Conjunct melody

I got another question from one of our readers, she asked “what is a conjunct melody”. I would like to answer this question here so everyone can learn from it. So let’s see the answer to the question: what does a conjunct melody mean in music?

What is a conjunct melody

You can tell when a melody is conjunct because it makes only minor second or major second steps. Something like a scale, with no big leaps in it.

On the other hand, we call it a disjunct melody if it has bigger leaps in it. (Bigger than a major second interval!)

For example, the song “Wrecking Ball” by Myles Cyrus has a disjunct melody:

Listen to the first verse here:

What song has a conjunct melody

A typical song contains both conjunct and disjunct melodies or motifs. Let’s see the song “Everything Has Changed” by Taylor Swift for example.

Listen to the first two lines of the verse here:

You can see that the verse starts with a disjunct melody right away with those big leaps. But the second line is 100% conjunct melody because it only has second interval steps in it.

So it’s always a good idea to mix both in a melody, and also notice that the two lines contrast each other because of this change!

However, keep in mind that a melody with a disjunct melody is harder to sing, so always consider who will be singing your melody when you write the song.