Melody and harmony by ear · Volta reference

A melody is a sequence of pitches you can follow. Harmony is what those pitches suggest together, whether they sound at once or across time. You can explore both in Volta with a small group of notes and your ears.

Read a note name#

c4 means C in octave 4. c5 is one octave higher; c3 is one octave lower. eb4 is E flat and f#4 is F sharp. Inside a note pattern, use lowercase note letters. Outside a pattern, a pitch value uses the form ~C4.

Listen for: a short idea repeated with a different last note. A repeated shape helps the ear notice the change.

Listen to this example · four bars, then the tail

tempo = 120bpm
timingVersion = 2
play "keys" "c4 e4 g4 <e4 d4>" |> release 180ms

Make it yours: choose a new last note, then sing or hum the phrase before playing it. If the phrase feels crowded, replace a note with ~. Melody has rhythm as well as pitch.

Hear a chord#

A chord sounds several pitches together. A triad has three notes. c4:maj builds a C major triad; c4:min changes its middle note to make a minor triad. Major and minor are useful colors, not fixed instructions for happy or sad music.

Listen for: the change in color when the middle note moves down a semitone. Angle brackets alternate the two chords, one per bar.

Listen to this example · four bars, then the tail

tempo = 120bpm
timingVersion = 2
play "keys" "<c4:maj c4:min>" |> release 450ms |> gainTrack 0.55

Make it yours: try <c4:maj7 c4:min7> for four-note chords. The extra note adds tension and richness. Chords also add voices, so lower the track level if you layer several chord parts.

Turn a chord into a moving line#

An arpeggio plays a chord's notes one after another. arp "up" rises through them; arp "down" descends. The chord supplies the pitches, and the pattern supplies their time.

Listen for: the chord unfolding as a little rising figure.

Listen to this example · four bars, then the tail

tempo = 120bpm
timingVersion = 2
play "pluck" ("c4:maj7" |> arp "up" |> fast 2)
  |> cutoff 2200Hz
  |> release 120ms
  |> reverb 0.28 0.15

Make it yours: use "updown" for an arch, or replace maj7 with min7. fast 2 repeats the pattern twice as quickly without raising its pitch.

Let a key organize the notes#

A key gives scale degrees and Roman-numeral chords a shared home. In key = "c minor", ^0 is C, ^1 is D, and ^2 is E flat: Volta counts degrees from zero. ^7 returns to C an octave above. Literal e4 remains E natural; choosing a key does not automatically correct note names.

Listen for: a melody drawn from C minor. Change only the key to compare the same degree pattern in another scale.

Listen to this example · four bars, then the tail

tempo = 120bpm
timingVersion = 2
key = "c minor"
play "keys" "^0 ^2 ^4 [^3 ^1]" |> release 160ms

Make it yours: change the key to "c dorian", then include ^5 in the melody. That degree exposes the difference between the two scales.

Make a progression feel connected#

Roman numerals describe chords by their position in the key. Uppercase and lowercase specify the default major or minor triad. A progression such as "i VI III V" in C minor gives C minor, A-flat major, E-flat major and G major. It can include notes outside the basic scale; V's major third is one example.

Voicing is how chord notes are distributed between registers. voiceLead shifts whole chords by octaves to reduce large jumps. voiceLines goes further and finds individual melodic parts under its constraints. They make different musical decisions; neither replaces listening.

For exact chord spellings and transformations, see Chords, scales and harmony. Explore Counterpoint for interweaving melodies and Tuning systems for intervals beyond the usual twelve equal steps. Use The harmony Lens to inspect what is sounding.