Are the best melodies 4 bars long, and nearly always resolving on the root note?

[jancivil]

It does seem very likely the OP is coming from a certain experience, which we may tend to reduce to 'EDM'... or a certain dire lack of experience. Get out more, I mean hear some real music.

And here we have "the best" as though we'll have something on the order of a factual basis for examination. The tritest possible melodies may tend to have those attributes, but there may be very simple tunes which are artful or something, and attractive, having those attributes.

So the question seeks to be reductive as though to suit that extremely narrow experience and as though it hopes for validation, as it would mean quite a bit less investment in terms of effort and time. I recommend instead to take the time to become a musician, and be curious and expand one's horizons, to embark on more of a quest. Music is the richest thing in the universe as far as I'm concerned so it saddens me to see that sort of reductive predilection.

[Bansaw]

I was coming at the question from an EDM angle.
Music is an art form, but there are certain formulas behind it that can be studied. Behind the art is a science.
I do listen to a lot of different genres of music, and appreciate them all,... (except Jazz).
But, true, I am a touch naive when it comes to music theory. Just wanting to learn though, and if formulas will help me on that journey, I can get there, and let artistic ability take me the part of the journey that theory can't. Each person is different in their approach. Thats the beauty that makes us all unique.

[sjm]

If you want a serious discussion, you probably need to frame your question as something more thought-provoking than "is scarlet the best red?"

What is it you really want to know, that caused you to start this thread?

[Bansaw]

If you want a serious discussion, you probably need to frame your question as something more thought-provoking than "is scarlet the best red"?
What is it you really want to know, that caused you to start this thread?

Probably a better thread title would have been along the lines of how many bars a good melody should generally stretch over.
Too few bars and you have a monotonous repeating pattern. Too many bars and you can lose the thread.
All the great songs have hook melodies that repeat over the course of the song.
Just wondering if there has been a study that seems to point to an "ideal" number of bars, and how the melody resolves.

[dark water]

Bansaw: you're coming at this all wrong.
As I put on page 1, as Jan has put on this page, and as others have stated, think about why YOU create a melody in the first place. Develop your technique and repertoire.
The melody does not dictate to you.
Knowing that, you will then realize that there is no ideal melody or number of bars.

There are plenty of resources on the internet to explain how to DEVELOP your melody skills. But we can not advise you which ones you should read. Search for what appeals to you.
For example, I doubt very much that my love of dub reggae melodies in the bass line is what you're after, but that's what I like.

Finally, if all you're listening for are 4 bar, root note resolving EDM melodies, you're needlessly reducing your musical knowledge. You might want to rename this thread as well.

[SJ_Digriz]

not to mention the misconception of what a melody is.

[sjm]

Probably a better thread title would have been along the lines of how many bars a good melody should generally stretch over.

Call me flippant, but that's just changing it to "is lilac the best purple?"

Too few bars and you have a monotonous repeating pattern. Too many bars and you can lose the thread.
All the great songs have hook melodies that repeat over the course of the song.
Just wondering if there has been a study that seems to point to an "ideal" number of bars, and how the melody resolves.

That is still a very weird way to frame things, to put it bluntly. Weird because you assume a painting-by-numbers approach to music making. You assume no level of individuality, of creativity, of soul.

Is that really what you are looking for? Is that what drew you to music in the first place? Government mandated songwriting techniques, rather than your own personal emotional response? What will you do when your hunt for the optimal songwriting algorithm succeeds?

But if you need a numeric answer, try 42.

Less flippantly, if you want to know how to write a pop song, read The Manual, it's available as a PDF.

[SJ_Digriz]

also, every time I hear someone say that like "all kinds of music" .. when really tested, they only like 1 kind but they like that 1 kind across genres.

[sjm]

Tell you what, I'm going to play mind reader, and rephrase what you wrote to ask what I think you want to know.

I find myself having problems maintaining a level of interest in my melodies. Either I find myself repeating the same monotonous 2-4 bar motif, or I make longer patterns that then seem to meander and lose coherence.
Do you have any suggestions on how I can improve my melodies to maintain interest for longer?

[Bansaw]

@sjm - I think you need to re-read my post above. I am saying

Just wanting to learn though, and if formulas will help me on that journey, I can get there, and let artistic ability take me the part of the journey that theory can't.

I am saying that theory can take you a good ways there, but artistic ability can take you further to the place where just theory can't.

Why am I starting to feel like I am at a party surrounded by middle-aged single guys with pony tails who after a few glasses of wine, fire up the question, "so, what is Art?"
Afterwhich everyone shuffles and looks down at their shoes.

[Michael L]

You need to choose your theory.
Brian Eno 's music never repeats and uses many mathematical formulas. Jazz (that you dont like) has formulas, too. Even Cage.
Pick your favourite formula & play with it:
http://everynoise.com/engenremap.html

[dark water]

Why am I starting to feel like I am at a party surrounded by middle-aged single guys with pony tails who after a few glasses of wine, fire up the question, "so, what is Art?"
Afterwhich everyone shuffles and looks down at their shoes.

You need to change your party scene...

Let's start with the obvious:
What do you know about melodies? Which EDM artists's melodies do you like?
Which internet websites about melodies have you visited for research so far?

These were found in less than one second of Googling:
https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/se ... audio-6527
https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/se ... audio-6710
https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/se ... audio-6946
https://www.edmprod.com/ultimate-melody-guide/

I don't know if they'll be helpful or not for your level of melody knowledge, because you're giving us nothing to work with at the moment, aside from a ''best'' question that objectively means sweet FA.