Three characteristics can be used to describe any melody: the rang of the melody, the shape of the melody, and the movement of the melody. A melody goes up and down, its individual tones being higher or lower than one another. Range is the distance between the highest and lowest tones. A melody may have a narrow, medium, or wide range. Shape is determined by the direction a melody takes as it turns upward or downward. This movement can be charted on a kind of line graph that may take the form of an ascending or descending line, an arch, or a wave. The type of movement depends upon whether a melody moves stepwise or leaps to a tone several degrees away or farther. Melodies that move principally in a stepwise motion are called conjunct melodies, while a melody that moves with many leaps is described as disjunct.