Over the past decade or so, the concept of melody seems to have changed from what it was for Rock or Big Band melodies. There are songs being written with the traditional concept of melody and I have provided some examples below. However, the most prominent interpretation of melody is what I’m calling contemporary melody.
In the past melodies were an important component of the marketability of the song. However, today melodies seem more like an afterthought. As I will demonstrate in this paper, it is possible to statistically measure the difference in variation between traditional and contemporary melodies. Moreover, traditional melodies exhibit a larger range of pitch whereas the contemporary melodies are confined to a narrow set of notes.
