What is Melody?

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.