The Most Important Element of Music

Melody is defined as a series of linear events or succession, without other accompaniment or playing with simultaneity with other linear events. This results when there are changing patterns applied in an interacting fashion. Melody is the most noticeable part of a musical composition, and is usually retained in the minds of the listeners once heard. It is also mentioned that it gives a piece of music the richness and character. The term melody is interchanged with “tune” (Classic Cat 2006). Melody is the most important component or element in a musical composition.

Without the melody, all other components cannot exist.

Simply, it is the basis of the other components, the foundation, and the structure. This is not to say that all other musical components (rhythm, form, and harmony) are not important, of course they contribute to the pleasant sound and the enjoyment that the type of music may exert on the listener. The other components may be modified by an arranger, but the melody itself is the identity of the song, and when the melody is changed, it can already be considered as a new song or musical composition.

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For instrumentalists, some may say that it is still the accompaniment that beautifies music.

But then, since most of music today that majority of the listeners patronize are songs combining all the musical elements, I can say that melody can stand alone. It can be observed to a wide variety of music lovers that they can sing the songs as long as they know the melody, even without the instruments being played.

With this, since all music, including an orchestra, have their own melodies to follow, we can conclude that all kinds of music cannot exist without the selected element. There is no specific piece that would perfectly describe the use of melody, since all music as mentioned earlier have melodies or tunes to follow.

Example would be choral pieces composed of four voices: the soprano, the alto, the tenor, and the bass. Given a monophonic choral piece wherein all sing similar lyrics at a time, when the soprano which usually handles the melody is removed, what results would be an awkward blending or harmony. The form may also be destroyed when the melody is removed, since for a renaissance music, basically all voices have their own melodies to follow but on a different timing.

Works Cited

Classic Cat. (2006). Melody. Retrieved August 3, 2008, from http://www. classiccat. net/dictionary/melody. htm