Melodic Devices

Test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

Sequences and Imitation

Melodic devices include sequences, imitation, ornamentation, and leitmotif. It is also important that you understand the difference between diatonic and chromatic melody.

Sequence

This is the most commonly used melodic device and is when a short melodic idea is moved up or down a step.
This can be either an ascending (going up) or descending (going down) sequence.

Example

For example:
- Original melody = C D E G.
- Ascending sequence = D E F A (every note up one step in the musical scale.)
- Descending sequence = B C D F (every note down one step in the musical scale).

Set works

Sequences are very common in Baroque and Classical music.
Therefore they are important features in the Bach, Purcell and Beethoven set works.
See if you can spot some ascending and descending sequences in these pieces.

Imitation

Although we usually refer to imitation as a type of musical texture, it can also be a useful term when discussing melodic pitch.
Imitation is basically when a short musical idea (or motif) is played or sung by one part and then immediately copied by another.
This can be an exact repetition, but is usually a slightly altered version of the original motif.

Set works

Imitation is used extensively in the Brandenburg Concerto set work by Bach.

Ornamentation

Melodic devices include sequences, imitation, ornamentation, and leitmotif. It is also important that you understand the difference between diatonic and chromatic melody.

Ornamentation

Ornamentation refers to the various ways in which a melody can be ‘decorated’.
These are not normally written out in full notation, but are indicated using symbols.
The main ornaments to be aware of are:

Trills

Trills: a rapid repetition of two notes which are next to each other.

Mordents

There are two types of mordent:
- Upper mordent:
  - Going from the first note quickly UP to the next note and then DOWN again to the original note.
- Lower mordent:
  - Going from the first note quickly DOWN to the next note and then UP again to the original note.

Mordent symbols

Acciaccatura

Acciaccatura: A note that is played very quickly, immediately before a melody note.

A turn

A turn is a bit more complicated!
It follows this order:
- Original note → note above → original note → note below → original note.
- E.g. CECBC
Examples of these ornaments can be found in the Bach, Beethoven and Purcell set works.

Other Melodic Devices

Melodic devices include sequences, imitation, ornamentation, and leitmotif. It is also important that you understand the difference between diatonic and chromatic melody.

Leitmotifs

A leitmotif is a short melodic idea which represents a particular character, place or mood.
Leitmotifs were originally used in operas but can be found in musical theatre and film/TV music.

Examples

Good examples of famous leitmotifs are:
- The Jaws theme.
- Darth Vader’s Imperial March.
- The Shire Theme from Lord of the Rings.

Set works

Leitmotifs can be found in these set works:
- John Williams (Star Wars).
- Stephen Schwartz (Defying Gravity).

Diatonic or chromatic?

These two words tend to come up a lot in the GCSE music course.
It is really important you understand the difference between them as they are really useful when answering questions about melody and harmony.

Diatonic

Diatonic means that the notes in the melody are based entirely on the scale of the key signature.
For example, a diatonic melody in C Major would only use the notes C D E F G A B C.

Chromatic

Chromatic refers to melodic notes which are not in the scale of the key signature.
For example, a chromatic melody in C Major may include the notes F# or Bb (both of which are not in the scale of C Major).