Contour Of The Melody Line

A melody is a pleasing-to-the-ear arrangement of notes and durations (rhythmic values) which has a quality. The origin of the word is Greek and meant tune or song . A melody line consists of notes that travel up and down or remain at the same pitch. A contour refers to the distinctive form of the melody line. In its most essential meaning, contour means shape .

No matter how complex or polyphonic (more than one sound) the music is, it all actually boils down to one prime melody line. Though there is usually several melody lines working together, the core of the piece consists of one prime one, believe it or not. It is therefore very important for a musician to embrace the contour of the melody line. That is done not only by hearing and looking at the score (the notation of a musical work) but by physical embodiment.

Here is an exercise one can do to embody the contour of the melody line. First, take your hand and extend it outward, palm facing downward. Then, while listening to a recording of a musical piece, gradually move your hand in a ladder-like movement up and down to the melody line. If you hear a repetitive note, stop. The movement should be graceful and not choppy. Your hand goes up when the notes get higher and lowers when they lower. Let s take the traditional Christmas carol, Deck the Halls as an example. It might help to sing along to this example while you move your hand as follows: Deck the halls with boughs [hand motion downward] of hol- [hand motion upward] ly [hand motion downward], etc. If you are familiar with musical notes it translates as follows: G-F-E-D-C [hand motion downward] D-E [hand motion upward] C [hand motion downward], etc. You can also do this exercise: Walking the melody line. Step forward every time the line goes up and backward every time it goes down. Take bigger or smaller steps or make bigger or smaller hand motions to greater or lesser differences in the intervals, accordingly.

Do that until you fully embrace the melody line by embodying it. So, why embodiment, you may ask? Because this helps you to gain more than just a surface understanding from merely hearing or reading notes. Let s take an analogy: Museums usually display a sign for patrons warning them against touching artworks. Man s natural tendency is to want to reach and touch them. The patron is trying to embody the work in order to gain a completer experience of its aesthetic value. Similarly, the musician, in embodying the contour of the melody line, will gain a newfound ability to really bring out the hidden melodies and thus the aesthetic value of the work.

This is all part of a philosophy known as movement education or body in performance , developed by Dr. Alexandra Pierce, Professor Emeritus, University of Redlands, whom I studied under. Movement Education embodies the several aspects of music (such as phrasing) in a physical, kinetic form away from the instrument. The results are a much more meaningful performance, as music becomes much more sensational, using one's entire existence and not just one sense, hearing.