Melody: aspects of analysis

This paper is intended as an investigation into the ways in which analysis can be approached and instigated. To limit such a subject to the music of one composer or even one historical period would be to miss looking at the comparative properties of analysis with regard to style. However, the examination of a single element of music common to many styles and periods provides some restraint in the pursuit of an inexhaustible subject, while allowing freedom in the testing of analytical procedures for applicability to music of all periods of history. Melody, being an independent art form and a component of another, is especially suited to providing the basis for such an investigation. Since the inception of melody, its additive and divisive properties have been described as being fundamental to its construction. In this paper they provide an introductory approach to analysis, leading to a comparison of the processes of melodic construction. Melodic analysis is examined from the standpoint of the component, individual elements of melody (scale, interval, rhythm) as well as from the direction of theme, motive and generating cell. Analysis of contour and shape as related to tension and relaxation, and a study of the units of motion are presented in a section on movement and cadence. Throughout the paper the analytical practice of shifting emphasis and refocusing the thought processes is encouraged. To this end it is advantageous to diagram the same melody in a variety of ways, with each element in turn at the center of the picture and others reduced to a minimum in support of it. Melodic reduction is thus presented as a flexible tool in the pursuit of analysis on all levels, including the study of melodic form.