Songs with One Note Melodies

Most melodies are built from various notes, usually at least five or six but potentially as many as all twelve! However, there are still many examples of songs that feature melodies built from just a single note.

An extra special thanks goes to Glen, Vidad Flowers, Christopher Ryan, Bruce Mount, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇

0:00 Introduction
0:10 Mr. Brightside
2:00 One Note Samba
3:07 Taylor Swift
4:04 The Beatles
5:42 1-2-3 Melodies in pop songs
8:36 Composer Challenge with David Bruce

[OfelieArt]

Mr. Brightside having just one note melody makes it REALLY EASY to drunkenly shout

[abhijithcpreej]

God Bless this dude's attempts to avoid copyright strikes

[Katmakil]

There's a famous italian song called "La canzone mononota" (the one-note song), which is literally an entire song with a one note melody

[fischtochter]

Fun fact: I have never actually listened to “Mr Brightside” and until now believed it to be a song along the lines of “Mr Sandman”. You can imagine my surprise upon hearing the actual song for the first time

[ethnolegend]

Ask my Dad to whistle and I can guarantee you he'll turn ANY song or symphony into a one-note hell-hole masterpiece.

[TommyLellan]

2010-2011 had a horrendous amount of one noters. I’d often joke and play the song with one finger on the piano and see if people could guess what it was. They rarely could. 😂

[coolness]

The thing that makes Out of the Woods so great is that each time the chorus is repeated, the production, instrumentation, and background vocals build in intensity, so that by the time you reach the bridge, breakdown, and final chorus you really feel the urgency and anxiety felt in the relationship she's singing about.

[dreamsscream]

The rhythm of Mr. Brightside always reminds me of my mind racing through painful possibilities or facts and then fixating on the most excruciating details and the emotions I'm feeling due to my own thoughts.

[dragonfocefan]

I love how you jump right into the concept and examples. You're not like these other youtubers that have a longwinded introduction and then five minutes of channel updates then an advertisement and finally the video starts. You're the best bro

[konides]

How to make a viral pop song:
1. pick a key
2. use the I-V-vi-IV chord progression
3. make a melody with 3 notes, as explained in the video
4. it's good to be in 4/4

[DaringBDaring]

Reminds me of high school when I would play pop songs on my violin and realize how boring they were note-wise. 😂

[sashal]

The chorus of “out of the woods” enables my fight or flight mode

[trombonedavid]

Makes me think of the pre-chorus in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

[naomitiefenbrunn]

Love how you include classics with newer pop songs. You're never here to frow upon newer musicians, just to teach. Keep it up!

[andrewleeadkins]

Katy Perry’s “Never Really Over” has the one note through the entire chorus, but by doing this the descending harmony behind it creates such a beautiful sound that goes unnoticed. The ear picks up a difference but technically the melody is the same but the vocal harmony has the real movement making it very unique

[claymusic]

Out of the woods, chorus lead vocals were intentionally supposed to be one-note despite the music and the background vocals changing notes all the time. Taylor did that on purpose to create strong tension to create a feeling of anxiety which was what the song was about. 1989 really was something creative and deep. It's definitely my favorite out of 1989.

[christiankalk]

I can't believe he made it through the whole video without mentioning "I Wanna Be Sedated" and its legendary 1-note guitar solo.

[emmbeesea]

All to prove that there is no "right way" to write music. Limitation in one area sparks creativity in another and the widening of variety of resources creates new avenues to explore!

[PaulPriebeMusic]

7:10 my man just called all of modern pop music Nursery Rhymes

[matthewhart]

New drinking game: take a shot anytime he mentions a Beatles song in any of his videos💀