In AP Music Theory, a leap is a melodic interval larger than a step, moving between non-adjacent pitches whose letter names skip over at least one letter (like C up to E). A melody built mostly from leaps is called disjunct, a core melodic feature in Topic 2.9.
A leap is any melodic move bigger than a step. If a step takes you to the very next letter name (C to D), a leap skips over at least one letter (C to E, or C to G). So a third, fourth, fifth, or anything wider counts as a leap, while seconds (major or minor) are steps.
The CED cares about leaps because they define one half of a key melodic vocabulary pair. Per essential knowledge PIT-3.C.3, a melody that moves mostly by step is conjunct, and a melody that moves mostly by leap is disjunct. Leaps also shape a melody's contour, the unique rise and fall of its pitches. A big leap creates a dramatic jump in the melodic line, while stepwise motion creates a smooth, singable curve. When you describe a melody on the exam, "leap" is the precise word for any of those jumps.
Leaps live in Topic 2.9 Melodic Features (Unit 2: Music Fundamentals II) and support learning objective 2.9.A, which asks you to identify features of melody in both performed and notated music. That "performed" part matters. You need to hear a leap in an aural excerpt, not just spot one on a staff. Knowing leap vs. step is also the foundation for the conjunct/disjunct vocabulary the exam expects, and it carries forward into part writing, where eighteenth-century voice-leading procedures put strict limits on how and when voices can leap. Get this Unit 2 idea solid and the later units get easier.
Keep studying AP® Music Theory Unit 2
Visual cheatsheet
view galleryConjunct and Disjunct Motion (Unit 2)
This is the direct payoff of knowing what a leap is. Disjunct literally means "moves by leap," and conjunct means "moves by step." When a question asks you to characterize melodic motion, you're really being asked to count steps versus leaps.
Melodic Contour (Unit 2)
Contour is the shape a melody traces as it rises and falls, and leaps are what make that shape jagged instead of smooth. A melody can have the same general contour (rising, then falling) whether it steps or leaps, but the leaps change its character dramatically.
Tessitura (Unit 2)
Leaps are how a melody covers ground fast. A line full of wide leaps can sweep through a large range quickly, while a stepwise line tends to stay in a narrower tessitura. Both terms describe the same melody from different angles, motion versus where it sits.
Eighteenth-Century Voice Leading (Units 5-6)
Leaps stop being just descriptive and become rule-governed in part writing. When you complete a bass line following eighteenth-century procedures (like 2025 SAQ Q7), you have to manage leaps carefully, since smooth voice leading favors steps and treats large or awkward leaps as errors.
Multiple-choice questions test leaps two ways. Notated questions show you a melody and ask you to label its motion as conjunct or disjunct, or to identify the interval of a specific leap. Aural questions play an excerpt and ask the same thing by ear, so practice hearing the difference between a smooth stepwise line and one that jumps around. Practice questions also probe the expressive side, like how disjunct motion affects a melody's character (leaps tend to sound dramatic, energetic, or angular; steps sound smooth and lyrical). On the free-response side, the 2025 SAQ Q7 bass-line composition task is where leap knowledge becomes active. Writing a bass line under eighteenth-century voice-leading procedures means choosing when to leap and when to step, because uncontrolled leaping costs you points. Bottom line, you need to identify leaps by eye and by ear, use the term "disjunct" correctly, and control leaps in your own part writing.
A step moves to the adjacent letter name, so C to D is a step (a second). A leap skips at least one letter name, so C to E or C to A is a leap. The test: if the interval is a second, it's a step; if it's a third or larger, it's a leap. Some textbooks call small leaps (thirds) "skips" and save "leap" for fourths and wider, but the AP framing treats anything larger than a step as a leap, creating disjunct motion.
A leap is any melodic interval larger than a step, meaning the two pitches' letter names skip over at least one letter, like C up to E.
A melody that moves mostly by leap is called disjunct, while a melody that moves mostly by step is called conjunct (essential knowledge PIT-3.C.3).
Leaps shape a melody's contour, making the line sound jagged, dramatic, or energetic compared to the smooth, singable quality of stepwise motion.
Learning objective 2.9.A requires you to identify leaps in both notated music and performed music, so you need to recognize them by ear as well as on the page.
In later part-writing FRQs, eighteenth-century voice-leading procedures restrict how voices leap, so this Unit 2 concept becomes a graded skill when you compose bass lines.
A leap is a melodic interval larger than a step, moving between non-adjacent pitches whose letter names skip at least one letter, like C up to E (a third). Melodies dominated by leaps are described as disjunct, a melodic feature covered in Topic 2.9.
A third is a leap. Steps are only seconds (adjacent letter names like C to D). Anything from a third up, including thirds, fourths, fifths, and octaves, counts as a leap in AP framing.
Many textbooks use "skip" for a third and reserve "leap" for fourths and larger, but the AP CED groups everything larger than a step under disjunct motion. For exam purposes, treat any interval bigger than a second as a leap.
Almost. A leap is a single interval, while disjunct describes a melody or melodic segment that moves mostly by leaps. Per PIT-3.C.3, conjunct means stepwise motion and disjunct means leaping motion, so leaps are the building blocks of disjunct melody.
Yes. Learning objective 2.9.A covers melodic features in both performed and notated music, so aural multiple-choice questions can play an excerpt and ask whether the melody is conjunct or disjunct, which means hearing the leaps without seeing the score.
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