Melody - Aural

• The range of the part
• Whether the melody is in a major or minor key, or else in a mode or atonal 
• Whether it is diatonic or chromatic
• The phrase structure - whether it is balanced phrases ('periodic phrasing') or something less regular
• Use of repetition or sequence 
• Whether the melody is monotone (staying on a single note), conjunct (moving by step) or disjunct (moving by leap); if moving by leap, be ready to describe intervals
• Particularly stylistic characteristics, for example in early music the tendency to follow a leap with a note between the two  (John Dowland's Flow my Tears - Renaissance) 
• Use of motifs
• Whether the melody line is flowing or broken up by rests

If describing vocal music, can comment on the Text setting

• Syllabic (one note to a syllable) 
• Melismatic (several notes to a syllable)
• Whether verbal and musical accents coincide (do stressed syllables fall on the first beat, or other strong beats, of the bar or not?