Some wind instrument evoked a plaintive melody and a man and a woman dressed in simple leotards took the stage.

He sat down on a vacant bunk, took out a wooden flute, and began to play a plaintive melody.

He played plaintive melodies and just occasionally he screamed a note or two.

He started to finger the lute again, and she listened to the plaintive melody.

He almost missed one turning because he too became touched by the plaintive melody, the minor chordings, the whole tenor of the music.

As they dined, an unobtrusive string ensemble played plaintive melodies in the background.

When the air blew through the reeds, it produced a plaintive melody.

As he breathed a sigh, the air sounded through the reeds, and produced a plaintive melody.

I had already heard a line of plaintive melody which located the cage of the Shadowpeople for me.

The last notes of the plaintive melody seemed to linger in the air.