melisma

Also known as melismata, melismatic, vocal run

thumb|400px|Syllabic and melismatic text setting: "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today|Jesus Christ Is Ris'n Today" (Methodist Hymn Book, 1933, No. 204).

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Prevalence in western popular music
Examples
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thumb|400px|Syllabic and melismatic text setting: "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today|Jesus Christ Is Ris'n Today" (Methodist Hymn Book, 1933, No. 204).

Melisma (, , ; from , plural: melismata), informally known as a vocal run and sometimes interchanged with the term roulade, is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, in which each syllable of text is matched to a single note.