View source for Melisma

{{Short description|Singing technique}}
[[Image:Syllabic and melismatic.png|thumb|400px|Syllabic and melismatic text setting: "[[Christ the Lord Is Risen Today|Jesus Christ Is Ris'n Today]]" (''Methodist Hymn Book'', 1933, No. 204).<ref>{{cite book|last=Shepherd |first=John |year=2003 |title=Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Performance and Production |page=565 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-8264-6322-7}}</ref> {{audio|Syllabic and melismatic.mid|Play}}]]

'''Melisma''' ({{langx|grc|μέλισμα}}, {{transliteration|grc|mélisma}}, {{literally|song}}; from {{langx|grc|{{linktext|μέλος}}|melos|song, melody|label=none}}, plural: ''melismata''), informally known as a '''vocal run'''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6791133 |title=How 'American Idol' Uses (and Abuses) Melisma |first=Mike |last=Katzif |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |date=January 11, 2007 |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref> and sometimes interchanged with the term [[roulade (music)|roulade]], is the [[singing]] of a single [[syllable]] of [[lyrics|text]] while moving between several different [[Musical note|note]]s in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as ''melismatic'', as opposed to '''''syllabic''''', in which each syllable of text is matched to a single note.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uRo8AAAAQBAJ&dq=roulade+melisma&pg=PA555|title=Music in the Western World|first1=Piero |last1=Weiss |first2=Richard |last2=Taruskin|year= 2007|isbn=9781111793449|publisher=Cengage Learning|chapter=Glossary: Roulade|page=555}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B558IP84wggC&dq=roulade+melisma&pg=PA103|title=Modern Music and Musicians; Part Two: Encyclopedia|chapter=Melisma|editor-first=Louis C. |editor-last=Elson|editor-link=Louis C. Elson|page=803|year=1911|publisher=University Society |isbn=9781404706750 }}</ref>

==History==
{{Globalize|section|date=November 2022}}
===General===
The term ''melisma'' may be used to describe music of any genre, including [[baroque]] singing, [[opera]], and later [[gospel music|gospel]]. Within the tradition of [[religious Jewish music]], melisma is still commonly used in the chanting of [[Torah]], readings from the [[Nevi'im|Prophets]], and in the body of a service.<ref>{{cite book |title=Jewish Music: Its Historical Development |first=Abraham Zevi |last=Idelsohn |author-link=Abraham Zevi Idelsohn |year=1929 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=978-0-486-27147-7 }}{{pn|date=May 2020}}</ref>

Melisma is prevalent in many forms of [[Gregorian chant]] (see e.g. [[Jubilus]]) as well as late-medieval sacred [[polyphony]], notably in works by [[Guillaume de Machaut]], [[John Dunstaple]], and many early Tudor composers represented in the [[Eton Choirbook|Eton]], [[Caius Choirbook|Caius]], and [[Lambeth Choirbook|Lambeth]] choirbooks.

Today, melisma is commonly used in [[Middle Eastern music|Middle Eastern]], [[African music|African]], and [[African-American music]], Irish [[Sean-nós singing]], and [[flamenco]]. African music infused the blues with melisma. Due to the influences of African-American music, melisma is also commonly featured in Western [[popular music]].<ref name=NYT/> Gaelic music's use of melisma commonly appears in early Appalachian music and has been a constant feature of American country and western music since its inception.

===Prevalence in western popular music===
The use of melisma is a common feature of artists such as [[Kim Burell]], [[Deniece Williams]], [[Stevie Wonder]], [[Luther Vandross]], [[Whitney Houston]], [[Céline Dion]], [[Mariah Carey]], [[Christina Aguilera]], [[Brandy Norwood|Brandy]], and [[Beyoncé]], among others.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web |last=Everitt |first=Lauren |title= Whitney Houston and the art of melisma |date=February 15, 2012 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17039208 |work=BBC News |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/whoa-nelly%21-mw0000103677 |title='Whoa, Nelly!' review |first=Stephen Thomas |last=Erlewine |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref> The use of melismatic vocals in pop music slowly grew in the 1980s. In the following two decades, melismatic vocals became the standard used to judge a singer’s skill.{{fact|date=June 2025}} This is partially why singers who are proficient in this singing style consistently make the lists of the most highly regarded singers of all time.{{cn|date=January 2023}} [[Deniece Williams]] topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1984, with "[[Let's Hear It for the Boy]]" with her melismatic vocals. Although other artists used melisma before, Houston's rendition of [[Dolly Parton]]'s ballad "[[I Will Always Love You]]" pushed the technique into the mainstream in the 1990s.<ref name="bbc"/> The trend in [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] singers is considered to have been popularized by Mariah Carey's song "[[Vision of Love]]", which was released and topped the U.S. charts in 1990, and went on to be certified gold.<ref>{{Cite news |title='Vision of Love' sets off melisma trend |newspaper=[[The Village Voice]] |date=February 4, 2003 |url=https://www.mcarchives.com/index.asp?id=1457 |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Frere-Jones |first=Sasha |title=On Top: Mariah Carey's record-breaking career |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date = April 3, 2006 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/04/03/on-top |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=100 Greatest Singers of All Time: #79. Mariah Carey |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=November 27, 2008 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-147019/mariah-carey-4-40559/ |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref>

As late as 2007, melismatic singers such as [[Leona Lewis]] were still scoring big hits, but around 2008–2009, this trend reverted to how it was prior to Carey, Dion, and Houston's success – singers with less showy styles such as [[Kesha]] and [[Cheryl Cole]] began to outsell new releases by Carey and Christina Aguilera, ending nearly two decades of the style's dominance of pop-music vocals.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/arts/music/26browne.html |title=Trilling Songbirds Clip Their Wings |last=Browne |first=David |date=December 26, 2010 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref>

==Examples==
{{listen
 | filename     = U.S. Army Band - Angels We Have Heard on High.ogg
 | title        = Angels We Have Heard on High
 | description  = Chorus of U.S. Army Band, ''a cappella''
 | format       = [[Ogg]]
}}
The traditional French carol tune to which the [[hymn]] "[[Angels We Have Heard on High]]" is usually sung (and "[[Angels from the Realms of Glory]]" in Great Britain) contains one of the most well-known melismatic sequences in Christian hymn music. Twice in its refrain, the ''o'' of the word ''Gloria'' is held through 16 different notes.

[[George Frideric Handel]]'s ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]'' contains numerous examples of melisma, as in the following excerpt from the chorus "For Unto Us a Child Is Born"  ([[Messiah Part I#12|Part I, No. 12]]). The soprano and alto lines engage in a 57-note melisma on the word ''born''.

<!--this image displayed wider than 400px for clarity-->
[[Image:Handel Messiah - For Unto Us a Child is Born excerpt.png|center|577px]]
{{audio|Handel Messiah - For Unto Us a Child is Born excerpt.mid|Play}}

== See also ==
* [[Arabic maqam]]
* [[Coloratura]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021114225910/http://www.bartleby.com/61/69/M0206900.html American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language entry on "melisma"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030503171228/http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textm/Melisma.html Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary entry on melisma]

{{Melody}}

[[Category:Singing techniques]]
[[Category:Musical terminology]]