Applications

Melodies tend to move in small steps.

• In a sample of 3000 English folk songs, 68% of melodic transitions were no large than one diatonic step
• 91% were no larger than two diatonic steps.

If steps are larger and more rapid, melody would segregate into separate streams.

Example: Yodeling (alternating between head and chest voice): Click to Listen

Bach Chaconne For Solo Violin (exerpt). Click to Listen (start 4:50).

Example: fast complex rhythms in tabla playing Click to Listen (start 21:35)

Steve Reich: Come Out: Click to Listen