Melody Flashcards
What is a trill?
An ornament played by the rapid repition of two alternating pitches that are a step apart
What is a glissando?
A slide from one pitch to another
What is an interval?
The distance between two notes. In music, these are called 4ths, 5ths, 2nds etc
What does it mean to play legato?
Playing smoothly, connected. In written music, this is often shown by a long, curved line (a phrase mark or slur) over multiple different notes.
What does scalic melody mean?
A melody that chooses notes from a portion of a scale in order. ie the melody sounds like a scale
What is a subject?
A melodic theme used in a fugue
One or two important themes in Sonata Form
What is a chromatic melody?
Notes in a melody that don’t belong to the current key
i.e Melody might sound like a chromatic scale
What is an appoggiatura?
An ornament. Usually takes half the value of the note it is leaning against.
What does stepwise mean?
A melody that move by step, or next-door neighbour notes.
Another description is a conjunct melody - one that moves in distinct steps in a smooth and connected way
What does Tessitura mean?
The average range of a passage or piece, usually used to describe vocals.
If the music is written in a low register for the voice, it would be described as a low Tessitura.
What is an acciaccatura? (“acci-acca-tura”)
An ornament, where the small note before a bigger note is played as quickly as possible before playing the bigger note i.e like a snap
What is staccato?
A detached, ‘jumpy’ note. Denoted by a small dot above or below the note.`
What is a mordent?
An ornament that can be upper or lower. Denoted by a squiggle above the note for an upper, or a line through the squiggle for a lower.
It is played as a rapid “wiggle” from the printed note.
To the note above and back again, for an upper.
And to the note below and back again for the lower.
What is a passing note?
When a melody goes from the the chord note, passes by step to a non-chord note, then moves to the next chord by step
eg. the notes C,D,E where C is a C Chord. D would be the passing note, on the way to the E play with a chord below it.
What does range mean?
The span in pitch from low to high that a voice or instrument can produce.
i.e the lowest or higher possible note that the voice or instrument can produce.
It is important in composition to no the range of an instrument or voice..
What is an ornament?
A way of decorating a note with a series of smaller notes
Name 5 different types of ornaments
Trills, mordents, appoggiaturas, acciaccaturas, arpeggiation
What is word painting?
Music that is written to represent the lyrics
What is a portamento?
A glide in pitch between two notes.
What is a glissando?
A glide from one pitch to another (often on the piano)
What is a diatonic melody?
The melody’s main tune notes belong to the key of the piece. This can be major or minor.
What is a vocable?
A vocal technique where nonsense syllables are sung in a song eg doo, dah, ahhhh etc
What does tremolo (or tremolando) mean?
A continuous repetition or a single note or two alternating notes.
Usually denoted in printed music by two or three diagonal lines through the note stem or above (or below) the note (if no stem)
What is a title hook?
A short and catchy motif (to “hook” you in) set to the words of the title, usually pop or musical theatre in style.
eg. the words “try defying gravity” in each chorus of Defying Gravity
What is a melodic sequence?
The immediate repetition of a melody at a different pitch
What is repitition?
Where a single note or a pattern of notes are repeated in a melody.
It serves many purposes, such as helping the listener feel familiarity with the music.
It can also be used to build tension i.e in Horror film music
What is a melodic ostinato?
A persistent phrase or motif repeated over several bars or more.
This can also be used in rhythm as a rhythmic ostinato
What is arpeggiation?
An ornament. Performed by playing each note of a chord quickly in succession, rather than all at once (which you would do as a chord).
What does melismatic mean?
A type of word setting for vocal music.
Several notes (often a scale) are sung to the same syllable
It is the opposite of syllabic.
What is syllabic?
A type of word setting for vocal music
Each syllable of a word is set to a different note.
It is the opposite of melismatic
What does monotone mean?
Staying on the same note in a melody.
What is a pitch bend?
An electric guitar technique which is a smaller slide in pitch from the note and back again.
The effect can also often be achieved on an electric keyboard.
