# Melisma

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{{Short description|Singing technique}}
[[Image:Syllabic and melismatic.png|thumb|400px|Syllabic and melismatic text setting: "[Jesus Christ Is Ris'n Today](/source/Christ_the_Lord_Is_Risen_Today)" (''Methodist Hymn Book'', 1933, No. 204).<ref>{{cite book|last=Shepherd |first=John |year=2003 |title=Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Performance and Production |page=565 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-8264-6322-7}}</ref> {{audio|Syllabic and melismatic.mid|Play}}]]

'''Melisma''' ({{langx|grc|μέλισμα}}, {{transliteration|grc|mélisma}}, {{literally|song}}; from {{langx|grc|{{linktext|μέλος}}|melos|song, melody|label=none}}, plural: ''melismata''), informally known as a '''vocal run'''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6791133 |title=How 'American Idol' Uses (and Abuses) Melisma |first=Mike |last=Katzif |publisher=[National Public Radio](/source/National_Public_Radio) |date=January 11, 2007 |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref> and sometimes interchanged with the term [roulade](/source/roulade_(music)), is the [singing](/source/singing) of a single [syllable](/source/syllable) of [text](/source/lyrics) while moving between several different [note](/source/Musical_note)s in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as ''melismatic'', as opposed to '''''syllabic''''', in which each syllable of text is matched to a single note.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uRo8AAAAQBAJ&dq=roulade+melisma&pg=PA555|title=Music in the Western World|first1=Piero |last1=Weiss |first2=Richard |last2=Taruskin|year= 2007|isbn=9781111793449|publisher=Cengage Learning|chapter=Glossary: Roulade|page=555}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B558IP84wggC&dq=roulade+melisma&pg=PA103|title=Modern Music and Musicians; Part Two: Encyclopedia|chapter=Melisma|editor-first=Louis C. |editor-last=Elson|editor-link=Louis C. Elson|page=803|year=1911|publisher=University Society |isbn=9781404706750 }}</ref>

==History==
{{Globalize|section|date=November 2022}}
===General===
The term ''melisma'' may be used to describe music of any genre, including [baroque](/source/baroque) singing, [opera](/source/opera), and later [gospel](/source/gospel_music). Within the tradition of [religious Jewish music](/source/religious_Jewish_music), melisma is still commonly used in the chanting of [Torah](/source/Torah), readings from the [Prophets](/source/Nevi'im), and in the body of a service.<ref>{{cite book |title=Jewish Music: Its Historical Development |first=Abraham Zevi |last=Idelsohn |author-link=Abraham Zevi Idelsohn |year=1929 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=978-0-486-27147-7 }}{{pn|date=May 2020}}</ref>

Melisma is prevalent in many forms of [Gregorian chant](/source/Gregorian_chant) (see e.g. [Jubilus](/source/Jubilus)) as well as late-medieval sacred [polyphony](/source/polyphony), notably in works by [Guillaume de Machaut](/source/Guillaume_de_Machaut), [John Dunstaple](/source/John_Dunstaple), and many early Tudor composers represented in the [Eton](/source/Eton_Choirbook), [Caius](/source/Caius_Choirbook), and [Lambeth](/source/Lambeth_Choirbook) choirbooks.

Today, melisma is commonly used in [Middle Eastern](/source/Middle_Eastern_music), [African](/source/African_music), and [African-American music](/source/African-American_music), Irish [Sean-nós singing](/source/Sean-n%C3%B3s_singing), and [flamenco](/source/flamenco). African music infused the blues with melisma. Due to the influences of African-American music, melisma is also commonly featured in Western [popular music](/source/popular_music).<ref name=NYT/> Gaelic music's use of melisma commonly appears in early Appalachian music and has been a constant feature of American country and western music since its inception.

===Prevalence in western popular music===
The use of melisma is a common feature of artists such as [Kim Burell](/source/Kim_Burell), [Deniece Williams](/source/Deniece_Williams), [Stevie Wonder](/source/Stevie_Wonder), [Luther Vandross](/source/Luther_Vandross), [Whitney Houston](/source/Whitney_Houston), [Céline Dion](/source/C%C3%A9line_Dion), [Mariah Carey](/source/Mariah_Carey), [Christina Aguilera](/source/Christina_Aguilera), [Brandy](/source/Brandy_Norwood), and [Beyoncé](/source/Beyonc%C3%A9), among others.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web |last=Everitt |first=Lauren |title= Whitney Houston and the art of melisma |date=February 15, 2012 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17039208 |work=BBC News |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/whoa-nelly%21-mw0000103677 |title='Whoa, Nelly!' review |first=Stephen Thomas |last=Erlewine |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref> The use of melismatic vocals in pop music slowly grew in the 1980s. In the following two decades, melismatic vocals became the standard used to judge a singer’s skill.{{fact|date=June 2025}} This is partially why singers who are proficient in this singing style consistently make the lists of the most highly regarded singers of all time.{{cn|date=January 2023}} [Deniece Williams](/source/Deniece_Williams) topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1984, with "[Let's Hear It for the Boy](/source/Let's_Hear_It_for_the_Boy)" with her melismatic vocals. Although other artists used melisma before, Houston's rendition of [Dolly Parton](/source/Dolly_Parton)'s ballad "[I Will Always Love You](/source/I_Will_Always_Love_You)" pushed the technique into the mainstream in the 1990s.<ref name="bbc"/> The trend in [R&B](/source/Contemporary_R%26B) singers is considered to have been popularized by Mariah Carey's song "[Vision of Love](/source/Vision_of_Love)", which was released and topped the U.S. charts in 1990, and went on to be certified gold.<ref>{{Cite news |title='Vision of Love' sets off melisma trend |newspaper=[The Village Voice](/source/The_Village_Voice) |date=February 4, 2003 |url=https://www.mcarchives.com/index.asp?id=1457 |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Frere-Jones |first=Sasha |title=On Top: Mariah Carey's record-breaking career |magazine=[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker) |date = April 3, 2006 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/04/03/on-top |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=100 Greatest Singers of All Time: #79. Mariah Carey |magazine=[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone) |date=November 27, 2008 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-147019/mariah-carey-4-40559/ |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref>

As late as 2007, melismatic singers such as [Leona Lewis](/source/Leona_Lewis) were still scoring big hits, but around 2008–2009, this trend reverted to how it was prior to Carey, Dion, and Houston's success – singers with less showy styles such as [Kesha](/source/Kesha) and [Cheryl Cole](/source/Cheryl_Cole) began to outsell new releases by Carey and Christina Aguilera, ending nearly two decades of the style's dominance of pop-music vocals.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/arts/music/26browne.html |title=Trilling Songbirds Clip Their Wings |last=Browne |first=David |date=December 26, 2010 |newspaper=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref>

==Examples==
{{listen
 | filename     = U.S. Army Band - Angels We Have Heard on High.ogg
 | title        = Angels We Have Heard on High
 | description  = Chorus of U.S. Army Band, ''a cappella''
 | format       = [Ogg](/source/Ogg)
}}
The traditional French carol tune to which the [hymn](/source/hymn) "[Angels We Have Heard on High](/source/Angels_We_Have_Heard_on_High)" is usually sung (and "[Angels from the Realms of Glory](/source/Angels_from_the_Realms_of_Glory)" in Great Britain) contains one of the most well-known melismatic sequences in Christian hymn music. Twice in its refrain, the ''o'' of the word ''Gloria'' is held through 16 different notes.

[George Frideric Handel](/source/George_Frideric_Handel)'s ''[Messiah](/source/Messiah_(Handel))'' contains numerous examples of melisma, as in the following excerpt from the chorus "For Unto Us a Child Is Born"  ([Part I, No. 12](/source/Messiah_Part_I)). The soprano and alto lines engage in a 57-note melisma on the word ''born''.

<!--this image displayed wider than 400px for clarity-->
center|577px
{{audio|Handel Messiah - For Unto Us a Child is Born excerpt.mid|Play}}

== See also ==
* [Arabic maqam](/source/Arabic_maqam)
* [Coloratura](/source/Coloratura)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021114225910/http://www.bartleby.com/61/69/M0206900.html American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language entry on "melisma"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030503171228/http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textm/Melisma.html Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary entry on melisma]

{{Melody}}

Category:Singing techniques
Category:Musical terminology

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Melisma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melisma) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melisma?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.