Melody, part one.

This came out of a conversation that my brother Jordan and I were having earlier this afternoon. Jordan is a musician; he plays at church once in a while, and in a band with a bunch of other really talented guys.

So recently, Jordan's been getting pretty good at the guitar, as well as songwriting. He expressed a desire to write more complex songs, that he's "growing tired of the same four chords." My challenge to Jordan was to see beyond just those guitar chords and instead see a framework that can be built upon.

When I was about 15, I watched this movie Amadeus, a film based on the play of the same name. The film revolves around two classical composers: Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Most people know the first name, but few are familiar with the second. The movie starts with an elderly Salieri in an insane asylum, telling a priest who he is. He plays a couple of his compositions, but the priest doesn't recognize them. He then starts playing a piece by Mozart, which the priest immediately recognizes and remarks on its beauty. Salieri laughs bitterly, for once again Mozart's true genius is shown while he remains unremarkable - "the patron saint of mediocrity," as he calls himself at the end of the movie.

There's no doubt that Salieri was an intelligent musician, with a talent for piano. But what was the difference between these two composers, the thing that elevated Mozart to greatness?

Melody.

In my mind, the melody of a song is the most crucial part. Ultimately, it's the thing that sets the piece apart from everything else that's out there. A strong melody brings everything else in the song together; it unifies all the different parts and somehow makes them better in the process.