melody Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
melodic phrase; air; melodic line; strain; line; tune.
- she was humming an air from Beethoven
noun the perception of pleasant arrangements of musical notes
tonal pattern.

OE. melodie, F. mélodie, L. melodia, fr. Gr. a singing, choral song, fr. musical, melodious; song, tune + song. See Ode.

plural Melodies

A sweet or agreeable succession of sounds.
Lulled with sound of sweetest melody. Shak.
(Mus.) A rhythmical succession of single tones, ranging for the most part within a given key, and so related together as to form a musical whole, having the unity of what is technically called a musical thought, at once pleasing to the ear and characteristic in expression. ✍ Melody consists in a succession of single tones; harmony is a consonance or agreement of tones, also a succession of consonant musical combinations or chords.
The air or tune of a musical piece. Syn. -- See Harmony.