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Musical Terms. Basic Elements of Music. Melody Rhythm Texture Harmony Loudness Tone Basic Structure Context. More Basic Elements of Music. Pitch Duration Intensity Waveform Derived from sound waves. Pitch. A single tone is a pitch
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Basic Elements of Music • Melody • Rhythm • Texture • Harmony • Loudness • Tone • Basic Structure • Context
More Basic Elements of Music • Pitch • Duration • Intensity • Waveform • Derived from sound waves.
Pitch • A single tone is a pitch • The tone falls into some register: high, middle, or low • Fast vibrations produce a fast sound, slow vibrations produce low sounds
Melody • A sequence of pitches in varying lengths produces a melody. • Conjunct melody – smooth, lyrical melody – moves in whole or half steps • Disjunct melody – many large skips and may sound “jagged” – moves in more than a whole step
Scales • System of organizing pitches • Give cohesion to a piece of music • Just a few are the major, minor, modal, and pentatonic scales. • In non-Western cultures, scales, patterns or even certain notes may associated with extra musical ideas from nature or religion.
Pythagoras • In 550 B.C., Pythagoras formally introduced the octave after discovering the mathematical nature of music. • Experimenting with strings, he essentially realized the most important pitches in relation to a tonic note were the perfect fourth and perfect fifth of the notes.
Major Scale • The Major scale in Western music always follows a certain pattern. • W – W – H – W – W – W – H • W = Whole Step H = Half Step • Interval – the distance between pitches • Octave – eight pitches – the first and last tone of a major/minor scale.
Minor Scale • By flatting the 3rd, 6th, and 7th note, we get a minor scale to emphasize sad, sorrowful, or scary feelings in music • W-H-W-W-H-W-W (the white keys starting at A)
Harmony • Pitches organized vertically and heard simultaneously, produce chords. • Chords produce harmony. • A chord is three or more simultaneous sounds • Movement from one chord to the next produces a chord progression.
Chords • A major chord is made of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th note of the scale. • C = C – E – G • A minor chord is made by flatting the third degree of the scale…. So E flat instead of E natural • C minor = C – E flat - G
Chord Progression • The tonic, or (I) chord is the chord of rest, or home base – Example C, or D • The dominant, or (V) chord, is the chord of movement – Example G, or A • The subdominant, or (IV) chord – F, or G • So, a I, IV, V chord progression would be C, F, G or D, A, G.
Duration (Time) • The length of an entire piece of music • The length of a section of music, such as movement in a symphony • The length of phrase or musical thought • The length of one note • Tempo – the rate of speed
Rhythm • Variety of changes in pitch duration creates rhythm. • Tempo – speed of the music. • Meter – pulses organized into groups of two or three beats. • Syncopation – placing accents on weak beats or parts of beats producing syncopation.
Loudness, Tone Quality, Timbre • Loudness – sometimes referred to as dynamics – combination of loudness and softness – Beethoven and Nirvana. • Tone Quality – Timbre – of Various instruments – learn to listen – woodwinds, percussion, electric instruments, brass.
Working together • Highs and lows of pitches • Durations of pitches and their organization • Dynamic levels of different instruments and parts • Tone Qualities • Pulse, meter • Tempo
Texture • Dissonance – sounds that require resolution. • Consonance – sounds that create resolution. • Texture – whether music is thick and full, or thin and light. • Layering – single melody, melody with accompaniment, two or more melodies, layering of different rhythms, nonmelodic textures.
Genres and Forms • Form is the structure and shape of a piece of music. • 32 Bar song form - Tin Pan Alley • Verse/Chorus, Verse/Chorus, Bridge, Verse/Chorus, End • 12 Bar Blues • Sonata