What is Melody?
What makes a melody? What makes a melody recognizable? What makes a melody memorable? Are words necessary for a memorable melody? Melody is one of the most universal aspects of music and for many people; it constitutes the essence of music.
I define melodic line as a configuration of pitches in time with rhythm. It can be infinitely long. A melody is a segment of a melodic line and carries musical meaning. If a melody has coherent shape and is simple enough, we find it recognizable and not chaotic. If it has complex rhythm and/or a highly disjunct melodic curve, it may be chaotic and not recognizable. It should also not be too fast or too slow to be recognizable. (A five note melody that takes five milliseconds or five days will not be recognizable as a melody.) It may not be recognizable if played too softly or in very thick contrapuntal texture and therefore masked. A recognizable melody is one which can be recognized on repeated hearings and distinguished from other recognizable melodies. A memorable melody is one which can be reproduced by the listener. It may also stay in the memory and play automatically in the mind's ear. Length may also be a factor. Longer melodies are usually recognized within the first few notes, and their endings may not be particularly memorable. It seems that there is a kind of gestalt perception at work. If there is internal repetition of melodic or rhythmic patterns this usually aids in recognizability. Dynamics, timbre and tempo may be strong factors. A coherent, well-formed melodic curve is a strong factor. If there are words, this will also be a factor.
What distinguishes a melody from a configuration of tones in time with rhythm which may or may not be highly structured, but lacks the qualities of recognizability or memorability? These qualities may vary somewhat from individual to individual, depending on training, but a certain well-formed quality and simplicity are usually necessary. If there is internal repetition of pitch patterns or rhythmic patterns, these may be factors in coherence.
Neuroscientists have discovered through studying brain scans of neural activity in subjects listening to music, that many different brain areas are involved in the perception of music. It would stand to reason that the more brain areas involved, the more recognizable and memorable the melody, although this may not prove to be the case. In fact, melodic complexity may somehow work against memorability after a certain point, a kind of law of diminishing returns.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Music and Dance
"Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from dance; poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from music." - Ezra Pound
The connection between music and body rhythm is very deep. Even in music which is not overtly connected with dance, the musicians perform a kind of dance when they perform. Next time you attend a performance of concert music, observe the motions the performers make when they perform. It is as if they are possessed by the music. Some pianists even conduct themselves with their unused hand when playing with only one hand, or sing along with their performances. Next time you observe human bodies in motion, reflect on the insight of composer Warren Burt “when I watch post-modern dancers dance in silence, I'm very aware of the musicality of their body movement, their motion phrasing, the music of their kinesthetics. I can almost sing this silent, gestural music. Music can exist as a series of kinesthetic gestures, even without one sound being made....” All of the arts can carry musical and rhythmic qualities, and form mental analogies and metaphors for music. Language has a natural rhythm; visual art and film have coloristic and formal qualities, etc.
There is a kind of dance in all physical reality. All physical objects are in constant vibration. Even stationary objects are in constant motion at the micro and macro levels. The earth’s architectonic plates are in constant slow motion. The earth’s rotation, its revolution around the sun, and the spiral motion of the galaxy, carry all stationary objects along in a macro motion. Newborn babies continuously move their bodies in an interaction with physical reality. Indeed the whole universe vibrates at many different frequencies and directions, from the continuous expansion of the cosmos down to the elementary particles at subatomic levels. In yoga philosophy, this continuous state of vibration is known as the cosmic dance of Shiva.
In the study of world music, we find cultures in which the distinction between performer and audience is not hard and fast. In some cultures, audience members think nothing of singing, dancing, clapping in rhythm, ululating or otherwise interacting vocally with the performers at any point of the performance. The performers may depend on this interaction for their inspiration and respond in a highly creative manner to the energy coming from the audience. In some performance contexts the musicians, dancers or audience members may become possessed by the spirits of ancestors or gods and perform in a manner which may display trancelike characteristics, altered states of consciousness and/or superhuman strength. 1. 2.
For a contemporary composer making music for dance an important question is: will there be a close connection between the music and the dance or not? Since John Cage and Merce Cunningham instituted the practice of making music and dance which were conceived independently and only connected by being performed in the same time and space, this has been an option. The opposite approach was instituted by Karlheinz Stockhausen who invented a dance “language” for the composition Inori to be performed by a dancer in the exact rhythm of the composed music.
The connection between the music and the dance can also be treated as a variable of the composition. This connection can be very tightly controlled (as the Stockhausen example), completely independent (as the Cage/Cunningham example) or loosely connected in many different ways. This connection parameter may also be conceived as a continuum with complete connection at one end and complete independence at the other end and variable amounts of connection being at different points of the continuum between the ends. If you conceive the pitches of a scale as being on a continuum between low and high, a melody may be viewed as a pattern of points on the continuum with a specific duration for each point. This is what composers do when they compose melodies. This melodic model of composition is quite valid for composing any aspect of music which can be represented as a continuum or complex of continua. Thus a “melody of connections between dance and music” can be composed by applying the melodic model and composing a series of points on the continuum and giving it a set of durations; then, for each duration, invent a dance with its specified degree of connection with the music. This melodic model is quite relevant for any musical parameter subject to representation on a continuum. Thus, a “melody of durations” (between long and short) or a “melody of dynamics” (between loud and soft) or a “melody of spatial movements” (between close and far or front and rear or left and right) or a “melody of timbres” (between bright and dark) may be conceived and executed as a kind of melodic line.
You may ask: “How is it possible for music to depart too far from dance, if the vibration of the universe is universal and inescapable?” I would answer that sometimes music theory is mistaken for music. Music is not about theory, theory is about music. Music is connected with dance in the physical world, not in the abstract world of theory.
1. Mead, Margaret Trance and Dance in Bali a classic film in Anthropology from the 1940’s.
This is so common in gospel music and jazz as to be well known. The Duke Ellington performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956 is a good example.
The Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples, Jeff Todd Titon the chapter on Agbekor music of West Africa.
2. Excursions In World Music, Nettl et al. chapter on Shona Mbira music and the Bira ceremony.
Nonesuch Explorer Series No. 79710 track 6 Nyamaropa Yekutanga sound recording of a Shona Bira Ceremony with Hakurotwi Mude, voice; “at such a ceremony, the entire village participates throughout the night until sunrise, singing, dancing, clapping and drinking. After many hours, the music culminates in the dramatic possession of a spirit medium who then advises the villagers about their problems. In this example some villagers are heard singing, while others “drum” to the music of the Mbira ensemble with hand clapping and dance steps.” Quote is from the liner notes.
The connection between music and body rhythm is very deep. Even in music which is not overtly connected with dance, the musicians perform a kind of dance when they perform. Next time you attend a performance of concert music, observe the motions the performers make when they perform. It is as if they are possessed by the music. Some pianists even conduct themselves with their unused hand when playing with only one hand, or sing along with their performances. Next time you observe human bodies in motion, reflect on the insight of composer Warren Burt “when I watch post-modern dancers dance in silence, I'm very aware of the musicality of their body movement, their motion phrasing, the music of their kinesthetics. I can almost sing this silent, gestural music. Music can exist as a series of kinesthetic gestures, even without one sound being made....” All of the arts can carry musical and rhythmic qualities, and form mental analogies and metaphors for music. Language has a natural rhythm; visual art and film have coloristic and formal qualities, etc.
There is a kind of dance in all physical reality. All physical objects are in constant vibration. Even stationary objects are in constant motion at the micro and macro levels. The earth’s architectonic plates are in constant slow motion. The earth’s rotation, its revolution around the sun, and the spiral motion of the galaxy, carry all stationary objects along in a macro motion. Newborn babies continuously move their bodies in an interaction with physical reality. Indeed the whole universe vibrates at many different frequencies and directions, from the continuous expansion of the cosmos down to the elementary particles at subatomic levels. In yoga philosophy, this continuous state of vibration is known as the cosmic dance of Shiva.
In the study of world music, we find cultures in which the distinction between performer and audience is not hard and fast. In some cultures, audience members think nothing of singing, dancing, clapping in rhythm, ululating or otherwise interacting vocally with the performers at any point of the performance. The performers may depend on this interaction for their inspiration and respond in a highly creative manner to the energy coming from the audience. In some performance contexts the musicians, dancers or audience members may become possessed by the spirits of ancestors or gods and perform in a manner which may display trancelike characteristics, altered states of consciousness and/or superhuman strength. 1. 2.
For a contemporary composer making music for dance an important question is: will there be a close connection between the music and the dance or not? Since John Cage and Merce Cunningham instituted the practice of making music and dance which were conceived independently and only connected by being performed in the same time and space, this has been an option. The opposite approach was instituted by Karlheinz Stockhausen who invented a dance “language” for the composition Inori to be performed by a dancer in the exact rhythm of the composed music.
The connection between the music and the dance can also be treated as a variable of the composition. This connection can be very tightly controlled (as the Stockhausen example), completely independent (as the Cage/Cunningham example) or loosely connected in many different ways. This connection parameter may also be conceived as a continuum with complete connection at one end and complete independence at the other end and variable amounts of connection being at different points of the continuum between the ends. If you conceive the pitches of a scale as being on a continuum between low and high, a melody may be viewed as a pattern of points on the continuum with a specific duration for each point. This is what composers do when they compose melodies. This melodic model of composition is quite valid for composing any aspect of music which can be represented as a continuum or complex of continua. Thus a “melody of connections between dance and music” can be composed by applying the melodic model and composing a series of points on the continuum and giving it a set of durations; then, for each duration, invent a dance with its specified degree of connection with the music. This melodic model is quite relevant for any musical parameter subject to representation on a continuum. Thus, a “melody of durations” (between long and short) or a “melody of dynamics” (between loud and soft) or a “melody of spatial movements” (between close and far or front and rear or left and right) or a “melody of timbres” (between bright and dark) may be conceived and executed as a kind of melodic line.
You may ask: “How is it possible for music to depart too far from dance, if the vibration of the universe is universal and inescapable?” I would answer that sometimes music theory is mistaken for music. Music is not about theory, theory is about music. Music is connected with dance in the physical world, not in the abstract world of theory.
1. Mead, Margaret Trance and Dance in Bali a classic film in Anthropology from the 1940’s.
This is so common in gospel music and jazz as to be well known. The Duke Ellington performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956 is a good example.
The Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples, Jeff Todd Titon the chapter on Agbekor music of West Africa.
2. Excursions In World Music, Nettl et al. chapter on Shona Mbira music and the Bira ceremony.
Nonesuch Explorer Series No. 79710 track 6 Nyamaropa Yekutanga sound recording of a Shona Bira Ceremony with Hakurotwi Mude, voice; “at such a ceremony, the entire village participates throughout the night until sunrise, singing, dancing, clapping and drinking. After many hours, the music culminates in the dramatic possession of a spirit medium who then advises the villagers about their problems. In this example some villagers are heard singing, while others “drum” to the music of the Mbira ensemble with hand clapping and dance steps.” Quote is from the liner notes.
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