Melody in Depth
• A melody is the line, or tune, in music.
• Each melody is unique in contour (how it
moves up and down) and in range, or span of
pitches.
• An interval is the distance between any two
pitches. A melody that moves in small,
connected intervals is conjunct, while one that
moves by leaps is disjunct.
Range: distance between highest and
lowest note. The range can be narrow, as
in children’s songs or very wide.
Contour: The overall shape of a melody as it turns
upward, downward, or remains static. This can be
visualized as a line graph showing an ascending or
descending line, an arch, or a wave
Ode to Joy, Beethoven Symphony #9
Range: narrow (5-note span)
Contour: wavelike
Movement: conjunct
Joy to the World, Traditional
Range: medium (8-note span)
Contour: descending
Movement: conjunct, then a few leaps
Star Spangled Banner
Range: wide (10-note span)
Contour: wavelike
Movement: disjunct (many wide leaps)
• The units that make up a melody are phrases;
phrases end in resting places called cadences.
• Cadences are a kind of musical punctuation
and can be inconclusive like a comma or
defined like a period.
• If a melody has words, cadences often
coincide with the text.
audio
More complex music can feature several simultaneous
melodies.
Sometimes the relative importance of one melody over the
other is clear, and the added tune is called a
countermelody
Stars and Stripes Forever countermelody
Tonight, from West Side Story, Bernstein
Tonight, tonight, won’t be just any night,
tonight there will be no morning star.
Tonight, tonight, I’ll see my love tonight, and
for us, stars will stop where they are.
Today the minutes seem like hours, the hours
go so slowly, and still the sky is light.
Oh moon, grow bright, and make this endless
day endless night.
1) Which term best describes the opening of the melody?
•conjunct
•disjunct
•Static
2) How many melodic phrases, each ending with a sustained
cadence note, are in this verse?
•two
•four
•Ten
3) On which two words at cadences do the phrases seem most
incomplete, where you know there is more to come?
•star
•are
•light
•night
4) Two changes occur on the line beginning with “Today.” Pick
the two below that you hear.
•the melody becomes more conjunct
•a countermelody is heard in the violins
•the melody becomes more disjunct
•the phrasing becomes irregular
5) Would you say the range of this melody is:
•narrow
•medium
•Wide
6) Where do you think the melody’s climax occurs?
•near the beginning
•in the middle
•at the end