jackson white
Or maybe nursery rhymes, which have an element of cognitive simplicity that transcends language/cultural boundaries.

I thought of nursery rhymes as a possible candidate for what SMB’s on about. But repetition of a plain, undecorated or varied nursery rhyme tune gets boring very quickly, especially without words.

Much traditional music with its’ roots in Europe is based on repeated 8-bar melodic phrases, usually of an AABB repetition with A and B being different but related and often played as a stand-alone melody, with no harmonic support at all. But it’s rare for there to be no variation or decoration - to the point that many musicians never play the tune quite the same way every time. Unaccompanied singing works the same way.

Much EDM uses a similar or even simpler format, but again there is usually variation of some kind. Even the 1 bar repeated patterns from a TB-303 are usually varied over time by use of the filter and envelope.

Put another way, humans like repetition but we also like there to be subtle, or not so subtle, variation going on as well, even where repetition is a big factor in the music’s function and appeal.

And a short, stand alone melody has to be very good indeed, as demonstrated by advertising or other jingles which stick in your head whether you want them to or not.

 
From the top, hummed in the key of A minor:
 
V1:
Dum-di-dum-di-doodley-plop Tata-dump Tatatatata ddodley-dump.
 
Chorus:
Ka-ka-ka- dum dum la-la-la-la oodley-flump (x2)
 
V2:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh babeeeeeeeeeeeey
 
Chorus
 
Guitar Han Solo:
(best whistled with a jaunty persuasion)
 
Chorus x2
 
Outro:
Same as V1 only modulated to encompass liberal ad-libs of the Am note
 
Fade.
 
Rinse.
 
Repeat.
 
 
 
 
 
Game, set, and dare I say match to Straummy I believe.
 

@Straummy...
 
You forgot to include a few "chalawallas" in there.

Heheheheheh........Straummy said Tata....... heheheheheh

msmcleod
This inspired me to write a song....
 
https://www.bandlab.com/msmcleod/mymusicisgoodenough-masterwav-7ae87?revId=89498e6b-9fbb-e811-af11-00155d60cb1b
 
[Edit]: Although the above is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, I was actually trying to demonstrate a point here...
I took the melody of yours that jemmz posted, and developed it further.
 
The lyrics were just based on the theme of this thread.
 
Now, I'm not saying what I did is any good (the AlterEgo voice is BAD, but I've got a cold and can't speak never mind sing), but it does give your tune context.
 
Context is important for any tune. Even if you take those 5 notes from Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind - which have no chords or anything - it does have context in the film, and that is what invokes the emotion.
 
No-one knows the context of your tunes, so you have to provide one.

@msmcleod:
 
I did explain the context of my tunes.  For example, with my Haunting Tune, I said it was good, catchy, and conveyed profound horror.  But, even so, people still told me it was nothing good, catchy, didn't convey any horror, and was just an awful tune.  As for that song you just did, my melody you used has one note missing. 
 
Of course, you could have done that intentionally.  But I will show you my melody once more.  I will have you listen to it.  Another thing is that I have revised some things with this melody to make it better because I think the tempo was a bit too slow and the half notes shouldn't have had those 8th notes extended onto them:
 
Here is the youtube link to this tune:

https://youtu.be/Y5tW_I2hWdE

"You WILL listen...and you WILL like it!"
-SMG

SuperMarioGamer
I did explain the context of my tunes.  For example, with my Haunting Tune, I said it was good, catchy, and conveyed profound horror.  But, even so, people still told me it was nothing good, catchy, didn't convey any horror, and was just an awful tune. 

 
I'm aware of that, but the point I was making is that the context shouldn't need explaining textually. If someone heard it on the radio, how would they get that context? Things like sound effects, or the musical equivalent (like the stabs in the Psycho shower scene) can help to convey the context you're trying to portray.
 

SuperMarioGamer
As for that song you just did, my melody you used has one note missing. 

 
As I said, it was a "development" and fitted better without the extra note.
 

SuperMarioGamer 
Of course, you could have done that intentionally.  But I will show you my melody once more.  I will have you listen to it.  Another thing is that I have revised some things with this melody to make it better because I think the tempo was a bit too slow and the half notes shouldn't have had those 8th notes extended onto them:
 
Here is the youtube link to this tune:

https://youtu.be/Y5tW_I2hWdE

Actually, you've done a bit more than revised the melody. There's some percussion for starters. Also the melody starts off more simple before developing into your original tune.
 
As such, it's a vast improvement over the earlier version posted. The percussion also gives it some context.
 
Whether it's "good enough" or not, is largely subjective. But it's certainly a step in the right direction.
 

msmcleod

SuperMarioGamer
I did explain the context of my tunes.  For example, with my Haunting Tune, I said it was good, catchy, and conveyed profound horror.  But, even so, people still told me it was nothing good, catchy, didn't convey any horror, and was just an awful tune. 

 
I'm aware of that, but the point I was making is that the context shouldn't need explaining textually. If someone heard it on the radio, how would they get that context? Things like sound effects, or the musical equivalent (like the stabs in the Psycho shower scene) can help to convey the context you're trying to portray.
 

SuperMarioGamer
As for that song you just did, my melody you used has one note missing. 

 
As I said, it was a "development" and fitted better without the extra note.
 

SuperMarioGamer 
Of course, you could have done that intentionally.  But I will show you my melody once more.  I will have you listen to it.  Another thing is that I have revised some things with this melody to make it better because I think the tempo was a bit too slow and the half notes shouldn't have had those 8th notes extended onto them:
 
Here is the youtube link to this tune:

https://youtu.be/Y5tW_I2hWdE

Actually, you've done a bit more than revised the melody. There's some percussion for starters. Also the melody starts off more simple before developing into your original tune.
 
As such, it's a vast improvement over the earlier version posted. The percussion also gives it some context.
 
Whether it's "good enough" or not, is largely subjective. But it's certainly a step in the right direction.
 

As for my dramatic tune I shared to you, does my melody convey a dramatic scene?  I don't mean anything sad, miserable, or depressing.  I mean something heavy and dark such as something serious about to happen.  I mean, I could choose a scene to go along with my melody if I wanted to.  

But I'm not sure if people would say that my melody conveys what I described.  The same idea applies to my Haunting Tune.  As a matter of fact, people might tell me my melodies are awful, gibberish, and convey nothing regardless of what scene or sound effects I choose to go along with them.  I'm not sure if people would find them catchy either because I also say they're catchy. 

This thread is hilarious!  Tears in my eyes hilarious...

It all depends on the person.  For some people, they need a fully crafted song in order for melodies to become something great, catchy, and convey certain scenes in their eyes.  However, some people can pick this up very fast and only require a simple melody.  

I can relate to this because I had a friend who shared a simple, catchy rap melody he created himself and shared to me.  Even though it was just a melody and nothing more, I got the intended vibe already from that melody.  So, for me, he didn't need anything more to that melody; the melody was already great and catchy in my eyes.  

I bet if I never heard of Beethoven's 5th symphony and someone just shared the motive in the beginning of his symphony to me and nothing more (those 4 notes on the higher and lower octaves), that I would already pick up on the greatness and catchiness of that melody.  

I bet I would already perceive it as a melody worthy of becoming famous.  But, for other people who cannot pick up on that as fast as me, they require the rest of the symphony or, at least, some of the symphony in order for the melody's greatness and catchiness to get across to them.   

I think it all depends on who you are.  Since professionals have adapted to a higher standard, then they require more than a simple melody in order for a melody to become something great and catchy.  

It would be no different than how a person has adapted to a higher standard of writing.  They would require more than the basic, average writing skill in order for it to be good writing and for them to get the intended message of the writer.

For example, having some spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors might render a professional English teacher not understanding the student's writing and perceiving his/her writing as awful gibberish.  

If not awful gibberish, then something that's not good writing.  But, someone who has adapted to a lower standard of writing would see that student's writing as something good and that person would clearly understand the intended message of the writer.