We all know what jewelry is. Eye-catching, shimmering with its faces, striking in design and subtlety of work. Do you know about equally beautiful jewelry - vocal? Today we will analyze one of these samples. Let's talk about melismatics in music.
Definition of a concept
The term "melismatics" is derived from Greek. μέλισμα - “song”, “chorus”. The following unequivocal concepts are also widespread:
- Melismatic singing.
- Melismatic style.
- Melismatic structure.
- Melismatic chant.
Melismatics is a chant of text in which four or more melodic sounds fall on one syllable of a word. Previously related to calophony.
The use of melismatics
These chants are characteristic of both religious and secular works. Melismatics in the voice can be heard in the following compositions:
- Orthodoxy: 11 stichera of the gospel.
- Catholic Gregorian chorale: hallelujahs, psalm verses of graduals, paths, volumetric responders, versikules.
- Byzantine music: kondak - is considered a model for the entire melismatic style.
- Coloratura of secular baroque and classic-romantic era.
- Modern western pop music.
Features of vocal melisms
In vocals, melismatics is a decoration of sound at which the tempo of a song does not change. The main difference between such high-tech singing and the syllabic (traditional) singing manner, as we said, is that several notes fall on one syllable.
The task of melismatics is to decorate a melody by giving it a greater charm, turning a song into a more fluid and skillful one. This technique is also characteristic of performers of the Baroque era, and folk singers (Arabic, Azerbaijani, Armenian folklore), and modern stars r'n'b. Listen to Cecilia Bartoli, Aretha Franklin, Tina Kuznetsova, Carmen Moxie, Beyoncé to find out what melismatic singing is.
I must say that this so ancient technique is very popular in modern Western music, in particular, in the rhythm and blues, soul. But instead of traditional, a slightly different terminology is used:
- riffs - riffs;
- loops - turns, loops;
- runs - runs;
- curls - curls, curls.
Performance technique
The performance of melisms is the singing of each note with sound in a lower and higher tone. It is achieved by subtle and short movements with the throat. Thus, the singer performs melismas in ligaments, which is impossible to achieve if he does not possess diaphragmatic breathing. Therefore, melismatics is a technique more characteristic for professional performers than beginners: you need a set voice, the ability to feel notes, you need to establish the so-called respiratory support. Only after all this, they begin to master this complex vocal ornament.
Another feature of melismatics: the technique does not lengthen, but complicates the composition. From this, the sound during the performance of this technique should pass through the larynx of the singer without stopping so that singing the notes does not reduce the speed of the song.
Varieties of Melism
Melismatics is a technique that has several subspecies, each of which has certain rules for the performance of the composition, as well as its own sign of musical notation. The types of reception are as follows:
- Mordent.
- Trill.
- Short and long grace.
- Groupetto.
Let's get to know them better.
Mordent
Mordent is a kind of crushing of a note, as a result of which it seems to fall apart into three sounds. Two of them are the main ones, and the third one is the auxiliary one, which, breaking in, splits the sound.
The auxiliary sound can be upper or lower (as it should be in gamma). Sometimes between it and the main distance is compressed to a semitone using flats and sharps.
How to play an auxiliary sound, tells the sign of the mordent: if it is crossed out, then a second lower, if not, then higher.
Grace
A graceful is one or more sounds that precede a decorator. May be short and long.
A short burst in most cases consists of only one sound. Designation is a small 8th note with a crossed calm. In those rare cases when there are several short force notes, they are indicated as small 16th notes. The calm is not crossed out.
A long (long) foresight is one sound that is included in the duration of the main one, sharing time with it in pairs. Designation - a small note with a duration of 2 times less than the main.
Groupetto
Gruppetto is called the fast performance of a sequential series of notes, singing along with the auxiliary upper and lower main sounds. Between them is the distance per second, because these are adjacent keys or sounds.
This kind of melism is marked by a curl resembling an inverted figure of infinity. If the performance should start from the top auxiliary sound, then the curl also starts from above, if from the bottom, then, accordingly, the symbol starts from the bottom.
Another feature: when the groupetto symbol is located above the note, then melism is performed during its entire duration; if between notes, then its duration is the second half of the sound.
Trill
Trill is a quick alternation of two short sounds, one of which (usually the lower one) is auxiliary, and the second is the main one. The sign of this melism is a wavy line. It is placed above the main sound.
The length of the trill is equal to the length of the note that was chosen to perform melism. When it starts with an auxiliary sound, a small note is usually put in front of the main one.
Melismatics is designed to give the melody lightness, recognizable originality, some old coloring. The reception is quite skillful: when it is performed, the duration of the song should not increase, and the sound should be complicated.