Melodies

Sequences, rests, combined playback

% A melody is an ORDER. The last passage of Notes rolled eight chords,
% and the top note of every group traced a4 b4 c5 b4 a4 d5 g#4 a4, a
% tune hiding in the arpeggios. Under 'key a4 harm' a bare number is a
% scale DEGREE: 1 is a4, 4 is d5, and a leading dot drops an octave, so
% .7 is the g#4 just under home. Both lines below hold those same eight
% degrees over the same sixteen units; only the order differs, and only
% the first one is a tune.
 
bpm 60
instrument plain
key a4 harm
 
assert 1 2 3 2 1 4 .7 1 == a4 b4 c5 b4 a4 d5 g#4 a4
 
1 _2 2 _2 3 _2 2 _2 1 _2 4 _2 .7 _2 1 _2
4 _2 1 _2 .7 _2 2 _2 1 _2 3 _2 1 _2 2 _2
 
 
% Naming that line makes it MATERIAL: typed once, stated as often as
% the piece wants. Theme takes its first six degrees and gives them a
% lilt (the 2 between 1 and 3 is a sixteenth, in and out, the leap up
% to 4 a whole quarter), then stops on that peak, leaving the line's
% last two notes for the end of the song. '*2' after a reference repeats
% the whole expansion, so the assert's two spellings are one music.
 
Theme ::= 1 _3 2 3 _4 2 _2 1 _2 4 _4
 
assert Theme*2 == Theme Theme
 
Theme*2
 
 
% '-' is one unit of silence and it counts like any other symbol. Both
% lines here are the same eleven pitches over the same thirty-two units:
% one falling idea stated three times, each start a degree lower than
% the last, the third breaking off a note early. Bridge halves that last
% note to make room for '-*4', so the phrase breathes before the tune
% comes back. The breath belongs to the melody.
 
'1 _2 7 _2 6 _2 5 _4 7 _2 6 _2 5 _2 4 _4 6 _2 5 _2 4 _8
 
Bridge ::= '1 _2 7 _2 6 _2 5 _4 7 _2 6 _2 5 _2 4 _4 6 _2 5 _2 4 _4 -*4
 
Theme Bridge Theme
 
 
% Song form, A A B A: the tune twice, the bridge, the tune again, and a
% Tag to close. Theme and Bridge both stop on 4, so the piece hangs on
% that d5 four times running; the Tag is the only phrase that walks down
% to home, and it lands there through .7, the two notes the eight-note
% line ended on, held back until now.
 
Tag ::= 3 _2 2 _2 1 _4 .7 _4 1 _4
 
Theme Theme Bridge Theme Tag
 
 
% Not one pitch is spelled in those three rules, so the song travels on
% one command. Theme lives on 1 2 3 4 and never touches 6 or 7, so a
% change of MODE leaves it alone: under 'min' the seventh comes down
% (.7 is a g4, a whole step under home) and only Bridge and Tag hear it.
% A change of KEY moves everything. In C major, the relative major, the
% Bridge's 7 to 6 is a plain step, not harmonic minor's augmented second.
 
key a4 min
Bridge Tag
 
key c5 maj
Theme Bridge Tag
 
 
% The piece entire: A A B A at home, the tune and the bridge lifted
% into the relative major, then back for the last A and its tag. The
% commands between statements apply in order, so three keys play back
% to back as one performance.
 
key a4 harm
Theme Theme Bridge Theme Tag
 
key c5 maj
Theme Bridge
 
key a4 harm
Theme Tag

% A melody is an ORDER. The last passage of Notes rolled eight chords,
% and the top note of every group traced a4 b4 c5 b4 a4 d5 g#4 a4, a
% tune hiding in the arpeggios. Under 'key a4 harm' a bare number is a
% scale DEGREE: 1 is a4, 4 is d5, and a leading dot drops an octave, so
% .7 is the g#4 just under home. Both lines below hold those same eight
% degrees over the same sixteen units; only the order differs, and only
% the first one is a tune.

bpm 60
instrument plain
key a4 harm

assert 1 2 3 2 1 4 .7 1 == a4 b4 c5 b4 a4 d5 g#4 a4

1 _2 2 _2 3 _2 2 _2 1 _2 4 _2 .7 _2 1 _2
4 _2 1 _2 .7 _2 2 _2 1 _2 3 _2 1 _2 2 _2

% Naming that line makes it MATERIAL: typed once, stated as often as
% the piece wants. Theme takes its first six degrees and gives them a
% lilt (the 2 between 1 and 3 is a sixteenth, in and out, the leap up
% to 4 a whole quarter), then stops on that peak, leaving the line's
% last two notes for the end of the song. '*2' after a reference repeats
% the whole expansion, so the assert's two spellings are one music.

Theme ::= 1 _3 2 3 _4 2 _2 1 _2 4 _4

assert Theme*2 == Theme Theme

Theme*2

% '-' is one unit of silence and it counts like any other symbol. Both
% lines here are the same eleven pitches over the same thirty-two units:
% one falling idea stated three times, each start a degree lower than
% the last, the third breaking off a note early. Bridge halves that last
% note to make room for '-*4', so the phrase breathes before the tune
% comes back. The breath belongs to the melody.

'1 _2 7 _2 6 _2 5 _4 7 _2 6 _2 5 _2 4 _4 6 _2 5 _2 4 _8

Bridge ::= '1 _2 7 _2 6 _2 5 _4 7 _2 6 _2 5 _2 4 _4 6 _2 5 _2 4 _4 -*4

Theme Bridge Theme

% Song form, A A B A: the tune twice, the bridge, the tune again, and a
% Tag to close. Theme and Bridge both stop on 4, so the piece hangs on
% that d5 four times running; the Tag is the only phrase that walks down
% to home, and it lands there through .7, the two notes the eight-note
% line ended on, held back until now.

Tag ::= 3 _2 2 _2 1 _4 .7 _4 1 _4

Theme Theme Bridge Theme Tag

% Not one pitch is spelled in those three rules, so the song travels on
% one command. Theme lives on 1 2 3 4 and never touches 6 or 7, so a
% change of MODE leaves it alone: under 'min' the seventh comes down
% (.7 is a g4, a whole step under home) and only Bridge and Tag hear it.
% A change of KEY moves everything. In C major, the relative major, the
% Bridge's 7 to 6 is a plain step, not harmonic minor's augmented second.

key a4 min
Bridge Tag

key c5 maj
Theme Bridge Tag

% The piece entire: A A B A at home, the tune and the bridge lifted
% into the relative major, then back for the last A and its tag. The
% commands between statements apply in order, so three keys play back
% to back as one performance.

key a4 harm
Theme Theme Bridge Theme Tag

key c5 maj
Theme Bridge

key a4 harm
Theme Tag

running…edit it and it re-runs as you type

Melodies · Basics