Chapter 10 - Melodic Composition

The Building Blocks of Melodic Form

How Are Melodies Constructed?

  • Melody - A logical progression of pitches and rhythms. A linear succession of notes that form a recognizable unit, which is used to separate a melody from random pitches.
      * The melody is the most important part of a composition.
      * Melodies don’t always begin on the downbeat.
      * A good melody must have movement.
      * The best melodies are contoured and contained or limited in range usually within an octave.
      * Longer melodies use repetitions, have a distinct form and are built from simple motifs and short melodic phrases.
  • Anacrusis (Pick-up notes) - When the melody begins before the first full measure. It’s an incomplete measure that combines with the final measure of the phrase to equal the meter
  • Conjunct - When the melody uses stepwise motion.
  • Disjunct - When the melody uses skipwise motion.

How to Choose What Notes to Use for a Melody?

  • When creating a melody, the harmonic structure or chord progressions presents your “menu” of note choices for the melody.
  • Creating contrapuntal motion between the bass and the soprano impacts your choice of melody notes.
  • There are four scale tones that helps define the tonality and mode of a melody:
      * Tonic - It’s the tonal center of the composition.
      * Mediant - Defines its harmonic nature whether it’s major or minor
      * Dominant - Fifth grade of the scale
      * Seventh degree - It positions the melody to return to the tonic.
  • The purpose is for your melody to move from unstable to stable, especially at the end of a phrase.

Melodic Structure

  • Melodies are constructed in phrases.
  • Phrases - Single coherent musical thoughts that move toward a goal, the cadence.
  • Sub-phrase - A melodic unit smaller than a phrase and doesn’t end with a cadence.
  • Often, phrases occur in pairs.
  • Period - When the first phrase of a pair ends with a weaker cadence and the second with a stronger harmonic conclusion forming an antecedent-consequent relationship.
      * The most common antecedent phrase ending is ahalfcadencefollowedbytheconsequentphraseendingwithaperfectauthenticcadence.a half cadence followed by the consequent phrase ending with a perfect authentic cadence.
      * Parallel period - When two phrases making up the period begin identically, or the second phrase is a variation of the first.

   
  * Contrasting period - When the two phrases are different from each other.
  * Repeated parallel period - Two phrases that form a parallel period repeated exactly.
  * When two phrases both end with a strong cadence, there is no antecedent-consequent relationship. There are just two phrases.

  • When phrases are analyzed, they’re labeled with lowercase alphabet letters.
      * Phrases that are similar but not identical receive the same letter with the prime mark or with numbers.
      * Phrases that are the same receive the same letter.
  • Phrase expansion - Expanding phrases beyond normal phrase lengths by adding material to the beginning, middle, or end.
      * Introduction (Prefix) - Material added to the beginning.

Repetition

  • The use of repetition is the most critical aspect of musical structure.
  • Literal repetition - Exact repetition in the same voice.
  • Imitation - In multiple-voice compositions, when the melody repeated in the second part imitates the one in the first.
Repetition Through Motif
  • Melodic motif - Short group of notes repeated throughout the melody to establish its identity and provide thematic unity.
      * It defines the melody and characterizes and unifies the composition.
      * It can be melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic.

 

  • Leitmotif - A motif thematically associated with a person, place, or idea.

 

  • Musical theme - A complete melodic phrase anywhere from two to eight measures.
      * Main musical idea that defines the composition, reinforces it through repetition and serves as the basis for expanding and elaborating the melody, often through variation.
Repetition Through Variation
  • Motivic transformation - Changing or transforming the original motif by using these compositional devices:
      * Fragmentation - When a portion of a motif or a larger musical idea is used, often repeated, and/or varied.

   
  * Melodic sequence - A form of variation that refers to repeating the original motif starting on a different pitch.
  * Melodic inversion (Inversion) - The imitation of the melody performed upside down from the original melody.
    * It moves in the opposite direction by the same diatonic interval.
    * Mirror inversion - If the inverted intervals are exact.
  * Retrograde - When the melody is played backwards.
    * Retrograde inversion - It plays the pitches of the original motif backwards and inverted.

  • ^^Ex. →^^ Variations of a melody

   
  * Modulation - The process of changing from one key or tonal center to another.

   
  * Ornamentation (Embellishment) - The technique of adding or decorating the melody with non-chord tones such as passing tones, neighboring tones, and suspensions.
  * Octave displacement - Moving one or more notes of the melody to a different octave.
  * Mode mixture - Involves combining chords from the parallel major or minor mode to increase harmonic resources.

  • Rhythmic transformation - Changes the motif or theme’s rhythm in order to vary it from previous statements of the motif.
      * Augmentation - A form of rhythmic variation where the pitches remain the same but the rhythms are equally lengthened (note values are made longer).
      * Diminution - The opposite of augmentation, note values are made shorter.
      * Rhythmic displacement - Keeps the original rhythmic structure intact but moves it to a different place in the measure.

Non-Chord Tones

  • Non-chord tones (Non-harmonic tones) - Notes that don’t belong and create a temporary dissonance against the members of the chord.
      * NCT’s may occur in any voice but are more common in the melody.
      * They have three parts:
        * Preparation - The first chord tone.
        * NCT - The dissonant tone.
        * Resolution - The chord tone it leads or resolves to.
  • Passing tones (PT) - Melodic embellishments that fill in between the preparation and the resolution by stepwise motion.
      * Accented passing tone - Occurs when the passing tone that is not part of the chord occurs on the beat.
  • Chromatic passing tone - A non-diatonic note (requiring an accidental) connecting two chord tones, one whole step apart.
  • Neighbor tones (NT) - Non-chord tones that decorate a line by moving from one pitch to another one-step above (upper neighbor) or below lower neighbor) and then returning to the original pitch.
      * Chromatic neighbor - When the neighboring tone is an accidental a half-step above to below the chord tone (but not the leading tone in minor).
      * Incomplete neighbor - Non-harmonic tone approached by skip or leap in one direction and resolved by stepwise motion in the opposite direction. Itoccursinaweakrhythmicposition.It occurs in a weak rhythmic position.
  • Appoggiatura - A specific kind of incomplete neighbor that leaves the preparation by leaping up and then resolves down by step. This is an accentednon−chordtonebecauseitoccursonthebeat.accented non-chord tone because it occurs on the beat.
  • Escape tone - Another form of incomplete neighbor that leaves the chord tone by step then resolves in the opposite direction by leap.
  • Suspension - Occurs when a note in the preparation chord is held over (suspended), creating a momentary accented dissonance (on the beat) that is resolved downward by step to the resolution.
      * Most common types of suspension
        * 9-8
        * 7-6
        * 4-3
      * Rearticulated suspension - When the suspended note is not tied to its preparation.
      * Retardation - Suspended note that resolves upward.
      * Anticipation tone - It leaves early from the preparation chord by step to become a part of the resolution chord.