Melody type or type-melody is a set of

melodic A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term c ...

formulas,

figures Figure may refer to: General *A shape, drawing, depiction, or geometric configuration *Figure (wood), wood appearance *Figure (music), distinguished from musical motif * Noise figure, in telecommunication * Dance figure, an elementary dance patte ...

, and

patterns A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...

Term and typical meanings

"Melody type" is a fundamental notion for understanding a nature of Western and non-Western musical

modes Mode ( meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * MO''D''E (magazine), a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is the setting fo ...

, according to Harold Powers' seminal article "Mode" in the first edition of the ''

New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the History of music, ...

'' . Melody types are used in the

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

of an enormous variety of

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

, especially non-Western and early Western music. Such music is generally composed by a process of

centonization In music centonization (from Latin ''cento'' or patchwork) is musical composition via the combination of pre-existing motivic units, typically in reference to Christian liturgical chant. A piece created using centonization is known as a "centon ...

, either freely (i.e. improvised) or in a fixed pattern. "Melody type" as used by the ethnomusicologist

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

is defined as a "group of melodies that are related, in that they all contain similar modal procedures and characteristic

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular r ...

ic and melodic contours or patterns". Most cultures which compose music in this way organize the patterns into distinct melody types. These are often compared to modern Western scales, but they in fact represent much more information than a sequence of permissible pitches, since they include how those pitches should function in the music, and indicate basic formulas which serve as a basis for

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

. In non-improvised music, such as codified liturgical music, it is still usually clear how the melody developed from set patterns.

Melodic formulae and melody types in monodic traditions around the world

* Nomos in

Ancient Greek music Music was almost universally present in ancient Greek society, from marriages, funerals, and religious ceremonies to theatre, folk music, and the ballad-like reciting of epic poetry. This played an integral role in the lives of ancient Greeks. ...

* Intonation formula (, euouae, Noeane etc.) in

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

as used in

psalm tone In chant, a reciting tone (also called a recitation tone) can refer to either a repeated musical pitch or to the entire melodic formula for which that pitch is a structural note. In Gregorian chant, the first is also called tenor, dominant or tu ...

s and certain genres such as the

Tract Tract may refer to: Geography and real estate * Housing tract, an area of land that is subdivided into smaller individual lots * Land lot or tract, a section of land * Census tract, a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census ...

''Bailey T.'' The Intonation Formulas of Western Chant. Toronto, 1974. * Enechema () in

Byzantine chant Byzantine music () originally consisted of the songs and hymns composed for the courtly and religious ceremonial of the Byzantine Empire and continued, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, in the traditions of the sung Byzantine chant of East ...

* Popevka () in

Znamenny chant Znamenny Chant () is a singing tradition used by some in the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church. Znamenny Chant is a unison, melismatic liturgical singing that has its own specific notation, called the notation. The symbols used in the notation ...

* Khaz in

Armenian chant Armenian chant (Armenian: շարական, ''sharakan'') is the melismatic monophonic chant used in the liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church. The Armenian chant, much like the Byzantine chant, is grouped in a ...

* All Near and Middle East maqam-traditions (

Arabic Maqam In traditional Arabic music, maqam (, literally "ascent"; ') is the system of melodic modes, which is mainly melodic. The word ''maqam'' in Arabic means place, location or position. The Arabic ''maqam'' is a melody type. It is "a technique ...

Turkish Makam The Turkish makam ( Turkish: ''makam'' pl. ''makamlar''; from the Arabic word ''maqām'' ) is a system of melody types used in Turkish classical music and Turkish folk music. It provides a complex set of rules for composing and performance. Each ...

, Kurdish Meqam, Uyghur Muqam, Azeri Mugam, Uzbek and Tadzhik Shashmakom, Persian Dastgah etc.) *

Raga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk, rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed over several ...

Pathet Pathet (, also patet) is an organizing concept in central Javanese gamelan music in Indonesia. It is a system of tonal hierarchies in which some notes are emphasized more than others. The word means '"to damp, or to restrain from" in Javanese ...

Indonesian music Indonesia is a country with many different Ethnic groups in Indonesia, tribes and ethnic groups, and its music is also very diverse, coming in hundreds of different forms and styles. Every region has its own culture and art, and as a result tr ...

Chōshi Chōshi (, ) is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,174 in 27,160 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Chōshi is located in the northeastern part ...

Japanese music In Japan, music includes a wide array of distinct genres, both traditional and modern.ref> The word for "music" in Japanese language, Japanese is 音楽 (''ongaku''), combining the kanji 音 ''on'' (sound) with the kanji 楽 ''gaku'' (music, comf ...

Extra-musical implications

In most cases, these melody types are associated with extra-musical implications, particularly

emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

s (see Indian rasa, for instance). They are also often associated with certain times. For example, most

raga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

s are associated with a certain time of day, or a

wayang ( , ) is a traditional form of puppet theatre play originating from the Indonesian island of Java. The term refers both to the show as a whole and the puppet in particular. Performances of wayang puppet theatre are accompanied by a ''gamel ...

performance in Java implies a certain succession of

pathet Pathet (, also patet) is an organizing concept in central Javanese gamelan music in Indonesia. It is a system of tonal hierarchies in which some notes are emphasized more than others. The word means '"to damp, or to restrain from" in Javanese ...

s. Many of these traditions have a corresponding rhythmic framework. These include: * Usul in Arabian and Turkish music * Tala in Indian music * Bentuk in Javanese music

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Melody Type Musicology

Term and typical meanings

Melodic formulae and melody types in monodic traditions around the world

Extra-musical implications

See also

References

Sources