Step

What it means

A step is the movement from one note to its immediate neighbour, that is, by a second. Anything larger is called a leap. This simple distinction is fundamental in melodic theory, because step and leap behave differently in hearing and in part-writing.

Musical use

Stepwise movement connects: the ear hears a sequence of neighbouring notes as a coherent line. Leaps, by contrast, outline a space and rather suggest a chord. This is why, in part-writing theory, stepwise movement counts as the normal case, from which deviations want to be justified, and why dissonances are resolved stepwise — suspension, passing note, and neighbour note are all stepwise formations.

A distinction is made between whole-tone and semitone steps. The difference is far more than a matter of size: the semitone step creates tension and direction, which is why the leading tone presses toward the tonic and the Phrygian second degree gets its particular sound. Where the semitones lie in a scale determines its character — precisely herein the church modes differ from one another.

In the connection of chords the rule holds that every voice should take the shortest path; from this results a predominantly stepwise course of the middle voices, while the bass leaps more often, because it carries the roots.

A melodic interval of a second, that is, a semitone or a whole tone, counts as a step; larger intervals are called leaps. In vocal polyphony, stepwise movement was preferred because it is easy to sing and keeps the voices independent. Melodic theory recommends letting a leap be followed by stepwise contrary motion. In part-writing theory, dissonances are usually resolved stepwise, and passing notes as well as neighbour notes are likewise reached by steps.

Performance practice

Lead stepwise lines as one movement with a goal, not as a sequence of individual notes — sing them first, then it succeeds more easily on the instrument. Watch for evenness in length and sound; here every note that falls out stands out. And when intonating, note the difference between whole-tone and semitone steps: semitones with a leading-tone character are taken narrow.