I NEED SOME HELP

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Does anyone know what a melodic gesture is? I need the definition for a class and I can't find it anywhere...not even when i googled it.

you have to use quotations "melodic gesture"

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=I ... gesture%22

Honestly, if I were to know, and I can't say that I do, and I didn't or wasn't there to catch the gist of things, I would wing it and say that a melodic gesture is to music as a phrase is to a sentence.

And walk with an A.

As far as I can tell the meaning of the term is abstract and inferred by the surrounding context within the sentences that I see on the web.

I myself am having a terrible time finding the defintitions of literary things I was taught at school. Must have been a hell of a teacher....

found it btw.

"Maybe" a melodic gesture is a series of pitches before it changes direction.

But what does that mean?
I'd like to know so I can try one.

or is it, "continuous motion"?

or is it, "the initial segment of a harmonic progression"?

so confusing......

Good luck!
flip through where you googled, you will find something that refers back to your class lectures.

(I'm serious, I don't know, can't do the work for you)

I did use quotations, and has the same problem as you, the context is different on every source. Thanks a bunch for trying though.

I found a reference in this paper:
TOWARDS PHRASE STRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION FROM EXPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE DATA

"...melodic gestures, relatively small musical constructs (typically
containing less than ten notes)."

ges·ture (jschr)
n.
1. A motion of the limbs or body made to express or help express thought or to emphasize speech.
2. The act of moving the limbs or body as an expression of thought or emphasis.

So a gesture is a brief expression. A melodic gesture is probably used to express a brief feeling in a musical passage. Movies use them for humor (sticking your tongue out at someone), joy (a rainbow after a storm), irritation (hands on hips), etc.

I hope this is a decent start for you.

Deep stuff. I found a couple of references:

http://www.asodb.com/sp/fstrat.html
Melodic Gestures and Rhythm

1 Have at least two notes per position. (Rests and open strings count as a note.) — This strategy can be abandoned in lyrical playing, especially in thumb position.

2a When a melodic gesture (a series of pitches before it changes direction) ends on a stable beat (or on a stable subdivision of the beat), it is almost always best to shift on a mobile beat (or on a mobile subdivision of the beat).

2b When a melodic gesture ends on a mobile beat, (or on a mobile subdivision of the beat), it is almost always best to shift on a stable beat, (or on a stable subdivision of the beat).

Because almost all melodic gestures end on a stable beat or on a stable subdivision of the beat (in classical music, at least), it is almost always best to shift on a mobile beat, or on a mobile subdivision of the beat.



www.speech.kth.se/prod/publications/files/880.pdf
Structural Communication: Timing and Dynamics
(PDF)
the end of each melodic gesture, in measures 4 and 8. The slowing and softening are more ... definition is closer to the common use of the term. ...



AAMF Continuing Praise
... ideals: symmetry, form, and melodic gesture, Haydn single handedly influenced the ... ever be, is truly a definition of a true performer and interpreter. ...
www.arleen-auger-memorial-fund.org/praise.html




MTO 8.2: Krebs, Review of Ferris
... over other elements in their definition of "cycle-hood. ... furthermore, only a small portion of the melodic gesture is in unison in m. 24, so that ...
mto.societymusictheory.org/issues/mto.02.8.2/mto.02.8.2.krebs.html




The Counterpoint Page
... precise rhythmic definition made possible the incorporation of ... redicta: repetition of the same melodic gesture over a cantus firmus in notes of equal ...
www.contrapunctus.com/contrapunctus.htm




http://www.scribeserver.com/NEUMES/help ... .htm#neume
3.1.2. Defining the Melodic Gesture¹ We Call a "Neume"

What is a neume? For the purposes of NEUMES transcriptions, a neume is defined separately from a "glyph", that is, a "neume" is not necessarily merely a single stroke of a scribe's pen, but a melodic gesture or a coherent unit of vocal expression. From the Greek pneuma, meaning "breath", a neume is a guide to the performance of the sung liturgy, the act of "giving breath" to sacred texts.

Supporting this concept is the first definition provided in the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., s.v. "neume": "In plainsong, a prolonged phrase or group of notes sung to a single syllable, esp. at the end of a melody. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 354/1 Newme of a songe [H. nevme], neupma."

For the transcriber and researcher, the distinction between "symbol" (i.e. "glyph") and "melodic gesture" (i.e. "neume") involves interpretation. The difficulties lie in:

* the presence or absence of ligation between the notes of the neume
* the extent to which the notes of a neume belong together, that is, how many individual tones comprise complex or "multiple-note" neumes (such as the climacus)
*
the varying levels of expertise and proficiency of both transcribers and researchers in understanding the many extant scripts

Managing and encoding the interpretive aspect of the transcription process is the function of the metadata (see section 3.1.1. "Using Tags").

Within NEUMES encoding, the "melodic gestures" which we call "neumes" consititute "semantic frames" for the purpose of melodic pattern-matching. Such "neume frames" allow software to overlook small differences of melodic or notational details when comparing similar sources. For example, if two sources differ by just one glyph (one pen-stroke) within a "neume frame," or they differ by just a few tones in the pitches of notes, these two neumes can still result in a match within an allowable margin of error.
[1] "A neume is actually a 'written gesture.'" Dom Eugène Cardine, Gregorian Semiology, transl. Robert M. Fowel[l]s (Solesmes: Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, 1982), p. 9.

Wow. Soem of that stuff might as well be written in latin... I appreciate the help. The test in multiple chioce so hopefully one of the choices will be similar to what you've found.

It think it is similar to a melodic phrase. Have you tried emailing your professor?

If it is multiple choice, lets make it simple:
melodic gesture = a series of pitches before it changes direction

Melodic gesture going up: doe ray me fa so la tea doe
then
Melodic gesture going down: do tea la so fa me ray doe
then
Melodic gesture going up: do ray me fa so la tea doe