then G to F# to E, etc.
Now, certainly McCartney wasn't thinking of all this when he penned Eleanor
Rigby. The purpose of this breakdown of the tune is to analyze what came naturally
to McCartney, so that we may get a glimpse into what makes his writing so special.
I would encourage you to look at some of your own material the same way - does
it use a thematic technique? By tweaking your music, could you develop some
of your ideas a bit more in this style? Does it improve the quality of your
music by doing this? These are all questions we need to ask ourselves as songwriters.
For further analysis of Eleanor Rigby, read Alan Pollack's extensive
notes on Eleanor Rigby.
