modal frame

A modal frame in music  is one of "a number of types permeating and unifying African, European, and American song" and melody. It may also be called a melodic mode, "mode" and "frame" being used interchangeably in this context, without reference to scalar or rhythmic modes. Melodic modes define and generate melodies that are not determined by harmony but purely by melody. A note frame is a melodic mode that is atonic (without a tonic) or has an unstable tonic.