Developing Motifs into Full Pieces

Intro
In this document I’m going to attempt to provide you with a useful template that you can use to
develop a short motif or idea into a full-length piece. I’ll cover the PReVaDe method and provide
a brief introduction into “sentence structure” that when properly combined should help give you
a powerful weapon for fighting against writer’s block! However, as a quick disclaimer, I’d like to
point out that there are literally countless ways that you can write a piece of music, and that this
template is not an end-all-be-all strategy to great tunesmithing. It’s simply one of the many
strategies I’ve developed over time to help me with my own composing process. With that being
said, let’s dive in and take a quick look at the template!

The Template

Melodic Paragraph/Sentence Structure

Question 1 Question 2 Answer

:|​|
PReVaDe PReVaDe PReVaDe PReVaDe

This is what the template looks like when organized into a chart. It might not make much sense
to you now, but by the time we’re done you’ll realize just how super simple it actually is. We can
actually break this entire thing down into three easy steps:
1. Come up with a musical idea/motif
2. Use PReVaDe to write two questions and an answer
3. Repeat the process

Right away you’ll probably notice that the bulk of this entire process falls on step number two.
It’s definitely the most technically demanding of the three steps, which is why we’ll spend the
bulk of our time exploring it, but first let’s come up with a musical idea!

Step One: Come up with a musical idea/motif

This step is arguably the simplest of the three. I’m sure you often come up with short musical
ideas when playing around on your instrument of choice. It’s pretty easy to absentmindedly
come up with a brief idea, but much harder to turn it into a full melody. Your idea can be
anything, but this template typically works best for shorter ideas that last no longer than a bar or
two.

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Here’s a musical snippet I came up with for the sake of this project:

Step Two: PReVaDe and Question/Answers

PReVaDe is a concept taken from improvisational studies in music. It stands for “Present,
Repeat, Vary, and Deconstruct”. This step forms the foundation for the entire template in this
document. Below I’m going to quickly go through the basics of PReVaDe as a process and
show you how it might be used to develop the motif I just shared with you. Then I’ll take a little
more time to go into more detail for each step of the PReVaDe process.

Present​ is exactly what it sounds like, we’re going to “present” our musical idea. This kick starts
our melody and introduces the new material we’ll be working with. After we’ve presented our
idea, we simply ​repeat ​it to help establish our motif as the main material that our music will build
on (at least for a while).

After repeating the motif, we’re going to add some ​variety ​by modifying it. In this step we’re
simply repeating the motif again, but this time around we’re changing it up a little bit. You can do
this by adding new notes, taking away pre-existing notes, switching up the rhythm, changing the
harmonies, or whatever you’d like to do. In this case I’m going to sequence the motif, which is a
fancy way of saying I’m going to move it up or down in pitch, and I’m also going to switch up the
last two notes.

The final step in PReVaDe is the ​Deconstruction ​phase, which is possibly one of the most
confusing but important parts of this entire process. Here we’re going to tie things up with a nice
little bow and end up with your very first “melodic statement”. Deconstruct basically means “end
the piece”. There are many different strategies for deconstructing a motif, but for the sake of this
template we’re going to try and stick to just another varied repetition of the motif because this
works nicely for the process of writing questions and answers in music (more on this in a bit).

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So now we have a basic understanding of how PReVaDe works, but there are a few more
points I’d like to share with you before moving on.
The “Repetition” and “Variation” steps are very closely related. Your “repetition” does NOT need
to be an ​exact​repetition of the original motif. You can feel free to add some new notes, change
the pitch, switch the chord underneath it, etc. You can make whatever changes you want to your
repetition but whatever you do, keep in mind that your initial repetition should be more closely
related to the original motif than your “variation”. So in other words, the more changes you make
to your “repetition” of the motif, the more changes you’ll need to make to the “variation” of it.
Another way to think of this is that the “repetition” of step can be a “mini variation” and the
“variation” step should be treated as a “bigger variation” step.

If you’re struggling with coming up with different ways to add variation to your motif, here’s a
chart I made of common strategies that have been used by composers for centuries. Feel free
to use as many or as few of these at a time as you’d like.

Technique Definition Example Original Motif

Sequence Changing the pitches used

in your motif. Either by
keeping the same exact
intervals between your
notes (called “real
sequence”) or by changing
the intervals slightly to fit
the key you’re playing in
(called “tonal sequencing”)

Augment Stretching the notes in your

motif to make them sound
slower.

Dimunation Shortening the notes in

your motif to make them
sound faster

Expand Adding additional notes to

your motif.

Contract Taking notes out of your

motif.

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 Divide Dividing your motif into
segments and repeating
them in some sort of AABB
fashion

Interval Changing the intervals and

metamorphosis pitches of your motif, but
keeping the same rhythm.

invert Turning your motif upside

down.

retrograde Playing your motif

backwards.

So now that we all have a better understanding of the PReVaDe method, we’re going to start
applying it. For this template we’re going to focus on using PReVaDe four times to write three
different melodic sentences. The first two PReVaDe’s will be questions while the second two will
combine together for a single answer.

Now chances are that you’ve heard “questions and answers” in music many times before. It’s a
very common concept, but I find that very few people actually enjoy a clear understanding of
what it means. Most instructors certainly seem to take for granted that everyone has an intrinsic
understanding of the differences between questions and answers in music, but I know that it’s
something I struggled with quite a bit when I first started out. Because of this, I’d like to take a
bit of time to delve deeper into this idea.

At the core of the “questions vs. answers” idea is a single question: “does this sound like it could
be an ending or not?”. If a segment of music feels like it could be a satisfying ending to the
piece then it can be considered an “answer,” however if a segment of music feels like it’s
open-ended or that there should be more music coming after it then it’s considered to be a
“question.”

Now this idea can be helpful for identifying questions and answers when you’re listening to
music, but it’s not as helpful for writing them yourself. For this, I’m going to provide a chart below
that I hope will prove helpful to you. It contains different traits and strategies that you can use
when trying to write both questions and answers in your own music. As another disclaimer, this
list isn’t entirely my own. It’s adapted from a similar resource provided on J Jay Berthume’s
youtube channel in his video series on melody. His videos are incredible and contain a wealth of
useful information! If you have a few hours to spend, and don’t mind taking notes I highly

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recommend you check out his channel! Just as with the variation chart, you can feel free to use
as many or as few of these concepts as you’d like.

Questions and Answers in Music

Aspect Questions Answers

Melody

Relative Range Tend to have their highest Tend to have their highest
note be lower than their note be higher than their
corresponding answer. corresponding question(s)

Motivic Strength Tend to use leaps (an interval Tend to use a

larger than a whole step) half-step/whole-step/arpeggio
when arriving at the end of when arriving at the end of
their motif (Deconstruction their motif (Deconstruction
phase) phase)

Harmonic Function The melody is more likely to The melody is more likely to
end on the 9th 11th, 13th, end on the 1,3,5,7 of a chord
etc. of a chord (less definitive (more definitive sounding)
sounding)

Harmony

Harmonic Span Is more likely to end in a Is more likely to end in the

distant key (not relative or same key (or a
parallel) from where they relative/parallel key) to the
started than an answer is. one they started in.

Vertical Sonority More likely to use dissonance Tend to stick to more stable
in the chords (like extended chords like triads
harmonies,
augmented/diminished
chords, suspended chords,
etc.)

Rhythm

Metric Placement Tend to end their motifs tend to end their motifs on a
(deconstruction phase) on a strong beat
weak beat

Note Duration tend to be more likely to end tend to be more likely to end
their motif on a shorter note their motif on a long note
(so they can quickly move on (sounds more final)
in the music)

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 Expression

Dynamics Tend to be quieter Tend to be louder

Articulations Tend to be mostly legato Tend to be mostly marcato

(smoother sounding) (sharper sounding)

Texture

Instrumentation Tend to have sparse Tend to have denser

instrumentation and stick to instrumentation and use more
only a few instruments/sections to play a
instruments/sections playing wider selection of elements
a smaller selection of (melody, harmony, rhythm,
elements (e.g., melody and texture, etc.)
harmony)

homogeneity Tend to use many different Tend to stick to

types of articulations to play similar-sounding articulations
the material. to play the material.

Timbre Tend to be smoother Tend to be harsher (saw

sounding (sine waves/similar Wave/instruments that sound
sounding instruments that distinct from each other and
blend) don’t blend as smoothly)

One last important thing to consider when writing questions and answers, is that they aren’t
black and white. They exist on a spectrum. By that I mean that a musical idea can be
considered a question in one situation or an answer in another, it all depends on what other
musical ideas are surrounding it. For example let’s say that we have a PReVaDe sentence that
you wrote using 3 question traits and 2 answer traits. We’ll call this “Sentence A”. If you follow it
with a “Sentence B” that has only 1 question trait, and 4 Answer traits then in comparison,
sentence A will sound more like a question. However, if Sentence B instead has 5 straight
Question Traits, then sentence A will sound more like an answer. For those of you, like me, who
like more visual examples here’s what I mean:

Example 1:
Sentence A Sentence B

Question Traits​: 3 Answer Traits​: 2 Question Traits:​ 1 Answer Traits​: 4

In this example, since “Sentence B” sounds more like an answer, then in comparison “Sentence
A” will sound more like a Question.

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Example 2:
Sentence A Sentence B

Question Traits​: 3 Answer Traits​: 2 Question Traits:​ 5 Answer Traits​: 0

In this example, since “Sentence B” sounds more like a question, then in comparison “Sentence
A” will sound more like an Answer. Even though it’s the same sentence from example 1.

So in other words, if you write a sentence as mostly a question, but include a touch of traits that
you'd find in an answer, you can take that question and use it as a type of weak answer. Sort of
like phrasing your answer to a question as a question:

Teacher: “What are mitochondria?”

Me: “....the powerhouse of the cell?”

This doesn’t exactly invite confidence in your answer, but it’s an answer none the less. There
are all kinds of sentences you can make along this spectrum but that’s a topic for another
resource. For now let’s keep moving on.

Now that we have a better understanding of PReVaDe and Questions/Answers. Let’s take
another look at the template from earlier.

Melodic Paragraph/Sentence Structure

Question 1 Question 2 Answer

:|​|
PReVaDe PReVaDe PReVaDe PReVaDe

Does it make a little more sense now? Let’s break it down

First we start the template by using PReVaDe to turn our motif into our first Question.

Then we use it again to write a Second question (I typically like to give this one a few more
answer traits than the first).

After we’ve done that we use it two more times to make one long Answer (you can think of this
as writing a comparatively weaker answer followed by a stronger one).

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Then we wrap it all up with the final step which is to repeat the entire process as many times as
you’d like while taking any liberties you’d like! (Hence the repeat sign)

Step Three: Repeating the Processes with Any Changes You Feel Like!
I want to keep this step purposefully vague because I don’t want you to end up getting boxed
into a super rigid template when writing your music. This is an issue that many composers fall
into. Templates like this one can be very useful, especially when first starting out. However, just
like everything else in music, they exist only as suggestions! Nothing in music theory is a hard
law. Music theory, by definition, is just the collection of experiences and suggestions had by
generations of musicians. You have the freedom to follow these as closely or as loosely as
you’d like. I’d personally recommend that you use this template only so far as it’s helpful. If you
have an idea of how to develop part of your music that doesn’t fit into this framework then do it!
Don’t worry about following the steps rigidly. However, as useful as I’d like to believe this
information is, I know it’s not necessarily what many of you were looking for so I WILL provide a
few ideas you can use for the third step, but I can’t recommend enough that you experiment and
try your own way of continuing on.

Ideas for how to continue:

1. Repeat the entire template exactly as it is.
2. Switch things up a bit. The first musical paragraph was written as
“Question-Question-Long Answer” maybe try a different approach
a. Long Question- Short Answer- Short Answer?
b. Long Answer-follow up question-follow up question?
c. Series of ambiguous questions/answers with so many different traits you can’t
really tell which is which.
3. Maybe try mixing up PReVaDe into a different order
a. Presentation-Variation-Variation-Deconstruction?
b. Variation-Variation-Variation-Variation?
c. Presentation-Variation-Repetition-Deconstruction?
d. Anything you can think of?
4. Come up with a new Musical Idea and try any of the above suggestions to develop it.

The point I’m trying to make here is that this template can be as rigid or flexible as you need it to
be. If you’re looking for lots of structure, then by all means feel free to write two or three musical
paragraphs that stick rigidly to the first two steps. If you just need something to help you get
started, then use the first steps or skip right to the third. Whatever you feel is most helpful. At
the end of the day, your music is your own and can be written any way that you like. The only
caveat that I’d add is that if a particular musical idea is significant to the makeup of your piece, it
can be really helpful to end the piece on some answer-based variation of that idea. This will give
your ending a relatively strong feeling of finality.

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Well, that’s it! I hope this is all helpful to you in your journey as a composer. As always, I’m open
to any ideas you have for resources or videos you’d like to see. If you haven’t already, consider
checking out my youtube channel where I post videos on the topics I cover here and more! If
you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to shoot me an email at
tabletopcomposer@gmailcom I always enjoy hearing from you guys. Best of luck, and keep on
writing!