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A melody is a series of pitches that make a tune.
In most popular music today, the melody is sometimes like an egg, a binding agent that holds all the elements of music together in a piece of music.
Melody is perhaps the most identifiable element of a musical composition.
It can be soulful vocal passage, a roaring guitar riff, or a rapid saxophone run. Melodies can be simple or intricate. They can stand alone, or work together with other melodies in a more complex composition.
The melody is the part that most people usually remember and will sing along to when listening.
The melody determines the harmony and tonality of the piece of music.
The main melody can be heard when it is played by an instrument that has a unique timbre or tone color/quality. If the melody is meant to be happy or sad, it can drive the rhythm of the piece of music and set the tempo.
COMMON VOCAB Hook, Roff, Motif, Tune, Harmony, Pitch, Rhythm, Phrasing, Interval, Scale, Contour, Variation, Syncoopation, Ornamentation, Embellishment, Counter-melody, Dynamics, Improvisation, Swing, Blue notes, Scat, Chromticism, modes, call and response,bebop, glide, portamenot, call & response, trill, gohst notes, head, turn arpound, vibrato
Māori Music See below for vocab commonly associated with Māori music
Māori music has its own set of words and concepts associated with melody and musical expression. Here are some words commonly associated with melody in Māori music:
Waiata: This term refers to songs in the Māori tradition, which encompass a wide range of themes, including love, history, spirituality, and more.
Karanga: A type of Māori song often used in traditional Māori ceremonies and rituals. Karanga are characterized by their unique vocal patterns and melodies.
Whakaeke: The initial entry song in a Māori performance, which sets the tone and often features a distinctive melody.
Mōteatea: A traditional Māori song form that typically consists of poetic, chant-like melodies and is used to convey historical or genealogical stories.
Karakia: Sacred chants or invocations often sung with specific melodies in Māori rituals and ceremonies.
Haka: While haka are primarily rhythmic and percussive, they can also include melodic elements in the form of chanting and vocalizations.
Pūoro: The traditional Māori musical instruments, including flutes, percussion instruments, and rattles, used to accompany and enhance the melody in Māori music.
Tātai whakapapa: This term refers to genealogical chants that often feature melodic patterns and are used to trace ancestry and connections in Māori culture.
Raparapa: A style of Māori singing characterized by rapid, intricate vocal ornamentation and melodic embellishments.
Karakia waiata: Songs used in religious or spiritual contexts that often have melodic components and are part of Māori worship practices.
Waiata-a-ringa: Action songs that incorporate specific movements and gestures along with melodies, often used in Māori performances and storytelling.
Mōteatea tawhito: Ancient Māori songs that carry significant historical and cultural knowledge, often conveyed through their melodies.
Kōrero pūrākau: Narrative songs that tell stories, legends, or myths of the Māori people, with melodic components.
Whakapapa waiata: Songs that celebrate and convey ancestral connections and heritage, often with melodic elements.
Iwi anthems: Some Māori tribes (iwi) have their own anthems, which often have distinct melodies that represent their tribal identity.
What Is Melody?
What Is Melody?
A melody is a collection of musical tones that are grouped together as a single entity. Most compositions consist of multiple melodies working in conjunction with one another. In a rock band, the vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, and bassist are all playing melodies on their respective instruments. Even the drummer is playing one.
The melody in a piece of music consists of two primary components:
Pitch The actual audio vibration produced by an instrument. These pitches are arranged as a series of notes with names like C4 or D#5.
Duration The amount of time that each pitch will sound. These durations are divided into lengths such as whole notes, half notes, quarter-note triplets, and more.
Melodies can be both short and long. A brief melodic line is sometimes called a musical phrase, a motif or a riff. Longer passages can also be deemed melodies, whether that’s the complete vocal line of a chorus in popular music or an entire aria in an opera by Mozart or Wagner.
How Is Melody Used in Music?
How Is Melody Used in Music?
Melody is used by every musical instrument.
Solo vocalists use melody when they sing the main theme of a song.
Choral vocalists sing melodies as a group. Some choruses sing the same notes in unison, like in the traditions of ancient Greece. Others choruses, like those in a church choir, sing harmonised melody lines that follow a set chord progression.
Percussion instruments play melodies, too, but their melodies are far more centered on rhythmic durations than pitch. However, all audible drums do have pitches, and sometimes these precise pitches are notated in sheet music. Classical music is full of pitched percussion: look no further than the timpani passages of the German composer Gustav Mahler or the mallet instruments in the avant garde twentieth century music of French composer Pierre Boulez.
How Did Melody Originate in Music?
How Did Melody Originate in Music?
The earliest recorded artifacts of musical melody come from the eastern region of the Mediterranean Sea. A piece titled “Hurrian Hymn No. 6” was discovered printed on a clay tablet in Syria in the 1950s, although that tune is incomplete.
The longest surviving complete melody is a Greek piece called “Seikilos Epitaph” that dates back to the first century A.D. These were vocal melodies, and the “Hurrian Hymn” notation also contains instructions for accompaniment on the lyre.
Melody made incremental advances over a period of centuries that encompassed the Medieval and Renaissance eras, but musicologists agree it took a giant leap forward during the European Baroque era from roughly 1600 to 1750. Famous Baroque composers include: Georg Philipp Telemann, Antonio Vivaldi, Henry Purcell, Alessandro Scarlatti.
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Influence on Melody
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Influence on Melody
By far the most important composer of the Baroque era was Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach’s advancement of both melody and harmony revolutionized music, and his influence can be heard in nearly all Western music that followed him. From Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi to American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, the tradition of stepwise motion, selective leaps, and clear focal points has endured for centuries.
Bach’s melodies are characterized by:
Heavy use of stepwise motion (where notes only move by a whole-tone or a half-tone)
Occasional leaps of a third or more—often the most memorable parts of the melodies
Focal points—high or low notes that the music builds toward, which tends to create arc-shaped or V-shaped melodic contours in the sheet music
This excerpt from “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” showcases all of these elements in Bach’s music.
How Is Melody Used in Music Today?
How Is Melody Used in Music Today?
In popular music today, melody is king. As legendary guitarist Carlos Santana once noted:
“Lead… chords… I’m saying that both are good. But for me, melody is supreme.”
Pop music usually recycles three main elements:
tempos (120 bpm is particularly popular)
chord progressions (like I - V - vi - IV)
lyrical themes (love, heartbreak, personal liberation)
For this reason, melody must carry a heavy load to make one song distinct from another. For examples, the songs “Love the Way You Lie” by Eminem and “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 have the same chord progression, but they sound different. The melody is carrying each song, and making it stand out.
Meldoic Structure
Meldoic Structure
Is it a simple or complex melody? Does it consist of repeating motifs or phrases? Is there a clear beginning, middle, and end to the melody?
Is it a simple or complex melody? Does it consist of repeating motifs or phrases? Is there a clear beginning, middle, and end to the melody?
Melodic Contour
Melodic Contour
The melodic contour is the shape of the melody. The contour of a melodic line can be described by using words such as smooth, flowing, jagged, jumpy, angular, repetitive, arching, scale like, steep, shallow, as well as many more.
Melodic Motion and Range
Melodic Motion and Range
The motion of a melody can be described in several ways. Melodic lines can move by steps or leaps and these steps/leaps can ascend (go higher in pitch), or descend (go lower in pitch). Look at the way the melody is constructed - and ask yourself WHY the composer has chosen to do that.
What is the range of the melody .... is it wide or small? Does it use a few notes or many notes?
Rhythm and Timing
How are the notes spaced in time? Are there syncopations, pauses, or other rhythmic features that make the melody interesting?
Repetition and Variation
Note any instances of repetition or variation within the melody. Does the melody repeat verbatim, or are there slight changes each time it is played or sung? Is the melody embellished (with slides, additions, ornamentation etc.)
Register of a Melody
Register of a Melody
The musical definition of register is the height of the pitch that an instrument performs in. For example, a violin can perform in a higher register than the cello, and the cello can perform higher than the double bass.
Roughly in the middle of the piano is a note called “Middle C”. Anything above or to the right of this note is in the treble register, and any note below or to the left is in the bass register.
Different registers and timbres have different affects on a listener and support different emotions.
When discussing melody in music, it's essential to use musical terminology and be specific in your observations. This can help you and others better understand and appreciate the melodic elements that contribute to the overall musical experience.
Finally, share your personal interpretation of the melody. How does it make you feel? What do you appreciate about it, and what, if anything, do you find particularly noteworthy or unique?
A great example of a melody being performed in several different registers is the piece by Greig from the Peer Gynt Suite – In the Hall of the Mountain King. In this music, the melody is repeated by several instruments, in the beginning the melody is performed in a very low bass register, and as the music progresses, the register of the melody changes with each different instruments.
Different registers and timbres have different affects on a listener and support different emotions.
When discussing melody in music, it's essential to use musical terminology and be specific in your observations. This can help you and others better understand and appreciate the melodic elements that contribute to the overall musical experience.
Finally, share your personal interpretation of the melody. How does it make you feel? What do you appreciate about it, and what, if anything, do you find particularly noteworthy or unique?
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