Intervals in Melody

Interval Melody Interval Number Consonance and Dissonance Interval Ear Training

Change the intervals in a melody and its character changes at once. Intervals are a melody's tone of voice: they decide whether a phrase speaks evenly, or suddenly rises and falls.

Two kinds of motion, two tones of voice

Motion	Intervals	Impression	Typically used for
step	mostly seconds	smooth, connected, singable	stating a theme, groundwork, choral writing
leap	thirds and wider	impact, direction	emphasis, climax, turning points

Neither is superior; they are a division of labour. Mature melodies usually keep steps as their base and touch a leap at the decisive moment. All leaps and the outline disappears; all steps and the line goes flat.

A leap usually comes back

A rule of thumb several centuries old: after a wide leap, fill in with a step in the opposite direction. Come back a little after jumping up, and the ear feels the line has been caught. The reason is not mysterious — a leap creates tension, and a counter-step is the most natural way to release it, the same mechanism as consonance and dissonance.

Why the third matters most

Among leaps, the third is the one that "sings". It is wide enough to make an outline audible and narrow enough not to break the line. Thirds carry the backbone of countless folk songs and art songs, and they are worth attacking early in ear training too.

Diagram: step contours against leap contours

Listen: step against leap

Hear a step (neighbouring notes back and forth), then a wide leap. The difference is not range but whether the line wants to settle.

Common misconceptions

"Leaps are more advanced than steps." It is a division of labour. Choral and communal singing runs on steps because steps stay in tune.
"A melody is better the more novel its intervals." Almost every memorable melody has steps as its skeleton; leaps are accents.
"A leap must be resolved." Convention, not law. Modern writing often does the opposite on purpose, for a suspended feel.
"Intervals decide a melody's style." They shape the contour; style also depends on rhythm, mode and harmony. This entry stays on the structural layer — genre-level questions belong elsewhere.

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Listen in the library

Ode to JoyC10:37The Ode to Joy theme moves almost entirely by step — steady, memorable, easy for a crowd to singDetails27. Greensleeves to a Ground with DivisionC10:24Greensleeves leans on small intervals and steps, its line easing downward — that is where its lyricism comes fromDetailsDanse Macabre, S.555C110:20Liszt's transcription of Danse macabre is dense with leaps and tritones, its outline sharp and unsettledDetails

All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).

Sources

级进与跳进的划分、跳进后反向级进填充的写作惯例，属旋律写作通行表述
各实例的旋律走向依通行乐谱（均为公有领域作品的结构性描述）

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.

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