"Foreground (music)" redirects here. For more specific musical uses, see Structural level.
A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, melōidía, "singing, chanting"),[1] also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term can include other musical elements such as tonal color. It is the foreground to the background accompaniment. A line or part need not be a foreground melody.
Melodies often consist of one or more musical phrases or motifs, and are usually repeated throughout a composition in various forms. Melodies may also be described by their melodic motion or the pitches or the intervals between pitches (predominantly conjunct or disjunct or with further restrictions), pitch range, tension and release, continuity and coherence, cadence, and shape.
The true goal of music—its proper enterprise—is melody. All the parts of harmony have as their ultimate purpose only beautiful melody. Therefore, the question of which is the more significant, melody or harmony, is futile. Beyond doubt, the means is subordinate to the end.
Melody is to music what a scent is to the senses: it jogs our memory. It gives face to form, and identity and character to the process and proceedings. It is not only a musical subject, but a manifestation of the musically subjective. It carries and radiates personality with as much clarity and poignancy as harmony and rhythm combined. As such a powerful tool of communication, melody serves not only as protagonist in its own drama, but as messenger from the author to the audience.
Given the many and varied elements and styles of melody "many extant explanations [of melody] confine us to specific stylistic models, and they are too exclusive."[4] Paul Narveson claimed in 1984 that more than three-quarters of melodic topics had not been explored thoroughly.[5]
The melodies existing in most European music written before the 20th century, and popular music throughout the 20th century, featured "fixed and easily discernible frequency patterns", recurring "events, often periodic, at all structural levels" and "recurrence of durations and patterns of durations".[4]
Melodies in the 20th century "utilized a greater variety of pitch resources than ha[d] been the custom in any other historical period of Westernmusic." While the diatonic scale was still used, the chromatic scale became "widely employed."[4] Composers also allotted a structural role to "the qualitative dimensions" that previously had been "almost exclusively reserved for pitch and rhythm". Kliewer states, "The essential elements of any melody are duration, pitch, and quality (timbre), texture, and loudness.[4] Though the same melody may be recognizable when played with a wide variety of timbres and dynamics, the latter may still be an "element of linear ordering."[4]
Balinesegamelan music often uses complicated variations and alterations of a single melody played simultaneously, called heterophony.
In western classical music, composers often introduce an initial melody, or theme, and then create variations. Classical music often has several melodic layers, called polyphony, such as those in a fugue, a type of counterpoint. Often, melodies are constructed from motifs or short melodic fragments, such as the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Richard Wagner popularized the concept of a leitmotif: a motif or melody associated with a certain idea, person or place.
While in both most popular music and classical music of the common practice period pitch and duration are of primary importance in melodies, the contemporary music of the 20th and 21st centuries pitch and duration have lessened in importance and quality has gained importance, often primary. Examples include musique concrète, klangfarbenmelodie, Elliott Carter's Eight Etudes and a Fantasy (which contains a movement with only one note), the third movement of Ruth Crawford-Seeger's String Quartet 1931 (later re-orchestrated as Andante for string orchestra), which creates the melody from an unchanging set of pitches through "dissonant dynamics" alone, and György Ligeti's Aventures, in which recurring phonetics create the linear form.
^Forte, Allen (1979). Tonal Harmony in Concept & Practice, p. 203. ISBN0-03-020756-8.
^Paus, Marcus (6 November 2017). "Why melody matters". Gramophone.
^ abcdeKliewer, Vernon (1975). "Melody: Linear Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music", Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music, pp. 270–301. Wittlich, Gary (ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN0-13-049346-5.
Smits van Waesberghe, Joseph [nl] (1955). A Textbook of Melody: A course in functional melodic analysis, American Institute of Musicology.
Szabolcsi, Bence (1965). A History of Melody, Barrie and Rockliff, London.
Trippett, David (2013). Wagner's Melodies. Cambridge University Press.
Trippett, David (2019). "Melody" in The Oxford Handbook to Critical Concepts in Music Theory. Oxford University Press.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Melody.
The dictionary definition of melody at Wiktionary
Quotations related to Melody at Wikiquote
Carry A Tune Week, list of tunes
Creating and orchestrating a coherent and balanced melody 2021-04-28 at the Wayback Machine
April 11, 2023
melody, this, article, about, melody, music, other, senses, this, word, disambiguation, melodic, redirects, here, other, uses, melodic, disambiguation, foreground, music, redirects, here, more, specific, musical, uses, structural, level, melody, from, greek, μ. This article is about melody in music For other senses of this word see Melody disambiguation Melodic redirects here For other uses see Melodic disambiguation Foreground music redirects here For more specific musical uses see Structural level A melody from Greek melῳdia melōidia singing chanting 1 also tune voice or line is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity In its most literal sense a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm while more figuratively the term can include other musical elements such as tonal color It is the foreground to the background accompaniment A line or part need not be a foreground melody A bar from J S Bach s Fugue No 17 in A flat BWV 862 from The Well Tempered Clavier Part I an example of counterpoint The two voices melodies on each staff can be distinguished by the direction of the stems and beams source source source source source source Voice 1 source source source Voice 2 source source source Voice 3 source source source Voice 4 Melodies often consist of one or more musical phrases or motifs and are usually repeated throughout a composition in various forms Melodies may also be described by their melodic motion or the pitches or the intervals between pitches predominantly conjunct or disjunct or with further restrictions pitch range tension and release continuity and coherence cadence and shape Contents 1 Function and elements 2 Examples 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksFunction and elements EditJohann Philipp Kirnberger argued The true goal of music its proper enterprise is melody All the parts of harmony have as their ultimate purpose only beautiful melody Therefore the question of which is the more significant melody or harmony is futile Beyond doubt the means is subordinate to the end Johann Philipp Kirnberger 1771 2 The Norwegian composer Marcus Paus has argued Melody is to music what a scent is to the senses it jogs our memory It gives face to form and identity and character to the process and proceedings It is not only a musical subject but a manifestation of the musically subjective It carries and radiates personality with as much clarity and poignancy as harmony and rhythm combined As such a powerful tool of communication melody serves not only as protagonist in its own drama but as messenger from the author to the audience Marcus Paus 2017 3 Given the many and varied elements and styles of melody many extant explanations of melody confine us to specific stylistic models and they are too exclusive 4 Paul Narveson claimed in 1984 that more than three quarters of melodic topics had not been explored thoroughly 5 The melodies existing in most European music written before the 20th century and popular music throughout the 20th century featured fixed and easily discernible frequency patterns recurring events often periodic at all structural levels and recurrence of durations and patterns of durations 4 Melodies in the 20th century utilized a greater variety of pitch resources than ha d been the custom in any other historical period of Western music While the diatonic scale was still used the chromatic scale became widely employed 4 Composers also allotted a structural role to the qualitative dimensions that previously had been almost exclusively reserved for pitch and rhythm Kliewer states The essential elements of any melody are duration pitch and quality timbre texture and loudness 4 Though the same melody may be recognizable when played with a wide variety of timbres and dynamics the latter may still be an element of linear ordering 4 Examples Edit Pop Goes the Weasel melody source source track Melody from Anton Webern s Variations for orchestra Op 30 pp 23 24 6 source source source Different musical styles use melody in different ways For example Jazz musicians use the term lead or head to refer to the main melody which is used as a starting point for improvisation Rock music and other forms of popular music and folk music tend to pick one or two melodies verse and chorus sometimes with a third contrasting melody known as a bridge or middle eight and stick with them much variety may occur in the phrasing and lyrics Indian classical music relies heavily on melody and rhythm and not so much on harmony as the music contains no chord changes Balinese gamelan music often uses complicated variations and alterations of a single melody played simultaneously called heterophony In western classical music composers often introduce an initial melody or theme and then create variations Classical music often has several melodic layers called polyphony such as those in a fugue a type of counterpoint Often melodies are constructed from motifs or short melodic fragments such as the opening of Beethoven s Fifth Symphony Richard Wagner popularized the concept of a leitmotif a motif or melody associated with a certain idea person or place While in both most popular music and classical music of the common practice period pitch and duration are of primary importance in melodies the contemporary music of the 20th and 21st centuries pitch and duration have lessened in importance and quality has gained importance often primary Examples include musique concrete klangfarbenmelodie Elliott Carter s Eight Etudes and a Fantasy which contains a movement with only one note the third movement of Ruth Crawford Seeger s String Quartet 1931 later re orchestrated as Andante for string orchestra which creates the melody from an unchanging set of pitches through dissonant dynamics alone and Gyorgy Ligeti s Aventures in which recurring phonetics create the linear form See also EditHocket Parsons code a simple notation used to identify a piece of music through melodic motion the motion of the pitch up and down Sequence music Unified fieldReferences Edit melῳdia Liddell Henry George Scott Robert A Greek English Lexicon at the Perseus Project Forte Allen 1979 Tonal Harmony in Concept amp Practice p 203 ISBN 0 03 020756 8 Paus Marcus 6 November 2017 Why melody matters Gramophone a b c d e Kliewer Vernon 1975 Melody Linear Aspects of Twentieth Century Music Aspects of Twentieth Century Music pp 270 301 Wittlich Gary ed Englewood Cliffs New Jersey Prentice Hall ISBN 0 13 049346 5 Narveson Paul 1984 Theory of Melody ISBN 0 8191 3834 7 Marquis G Weston 1964 Twentieth Century Music Idioms p 2 Prentice Hall Inc Inglewood Cliffs New Jersey Further reading EditApel Willi Harvard Dictionary of Music 2nd ed pp 517 19 Cole Simon 2020 just BE here the guide to musicking mindfulness Edwards Arthur C The Art of Melody pp xix xxx Holst Imogen 1962 2008 Tune Faber and Faber London ISBN 0 571 24198 0 Smits van Waesberghe Joseph nl 1955 A Textbook of Melody A course in functional melodic analysis American Institute of Musicology Szabolcsi Bence 1965 A History of Melody Barrie and Rockliff London Trippett David 2013 Wagner s Melodies Cambridge University Press Trippett David 2019 Melody in The Oxford Handbook to Critical Concepts in Music Theory Oxford University Press External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Melody The dictionary definition of melody at Wiktionary Quotations related to Melody at Wikiquote Carry A Tune Week list of tunes Creating and orchestrating a coherent and balanced melody Archived 2021 04 28 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Melody amp oldid 1134442445, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
