Have you ever created a melody based on a proper name, either yours or that of someone you know?
Almost everyone has heard the song "Do, Re, Mi" from the Broadway musical/award-winning film The Sound of Music.
Some instructors still teach the seven notes of the scale based on the "solfége" system: "Do (pronounced like "dough," as in bread), Re (like "ray"), Mi (like "Me" and you), Fa, Sol, La, Ti," (pronounced like "Tea" for two) and the octave repeat of "Do."
Now, pick a name. What are the basic vowel sounds in the name?
For example, the English name "Mary" has two syllables, one containing the same vowel as "Re" (if that is your regional pronunciation) and the second has the vowel of "Mi" and "Ti."
So you have a starting point for your name-based melody: Re, followed by either the note "Mi," or "Ti."
In one system, called "moveable Do," the note "Re" is the second tone of the major scale, and the fourth tone of the minor. "Mi" is the third tone of the major, and the fifth tone of the minor. On the other hand, "Ti" is the seventh tone of the major scale, and the second tone of the minor.
I once made a family Christmas card, and composed a short tune in which the names of everyone in my family was represented in solfége by the corresponding vowel sounds of their names. We're all classically-trained musicians, even mom and dad, so a certain level of appreciation was already there. Whether or not the result was a stupendous musical achievement was not the point; it was a fun project.
Taken a step further, the name-based melody was turned it into a bass line (a.k.a. cantus firmus), and I wrote 2- and 3-part imitative counterpoint above the bass. The performance of the "card" actually sounded like a traditional Christmas carol! Evidently, in the Medieval and Renaissance eras, it was common to write tunes based on the vowel sounds within words - translated to solfege - and a number of the early Christmas carols date from those periods.
