What's the term in music to describe when people drag out one note, instead of briefly saying word?

Question

This happens a lot in soul music.

i.e. I believe I can flllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...

Answer 1

It is called a "melisma." See below link to confirm. Melismatic singing is pretty much a requirement for pop singers anymore. Contrast that with children's songs, which more often than not include one note per syllable, e.g. "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." The other musical terms listed here so far have been mis-identified. A "fermata" means you hold the same note for a period of time extending beyond what the usual note value would be; for example, a half note with a fermata sign over it would be held for something between 3 and 5 counts instead of just 2 counts. "Rubato" means you play the notes without an even tempo - where you might slow down the tempo of a passage of music for dramatic effect, or else increase the tempo - ignoring conventional tempo indications. It is used often in playing Romantic pieces. This is an interesting question. It made me feel like my college courses in music were useful, at the University of Utah and Utah State University.

Answer 2

Apparently a lot of people are confused about this question.
-A melisma is not related to changes in tempo or speed of the beat, only how many times one changes notes while singing one syllable.
-A fermata is a pause in the *tempo* of the music. All counting stops and then starts again.
-Rubato is a *subtle* fluctuation in tempo. Literally "robbing" some notes' values a little bit and giving that value to other notes. The idea is that with rubato one could keep a steady beat and at the end come out at the same time as the performer who is in fact speeding up and slowing down a little bit.
-If the tempo is maintained throughout (as is true in most pop music), and the the singer pauses on a note before going on, it is simply a long note, with a measured value. (Listen to see if the instruments are still playing at a steady pace underneath the long note.)

Answer 3

Sounds to me just like the difference between a quarter note or a whole note. With a musical instrument it's often called a drone if one note is used as a backdrop for soloing on other strings. I suppose one could call it a sustained note and it may cover a single measure or many measures.

Answer 4

Rubato is also a musical term for a similar thing. It can be used to slow down or speed up a part of the music. So in your example, the rubato would be on the word "fly."

I'm not sure I would use fermata, because that is held for an indefinite length of time. Rubato stays in time, just slows it down a little.

Answer 5

Fermata (which means "pause") is the musical indication to "hold a note longer than its normal value". In music notation it is a symbol that looks like an eye: downward curved line with a dot below.

Answer 6

It's caller: a word fermatta

Answer 7

The last answer was great. Give her the ten.