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.