The Structure of Melody

Phrase

Cadence

The component units of a melody are like parts of a sentence. A phrase in music, as in language, is a unit of meaning within a larger structure. The phrase ends in a resting place, or cadence, which punctuates the music in the same way that a comma or period punctuates a sentence. The cadence may be inconclusive, leaving you with the impression that more is to come, or it may sound final, giving you the sense that the melody has reached the end. The cadence is where a singer or instrumentalist pauses to draw a breath.

Melodic Examples

Ode to Joy (Beethoven, Symphony No. 9) Range: narrow (5-note span) Contour: wavelike Movement: conjunct Joy to the World (Christmas carol) Range: medium (8-note span) Contour: descending Movement: conjunct, then a few leaps The Star-Spangled Banner (U.S. national anthem) Range: wide (10-note span) Contour: wavelike Movement: disjunct (many wide leaps)

Melodic Phrases and Cadences

Amazing Grace (traditional hymn) Four text phrases = four musical phrases Final cadence = end of verse Phrase 1 (incomplete, turns downward) Phrase 2 (incomplete, upward inflection) Phrase 3 (incomplete, turns downward) Phrase 4 (complete, sense of rest)

Rhyme scheme

If the melody has words, the text lines and the musical phrases will usually coincide. Consider the well-known hymn Amazing Grace (above). Its four phrases, both the text and the music, are of equal length, and the rhyme scheme of the text (the way the last syllables in each line rhyme) is a-b-a-b. The first three cadences (at the end of each of the first three phrases) are inconclusive, or incomplete; notice the upward inflection like a question at the end of phrase 2. Phrase 4, with its final downward motion, provides the answer; it gives you a sense of closure.

The Star-Spangled Banner

The Stars and Stripes Forever

In order to maintain the listener’s interest, a melody must be shaped carefully, either by the composer or by the performer who invents it on the spot. What makes a striking effect is the climax, the high point in a melodic line, which usually represents a peak in intensity as well as in range. Sing through, or listen to, The Star-Spangled Banner and note its climax in the last stirring phrase, when the line rises to the words “O’er the land of the free.”

Countermelody

More complex music can feature several simultaneous melodies. Sometimes the relative importance of one over the other is clear, and the added tune is called a countermelody (literally, “against a melody”). You may have heard the high-range countermelody played by the piccolos in the famous Stars and Stripes Forever march by John Philip Sousa (Chapter 51). In other styles, each melodic line is of seemingly equal importance. For much of the music we will study, melody is the most basic element of communication between the composer or performer and the listener. It’s what we remember, what we whistle and hum.