The fundamental line (German: Urlinie) is the melodic aspect of the Fundamental structure (Ursatz), "a stepwise descent from one of the triad notes to the tonic":
--, ----, or -------with the bass arpeggiation being the harmonic aspect.
According to Schenker, "There are no tonal spaces other than —, —, —; there is no other source of passing tones or of melody than these tonal spaces."
Read more about this topic: Fundamental Structure
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