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The musical alphabet, i.e. A - B -
C - D - E - F and G, is
the basic source for composing a melody. However, the
note succession in our musical alphabet, whether it is ascending
or descending, is exclusively adjacent.
As illustrated in Example 1, the note D can only
be followed by either E (ascending) or C
(descending), and no other note. Let's listen to the example
played by a flute.
Now, let’s look and listen to a melody that is made up
entirely of adjacent notes. This type of melodic motion
is called conjunct or stepwise.
Let's listen to the melody played by an oboe.
Such an adjacent succession of notes, although it can often produce
beautiful melodies, it truly diminishes the musical sound palette
available to a composer.
Therefore, let’s consider a different type of note succession,
where a variety of distances occur between two successive
notes. As illustrated in Example 3, the note
D is followed by F (ascending), but it can also
be followed by A (descending). Let's listen to
the example played by a flute.
Now, let’s look and listen to another melody,
this time it's made up of both adjacent and non-adjacent
notes. The latter melodic motion is called disjunct
or skipwise. Let's listen to this melody
played by a clarinet, and try to compare its quality with
Example 2.
As you may noticed, this melody has a more interesting contour
According to composer and music theorist, Walter Piston, “a good
melodic line contains mostly conjunct motion, with disjunct
motion used judiciously for variety.”