Melodic motion: ascending vs. descending X conjunct vs. disjunct
Melodic motion is the quality of movement of a melody, including nearness or farness of successive pitches or notes in a melody. This may be described as conjunct or disjunct, stepwise, skipwise or no movement, respectively. See also contrapuntal motion. In a conjunct melodic motion, the melodic phrase moves in a stepwise fashion; that is the subsequent notes move up or down a semitone or tone, but no greater. In a disjunct melodic motion, the melodic phrase leaps upwards or downwards; this movement is greater than a whole tone.
In popular Western music, a melodic leap of disjunct motion is often present in the chorus of a song, to distinguish it from the verses and captivate the audience.
Bruno Nettl describes various types of melodic movement or contour (Nettl 1956, 51–53):
Ascending: Upwards melodic movement
Descending: Downwards melodic movement (prevalent in the New World and Australian music)
Undulating: Equal movement in both directions, using approximately the same intervals for ascent and descent (prevalent in Old World culture music)
Pendulum: Extreme undulation that covers a large range and uses large intervals is called pendulum-type melodic movement
Tile, terrace, or cascading: a number of descending phrases in which each phrase begins on a higher pitch than the last ended (prevalent in the North American Plain Indians music)
Arc: The melody rises and falls in roughly equal amounts, the curve ascending gradually to a climax and then dropping off (prevalent among Navajo Indians and North American Indian music)
Rise: may be considered a musical form, a contrasting section of higher pitch, a "musical plateau".
Other examples include:
Double tonic: smaller pendular motion in one direction
These all may be modal frames or parts of modal frames.
Melodicmotion is the quality of movement of a melody, including nearness or farness of successive pitches or notes in a melody. This may be described...
composition in various forms. Melodies may also be described by their melodicmotion or the pitches or the intervals between pitches (predominantly conjunct...
are rare, is called stepwise or conjunct melodicmotion, as opposed to skipwise or disjunct melodicmotion, characterized by frequent skips. In the major...
In music theory, contrapuntal motion is the general movement of two melodic lines with respect to each other. In traditional four-part harmony, it is...
step-wise motion in the other direction. The interval of a tritone in three notes should be avoided (for example, an ascending melodicmotion F–A–B♮) as...
named the Parsons code for melodic contours, is a simple notation used to identify a piece of music through melodicmotion – movements of the pitch up...
'symmetrical' minor third of the tonic (E♭) – is a common pattern in blues." Melodicmotion Tune-family van der Merwe, Peter (1989). Origins of the Popular Style:...
musical idiom of Gregorian chant, giving it a distinctive musical flavor. Melodicmotion is primarily stepwise. Skips of a third are common, and larger skips...
game), an abstract strategy game played on a terraced board Terrace melodicmotion in music The Terrace, a 1963 Argentine film The Terrace, 1909, a painting...
double tonic is a chord progression, melodicmotion, or shift of level consisting of a "regular back-and-forth motion" in melody similar to Bruno Nettl's...
eliminates "all artificial, dissonant notes, arising solely from the melodicmotion of the voices, and therefore foreign to the chord," finding that the...
There are 72 basic scales on the octave, and a rich variety of melodicmotion. Both melodic and rhythmic structures are varied and compelling. This is one...
the minor submediant (♭6), and then descend through faster step-wise melodicmotion. The tune appeared as no. 89 in The Remick Folio of Moving Picture Music...
"Rise", a song by Hans Zimmer from The Dark Knight Rises Rise, a type of melodicmotion Rise, an alias used by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne R.I.S.E. or...
compositionis augmentatus (1648–49), where it appears to refer to repeated melodicmotion by semitone creating consecutive semitones. The term may also relate...
abbreviated: Zg.) is a passing note elaboration involving stepwise melodicmotion in one direction between two harmonic tones. "The compositional unfolding...
scales (Grāmas), consonances and dissonances, classes of melodic structure (Mūrchanās, modes?), melodic types (Jātis), instruments, etc. Early preserved Greek...
features that jointly contribute to the sense of tonality: conjunct melodicmotion (melodies move by short distances) harmonic consistency (harmonies sound...
using atmospheric music without melodic content for certain neutral scenes in music. Steiner designed a melodicmotion to create normal-sounding music...
Documentary (motion picture). Archived from the original on April 14, 2012. Purcell 2003, p. 9. Kahn-Harris 2007, p. 32. Marsicano, D. Melodic Death Metal...
(universal) features of "virtually all human music". The others were conjunct melodicmotion, acoustic consonance, harmonic consistency, and pitch centricity. He...
syntax. He wanted his students to understand the traditional rules of melodicmotion, how notes are arranged, harmonic progression, and rhythmic structure...
"popular" music resembles the highly active melodicmotion of the choruses, featuring wide intervallic leaps and melodic range usually an octave to octave and...
analyses this succession harmonically as D minor:I–VII–V, ignoring melodicmotion, Laloy analyses the succession as D:I–V, seeing the G in the second...
published posthumously in 1952. According to Robert Erickson, "harmonic and melodicmotion is curtailed, in order to focus attention on timbral and textural elements"...
medieval music, as well as popular genres like rock music. However, parallel motion in perfect consonances (P1, P5, P8) is strictly forbidden in species counterpoint...
South Sea Pearl 2018 Pilaster Maid Up Star Rock 2017 Endless Time Dubka MelodicMotion 2016 California Tioga Pass Twitch 2015 Simple Verse Hidden Gold Jordan...
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