melodic and rhythmic devices

what are melodic and rhythmic devices used for

to add interest and variety to a musical idea or to extend or develop a musical idea

what are the names of the 18 devices

decoration, sequence, imitation, inversion, augmentation, diminution, ostinato , syncopation, motif, diatonic and chromatic transposition, retrograde, change of mode, intervallic contraction and expansion, passing and neighbor tones and chordal skips

what is decoration

ornamentation or the adding of extra notes to a melody

what is sequence

a phrase of a melody which is immediately repeated at a slightly higher or lower pitch

what is imitation

when one part of the music sets off with a snatch melody which is then imitated by another part of the music

what is inversion

when the melody is ‘turned upside down’ so the rising pitch of the original melody becomes the fall

what is augmentation

when the melody is drawn out by using longer note values

what is diminution

when the melody is shortened using shorter note values

what is ostinatio

a melodic or rhythmic fragment that is repeated over and over again

what is syncopation

stressing the weak beats of the bar

what is motive

a leading phrase or figure that is reproduced and varied through the course of a composition or movement

what is diatonic transposition

when a melody is transposed diatonically

what is chromatic transposition

when a melody is transposed chromatically

what is retrograde

a melodic line that is the reverse of a previous melodic line

what is change of mode

when the mode of a melody is changed

what is intervallic contraction and expansion

when the framework of a melody stays the same but the intervals can be larger or smaller

what is passing notes

when an atonal note connects two tonal notes or when a foreign note is introduced in between two existing notes in the melody

what are neighbor notes

an auxiliary note or a non-chord tone a step above or below a chord note that resolves or moves back to it

what are chordal skips

an extended broken chord or arpeggio