Download The Elements of Music

BELL RINGER – 8/25
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NONE TODAY
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Take a few minutes and study for your QUIZ!!!
Elements of Art
 Principles of Art
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QUIZ: ELEMENTS OF ART
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Circle the correct answer
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Turn it into the box once complete
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NO DEVICES
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Once your quiz is turned in you may get them out
and work silently
THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC
ELEMENTS OF MUSIC
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Tempo
Rhythm
Melody
Harmony
Dynamics
Timbre
Form
We’ll do these later in the
week
BEAT
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A beat is the basic unit of time
NOT an element of music, but the basic pulse
 Music can’t exist without it – every piece of music has a beat!
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Every beat has a downbeat and an upbeat
Downbeat: the music on the beat
 Upbeat: the music in between the beats
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Goes with tapping your foot... When your foot hits – downbeat;
when your foot is up - upbeat
ELEMENT OF MUSIC: TEMPO
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Tempo is how fast or slow the beats go by
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In “BPM” – beats per minute
60 bpm (1 beat per second)
 120 bpm (2 beats per second)
 Generally range from 60-240 bpm
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Usually marked in Italian
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most composers were Italian when tempo markings were first introduced
TEMPO – COMMON MARKINGS
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Largo
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Very slow
Adagio
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Slow
Moderato
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Allegro
Moderate speed / Medium
Fast
Presto
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Very fast
There are 100s of possible
tempo markings – “Briskly,”
“at a walking speed,” etc.
TEMPO – WHERE IS IT?
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The tempo marking is always at the
START of the music, in the upper left.
If the tempo changes mid piece, the new
tempo will appear where it should start,
in the upper left.
The CONDUCTOR gives the tempo
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Conductor – how fast or slow they move their
arms lets the musicians know how fast or
slow to play
TEMPO EXAMPLES
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Slow Tempo:
New World Symphony – Mvt. 2
 Dvorak
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ENf4VEhI40
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Fast Tempo:
Overture to Candide
 Bernstein
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=422-yb8TXj8
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ELEMENT OF MUSIC: RHYTHM
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Rhythm is the pattern or placement of sounds in time
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Duration of pitches/notes – how long or short a note is played
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The organization of sound within the tempo
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You can have short rhythms at a slow tempo, or long rhythms at a
fast tempo… (I’ll explain this in a second.)
RHYTHM
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Whole Note = 4 beats
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Half Notes = 2 beats
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Quarter Note = 1 beat
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Eighth Note = ½ beat
= 1 beat
RHYTHM & TEMPO
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A half note at tempo = 60 will sound the same as a whole note at tempo
=120.
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You can have long rhythms at a faster tempo...
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Or short rhythms at a slower tempo...
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Before you can determine the rhythms, you have to determine the tempo.
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Usually listening to the percussion or low voices (bass, tuba, etc.) will help you
find the beat
If you can see the conductor, they provide the beat
RHYTHM EXAMPLE
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Most percussion instruments ONLY play rhythm (no pitch)
– here are a few examples of rhythm by itself
Blast Intermission
Blast!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XuqTipBWss
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Brooms
Stomp
 http://youtu.be/tZ7aYQtIldg?t=2m15s
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TIME SIGNATURE
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Time signature is NOT an
element of music, but assists
with tempo and rhythm.
The time signature is at the
start of each instrument line
The top number lets you know
how many beats are in each
measure
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You don’t need to worry about the
bottom number – its more to do
with how to play it
PITCH
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Pitch is how high or low the instrument plays
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NOT an element of music, but the basic part of melody (which is)
Instruments without pitch: percussive instruments such as the
snare drum, bass drum (can be pitched), brake drum, tambourine,
jingle bells, etc.
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These instruments do NOT produce melody – they are rhythmic ONLY
HOW TO READ PITCH
There are
other clefs –
but these
are the two
most
common
ones.
Treble Clef:
HIGHER
pitches
Bass Clef:
LOWER
pitches
ELEMENT OF MUSIC: MELODY
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Melody is a succession of notes heard as some sort of unit
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The combination of pitch and rhythm
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The memorable tune
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What you sing in your head after you’ve heard a new piece; what you hum
down the hallways
WORDS TO DESCRIBE MELODY
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Smooth, connected
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Song-like
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Aggressive
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Accented
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Hard-hitting
You can describe melody based
on what it sounds like, or how it
makes you feel.
WHEN DESCRIBING MELODY
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Talk about WHICH INSTRUMENT is performing the
melody
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“I hear the melody in the trumpets...”
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“The flute melody is very sincere...”
MELODY EXAMPLES
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Nutcracker Suite – 3 “Sugar Plum Fairy”
Tchaikovsky
 http://youtu.be/Ow4t3C_gCCY?t=15s
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The Ride of the Valkyrie
Wagner
 http://youtu.be/VCmgUDSlAyA?t=35s
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ACTIVITY:
PRACTICE THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC
TABLET: m.socrative.com Room: 38178
 NO TABLET: piece of notebook paper
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Tempo, Rhythm, and Melody are three large concepts.
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Let’s throw in time signature too
Let’s spend some time exploring them
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We need to be able to recognize them aurally and on paper
TEMPO ON PAPER – WHAT IS THE TEMPO?
3.
2.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Jupiter
Allegro Vivace
C Major
F
A.
B.
C.
D.
Adaigo
Piano
Symphonie No. 5
Antonio Dvorak
TEMPO ON PAPER – WHAT IS THE TEMPO?
5.
4.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Allegretto
Primo
Canzona
Aus der Oper
A.
B.
C.
D.
Preoccupation
3/4
Ernster Gang
Largo
TEMPO PRACTICE: LISTENING
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Listen to the example. Would you define it as “adagio,”
“moderato,” or “presto?”
6. Mozart's Turkish March
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B. Moderato
C. Presto
7. Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata
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A. Adagio
A. Adagio
B. Moderato
C. Presto
8. Bach's Jesu of Man's Desiring
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A. Adagio
B. Moderato
C. Presto
TEMPO PRACTICE: LISTENING
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Listen to the example. Would you define it as “adagio,”
“moderato,” or “presto?”
9. Back to the Future
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B. Moderato
C. Presto
B. Moderato
C. Presto
10. Jurassic Park
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A. Adagio
A. Adagio
11. The Dark Knight
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A. Adagio
B. Moderato
C. Presto
RHYTHM PRACTICE – ON THE PAGE
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Look at the piece of to the
right.
12. Which line has the
fastest rhythms? (Remember
that BLACK NOTES and STEMS =
faster)
A. Cantos
 B. Altos
 C. Tenor
 D. Bassos
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RHYTHM PRACTICE – ON THE PAGE
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Look at the piece of to the
right.
13. Which 2 lines have the
same rhythm?
A. Fl. 1 & Cl. 1
 B. Cl. 2 & Cl. 3
 C. Bsn. 1 & Fl. 1
 D. B. Cl & Cl. 2
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RHYTHM PRACTICE - LISTENING
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Which voice is playing the more complex rhythms at the beginning?
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14. Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
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B. Percussion
C. Brass
15. Wood’s Mannin Veen
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A. Strings
A. Strings
B. Trumpets
C. Clarinets
16. Holst’s Second Suite
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A. Flute
B. Trumpets
C. Saxophones
MELODY – LISTENING
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Listen to the example. Which instrument is playing the melody?
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17. Armstrong’s Savoy Blues
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B. Trumpet
C. Piano
18. Whitacre’s October
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A. Banjo
A. Oboe
B. Xylophone
C. Tuba
19. William’s Raider’s March
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A. Trumpet
B. Flute
C. Violin
MELODY – LISTENING
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Listen to the example. Which instrument is playing the melody?
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20. Grieg’s Morning from Peer Gynt
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B. Trombone
C. Flute
21. Goodman’s Sing Sing Sing
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A. Saxophone
A. Percussion
B. Piano
C. Saxophone
22. Newman’s Friend In Me
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A. Piano
B. Tuba
C. Voice