Melodic motion is the quality of movement of a

melody 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 (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

, including nearness or farness of successive pitches or

notes Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versi ...

in a

. This may be described as conjunct or disjunct, stepwise, skipwise or no movement, respectively. See also

contrapuntal motion In music theory, contrapuntal motion is the general Melodic motion, movement of two or more melody, melodic lines with respect to each other. In traditional four-part harmony, it is important that lines maintain their independence, an effect which ...

. In a conjunct melodic motion, the melodic phrase moves in a stepwise fashion; that is the subsequent notes move up or down a semitone or tone, but no greater. In a disjunct melodic motion, the melodic phrase leaps upwards or downwards; this movement is greater than a whole tone. In popular Western music, a melodic leap of disjunct motion is often present in the chorus of a song, to distinguish it from the verses and captivate the audience.

In traditional culture music

Ethnomusicologist

Bruno Nettl Bruno Nettl (March 14, 1930 – January 15, 2020) was an American ethnomusicologist and academic of Czech birth. A central figure of ethnomusicology, he was among the discipline's most influential scholars. Nettl's research interests varied wi ...

describes various types of melodic movement or contour to categorise a song's melody. There are three general categories, ''ascending'', ''descending'', and ''undulating'': *''Ascending'': Upwards melodic movement (only found in remote regions). *''Descending'': Downwards melodic movement (prevalent in the New World and

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

). *''Undulating'': Equal movement in both directions, using approximately the same intervals for ascent and descent (prevalent in Old World culture music). Usually concludes with a descending progression. **''Pendulum'': Extreme form of undulating movement that covers a large range and uses large intervals is called pendulum-type melodic movement. Like undulating melodies, usually concludes with a descending progression. According to Nettl, undulating and descending melodies are far more common than ascending ones. He also identifies additional specialized types which characterise musical styles with exceptionally homogenous contours, named after the melody contour's trace. *''Tile'', ''terrace'', or ''cascading'': a number of descending

phrases In grammar, a phrasecalled expression in some contextsis a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very ...

in which each phrase begins on a higher pitch than the last ended (prevalent in the North American Plain Indians music). *''Arc'': The melody rises and falls in roughly equal amounts, the curve ascending gradually to a climax and then dropping off (prevalent among

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

and

North American Indian music Indigenous music of North America, which includes American Indian music or Native American music, is the music that is used, created or performed by Indigenous peoples of North America, including Native Americans in the United States and Abori ...

) In addition to this, ''rise'', which may be considered a

musical form In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or musical improvisation, performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a ...

, is a contrasting section of higher pitch, a "musical plateau". Other examples include: *

Double tonic A double tonic is a chord progression, melodic motion, or shift of level consisting of a "regular back-and-forth motion" in melody similar to Bruno Nettl's pendulum type though it uses small intervals, most often a whole tone though may be almost ...

: smaller pendular motion in one direction These all may be

modal frame A modal frame in music is "a number of types permeating and unifying Music of Africa, African, Music of Europe, European, and Music of the United States, American song" and melody., quoted in Richard Middleton (1990/2002). ''Studying Popular Musi ...

s or parts of modal frames.

In traditional culture music

See also

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading