Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Areas of Study
AoS 01: Rhythm and Metre
AoS 02: Harmony and Tonality
Melody
What is meant by Melody?
A melody is a rhythmically organised pattern
of single notes arranged in succession, one
after the other. In melody the notes are
arranged horizontally (whereas in harmony
that are arranged vertically)
Or..THE TUNE
Melody
Counter Melody A second, less important
tune to support the main melody
Pitch how high or low the note is
Scale a group of notes played in ascending
or descending order
Melody cont
Interval The gap in pitch between two notes
Perfect
Perfect
Different Scales
Pentatonic scale a five note scale. Often used in
Chinese, African and Celtic Folk melodies
Whole Tone Scale a scale made up of only whole
tones. E.g. C, D, E, F#, G#, A#
Chromatic Scale scale made up of semitones
Passing notes are the notes in between the notes of
the accompanying chord.
Blue notes the flattened notes in a Blues Scale. Often
slide up or down to these notes. They make a piece
sound bluesy.
e.g. - C, Bb, G, Gb, F, Eb, C
Melody Cont.
Sequence when a tune is repeated a step
higher (ascending sequence) or a step lower
(descending sequence).
Pitch bend bending the note on a guitar or
any string instrument/voice or
keyboard/synthesizer.
Repetition
3 Words for same meaning just use the
correct word for the style of music
Ostinato Classical
Riff Popular music
Loop Electronic/technology based music
Ornamentation
This is about decorating parts of the melody
Trills 2 notes that are next to each other
played rapidly
57 seconds and
beyond, shows
Trills being
used.
All instruments
perform trills,
especially in
Baroque Music
Video 02
Double Stopping -
Cont.
Video 03
Tremolo
Glissando
Glissando (instruments)/ Portamento (voice)
sliding between 2 notes.
Track 05
Rhapsody in Blues
Listen to the
Slide at the
start by the
Clarinet just
after the trill
Video 04
Articulation
Non-Staccato
(Legato)
Sometimes
indicated by a slur
Played Staccato
Articulation cont.
Pizzicato Short, plucked notes on a stringed
instrument
Con Arco
Simply
means, use
of Bow
Video 01
This example
shows extensive
use of Pizzicato
Melody Cont.
Phrase a musical sentence (where youd
naturally take a breath). Often 2, 4 or 8 bars
long. Indicated by a curved line above the
stave.
Improvisation when a player makes the
music up on the spot. In jazz/blues/pop
players will often improvise a solo
commonly on a guitar/sax/trumpet/keyboard.