Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Plural form of
melisma .
Etymologies
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Examples
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Yet she removes the backbeat and the echo chamber not to mention the sunglasses, and reduces the song to its most emotional essentials; Orbison's colorful melismas become even more anguished and tearful.
The Jazz Scene: Hot Tones, Francophones Will Friedwald 2011
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The sound and feel of the chant has a fiery quality that gives it a notable forward motion, through melismas and held notes.
That Portland Sound 2009
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The first two minutes are just the rise and fall of Chöying Drolma's deep alto voice as she travels through her own, impossible-to-imitate melismas of phrasing.
Ravenna Michalsen: Buddhist Songs About Cho And Machik Labdron Ravenna Michalsen 2011
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Supported in their tastes and convictions by Jackson, Tyler and Lopez -- who may be the most astute judge who's ever occupied a panel seat -- the participants do well with astonishing consistency and with noticeably fewer melismas.
David Finkle: Channel Surfer: Why Cowell-Less American Idol Is New, Improved, Better Than Ever David Finkle 2011
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The first two minutes are just the rise and fall of Chöying Drolma's deep alto voice as she travels through her own, impossible-to-imitate melismas of phrasing.
Ravenna Michalsen: Buddhist Songs About Cho And Machik Labdron Ravenna Michalsen 2011
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In “Ribbon in the Sky,” he flaunted possibilities, improvising a series of melismas — smooth or choppily rhythmic, curving up and down in unpredictable combinations — and then got the audience to sing in two-part counterpoint.
Jazzfest: Stevie Wonder, In the Rain - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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In “Ribbon in the Sky,” he flaunted possibilities, improvising a series of melismas — smooth or choppily rhythmic, curving up and down in unpredictable combinations — and then got the audience to sing in two-part counterpoint.
Jazzfest: Stevie Wonder, In the Rain - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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No "soulful" melismas for him; instead, Marshall ? still only 16, apparently ? sings it's more of a bark, really in brusque, gruff monosyllables, over clipped guitar patterns or lustrous jazzy chords, like the Billy Bragg of Levi Stubbs's Tears condemned to ditch the firebrand politico and wander the universe playing the devastated romantic for all eternity.
Zoo Kid (No 916) Paul Lester 2010
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Cute, petite, swathed in a gorgeous purple gown, she did all sorts of supple maneuvers (maybe a few too many melismas) with the Dreamgirls anthem "I Am Changing."
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Cute, petite, swathed in a gorgeous purple gown, she did all sorts of supple maneuvers (maybe a few too many melismas) with the Dreamgirls anthem "I Am Changing."
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