Decoding Melody
Pitch, Time and Loudness
Decoding Melody is an attempt to present melody from the ground up, using audio and visual examples. You don’t need any prior musical experience to get through the series.
The aim is to use simple perceptual elements to create a melodic framework, while also challenging your musical perception with audio and visual challenges.
With the help of detailed examples and guided decoding challenges, you can learn to use the developed melodic framework as a basis for decoding melodies from existing songs.
Happy decoding!
In a Nutshell
The entire Decoding Melody series can be divided in four sections, adding up to 31 parts in all:
Pitch: Parts 1 to 8
Time: Parts 9 to 18
Loudness: Parts 19 to 22
Putting it Together: Parts 23 to 31
The 31 Parts of Decoding Melody
Introducing The Melody
Experiencing Pitch
Naming Pitch
Using Intervals to Experience Relative Pitch
Relative Pitch with A Reference (Sa)
Line Lengths ←→ Intervals
7-Line Dictionary
Naming Pitches Relative to Sa
Visually Decoding Pitches of The Melody
Line Dictionary ←→ Pitch Dictionary
Part 4, Hearing Melodic Syllables:
Beginner-friendly Pitch Recognition
Not-so-beginner-friendly Pitch Recognition
Melody Cylinders
Front View vs. Top View of The Melody
Pitch as a Spiral
Front View vs. Top View of 7-Pitch Dictionary
Locating Octaves on the Pitch Spiral
Experiencing Octaves
Experiencing Equal Pitch Contours
Interval Shift → Unchanged Contour in Front View
Octave Shift → Unchanged Contour in Both Views
Experiencing Octave Symmetry
Extending Beyond a Single Octave
Incorporating Octaves into Front View Using Sa-Lines
3-Octave Dictionary
Recognising Pitches Using Sa-Octaves
2-Octave Pitch Recognition
The Experience of Tempo
Beats
Establishing Tempo
Ranking Tempo
The Melody as a Rhythm
Order
Duration
Relative Time
Duration Dictionary
A Test of Rhythmic Intelligence
Beat or Duration?
Time is a One-Way Street
Clocks Run Clockwise
Trash the Beat Dictionary?
Tempo to the Rescue
Melody-Tempo Audio Cocktail
Numbers Can Be Names Too
Renaming Tempo-Beats
Tempo-Beats and Inner Beats
Stacking Inner Beats
Stacking Tempo-Beats
Turning Time Horizontal
Pitch Duration
Silence!
The Melody’s Rhythm: Decoded
Level I
Level II
Level III
Rhythmic Cylinders
Beat Spiral
Side View
The Tempo Apartment
Experiencing Rhythmic Contour
Duration Shift Symmetry
Front View vs Side View
Tempo-Beat Symmetry
Duration-Interval Parallels
Extension to Longer Durations
Level I
Level II
Level III
Level X
Repeated Tempo Doubling
The Pitch-Tempo Continuum
Tempo Doublings and Pitch Octaves
The Experience of Loudness
Ranking Loudness
Relative Loudness
Referential Relative Loudness
Silence
Range Dictionary
A Loudness Decoding Challenge
Symmetry
Another Spiral?
Something from Nothing
Is Silence a Good Reference?
Part 21, The Centre for Loudness:
Generally Speaking
Central Melodic Loudness
A Change in Symmetry
The Process of Approximation
Approximating Loudness
Refining the Loudness Dictionary
Loudness Decoding Exercise
The Melody and its Loudness
What to Expect
Level I Exercises
Level II Exercises
Level III Exercises
The Right Time
Orthogonal
Spaced-out Pitch
Enter Pitch Duration
Pitch-Time Scaffolding
The Melody in Pitch-Time
Textural
The Melody’s Final Form
The Terrain
Getting to Know Ourselves
Skill 1: Recognition
Skill 2: Measurement
Skill 3: Search and Recall
Skill 4: Perceptual Stability
Skill 5: Mark Comprehension
My Journey with Visual Representations
Solutions
The Problem
The Plan
The Tools
The Purpose of the Climb
A Final Note on Names
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Louder
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Beat
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Pitch
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Decoding a Melody
Decoding a Layer
Quintuplet Peaks
The First Pass
The Gear You’ll Need
Loud, Soft and In Between
The Second Pass
The Gear You’ll Need
Long, Short and In Between
The Third Pass
The Gear You’ll Need
High, Low and In Between
The Final Stretch
Melody 1
Melody 2
Melody 3
The Final, Final Stretch
Melody 4
Melody 5
The Melody Series in a Fairly Big Nutshell
Where Do We Go Now?
Thank You!
Long Road Behind, Longer Ahead
What Did You Think?
How did you like the series?
What was your biggest takeaway?
What was your biggest stumbling block?
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