| Kommentar | Little or no difference in meaning, and a fair amount of overlap in contexts where you could use either one.
Tune is generally more casual/everyday in register and is likely to be simpler or more popular in nature. People hum catchy tunes, or whistle them; there's a song in 'The King and I' called 'I whistle a happy tune.' Ice cream trucks play the same little tune over and over. Older cellphone ringtones were essentially little electronic tunes. A classic popular song may have a familiar tune, one that you recognize even if you can't remember the words. And yes, in order to sing you have to able to carry a tune; if you're tone-deaf, you can't carry a tune.
Melody is more typical among musicians and in the context of learning music. The melody is usually played by the right hand on the piano or the woodwinds in the band, or sung by the sopranos in the choir. In barbershop, gospel, etc., the melody is called the lead. A well-known classical piece might have a familiar melody, like the Rachmaninoff piano concerto. In concertos and symphonies, the melody in a particular section is its theme. A melody identified with a particular character, emotion, etc., as in Peter and the Wolf, is a motif; a motif in Wagner is a leitmotiv. A melody can also be figurative; in literary or poetic language, someone might speak of the melody of the birds in the trees, the wind in the leaves, etc.
The adjectives also overlap a good deal, if not completely. A tuneful song is pleasant to listen to. A melodic piece of music has an attractive melody, but music that's grating, chromatic, modern, etc. is less melodic. A pleasant speaking voice, or a pleasant sound like bells or a harp, might be melodious, especially in rather flowery, old-fashioned language. |
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