The importance of a tone-line depends solely upon its conspicuousness. The principal melody—the Melody—is the one which is most salient, which most attracts the hearer's attention. For this reason the composer is induced to place his chief melody above the rest of the tone-lines, because the uppermost tone strikes the ear more acutely than the lower ones, and therefore the succession of highest tones constitutes a conspicuous line that attracts and impresses the sense most keenly.
Here then, at the top of the harmonic tone-complex, we look for the chief melody; and here it will be found,—excepting when arbitrary emphasis (by accentuation) is imparted to some lower tone-line, so that it, for the time being, assumes a prominence equal, or superior, to that of the uppermost line. (This divided prominence is seen in the 18th Song Without Words—the duet.)
LESSON 2.—Write careful and complete answers to the following questions:—
1. What is Time, as applied to music?
2. What is tempo?
3. Give a full definition of the beat.
4. By what time-value is it most commonly indicated?
5. Give a full definition of the measure.
6. Why do measures differ in size?
7. What is a simple measure?