Area of Study 03:Texture and Melody
“Melody”
AQA GCSE Music
Areas of Study
• AoS 01: Rhythm and Metre
• AoS 02: Harmony and Tonality
• A0S 03: Texture and Melody
• AoS 04: Dynamics and Timbre
• AoS 05: Structure and Form
Melody
What is meant by Melody?
• A melody is a rhythmically organised pattern of single notes arranged in succession, one after the other. In melody the notes are arranged horizontally (whereas in harmony that are arranged vertically)
• Or…..THE TUNE
Melody
• Counter Melody – A second, less important tune to support the main melody
• Pitch – how high or low the note is• Scale – a group of notes played in ascending
or descending order
Melody cont…
• Interval – The gap in pitch between two notes
• Arpeggio – Playing the notes of a chord one by one (bit like a broken chord)
Perfect Perfect
Conjunct, Disjunct, Triadic and Scalic
• These are all different kinds of melodic note patterns.
• Conjunct – notes in the melody move mainly by step (they are mostly next to each other in pitch)
• Disjunct – moves mainly by leaps (big intervals between the notes)
• Triadic – the melody begins by using notes that belong to the triad (of chord) e.g. C E G (C Chord)
• Scalic – melody that is made up of notes that follow the order of a particular scale
Different Scales
• Pentatonic scale – a five note scale. Often used in Chinese, African and Celtic Folk melodies
• Whole Tone Scale – a scale made up of only whole tones. E.g. C, D, E, F#, G#, A#
• Chromatic Scale – scale made up of semitones• Passing notes are the notes in between the notes of the
accompanying chord. • Blue notes the flattened notes in a Blues Scale. Often slide
up or down to these notes. They make a piece sound ‘bluesy’.
e.g. - C, Bb, G, Gb, F, Eb, C
See AoS 02 Harmony and Tonality
for examples
Melody Cont.
• Sequence – when a tune is repeated a step higher (ascending sequence) or a step lower (descending sequence).
• Pitch bend – bending the note on a guitar or any string instrument/voice or keyboard/synthesizer.
Click Here to explore ‘Sequences’
Or find the folder with the PPT in.
Repetition
• 3 Words for same meaning – just use the correct word for the style of music
• Ostinato – Classical
• Riff – Popular music
• Loop – Electronic/technology based music
Ornamentation• This is about decorating parts of the melody• Trills – 2 notes that are next to each other
played rapidly• 57 seconds and
beyond, shows Trills being used.
• All instruments perform trills, especially in Baroque Music
Video 02
Cont.• Double Stopping -
– This is when ‘2 notes are played at the same time (Two strings at the same time). This is term only applies to string instruments.
• 1 Min 20 Secs shows an example of Double Stopping
• There is extensive use of this throughout the piece
• 1 Min 8 Secs – Pizzicato, followed by staccato bowed
Video 03
Tremolo• Another string effect, means, ‘trembling’ or ‘quivering’• Rapid up-and-down movements of the bow on the strings,
creating an agitated or shimmering effect
• Listen and look at the opening to “Bruckner Symphony 9”
• The Strings open the piece, using a Tremolo effect. Very short bowing, but very fast to capture that shimmering effect.
Video 5
Glissando
• Glissando (instruments)/ Portamento (voice) – ‘sliding’ between 2 notes.
Track 05
Rhapsody in Blues• Listen to the
Slide at the start by the Clarinet – just after the trill
On the next slide, look at video of the guitar playing a melody. It focusses mainly on using Glissando’s (slides) Video 04
Video 04
Articulation• Articulation – how the notes are played: • Staccato – short, detached notes (Spikey)
• Legato – notes are played attached, smoothly
Sometimes indicated by a ‘slur’
Staccato Non-Staccato (Legato)
Legato Played Staccato
Articulation cont.• Pizzicato – Short, plucked notes on a stringed
instrument
This example shows extensive use of Pizzicato
Video 01
• Con Arco – Simply means, use of Bow
Opp
osite
s
Melody Cont.
• Phrase – a musical sentence (where you’d naturally take a breath). Often 2, 4 or 8 bars long. Indicated by a curved line above the stave.
• Improvisation – when a player makes the music up on the spot. In jazz/blues/pop players will often improvise a solo – commonly on a guitar/sax/trumpet/keyboard.