tune, melody, air, strain, melodic line, line, melodic phrase

a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; "she was humming an air from Beethoven"

• flourish, fanfare — (music) a short lively tune played on brass instruments
• glissando — a rapid series of ascending or descending notes on the musical scale
• roulade — (music) an elaborate run of several notes sung to one syllable
• leitmotiv, leitmotif — a melodic phrase that accompanies the reappearance of a person or situation (as in Wagner's operas)
• theme song — a melody that recurs and comes to represent a musical play or movie
• signature, signature tune, theme song — a melody used to identify a performer or a dance band or radio/tv program
• theme, melodic theme, musical theme, idea — (music) melodic subject of a musical composition
• part, voice — the melody carried by a particular voice or instrument in polyphonic music

• music — an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner

• phrase, musical phrase — a short musical passage