Which describes a disjunct melody?

Which describes a disjunct melody?

• A. A melody with proportionally more leaps (intervals larger than a major second)
• B. A melody that moves by stepwise motion
• C. A melody that repeats the same pitch
• D. A melody that uses chromatic passing tones

Answer: (A)

Movement between pitches defines a disjunct melody: it uses leaps between successive notes rather than stepwise motion. A disjunct line features larger intervals, such as a third, fourth, or larger, meaning the melody jumps rather than slides by semitones or whole steps. The description that mentions “proportionally more leaps (intervals larger than a major second)” captures this idea, since it emphasizes skipping with bigger intervals. By contrast, moving by stepwise motion describes a conjunct melody, where the notes follow each other in adjacent steps. Repeating the same pitch shows no motion at all, so it doesn’t describe a moving melody. Chromatic passing tones are color tones added between notes and can appear in either conjunct or disjunct lines, so they don’t define the nature of the movement. A quick example helps: C to E to G moves by leaps (a third and a fourth), illustrating disjunct motion, while C to D to E moves by step, illustrating conjunct motion.

Movement between pitches defines a disjunct melody: it uses leaps between successive notes rather than stepwise motion. A disjunct line features larger intervals, such as a third, fourth, or larger, meaning the melody jumps rather than slides by semitones or whole steps. The description that mentions “proportionally more leaps (intervals larger than a major second)” captures this idea, since it emphasizes skipping with bigger intervals.

By contrast, moving by stepwise motion describes a conjunct melody, where the notes follow each other in adjacent steps. Repeating the same pitch shows no motion at all, so it doesn’t describe a moving melody. Chromatic passing tones are color tones added between notes and can appear in either conjunct or disjunct lines, so they don’t define the nature of the movement. A quick example helps: C to E to G moves by leaps (a third and a fourth), illustrating disjunct motion, while C to D to E moves by step, illustrating conjunct motion.