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.