From the course: Singing Lessons: 1 Fundamentals

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Speaking the language of music: Vocabulary, part 2

Speaking the language of music: Vocabulary, part 2

From the course: Singing Lessons: 1 Fundamentals

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Speaking the language of music: Vocabulary, part 2

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- Now we string pitches together in a particular order to create a melody. So when we talk about a melody, we're talking about a succession or a series of single pitches that we perceive as one single entity. And melody, the word melody, comes from the Ancient Greek word melos, which means song. Melody, inherent in the word, we associate it with something singable. A melody is how we define the singable line of a song. (piano music) That melody is (singing). We would define melody as the series of pitches that I just played. Let's go back to Mary Had a Little Lamb. ♫ Mary had a little lamb Here's the melody. ("Mary Had a Little Lamb") Those are the pitches that make up the melody to Mary Had a Little Lamb. Now, we happen to be playing that melody in this particular key. This is identified as E flat, because all of the melody notes, all of the notes associated with that song (piano scale music) come out of the E flat scale. And if all the notes in a melody land in or around the notes…

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