Master thesis. Available at http://marcosdisilva.net/en/research.html Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) Author: Marcos da Silva Sampaio Advisor: Pedro Kröger Contours can be understood as the shape or format of an object. In Music contour can represent a parameter in function of another, like pitch in function of density or density in function of amplitude. Contours are important because, as well as pitch sets and motives, they can help giving coherence to a musical piece. Theories of contours have been used in areas such as Ear Training and Analysis, but the systematic use of contours for generation of compositional material is an issue still lacking literature. In this thesis I present the piece "Em torno da romã" [Around the pomegranate] and its analysis. This piece, for woodwind quintet, was composed using combinations of contour operations associated with parameters such as pitch, tempo, density and texture. In order to accomplish this task, I did a literature review of contour theories, I did a mapping of contours to musical elements, I composed studies of possibilities for experimentation with contours, I develop the Goiaba, a software to assist in processing contours for composition, and finally composed the piece "Em torno da romã". This study helps to advance the state of art of contour theories through composition contour operations experiments using contour operations and contributes with new tools to the composition field. My conclusion is that contours can be used in a systematic way in musical composition, but we still need further study. Thus this depth and continuity in development of Goiaba are possible future activities resulting from this work.