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From Nordan Symposia
Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Etymology== [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_P...'
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==Etymology==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] melodie, from Anglo-French, from Late [[Latin]] melodia, from [[Greek]] melōidia [[chant]]ing, [[music]], from melos limb, musical phrase, song (probably akin to Breton mell joint) + aeidein to sing
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_Century 13th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : a sweet or agreeable [[succession]] or arrangement of [[sounds]] : tunefulness
*2 : a [[rhythmic]] succession of single [[tones]] [[organized]] as an [[aesthetic]] [[whole]]
==Description==
A '''melody''' (from Greek μελῳδία - melōidía, "singing, [[chanting]]"[1]), also tune, [[voice]], or line, is a [[linear]] succession of musical [[tones]] which is [[perceived]] as a single [[entity]]. In its most [[literal]] sense, a melody is a [[sequence]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_(music) pitches] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duration durations], while, more figuratively, the term has occasionally been extended to include successions of other musical elements such as [[tone]] [[color]].
Melodies often consist of one or more musical [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrase_(music) phrases] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motif_(music) motifs], and are usually repeated throughout a song or piece in various [[forms]]. Melodies may also be described by their [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodic_motion melodic motion] or the pitches or the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_(music) intervals] between pitches (predominantly conjunct or disjunct or with further restrictions), pitch range, tension and release, continuity and coherence, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadence_(music) cadence], and shape.
==Elements==
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." Paul Narveson claimed in 1984 that more than three-quarters of melodic [[topics]] had not been explored thoroughly.
The melodies existing in most European [[music]] written before the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century 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".
Melodies in the 20th century have "utilized a greater variety of pitch [[resources]] than has been the [[custom]] in any other historical period of Western music." While the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatonic_scale diatonic scale] is still used, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_scale twelve-tone scale] became "widely employed." 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 ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre timbre]), [[texture]], and loudness. 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".[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melody]
[[Category: Music]]
==Etymology==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] melodie, from Anglo-French, from Late [[Latin]] melodia, from [[Greek]] melōidia [[chant]]ing, [[music]], from melos limb, musical phrase, song (probably akin to Breton mell joint) + aeidein to sing
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_Century 13th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : a sweet or agreeable [[succession]] or arrangement of [[sounds]] : tunefulness
*2 : a [[rhythmic]] succession of single [[tones]] [[organized]] as an [[aesthetic]] [[whole]]
==Description==
A '''melody''' (from Greek μελῳδία - melōidía, "singing, [[chanting]]"[1]), also tune, [[voice]], or line, is a [[linear]] succession of musical [[tones]] which is [[perceived]] as a single [[entity]]. In its most [[literal]] sense, a melody is a [[sequence]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_(music) pitches] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duration durations], while, more figuratively, the term has occasionally been extended to include successions of other musical elements such as [[tone]] [[color]].
Melodies often consist of one or more musical [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrase_(music) phrases] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motif_(music) motifs], and are usually repeated throughout a song or piece in various [[forms]]. Melodies may also be described by their [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodic_motion melodic motion] or the pitches or the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_(music) intervals] between pitches (predominantly conjunct or disjunct or with further restrictions), pitch range, tension and release, continuity and coherence, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadence_(music) cadence], and shape.
==Elements==
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." Paul Narveson claimed in 1984 that more than three-quarters of melodic [[topics]] had not been explored thoroughly.
The melodies existing in most European [[music]] written before the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century 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".
Melodies in the 20th century have "utilized a greater variety of pitch [[resources]] than has been the [[custom]] in any other historical period of Western music." While the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatonic_scale diatonic scale] is still used, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_scale twelve-tone scale] became "widely employed." 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 ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre timbre]), [[texture]], and loudness. 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".[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melody]
[[Category: Music]]
