A *melody* is a tonal sound that has a short, rhythmic succession of singular pitches. Simple and succinct melodies can be repeated in a UI with minimal distraction.

* DO: Create melodies that are simple, intuitive, and don’t distract from an interaction.
* CAUTION: Use unresolved melodies with caution as it can make things sound ambiguous.

Simple melodies

A motif is a melody that is repeated, making it a recognizable pattern. Common motifs can quickly and effectively communicate simple emotional and informational cues. They often follow these patterns:

* Upward motion commonly indicates starting, openness, positivity, or assurance.
* Downward motion commonly indicates ending or closedness.
* Repetition commonly indicates thinking, waiting, or lack of progress

Common motifs

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Tonality refers to two types of sounds:

* *Tonal sounds*, which are more musical in nature, including melody, motif, and harmony
* *Atonal sounds* (also called non-harmonic sound), which resemble everyday sounds or noise – they don’t conform to traditional musical compositions

Sounds can be designed using tonal or atonal elements, and sometimes a sound will be comprised of both. Tonal sounds work best to communicate personality, emotion, and state changes, whereas atonal sounds better support motion transitions and express a sense of haptic feedback.

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