Sequences in Music

In music, a sequence is the restatement of a motif or longer melodic (or harmonic) passage at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice. It is one of the most common and simple methods of elaborating a melody in eighteenth and nineteenth century classical music (Classical period and Romantic music).

1. Why are sequences used in music?
2. How do you find a sequence in music?
3. How do you sequence a melody?
4. What is tonal sequence in music?

Why are sequences used in music?

Because they work cooperatively, the voices collectively create a harmonic pattern that is predictable. When the word “sequence” is used without further description, it is normally assumed that the music contains both a melodic pattern and a harmonic pattern.

How do you find a sequence in music?

The repeat can be an exact transposition – a real sequence or the intervals can be changed – a tonal sequence. The Oxford Dictionary of Music defines a sequence as the “more or less exact repetition of a passage at a higher or lower level of pitch”.

How do you sequence a melody?

To play a melodic sequence you take a short melodic phrase and play it off of each note of a scale or chord pattern. For example, your melodic phrase could simply walk up the first 3 notes of the major scale--Root, 2, 3. Then, play the same ascending three-note melody on each note of the major scale.

What is tonal sequence in music?

If the intervals between the notes of the melody are to some extent altered (a major interval becoming a minor one and so forth, as is practically inevitable if the key is unchanged) it is called a tonal sequence; if there is no variation in the intervals (usually achieved by altering not merely the pitch of the notes ...