Melisma
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /məˈlɪzmə/ · Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Melisma is a noun meaning (music, countable) A passage of several notes sung to one syllable of text.
Meaning
(music, countable) A passage of several notes sung to one syllable of text.
More Meanings
- (music, uncountable) The use of such passages.
Example Sentences
A subsequent generation of singers, including Ms. Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé, built their careers around melisma.
A choir sang one of the Lamentations of Jeremiah. The mournful melisma accompanied the slow procession to the palace built by Herod the Great, at present untenanted.
At the top of the hill in the archway of the main house, an eyeless old man sat on a bucket, scratching at a two-stringed gourd, warbling weird melismas on a madman's text.
Word Forms
- melismas
- melismata
- melism
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include melism, melody, monoseme, motif, leimma, measure.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.