Learning Objectives

Melody (Continued)

Pitch

Melody (from the Greek melōidía, meaning "singing" or "chanting") may be narrowly defined as an organized linear succession of tones (pitches). Admittedly, a melody is more than just a series of pitches—those pitches also have qualities of rhythm, dynamics, and timbre. In this lesson, however, we are going to focus on the pitch aspect of melody.

One of the most basic and engaging elements of music, melodies are heard every day and everywhere: on the radio, on television, in films, on portable sound equipment, at work, and at all kinds of social and public functions. The melody is the aspect of a song that we usually remember the most. When we whistle or hum a song—or just hear it in our heads—we are mainly recalling its melody.

The most precise way to think about or communicate a melody is to perform it, either mentally, singing it out loud, or playing it on an instrument. Music notation, or at least a rough sketch of the piece's melodic contour (i.e., the way it rises and falls) depicts a melody's overall shape. Listen to the following melody and try to follow its melodic contour as depicted in the written notation.

If you were going to sing or play this melody in a very precise way, you would need to have an acute sense of hearing—a "good ear"—and musical memory, or you would have to be able to interpret its notation. We do not need to be quite so precise, however, to describe melodies in more general terms.