Medley (music)

Not to be confused with Melody.

In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumentals. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks for a single artist, or for popular songs from a given year or genre. A cover version combining elements of multiple pre-existing songs is a cover medley.^{[note 1]}

A medley is the most common form of overture for musical theatre productions.

In Latin music, medleys are known as potpourrís or mosaicos; the latter were popularized by artists such as Roberto Faz and Billo Frómeta, and most commonly consist of boleros, guarachas, merengues or congas.^[1][2]

See also

• Segue, a term for the transition between songs
• DJ mix
• Megamix
• Mashup (music)
• List of Genesis medleys
• List of "Weird Al" Yankovic polka medleys
• Suite (music)
• Sound collage

Notes

1. When a piece of music specifically superimposes elements of multiple pre-existing songs at the same time, it is more particularly referred to as a mashup.