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Musical Elements
Musical Elements are the basic materials or "building blocks" which are used in forming
the structure of music. In explaining the elements of music, I like to group them into
two general categories, RHYTHM and MELODY. Keep in mind that this is a western
view of music, although most musical cultures have a similar division.
In a nutshell, rhythm pertains to all musical elements that are time-related. Through
the establishment of a pulse or beat, rhythm creates an actual framework for which
music can progress through time. It also provides a physical connection to the
listener, resonating with the natural rhythms found in the human body (breathing,
walking, running, speaking) and eliciting a response in the form of tapping or moving
with the music, dancing, or in some cases, altered states and trances.
Melody is the realm of sounds, specifically, the tones that we hear in music. It is
usually refereed to in terms of "high" or "low" and reflects inflections that are found in
speech. This close connection with speech (or even pre-speech sounds) gives melody
the expressive role in music, even if there is no singer/vocalist in a musical
performance.
I personally see the categories of rhythm and melody as a dyad reflecting the dual
nature of musical thought:
RHYTHM
time related
MELODY
non-time
related
linear
spatial
horizontal
vertical
physical
emotional
movement
expression
momentum
reflection
left-brain
right-brain
The combination of the two sides of this dyad, melody and rhythm, gives wholeness to
musical form and the possibility of a wide range of expression.
Let's look at a more detailed breakdown of musical elements:
Rhythm
Pulse -- Any regular, predictable series of musical sounds, establishing a linear
pattern of beats that are evenly spaced in time. The pulse in a musical piece is felt as a
regular recurring pattern of stressed beats, i.e., what you tap your foot to or dance
along with. Without a pulse, a piece of music is considered to be rhythmless, or
arrhythmic.
Tempo -- The speed of a pulse.
Musical pulses tend to be at or near the same rate
as those pulses found in the human body, such as the heart beat, breathing, walking,
running, dancing, or rhythms of speech.
Tone Length -- The duration of a tone in music.
Many patterns are established
using combinations of short and long tones. Here's one:
short - short - short - long
Play sound file: Example01.mp3
Rest -- The space between notes; also with short or long durations.
Meter -- The grouping of pulses (beats) into small units, usually groups of 2, 3, 4, or
6 beats. A hierarchy of beats develops out of this, so that meters become groups of
strong and weak beats. Meters allow for more complex rhythmic development in
music.
Example #2: Native American music is often characterized as
having a strong, regular pulse, but without a consistent grouping
of the beats--no real meter. Listen to this and compare with
later examples.
Play sound file: Example02.mp3
Simple Meter -- These are the most common meters in the world, characterized by
one single predominant meter in a piece. Most simple meters are divisible by two (2,
4, 8, or 16 beats) and are called duple meters. Some are divisible by three, and are
called triple meters.
Example #3: This polka from Louisiana is a song in duple meter.
It can be counted as 1 - 2 - 1 - 2 - , with beat 1 stronger than
beat 2.
Or, you can count 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-, with beats 1 and 3
stronger than beats 2 and 4.
Play sound file: Example03.mp3
Example #4: This son from Mexico is in triple meter.
You can count it as 1 - 2 - 3 - 1 - 2 - 3 - , with beat 1 the
strongest.
Play sound file: Example04.mp3
Compound Meter -- A meter that has more than one pulse.
Most often, this
occurs with a meter of 6 beats. The emphasis can be placed on beats 1 and 4, giving it
a triple rhythmic grouping of 3 + 3:
1-2-3-4-5-6-1-2-3-4-5-6Or, the emphasis can be duple, being placed on beats 1, 3, and 5:
1-2-3-4-5-6-1-2-3-4-5-6A song in compound meter would have both versions playing simultaneously, resulting
in a duple/triple combination:
1-2-3-4-5-6-1-2-3-4-5-61-2-3-4-5-6-1-2-3-4-5-6Another compound meter, found in much African music, is in a meter of 12
beats. This adds another layer of complexity, with simultaneous groupings of 6 X 2, 4
X 3, and 3 X 4:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - (6 beat pulse)
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - (4 beat pulse)
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - (3 beat pulse)
Needless to say, compound rhythms are difficult to delineate (or clap along with!)
Example #5: This is in a compound meter of 12 beats. It is
Afro-Peruvian music, a landó, exhibiting both African rhythms (in
12) and Spanish rhythms (in 6).
Try to feel the various pulses!
Play sound file: Example05.mp3
Symmetrical Meters -- Meters that can be divided into smaller, equivalent
units. For instance, a meter of 8 can be divided into 4 + 4 or 2 + 2 + 2 + 2. Likewise,
6 can be divided into 3 + 3 or 2 + 2 + 2. Also called divisive meters.
Asymmetrical Meters -- Mostly found in the Middle East, these are meters that
cannot be divided into smaller equivalent units. For instance, a meter in 5 can only be
divided into unequal parts, 3 + 2 or 2 + 3. Other asymmetrical meters are 7 (3 + 2 +
2), 11 (3 + 2 + 3 + 3 or 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 3) etc...
These are often times called additive meters, because they are constructed of strings
of small groups of beats. More commonly, they are known as odd meters.
Example #6: This is a Bulgarian lullaby in an asymmetrical meter
of 11 beats. Bulgarian music exhibits strong characteristics of
Middle Eastern music--this kind of rhythmic usage is one of
them. If you follow the singing closely, you may hear the
division of the beats as:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 or: 2 + 2 + 3 + 4
Try to feel the various pulses!
Play sound file: Example06.mp3
Don't worry if you can't yet hear these rhythms and meters--I won't ever ask
you to identify them by sound! Hopefully, as we progress through the course,
you will begin to hear the differences between them.
Melody
Tone -- A sound that is used in music, produced by an instrument or a human
voice. It is either pitched (consisting of a pitch) or non-pitched (consisting of pitches,
such that no clear single pitch is apparent.
Tone Quality -- The character of a tone, often described in subjective or aesthetic
terms. A tone can be simple (consisting of a single pitch) or complex (consisting of
many pitches). A tone can also be described in terms such as smooth, rough, clean,
dirty, bright, dark, soft, harsh, brassy, reedy, thin, thick, open, muted, full, constricted,
etc... Another common term for tone quality is the French word "timbre" (pronounced
tam -bhur), meaning tone color.
Pitch -- The perceived highness or lowness of sound.
It is the building block of a
melody. Technically, a pitch is a specific frequency, measurable in cycles per second
(cps or hertz). Many basic instruments produce a clear pitch when played, such as a
single string, a flute, and a bar of metal or wood.
Melody -- A succession of pitches.
Melodies can vary greatly in length, but are
usually composed in short phrases.
Register -- also called an "octave".
When the frequency of a pitch is doubled, the
resulting pitch is nearly identical, but is perceived to be "higher" sounding than the
original. A melody can be played or sung in many different registers, but will always
be perceived as the same melody. Typically, smaller instruments sound in higher
registers, larger instruments sound in lower registers.
Scale -- A collection of pitches used in a melody or piece of music.
Scales typically
have between 5 and 7 pitches, although some music cultures use as few as 3, while
others may use as many as 12. All scales have a pitch hierarchy, which means that
certain pitches have more weight or power than others. Every scale also has what's
called a tonic or ground tone, which is the principal pitch of the scale. The pitches of a
scale can be multiplied by the number of registers used by the performers in a piece of
music.
Most cultures believe that different scales have different emotional qualities to
them. For instance, Example #3 and #4 above are in a common western scale called
the major or diatonic scale. It is considered to be happy, pleasing, and stable in
quality. Example #5 above is in a western minor scale, considered to be more
melancholy, sad, tragic, or mysterious.
Some cultures have many scales, others have few or perhaps even only one. Typically,
the more scales a culture uses, the more importance that culture places on the use of
melody and the emotive powers of melody.
Contour -- The shape or behavior of a melody.
A melody can be described as flat,
curving, sinuous, rising, falling, angular, smooth, etc. Sometimes, melodic contour
varies between cultures. Example #6 above has a very smooth contour (typical of
lullabies); while example #2 has an angular melody; example #5 has an ascending
leap at the beginning of each phrase, followed by a descending contour.
Musical Construction
Texture -- This describes how the various elements of rhythm and melody are
eventually combined in a piece of music. Different cultures of the world seem to
prefer different textures in their music. Some of the more common terms are:
1. monophony -- A single melody with a single rhythm.
The number
of musicians doesn't matter: monophonic music can be played by a
single performer, or a large group of performers playing the same
thing. A very common texture found throughout the world, especially
in simple songs and folk music.
Example #7: This is Middle Eastern classical music from
Iran. All of the performers are playing the same melody and the
same rhythm.
Play sound file: Example07.mp3
2. polyphony -- Two or more distinct melodies, each with its own
distinct rhythm, being played simultaneously. Most commonly found
in the music of Africa and the African Diaspora, but polyphonic music
is also common in some Indonesian, Pacific Island, and European
classical music.
Example #8: This is popular music from Zaire. There are
multiple lines of music being played--the bass guitar, two
different electric guitars, a singer, and drums to unite the various
parts.
Play sound file: Example08.mp3
3. homophony -- Two or more distinct melodies being played with
the same rhythm (isorhythm). Most commonly found in European
music, especially choral singing.
Example #9: This is early American choral music in a hymn
style. There are four distinct melodic lines, but they are being
sung with the exact same rhythm.
Play sound file: Example09.mp3
4. heterophony -- A single melody being performed by more than
one player, with each performer using a slightly different rhythm or
variation from the original melody. Mostly unknown (and undesirable)
to western music, but extremely prevalent in the music of east and
southeast Asia.
Example #10: This is classical music from Japan. The flute and
the zither are playing the same melody, but each plays their own
"version" of the melody, with a slightly different rhythm and
melodic variation.
Play sound file: Example10.mp3
Composition -- The degree to which a piece of music is created before
performance. Some cultures compose music in its entirety before performing; others
compose a portion of the music and leave the rest to improvisation (see below) during
the performance. Compositions can be in written form, using music notation or
tablature, or they can be learned and remembered without notation (aurally).
Improvisation -- The creation of music while performing.
While improvisation of
some sort exists in most cultures and musical styles, the manner in which it is
accomplished varies greatly. In some styles of music such as American jazz or the
classical music of India, improvisation is the dominant focus of the musical
performance. Sometimes, improvisation is combined with composed materials, such
as most Middle Eastern classical styles, which alternate between composed and
improvised music, or Indonesian classical music, which delegates the improvisation to
certain specific classes of instruments. Still other cultures, such as most European or
East Asian styles, limit improvisation to subtle inflections and nuances in the melodies
(melodic variation).
Form -- Musical form is the shape that a piece of music takes as it is composed or
performed. As we will discover in this class, form is a very important element in a
culture's music. It reflects many of the overall artistic, aesthetic, and even
cosmological ideas that a culture holds. For instance, music in the western world and
the Middle East tend to be based upon linear forms, while music from eastern and
southern Asia tend to be based upon cyclical forms; both cases can be compared with
the prevailing religious views of the cultures, i.e., the Judeo-Christian/Islamic religions
in the west (which view the cosmos as a creation-apocalypse linear continuum) and the
cyclic Hindu/Buddhist models of re-birth/re-incarnation in the east.
Form is also determined by the function of the music (just like biological science!). For
instance, you will often find traditional West African dance music with forms that are
open-ended or without any pre-determined length. This allows the music to continue
for as long as the dancers need to complete their dance. Native American singers will
often sing the same short melody repeatedly until they feel the song has served its
usefulness.