What does contour mean in music?
One way is through knowing each melody's contour. Contour refers to the sequence of motions between notes of a melody. In other words, contour is a measurement of how a melody moves between...
How to describe contour in music?
YourClassical Music Lessons: Melodic Contour
- Repeat, varying the tempo, or speed
- Repeat a shape two times in a row and notice that it's a pattern.
- Do two lines in a row, making a two-part melody
What is a musical contour?
In other words, contour is a measurement of how a melody moves between individual notes. All melodies have contour and it’s one of the properties that’s most useful for identifying and cataloguing melodies. Music theorists examine a melody’s contour by looking at the motion between individual notes.
What is the 'contour' of a song?
Similarly, it is asked, what is the contour of a song? Contour refers to the sequence of motions between notes of a melody. In other words, contour is a measurement of how a melody moves between individual notes. All melodies have contour and it's one of the properties that's most useful for identifying and cataloguing melodies.
What is the contour in music?
In music, the pitch contour focuses on the relative change in pitch over time of a primary sequence of played notes. The same contour can be transposed without losing its essential relative qualities, such as sudden changes in pitch or a pitch that rises or falls over time.
What is contour in melody?
The term contour is used to refer to the shape of a melody over time— whether the notes rise to higher pitches, fall to lower ones, remain at the same pitch, or some combination of these.
How do you describe a pitch contour?
The pitch contour of a series of sounds is defined as the sequence of directions of pitch changes from note to note (see part a of the figure, below). It is the main determinant of melody recognition for novel random pitch sequences. We tested whether contours could be perceived in dimensions other than pitch.
What are the 5 melodic contour?
Each contour consists of five tones presented at different frequencies as follows: (1) 262, 392, 440, 494, and 523 Hz for an ascending contour, (2) repetition of a single tone of 392 Hz for a staying the same contour, and (3) 523, 349, 330, 294, and 262 Hz for a descending contour.
What is the shape and contour of the melody?
The Shape or Contour of a Melody As the melody progresses, the pitches may go up or down slowly or quickly. One can picture a line that goes up steeply when the melody suddenly jumps to a much higher note, or that goes down slowly when the melody gently falls. Such a line gives the contour or shape of the melodic line.
How do you do melodic contour?
1:132:14Melodic Contour - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWe can make a dot for each note when the notes go up the dots go up when the notes go down the dotsMoreWe can make a dot for each note when the notes go up the dots go up when the notes go down the dots go down when the note is repeated. The st the dots. Stay.
How does a melodic contour represent both pitch and rhythm?
Melodic contour is all about the pitch which is the higher or lower sound that every musical note would make. Different pitches high and low are used to create a melody. This is done by rhythmically combining different high and low pitches notes together in succession.
What is a falling melody?
A melody that rises or falls gradually with only small changes in pitch between notes is called conjunct motion. When the notes are only a semitone or a tone away from one another, it is moving in step-wise or scalar motion.
How do you do melodic contour?
1:132:14Melodic Contour - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWe can make a dot for each note when the notes go up the dots go up when the notes go down the dotsMoreWe can make a dot for each note when the notes go up the dots go up when the notes go down the dots go down when the note is repeated. The st the dots. Stay.
How do you make melodic contour?
As the melody progresses, the pitches may go up or down slowly or quickly. One can picture a line that goes up steeply when the melody suddenly jumps to a much higher note, or that goes down slowly when the melody gently falls. Such a line gives the contour or shape of the melodic line.
What is the melodic contour of a scale?
First, there is the melodic contour—the pattern of ups and downs—that characterizes a particular melody. Second, there is the overlearned musical scale to which the contour is applied and that underlies many different melodies.
What is the melodic contour of the song up and down?
Melodies move up and down. The pattern made by the upward/downward movement of those notes is called melodic contour.
How do composers maintain interest in their piece?
Composers will maintain interest in their piece by varying how strongly the end of the phrase sounds like “the end” of the piece. By varying the rhythm and the harmony in a phrase, the composer can create a stronger or weaker ‘end’ sound. Often, phrases come in definite pairs, where the first phrase is like a question, ...
What are some words that describe the direction of a melody?
Words that we can use to describe the direction or shape of a melody are: rising or ascending, falling or descending, or an arch-shaped phrase. Another set of terms we can use to describe the melody are those that refer to the distance between each note.
What is a melody line?
The melodic line is a string of notes played together that make up the melody. Extra notes, such as trills or grace notes are not part of the melodic line but are added as ornaments or embellishments. If we just played the same notes over and over music would be very boring. As the music progresses, the melody rises and falls, slowly or quickly.
When the notes are close together, it is called "conjunct motion"?
When the notes are close together: A melody that rises or falls gradually with only small changes in pitch between notes is called conjunct motion. When the notes are only a semitone or a tone away from one another, it is moving in step-wise or scalar motion. READ:
What is a melodic phrase?
A melodic phrase is a group of notes that make sense together ...
What is pitch contour?
In linguistics, speech synthesis, and music, the pitch contour of a sound is a function or curve that tracks the perceived pitch of the sound over time. Pitch contour may include multiple sounds utilizing many pitches, and can relate the frequency function at one point in time to the frequency function at a later point.
Do pure tones have peaks?
Pure tones have a clear pitch, but complex sounds such as speech and music typically have intense peaks at many different frequencies. Nevertheless, by establishing a fixed reference point in the frequency function of a complex sound, and then observing the movement of this reference point as the function translates, ...
What is the contour of a melody?
1. Melodic contour is the direction of tones ascending and descending in a melody without regard to the rhythm of the actual notes. The general contour of the line is an important aspect of melody. For example, an 'arch-like' shape is common for many melodies where the line gradually rises hits a single highest not as a climax then gradually ...
What happens when you compare melodic contours?
If you compare only the melodic contour, I think you will find many melodies that appear similar to another. You have to add in the other factors like specific intervals, tonality, and rhythm to make a true comparison.
Why is rhythm important in melodic contour?
While rhythm is not normally considered when examining melodic contour it is very important for creating the final character of the actual melody.
Can two lines have the same shape?
Consider that two lines could generally have the same shape, but the specific intervals could determine that one melody is in the minor mode while the other is in major. You could even have a third line with the same general shape that is atonal and not in any key!
What is a longer section of melody that keeps reappearing in the music called?
A longer section of melody that keeps reappearing in the music – for example, in a “theme and variations” – is often called a theme. Themes generally are at least one phrase long and often have several phrases.
What is a melody that is shorter than a phrase?
Another term that usually refers to a piece of melody (although it can also refer to a rhythm or a chord progression) is “motif”. A motif is a short musical idea – shorter than a phrase – that occurs often in a piece of music.
What is a leitmotif in music?
Richard Wagner popularized the concept of a leitmotif: a motif or melody associated with a certain idea, person or place. While in both most popular music and classical music of the common practice period pitch and duration are ...
What is the melody line?
First of all, the melodic line of a piece of music is the string of notes that make up the melody. Extra notes, such as trills and slides, that are not part of the main melodic line but are added to the melody either by the composer or the performer to make the melody more complex and interesting are called ornaments or embellishments.
What is the term for the alterations of a single melody in Balinese gamelan music?
Balinese gamelan music often uses complicated variations and alterations of a single melody played simultaneously, called heterophony. “The continuity and diegetic function of almost all vocal melody draw us along the linear thread of the song’s syntagmatic.
What is the name of the layer of melody in classical music?
Classical music often has several melodic layers, called polyphony, such as those in a fugue, a type of counterpoint. Often melodies are constructed from motifs or short melodic fragments, such as the opening of Beethoven’s Ninth.
What is the melody line called in jazz?
Jazz musicians use the melody line, called the “lead” or “head”, as a starting point for improvisation. Indian classical music relies heavily on melody and rhythm, and not so much on harmony as the above forms.
