Help for the refined contour search field in Themefinder

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Guidelines for searching by refined contour

Contour describes the shape of a melody through the 'movement' or direction of the intervals. For refined contour search five types of movement are distinguished: by ascending step, by ascending leap, by descending step, by descending leap, and repetition. A "step" is defined as an interval of one or two semitones. Anything bigger than a step is a "leap". Note that the minor third is thus regarded as a step.

There are two methods for specifying refined contour searches.

1. by means of letters (recommended):
   • U (upper case) = ascending leap
   • u (lower case) = ascending step
   • D (upper case) = descending leap
   • d (lower case) = ascending step
   • s (lower case) = repetition
2. by means of symbols:
   • ^ (caret) = ascending leap
   • / (slash) = ascending step
   • v (lower-case v) = descending leap
   • \ (backslash) = descending step
   • - (dash) = repetition

Examples:

Currently there are no wildcards for advanced refined contour search.