Template talk:Melody

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Melisma and ululation

Latest comment: 4 years ago4 comments2 people in discussion

Melisma

The two notions, ornament and variation, are related as a narrow to a wider concept. Any ornamental addition is a variation, but not every variation is an ornament. Whether a change is to be classed as ornament or as non-ornamental variation will depend chiefly on whether most of the structural notes remain in place while a number of intervening tones are added. If they do remain, it is an ornament. On the other hand, if many structural notes are changes, or if no increase in the number of notes takes place, we have to do with a non-ornamental variation. There are, of course, the inevitable borderline cases which will arise, for instance, when an ornamental melisma temporarily loses its close rapport with the basic melody.
— Frederick Neumann (1983). Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-baroque Music: With Special Emphasis on J.S. Bach, p.5., n.4. Princeton. ISBN 9780691027074.

Such ornamentation [more than one note per syllable], is referred to as melisma becasue [s]he is singing more than one pitch per syllable of text.
— Andrew Shahriari (2015). Popular World Music, p.30. Routledge. ISBN 9781317345381.

The long, melismatic ornament is probably the most remarkable aspect of Connemara-style sean-nós singing.
— Sean Williams and Lillis Ó Laoire (2011). Bright Star of the West: Joe Heaney, Irish Song Man, p.59. OUP USA. ISBN 9780195321180.

A more specialized form of ornament is a quick melisma sung in some songs by the Vorsinger to divide a song, as it were, into two large sections.
— American Folklore Society (1957). Journal of American Folklore, vol. 70, p.326. [ISBN unspecified].

It seems fairly common for melisma to be referred to as a type of ornament or some melisma to be considered ornaments. Hyacinth (talk) 07:19, 31 March 2020 (UTC)Reply

I'm still not convinced that the main function of melisma (and ululation) is ornamental. Wikipedia's articles on Ornament (music) and Melisma don't mention this, which prompted me to list them in this template independently. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 09:59, 31 March 2020 (UTC)Reply

It would be a strange source that defined a "melisma", or anything, by a list of infinite things that includes the ∞-x thing(s) it doesn't refer to and the x thing(s) it does. Hyacinth (talk) 00:50, 3 April 2020 (UTC)Reply

Ululation

Perhaps I'll take the time to come up with some quotes/citations (as for "melisma"), but for now the article at ululation says:

"Ululation (/ˌjuːljʊˈleɪʃən, ˌʌl-/ (About this soundlisten)),[1][2] from Latin ululo, is a long, wavering, high-pitched vocal sound resembling a howl with a trilling quality."

and a trill is an ornament. Hyacinth (talk) 04:11, 1 April 2020 (UTC)Reply

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