Meaning & use
melodic contour
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountabletechnicalmusic
The overall shape of a tune as its notes rise and fall over time.
Grammar: Countable: you can talk about 'a melodic contour' or 'several melodic contours'.
Patterns
- the melodic contour of something
- a rising melodic contour
- a falling melodic contour
The melodic contour of the chorus rises steadily and then drops at the end.
Singers often remember a song by its melodic contour rather than by exact notes.
The teacher drew the melodic contour on the board as a wavy line.
nouncountabletechnical
The pattern of rising and falling pitch in a stretch of speech.
Grammar: Countable; common in linguistics when describing intonation.
Patterns
- the melodic contour of a sentence
- a question's melodic contour
In many languages a rising melodic contour at the end signals a question.
Her melodic contour flattened when she was tired, so she sounded bored.
Word forms
| plural | melodic contours |
|---|
Common combinations
- a rising melodic contour
- A rising melodic contour often makes a statement sound like a question.
- a falling melodic contour
- The falling melodic contour at the end gave the phrase a sense of closure.
- trace the melodic contour
- Students were asked to trace the melodic contour of each phrase.
- the melodic contour of a melody
- The melodic contour of the melody is simple, mostly stepwise.
Synonyms and how they differ
- melody
- Melody is the tune itself, including rhythm; contour refers only to its up-and-down shape.
- intonation
- Intonation is the pitch pattern of speech, so it overlaps with the second sense but is not used for instrumental music.
Word family
- melodic adjective
- relating to melody; pleasant-sounding.
- melodically adverb
- in a way that relates to melody.
- melody noun
- a tune; a series of notes that form a recognizable line.
Commonly confused: melodic contour or melodious?
melodic contour vs melodious
Melodious means 'pleasant to listen to'; melodic means 'relating to melody' and is neutral.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'melodic contour' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Melodic contour' describes the shape of a tune as it rises and falls, so option A fits. The others treat it as a physical object, a piece of writing, or a food, which is impossible.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “melodic contour”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.