# Melisma
**Melisma** (plural: melismas or melismata) is a vocal passage in which several different notes are sung to a single syllable of text. Dictionaries define it as an expressive or ornamental phrase of several notes on one syllable, as in plainsong or blues singing.[1](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/melisma) • [2](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/melisma) The adjective form is melismatic.[1](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/melisma)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Definition | Several notes sung melodically to a single syllable of text; the OnMusic Dictionary specifies a group of many notes, usually at least five or six[4](https://dictionary.onmusic.org/terms/2130-melisma) |
| Text-setting scale | Grove Music Online classifies settings as syllabic (one note per syllable), neumatic (2–4 notes), and melismatic (more than four notes)[3](https://www.voicescience.org/lexicon/melisma/) |
| Etymology | From Greek *mélisma*, "song, tune"; first recorded in English 1605–15[2](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/melisma) |
| Medieval example | The jubilus, the extended melisma on the final vowel of "Alleluia" in Gregorian chant; Alleluias average 9.3 notes per syllable[3](https://www.voicescience.org/lexicon/melisma/) |
| Modern pop landmarks | Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love" (1990) and Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" (1992) brought heavy melismatic ornamentation into mainstream pop[3](https://www.voicescience.org/lexicon/melisma/) |
| Opposite | Syllabic singing, in which each syllable of a word gets just one note[2](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/melisma) |
## Definition and terminology
A melisma is the technique of singing a single text syllable, such as "love", while moving through several different pitches in succession.[2](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/melisma) The word comes from the Greek *mélisma*, meaning "song" or "tune", and entered English between 1605 and 1615.[2](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/melisma) In chant contexts the term describes a long melody sung without words or on a single vowel; Thomas Forrest Kelly, Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music, Emeritus, at Harvard University, treats it in his 2025 Oxford book *Melisma: Wordless Song in Medieval Chant*, noting that St. Augustine and St. Jerome wrote of an ineffable joy that cannot be expressed in words when music passes beyond the realm of words into pure praise.[7](https://academic.oup.com/book/60028)
The scale of text-setting is graded. According to Grove Music Online, a melismatic text-setting is one in which a single syllable carries more than four notes; this differs from neumatic settings, with 2 to 4 notes per syllable, and syllabic settings, with just one.[3](https://www.voicescience.org/lexicon/melisma/) The OnMusic Dictionary gives a practical threshold of at least five or six notes and notes that melismas are found especially in liturgical chant.[4](https://dictionary.onmusic.org/terms/2130-melisma)
## Melisma in Western chant and classical music
In Western tradition, melismatic singing traces to the jubilus, the extended melisma on the final vowel of "Alleluia" in [Gregorian chant](https://www.edgepedia.org/gregorian-chant), understood by patristic writers as allowing "wordless jubilation".[3](https://www.voicescience.org/lexicon/melisma/) Chant genres differed in melismatic density, from nearly syllabic psalm antiphons to highly melismatic Alleluias averaging 9.3 notes per syllable.[3](https://www.voicescience.org/lexicon/melisma/)
The Baroque era elevated melisma to virtuosic display. The da capo aria structure invited singers, often castrati or female virtuosi, to improvise embellishments, and the early 19th-century bel canto period synthesized smooth singing with agility.[3](https://www.voicescience.org/lexicon/melisma/) Western classical music developed its own vocabulary for such ornamentation, including coloratura, fioritura, and passaggi; the Italian term coloratura is also used for melisma itself.[3](https://www.voicescience.org/lexicon/melisma/) • [6](https://amp.dw.com/en/how-whitney-houston-popularized-melisma-through-her-songs/a-60723626) Classical examples include Mozart's Queen of the Night aria and Handel's Messiah.[5](https://www.clrn.org/what-is-melismatic-in-music/)
## Melisma in popular and non-Western traditions
Melismatic singing appears across virtually every major musical tradition, from medieval chant to the runs and riffs of contemporary R&B, reflecting both its expressive power and its status as a marker of vocal virtuosity.[3](https://www.voicescience.org/lexicon/melisma/) Among modern genres it spans opera, gospel, soul, rhythm and blues, and pop, and it can be heard in the Muslim call to prayer.[6](https://amp.dw.com/en/how-whitney-houston-popularized-melisma-through-her-songs/a-60723626)
Different traditions use specialized vocabularies. Contemporary Commercial Music distinguishes between runs (long, flashy sequences), riffs (shorter phrases), and licks (groove-based phrases). In the [Arabic maqam](https://www.edgepedia.org/arabic-maqam) tradition, layali and mawwal are used, gamaka appears in [Indian classical music](https://www.edgepedia.org/indian-classical-music), and the ornaments of cante jondo characterize flamenco.[3](https://www.voicescience.org/lexicon/melisma/) Genre styles differ as well: R&B melisma is improvisational and often uses pentatonic scales and blues notes, gospel is highly emotive with extensive ornamentation, bends, and call-and-response patterns, and jazz melisma uses complex chromaticism and rhythmic syncopation.[5](https://www.clrn.org/what-is-melismatic-in-music/)
## Melisma in modern pop
Melisma is often used to showcase a singer's agility and range, or to add flair to a song, and is a common technique in rhythm and blues.[2](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/melisma) [Whitney Houston](https://www.edgepedia.org/whitney-houston)'s "I Will Always Love You" (1992) and [Mariah Carey](https://www.edgepedia.org/mariah-carey)'s "Vision of Love" (1990) brought heavy melismatic ornamentation into mainstream pop.[3](https://www.voicescience.org/lexicon/melisma/)
Houston was not the first to use the technique: [Ray Charles](https://www.edgepedia.org/ray-charles), Stevie Wonder, and [Aretha Franklin](https://www.edgepedia.org/aretha-franklin) had all used it, and it appears in [Deniece Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/deniece-williams)' "Let's Hear it for the Boy" from the early 1980s *Footloose* soundtrack.[6](https://amp.dw.com/en/how-whitney-houston-popularized-melisma-through-her-songs/a-60723626) What set Houston apart, according to the Los Angeles-based singer and vocal coach Steve Sweetland, was attitude: she believed in the artistic value of melisma and embodied it, whereas others were perhaps simply following trends.[6](https://amp.dw.com/en/how-whitney-houston-popularized-melisma-through-her-songs/a-60723626)
## References
1. [Definition of 'melisma', Collins English Dictionary](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/melisma)
2. [Melisma Definition & Meaning, Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/melisma)
3. [Melisma, Voice Science Lexicon](https://www.voicescience.org/lexicon/melisma/)
4. [Melisma, OnMusic Dictionary](https://dictionary.onmusic.org/terms/2130-melisma)
5. [What is melismatic in music?, California Learning Resource Network](https://www.clrn.org/what-is-melismatic-in-music/)
6. [How Whitney Houston popularized 'melisma', Deutsche Welle (2022)](https://amp.dw.com/en/how-whitney-houston-popularized-melisma-through-her-songs/a-60723626)
7. [Thomas Forrest Kelly, Melisma: Wordless Song in Medieval Chant, Oxford University Press (2025)](https://academic.oup.com/book/60028)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical practice and theory › Instruments, theory, and world traditions › Singing and vocal practice*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license