Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A passage of multiple notes sung to one syllable of text, as in Gregorian chant.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In music: A song, melody, or air, as contrasted with a recitative or declamatory passage.
- noun A melodic decoration, grace, fioritura, or roulade.
- noun A cadenza.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A piece of melody; a song or tune, -- as opposed to
recitative or musical declamation. - noun A grace or embellishment.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun music A
passage of severalnotes sung to onesyllable oftext , as inGregorian chant .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word melisma.
Examples
-
It's called melisma, and most of the contestants on this overblown karaoke-thon simply can't resist contorting their high notes into some pseudo-gospel, neck-vein popping vocal run that's supposed to make everybody in the studio audience shit their pants out of sheer wonder.
-
The practice of extending a single syllable out over many notes is known in music as "melisma".
Ch-ch-ch-changes... Ann Althouse 2008
-
"Tropi" is still a matter of research; what we know is that the texts under that kind of melisma which has just been described were not called "Tropi" from the earliest times.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 15: Tournely-Zwirner 1840-1916 1913
-
On numerous songs credited to other acts and, increasingly, more of her own, her singing is spry and sharp, using melisma for the sake of abstraction but also proving smart enough to know when to just lie down and lay into a hook that's good enough to stick on its own.
Music With an Exclamation Point Andy Battaglia 2011
-
A few unnecessary flights of melisma aside, the Best R&B Performance class works too; it includes songs by Marsha Ambrosius, Ledisi, Kelly Price & Stokely, Corinne Bailey Rae and Charlie Wilson.
The Grammys Again Defy Common Sense Jim Fusilli 2012
-
He has simplified the major propers between the readings, making them easier to sing while retaining crucial features of the authentic chants, such as the Jubilus (ending melisma) in the Alleluia.
-
The technique, melisma, where you take one vowel and stretch it into a few notes, helps immensely.
Elliot Goldenthal: On Scoring The Tempest and the Exclusive Video Premiere of "O Mistress Mine" Elliot Goldenthal 2010
-
The technique, melisma, where you take one vowel and stretch it into a few notes, helps immensely.
Elliot Goldenthal: On Scoring The Tempest and the Exclusive Video Premiere of "O Mistress Mine" Elliot Goldenthal 2010
-
The technique, melisma, where you take one vowel and stretch it into a few notes, helps immensely.
Elliot Goldenthal: On Scoring The Tempest and the Exclusive Video Premiere of "O Mistress Mine" Elliot Goldenthal 2010
-
The technique, melisma, where you take one vowel and stretch it into a few notes, helps immensely.
Elliot Goldenthal: On Scoring The Tempest and the Exclusive Video Premiere of "O Mistress Mine" Elliot Goldenthal 2010
skipvia commented on the word melisma
Changing the pitch of a single syllable of a lyric as the song is being sung. Think of the syllable "o" in the word "gloria" in Angels We Have Heard On High.
February 3, 2008
reesetee commented on the word melisma
Plural is melismata.
February 15, 2008
BrainyBabe commented on the word melisma
"The singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, where each syllable of text is matched to a single note. Music of ancient cultures used melismatic techniques to induce a hypnotic trance in the listener, useful for early mystical initiation rites (such as Eleusinian Mysteries) and religious worship." from Wikipedia
December 22, 2008