Quote:
Originally Posted by mgray
If melody is the "horizontal" component of music, then a chord progression is a form of melody no? Or does melody mainly refer to horizontal movement of single notes?
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If by horizontal you mean what melody notes look like - a string of notes in a line and then harmony would be vertical - string of notes stacked on top of each other....... like has been said melody could mean both in that you can have chord melody or note melody.
But normally melody as we play it is treble clef single note. Harmony is bass clef or chord diagram of two or more notes sounded at the same time.
Here is what Virginia Tech has to say about Melody:
A tune; a succession of tones comprised of mode, rhythm, and pitches so arranged as to achieve musical shape, being perceived as a unity by the mind. In a piece of music
where there is more than one voice, or where harmony is present, the melody is the dominant tune of the composition.
So if you just had chords arranged as to achieve musical shape, being perceived as a unit by the mind, that could be a chord melody.
I think the key word here is
chord progression. That to me means the progression of chords used to harmonize the melody line AND help the verse's movement from rest, tension, climax, resolution and back to rest. So my answer is No a chord progression is not melody.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chord_progression
Be interesting to see what others have to add.