I will try to be clear...
Here is your basic melody at 0'51".
As you can see, there are patterns (rhythmic motifs). Each bar has its own pattern. Some measures are similar and give the feeling to belong to the same pattern, that's why they are noted 4' and 4".
A pattern is not limited to one bar. It can be 2, it can be 4. Beyond that, the listener's ear might be more confused, but that's not forbidden.
Since we like more easily what we already know, it is necessary to propose a motive which returns either identical, or with a light alteration.
For this one, you can see that I propose a musical phrase of two bars that repeats itself. I then pasted all your patterns 4 for more coherence.
This is another proposal where I remove the whole note at the beginning that was out of place with the rest. It is an artistic proposal that is only a proposal. I don't think it's better than any other.
And finally, here's your melody reworked to give that famous question-answer feeling. Phrases 1 and 2 ask the question. Phrases 1 and 3 answer it. This is very commonly used and gives a complementary feel to the music.
Starting the question and answer with the same melody allows the listener to better follow what is going on.
Again, this is theory and it's good to follow it and know it. But breaking it can be cool too :)
I hope I made it clear
Wow I didn't expect something so in depth but it's very much appreciated for sure!!
I would admit that I do sometimes over-complicate a melody to a point where the patterns for each phrase will start drifting down their own route..
I can see that your proposals on the patterns look easier to follow with subtle variations in places to keep it interesting but without straying too far away from the pack. It rhythmically makes sense too.
Hope you don't mind but I took screen shots of these just so I can refer to them when writing. I'm grateful for this, truly :)
