Download File - Humanities 1100

The Elements of Music
By Espie Estrella, About.com Guide
Sound is created when an object vibrates. These vibrations are perceived by our ears and then sent to our
brain. Our brain in turn analyzes these signals and let's us know what type of sound we are hearing (i.e. an
alarm clock ringing, a car horn blaring, etc.). Music is differentiated from other sounds because it has
certain qualities.
When you listen to a piece of music, you'll notice that it has several different characteristics; it may be soft
or loud, slow or fast, combine different instruments and have a regular rhythmic pattern. All of these are
known as the "elements of music."
 Beat and Meter - In order to define meter, let's first define beats. Beats give music its regular rhythmic
pattern. Beats are grouped together in a measure; the notes and rests corresponds to a certain number of
beats. Meter refers to rhythmic patterns produced by grouping together strong and weak beats. Meter may
be in duple (2 beats in a measure), triple (3 beats in a measure), quadruple (4 beats in a measure) and so on.
 Dynamics - Dynamics are abbreviations or symbols used to signify the degree of loudness or softness of
a piece of music. It also indicates whether there is a change in volume.
 Harmony - In general, harmony refers to the combination of notes (or chords) played together and the
relationship between a series of chords. But to give you a better understanding of harmony, let's first define
melody. Melody refers to the tune of a song or piece of music. It is created by playing a series of notes one
after another. Harmony accompanies and supports the melody. It is created by playing a group of notes
(either simultaneously or as broken chords) behind the melody thus giving it musical texture.
 Key - Also known as tonality; a principle in music composition wherein at the end of the piece there is a
feeling of completion by going back to the tonic. The tonic (main key or home key) is the principal pitch of
a composition. Simply put, key refers to the central note (i.e. key of C), scale (i.e. C scale) and chord (i.e. C
Major triad)
 Major Scale
 Minor Scale
 Melody - It refers to the tune of a song or piece of music. it is the memorable tune created by playing a
succession or series of pitches.
 Musical Instruments and Voice - Musical instruments are classified as
percussion,
strings,
woodwinds, brass
and keyboards.
Our voice is also considered a musical instrument. Each of us has a different voice type or vocal range and
no two voices are alike.
 Pitch - The relative lowness or highness that we hear in a sound. The pitch of a sound is based on the
frequency of vibration and the size of the vibrating object. For example, the pitch of a double bass is lower
than that of the violin because the double bass has longer strings. Pitch may be definite (i.e. piano) or
indefinite (i.e. cymbals).
 Rhythm - It may be defined as the pattern or placement of sounds in time and beats in music. Roger
Kamien in his book Music: An Appreciation defines rhythm as "the particular arrangement of note lengths
in a piece of music." Rhythm is shaped by meter; it has certain elements such as beat and tempo.
 Tempo - The Italian word at the beginning of a music piece that indicates how slow or fast the piece
should be played. This is called the tempo which is effective throughout the duration of the music unless
the composer indicates otherwise.
 Texture - Musical texture refers to the number of layers as well as the type of layers used in a
composition and how these layers are related. Texture may be monophonic (single melodic line),
polyphonic (two or more melodic lines) and homophonic (a main melody accompanied by chords).
 Timbre - Also known as tone color; it refers to the quality of sound that distinguishes one voice or
instrument from another. Timbre may range anywhere from dull to lush, from dark to bright (such as the
sound of glockenspiels).