I don't know how all those little notes do it, but I *think* it's magic...

I'm not serious when it comes to writing music, but I like to doodle around with it a little bit, 'cause sometimes words that come into my head ask if they could please have a bit of a tune, too, thankyoukindly.

When I first started, it was hit or miss whether a melody worked or not (mostly miss), so I looked around the Internets for music lesson sites. And somewhere along the way, I discovered one "rule" that seems to hold true no matter what -- I'm sure there are exceptions, I just haven't come across them yet:

For a melody to sound "complete" -- like it's reached it's natural conclusion, rather than sounding like it was cut short in the middle -- the last note should be the same a whatever key its in.


I'll give you some examples, based on a wee tune I wrote back in October. To hear what I mean, copy each set of bolded text (one at a time), and paste it into the window at The ABC Convert-O-Matic, and click [Submit] (might want to right-click to open in a new window)

First, here's the tune in D minor, but with the last note shifted up to an E:

X:1
Q:1/4=100
K:Dm
A B2 A D4|A B2 A E4|A B2 A G2 A2|F2 A2 D4|
D G2 A B4|B c2 B A4|A G2 A G2 F2|G2 F2 E4|]

See what I mean about it sounding "cut off in the middle?"

Now, here's the same tune, ending in D, like it should:

X:1
Q:1/4=100
K:Dm
A B2 A D4|A B2 A E4|A B2 A G2 A2|F2 A2 D4|
D G2 A B4|B c2 B A4|A G2 A G2 F2|G2 F2 D4|]


It's not a real big difference, but it feels like a big difference.

And for an even bigger feeling difference, here's the same tune, but in D Major:

X:1
Q:1/4=100
K:D
A B2 A D4|A B2 A E4|A B2 A G2 A2|F2 A2 D4|
D G2 A B4|B c2 B A4|A G2 A G2 F2|G2 F2 D4|]


No, I don't have any real point to all this, I just think its mysterious and cool, and nifty-keen that such small changes should lead to such big shifts in mood.

By the way, does anyone here know what key Patrick Troughton's recorder was in (D major is a popular one, I think)?