Eugene Narmour formulates a comprehensive cognitive theory of melodic syntax. Expanding on the theories of Leonard B. Meyer, the author develops one parsimonious, scaled set of rules modeling implication and realization in all the primary parameters of music. Through an elaborate and original analytic symbology, he shows that a kind of 'genetic code' governs the perception and cognition of melody: five hypothesized archetypes generate sixteen archetypal derivatives, some 200 combinational structures, and an indefinite number of structural chains.