Download The Elements of Music

The Elements of Music
• Music is organized sound
• Sound and silences are shaped and
profiled as they move through time
Basic Elements
• Rhythm - durations organized in
patterns
• Melody - pitches placed one after the
other in a purposeful way
• Harmony - More than one pitch
sounding at the same time
• The arrangement of these building
blocks determines the color, texture,
and form of every musical composition.
Musical Notation
•
•
•
•
Vertical = pitch
Horizontal = rhythm
Black = fast
White = slow
*** not necessary to read music, but enjoyment can be
heightened if you understand how notation works
Rhythm
• Arguably the most fundamental element
of music
• Direct, even physical response
Definition =
Organization of time in music.
• Divides long spans of time into smaller units
• Gives shape or profile to a melody
Beat
• Even pulse that divides the passing time
into equal segments
• Can be weak or strong
Notes
Whole
half
1/4
1/8
1/16
Rests
Whole
half
1/4
1/8
1/16
Meter
• Gather beats into regular groupings
• Measure = group of beats
• First beat in a measure is stressed
(downbeat)
• Time Signature = tells the performer
how beats are grouped
Melody
• Series of notes arranged in order to
form a recognizable unit
• Aesthetic theory/nuts & bolts
Pitch
• Relative position, high or low, of a
musical sound
• Building blocks like words in a sentence
• Humans can hear many variations in
pitch
• In music we take the spectrum and
divide it into equal units
Notating Melodies
• Staff
• Clef
• Accidentals
Tonality, Keys, Scales
• Define the tonal center of the piece (C
Major, d minor)
• Tonic note = central pitch
Scale
• Arrangement of pitches that ascends
and descends in a fixed, unvarying
pattern
• Major = w, w, h, w, w, w, h
• Minor = w, h, w, w, h, w, w
• Melody provides lyrical voice
• Rhythm gives vitality and definition
• Harmony adds depth and richness
Harmony
• Different meanings:
– Traditional
– Musical = sounds that supply support and
enrichment to the melody
– Harmony in the sense of chord changes,
changing harmony
*** melody is usually closely bound to and
grows out of harmony
Building Harmony
• Chord = group of two or more pitches
sounded at the same time
• Triad = most common chord
• Dissonance = pitches sounding
disagreeable or unstable. Produces
tension.
• Consonance = pitches sounding
agreeable or stable. Sense of rest,
stability.
Musical Color and Texture
Dynamics
• Levels of volume at which sounds are
produced
• Notated in Italian:
Soft <--------------------------------------->Loud
pianissmo
pp
piano
p
mezzopiano / mezzoforte forte
mp
mf
f
fortissimo
ff
• Sforzando = sudden, loud attack on one
note or chord
• Crescendo/decrescendo = gradual
changes in dynamic level
Texture
• Monophony - one single line of music
• Polyphony - two on more independent
lines in musical fabric
• Homophony = not independent, but
interdependent.
• Key Signature = pre-placed sharps/flats
• Modulation = change from one key to
another