Melody

Crafting a fresh and distinctive melody considers small motifs, combined into larger phrases and themes. At a macro level it will acquire a contour, e.g. rising, falling, wave, arch, bow, terraced – and multiple contours might be combined across a larger work.

Early music was often closely linked to formal dancing, where steps, skips and leaps of the dancers and music were carefully choreographed to match. Steps and skips are also typically considered easier for singers to perform, where big leaps might be a challenge for even the most skillful singers.

20th century Modernism introduced an appetite in Europe and the Americas to explore a wider array of non-diatonic scales and structures beyond the established practices of the 18th and 19th centuries. This led to a deeper appreciation of music styles already in existence elsewhere around the globe.