What is Melisma?

Melisma is a style of singing that includes singing more than one remark for a single syllable of the text. It is said that a singer using this technique uses melismatic singing. Unlike melisms, the style of singing, which uses one note for each syllable of the word, is called syllabic singing. This technique appears in many different types of songs, from American patriotic anthem, such as "my country" Tis of Thee "and holiday carols to popular radio hits bridging many different genres and decades. Melisma can be written or improvised by singer during the performance. It can be a simple composition used to create a basic melody in the song.ZI singers who are known for their qualified use of Melisms include Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera. Male singers include Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder and Maynard James Keenan.

When Melisma is carefully used, it can be easy to overlook. One way to recognize fine, simple melism is to speak in a lyric that sings without singing notes, and then calculate the notes that are sung during this word. If the spoken word has less syllable than the notes to be sung, the sung word contains Melisma. Sometimes the change in the note may seem natural in the word that identification requires listening to an eager ear. When Melisma is written, they often appear with dashes that the word divides the word, so the spoken sound coincides with written notes. The number of notes that can be used in one syllable is unlimited and at the discretion of the composer or artist.

Although he appears in popular music, Melisma is a technical composition and singing technique that has been used for hundreds of years. This style of singing is theorized to develop in the liturgical anthem and Gregorian singing around 1500, but in the United States it was mostly popularized by singers in the African-American churches. It is used in many types of music around the world and is highly pronounced in the type of Indian classical music called Raga, which affects the melodic technique used in Indian popular music in general.