1. Today you will : Know musical terms relating to melody writing
Understand how to use these devices in your own composition work
How? Through discussion, listening and performing activities
Identify different melody writing and use musical terminology accurately to describe them
Perform different melodic writing on an instrument
Use these devices in your future compositions
At the end of the
lesson you will
be able to:

2. Contour You may have come across this word in Geography
We use this word to describe the shape of a melody: whether it rises or falls
We need to be able to describe a melody using accurate musical terms

3. Conjunct and Disjunct Conjunct Move by step, up and down
Easy to spot on paper
With some training you should be able to spot it through listening
The effect is smooth and easy to sing

4. Conjunct and Disjunct Disjunct Opposite of conjunct
A melodic line full of leaps
Easy to spot on paper and listening
Effect is bold, energetic and tricky to sing

5. Conjunct and Disjunct

6. Scalic A melodic line built up from scale patterns
This means a type of conjunct melody

8. Triadic We have met the word ‘triad’
They are 3 note chords (play a note and miss one out e.g. CEG)
Play 3 notes together, you get a CHORD
Play the 3 notes one after the other and perhaps repeat it over and over, we hear a melodic line that is described as TRIADIC (the chord notes do not have to be played in the right order, they can be mixed up)

9. G major chord
D7 chord
There are no stepwise moves here, so the melody can also be described
as disjunct

10. Arpeggio
This is a particular kind of triadic contour in which the melody takes the 3 notes of the triad but does not mix them up.
They are played in rising or descending order
c e g c g e c

11. Bm arpeggio
Em arpeggio

12. Listening Activity
Identify different melody writing and use musical terminology accurately to describe them
There may be more than one type of melody writing in an extract
Here are your key words:
conjunct
arpeggio
disjunct
triadic
scalic

14. Listening Activity Extract 1: conjunct Extract 2: disjunct
Extract 3: scalic, arpeggio and triadic