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A sweet or agreeable succession of sounds. Lulled with sound of sweetest melody. Shak.

to the stanzas of a hymn or song, or even to plain prose, or played upon an instrument; a melody; a tune; an aria.

An air or song; a melody; a tune.

Characterized by melody, as distinguished from harmony. Mendelssohn wants the ariose beauty of Handel; vocal melody is not his forte; the interest of his airs harmonic. Foreign Quart. Rev.

A popular song or melody sung by Venetian gondoliers.

r; a burst of applause; a burst of passion; a burst of inspiration. Bursts of fox-hunting melody. W. Irving.

c manner; originally, a composition for a single noise, consisting of both recitative and melody.

The highest vocal part; the air or melody in choral music; anciently the tenor, now the soprano. Canto fermo ( Etym: [It.] (Mus.), the plain ecclesiastical chant in cathedral service; the plain song.

To seize with the senses or the mind; to apprehend; as, to catch a melody. "Fiery thoughts . . . whereof I catch the issue." Tennyson.

Originally, a melody of simpler form than the aria; a song without a second part and a da capo; -- a term now variously and vaguely used.

To make melody with the voice; to sing. "Chant to the sound of the viol." Amos vi. 5.

A melody; a song. [Obs.] With charm of earliest birds. Milton. Free liberty to chant our charms at will. Spenser.

f note against note in harmony; the adding of one or more parts to a given canto fermo or melody.

A low singing; a plain, artless melody.

Originally, a double song; a melody or counterpoint sung above the plain song of the tenor; a variation of an air; a variation by ornament of the main subject or plain song.

Sweet to the ear; melodious; harmonious. Their dainty lays and dulcet melody. Spenser.

Any short succession of notes, either as melody or as a group of chords, which produce a single complete and distinct impression. Grove.

Little flowers of ornament introduced into a melody by a singer or player.

bass, consisting of a few bars of independent notes, is continually repeated to a varying melody.

Relating to harmony, -- as melodic relates to melody; harmonious; esp., relating to the accessory sounds or overtones which accompany the predominant and apparent single tone of any string or sonorous body.