Melody

Question 1

Diatonic

Answer 1

Using only (or mostly) notes from a major or minor scale.

Question 2

Chromatic

Answer 2

Notes that are not in the major or minor scale.

Question 3

Pentatonic and Hexatonic

Answer 3

Five and six-note scales that are found in a wide range of music.

Question 4

Whole-tone Scale

Answer 4

A scale made up of only whole tones.

Question 5

Stepwise (Conjunct/Scalic)

Answer 5

A melody that moves mostly in tones and/or semitones.

Question 6

Leaping (Disjunct)

Answer 6

A melody that employs larger intervals.

Question 7

Tessitura

Answer 7

The range of a melody.

Question 8

Syllabic

Answer 8

Text set to music with one note per syllable.

Question 9

Melismatic

Answer 9

Text set to music with several notes per syllable.

Question 10

Word-painting

Answer 10

The use of musical features to portray the meaning of words.

Question 11

Transposition

Answer 11

Repetition in which the melody is moved up or down in pitch.

Question 12

Inversion

Answer 12

A melody turned upside-down. An inversion is like a mirror - if the original melody goes up a third, then the inversion will go down a third.

Question 13

Retrograde

Answer 13

A melody played backwards.

Question 14

Retrograde inversion

Answer 14

A melody played both upside-down and backwards.