View source for Melody

{{short description|Linear succession of tones in the foreground of a musical work}}
{{about|melody in music|other senses of this word|Melody (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Melodic}}
{{redirect|Foreground (music)|more specific musical uses|Structural level}}
{{distinguish|Medley (music)}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

[[File:BachFugueBar.png|thumb|A bar from [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J. S. Bach]]'s [[Fugue]] No. 17 in A-flat, [[Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis|BWV]] 862, from ''[[The Well-Tempered Clavier]]'' (Part I), an example of [[counterpoint]]. The two voices (melodies) on each [[staff (music)|staff]] can be distinguished by the direction of the [[Stem (music)|stems]] and [[beam (music)|beams]].[[File:BachFugueBar.mid|thumb]][[File:BachFugueBar1.mid|thumb|Voice 1]][[File:BachFugueBar2.mid|thumb|Voice 2]][[File:BachFugueBar3.mid|thumb|Voice 3]][[File:BachFugueBar4.mid|thumb|Voice 4]]]]

A '''melody''' ({{ety|el|''μελῳδία'' (melōidía)|singing, chanting}}),<ref>{{LSJ|melw{{!}}di/a|μελῳδία|ref}}.</ref> also '''tune''', '''voice''', or '''line''', is a linear succession of [[musical tone]]s that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of [[Pitch (music)|pitch]] and [[rhythm]], while more figuratively, the term can include other musical elements such as [[Timbre|tonal color]]. It is the foreground to the background [[accompaniment]]. A line or [[Part (music)|part]] need not be a foreground melody.

Melodies often consist of one or more musical [[Phrase (music)|phrases]] or [[Motif (music)|motifs]], and are usually repeated throughout a [[Musical composition|composition]] in various forms. Melodies may also be described by their [[melodic motion]] or the pitches or the [[interval (music)|intervals]] between pitches (predominantly [[steps and skips|conjunct or disjunct]] or with further restrictions), pitch range, [[tension (music)|tension]] and release, continuity and coherence, [[cadence (music)|cadence]], and shape.

==Function and elements==

[[Johann Philipp Kirnberger]] argued:
{{quote|The true goal of music—its proper enterprise—is melody. All the parts of harmony have as their ultimate purpose only beautiful melody. Therefore, the question of which is the more significant, melody or harmony, is futile. Beyond doubt, the means is subordinate to the end.|Johann Philipp Kirnberger (1771)<ref>Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony in Concept & Practice'', p. 203. {{ISBN|0-03-020756-8}}.</ref>}}

The Norwegian composer [[Marcus Paus]] has argued:
{{quote|Melody is to music what a scent is to the senses: it jogs our memory. It gives face to form, and identity and character to the process and proceedings. It is not only a musical subject, but a manifestation of the musically subjective. It carries and radiates personality with as much clarity and poignancy as harmony and rhythm combined. As such a powerful tool of communication, melody serves not only as protagonist in its own drama, but as messenger from the author to the audience.|[[Marcus Paus]] (2017)<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Paus|first=Marcus|date=2017-11-06|title=Why melody matters |url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/blogs/article/why-melody-matters |magazine=[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]}}</ref>}}

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."<ref name="Kliewer" /> Paul Narveson claimed in 1984 that more than three-quarters of melodic topics had not been explored thoroughly.<ref>Narveson, Paul (1984). ''Theory of Melody''. {{ISBN|0-8191-3834-7}}.</ref>

The melodies existing in most European music written before the 20th century, and popular music throughout the 20th century, featured "fixed and easily discernible frequency [[Melodic pattern|patterns]]", recurring "events, often periodic, at all structural levels" and "recurrence of durations and patterns of durations".<ref name="Kliewer" />

Melodies in the [[20th-century classical music|20th century]] "utilized a greater variety of pitch resources than ha[d] been the custom in any other historical period of [[Western culture|Western]] [[Classical music|music]]." While the [[diatonic scale]] was still used, the [[chromatic scale]] became "widely employed."<ref name="Kliewer">Kliewer, Vernon (1975). "Melody: Linear Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music", ''Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music'', pp. 270–301. Wittlich, Gary (ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. {{ISBN|0-13-049346-5}}.</ref> 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 ([[timbre]]), [[Texture (music)|texture]], and loudness.<ref name="Kliewer" /> 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."<ref name="Kliewer" />

==Examples==
[[File:Pop Goes the Weasel melody.PNG|thumb|450px|"[[Pop Goes the Weasel]]" melody [[File:Pop Goes the Weasel.ogg|thumb]]]]
[[File:Webern Variations melody.png|thumb|450px|Melody from [[Anton Webern]]'s Variations for orchestra, Op. 30 (pp. 23–24)<ref>Marquis, G. Weston (1964). ''Twentieth Century Music Idioms'', p. 2. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Inglewood Cliffs, New Jersey.</ref> [[File:Webern Variations melody.mid|thumb]]]]
Different [[musical style]]s use melody in different ways. For example:
*[[Jazz]] musicians use the term "lead" or "head" to refer to the main melody, which is used as a starting point for [[Musical improvisation|improvisation]].
* [[Rock music]], and other forms of [[popular music]] and [[folk music]] tend to pick one or two melodies ([[Verse (popular music)|verse]] and [[refrain|chorus]], sometimes with a third, contrasting melody known as a [[Bridge (music)|bridge or middle eight]]) and stick with them; much variety may occur in the phrasing and [[lyrics]].
*[[Indian classical music]] relies heavily on melody and [[rhythm]], and not so much on [[harmony]], as the music contains no chord changes.
*[[Bali]]nese [[gamelan]] music often uses complicated variations and alterations of a single melody played simultaneously, called [[heterophony]].
*In western [[classical music]], [[composer]]s often introduce an initial melody, or [[theme (music)|theme]], and then create variations. Classical music often has several melodic layers, called [[polyphony]], such as those in a [[fugue]], a type of [[counterpoint]]. Often, melodies are constructed from [[Motif (music)|motifs]] or short melodic fragments, such as the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. [[Richard Wagner]] popularized the concept of a ''[[leitmotif]]'': a motif or melody associated with a certain idea, person or place.
*While in both most [[popular music]] and classical music of the [[common practice period]] pitch and duration are of primary importance in melodies, the [[contemporary music]] of the 20th and 21st centuries pitch and duration have lessened in importance and quality has gained importance, often primary. Examples include [[musique concrète]], [[klangfarbenmelodie]], [[Elliott Carter]]'s ''Eight Etudes and a Fantasy'' (which contains a movement with only one note), the third movement of [[Ruth Crawford Seeger|Ruth Crawford-Seeger]]'s ''[[String Quartet 1931 (Crawford Seeger)|String Quartet 1931]]'' (later [[orchestration|re-orchestrated]] as ''Andante for string orchestra''), which creates the melody from an unchanging set of pitches through "dissonant dynamics" alone, and [[György Ligeti]]'s ''Aventures'', in which recurring [[phonetics]] create the linear form.

==See also==

* [[Hocket]]
* [[Parsons code]], a simple notation used to identify a piece of music through [[melodic motion]]—the motion of the [[Pitch (music)|pitch]] up and down.
* [[Sequence (music)]]
* [[Unified field]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[Willi Apel|Apel, Willi]]. ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'', 2nd ed., pp.&nbsp;517–19.
*Cole, Simon (2020).  just BE here – the guide to musicking mindfulness
*Edwards, Arthur C. ''The Art of Melody'', pp. xix–xxx.
* [[Imogen Holst|Holst, Imogen]](1962/2008). ''Tune'', Faber and Faber, London. {{ISBN|0-571-24198-0}}.
* {{Interlanguage link multi|Joseph Smits van Waesberghe{{!}}Smits van Waesberghe, Joseph|nl|3=Jos. Smits van Waesberghe}} (1955). ''A Textbook of Melody: A course in functional melodic analysis'', [[American Institute of Musicology]].
* [[Bence Szabolcsi|Szabolcsi, Bence]] (1965). ''A History of Melody'', Barrie and Rockliff, London.
* Trippett, David (2013). ''Wagner's Melodies''. Cambridge University Press.
*Trippett, David (2019). "Melody" in ''The Oxford Handbook to Critical Concepts in Music Theory''. Oxford University Press.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Melody}}
* {{wiktionary-inline|melody}}
* {{wikiquote-inline}}
* [http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/carryatuneweek.htm Carry A Tune Week, list of tunes]
* [http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/showthread.php/59076-Lesson-8-Melody-amp-Orchestration Creating and orchestrating a coherent and balanced melody] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428001923/http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/showthread.php/59076-Lesson-8-Melody-amp-Orchestration |date=2021-04-28 }}

{{Melody|state=expanded}}
{{Musical form}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Melody| ]]
[[Category:Musical texture]]
[[Category:Harmony]]
[[Category:Polyphonic form]]
[[Category:Formal sections in music analysis]]