melodic

Melodic is an adjective used in music to describe anything related to melody—the tune or sequence of notes perceived as a single coherent musical line. In common usage it often indicates that a passage, style, or work emphasizes tuneful, singable melodies rather than rhythm or texture alone.

Within music theory, the term distinguishes melodic aspects from harmonic or rhythmic ones. A melodic line is a succession of pitches perceived as a single unit, characterized by contour (direction and shape) and motion (stepwise or by leaps). The term is also used in reference to scales such as the melodic minor, which in classical practice raises the sixth and seventh degrees when ascending but reverts to natural minor when descending.

Historically, the melodic minor becomes a standard feature of Western classical notation; in other contexts, the concept of melody remains central to most tonal music.

Proliferation of the term in modern genres leads to compounds like melodic death metal, melodic metalcore, and melodic rock, where emphasis on melodic phrasing accompanies heavier textures or faster passages. In these uses melodic signals a focus on tuneful lines within a broader stylistic framework.

Origin of the word derives from melody, via French mélodie and Latin melodus, ultimately from Greek melōdia, meaning a song or tune; usage in English dates from the early modern period.