I feel that the the most substantive part of music is melody.
Melody is structured by the physics of pitch manifested within the patterns of the harmonic series. Tonal meaning is derived from the experience of these acoustic principles.
It is the intervalic relationship between pitches; the measurements of their distances, that imbue communal melodic meaning and feeling.
Melody is further contextualized by the performed length of tones through the craft of cadencing, timing, rhythm, and phrasing. Rhythm develops and varies the melodic cadencing of these intervalic relationships.
It is important to consider harmony as a consequence of coordinating two or more melodies simultaneously in space and time, resonating further meaning.
All of these layers of melodic movement create a vast tapestry of meaning.
A musician’s fundamental work is to study to develop a deeply personal relationship with the meaning of these melodic intervals and their movements; psychologically, physically, emotionally, and with personal syntax.
– JC Heisler