Music - Melody

Melody

The sequence of notes

Semitone

When the distance between two notes is half

Eg. (C&C#)

Tone

When the distance between two notes is one

Eg.(C&D)

Interval

The distance between notes in tones.

Unison (Type of Interval)

The distance between two notes is 0 tones (E.g C&C)

2nd (Type of Interval)

The difference between two notes is one tone

(E.g C&D)

3rd (Type of Interval)

When the difference between two notes is two tones

E.g (C&E)

4th (Type of Interval)

When the distance between two notes is three tones

(E.g C&F)

5th (Type of Interval)

When the difference between two notes is four tones

(E.g C&G)

6th (Type of Interval)

When the difference between two notes is 5 tones

(E.g C&A)

7th (Type of Interval)

When the difference between two notes is six tones

(E.g C&B)

Octave (Type of Interval)

When the difference between two notes is seven tones (Same note but higher)

E.g (C&C)

Conjunct

When a melody moves in intervals with a short distance.

Disjunct

When a melody moves in intervals with a larger distance

Chromatic

When notes from outside the key are used (semi-tonal movement)

Arpeggio

Rising and Falling melody

Broken Chord

When an incomplete chord is played

Diatonic

When the melody is mainly based on a minor or major key

Atonal

When the melody isn’t based on a key

Imitation

When one instrument copies another

Riff/Ostinato

When there is a repeated pattern of notes.

Sequence

Same phrase at a higher or lower pitch

Pitch Bend

Bending the pitch

Glissando

When you ascend or descend notes quickly

Melisma

When a lot of notes are used to sing a single syllable

Descending

When the notes sung or played are going down

Ascending

When the notes that are sung go up

Ornaments

When notes are added to decorate a melody

Mordent (Type of Ornament)

When a note is played then the note above is played and tou return to the original note

Trill (Type of Ornaments)

When there is a rapid change in two notes

Turn

A short deccoration

Acciacatura/Scotch Snap/Grace Note

When there is a crushed note (small) above the main note but doesn't change the value of the main note

Appogiatura

When a small note is above the main note but changes the value of the main note