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Elements of Music
RHYTHM Rhythm – The term “rhythm” has more than one meaning. It can mean the basic, repetitive pulse of the music, or a rhythmic pattern that is repeated throughout the music (feel the rhythm). I can also refer to the pattern in time of a single small group of notes (play this rhythm for me).
RHYTHM Beat – Beat also has more than one meaning, but always refers to music with a steady pulse. It may refer to the pulse itself (“play this note on beat two of the measure”), or the moment when the pulse is strongest (on the beat / on the down beat), or the period between pulses (of the beat), or exactly halfway between pulses (the upbeat). It may aso refer to a specific repetitive rhythmic pattern that maintains the pulse (it has a Latin beat).
RHYTHM Measure / Bar – Beats are grouped into measures or bars. The first beat is usually the strongest, and in most music, most of the bars have the same number of beats.
RHYTHM Rhythm Section – The rhythm section of an ensemble is the group of instruments that usually provide the background rhythm and chords. The rhythm section almost always includes a percussionist and a bass player. It may also include piano and / or other keyboard players, more percussionist and guitarist.
RHYTHM Syncopation – Syncopation occurs when a strong note happens either on a weak beat or off the beat.
MELODY Melody is one of the most basic elements of music. A note is a sound with a particular pitch and duration. String a series of notes together, one after the other, and you have a melody. But the melody of a piece of music isn’t just a string of notes. It’s the notes that catch your ear as you listen; the line that sounds most important is the melody.
MELODY Melodic Line – The string of notes that make up the melody.
MELODY Ornaments / Embellishments – extra notes, such as trills and slides, that are not part of the main melody but are added to the melody either by the composer or the performer to make the melody more complex and interesting.
MELODY Contour / Shape – the pitches may go up or down slowly or quickly. One can picture a line that goes up steeply when the melody suddenly jumps to a much higher note, or that goes down slowly when the melody gently falls.
MELODY Conjunct – a melody that rises and falls slowly, with only small pitch changes between one note and the next
MELODY Disjunct – a melody that rises and falls quickly with large intervals between one note and the next
MELODY Phrase – melodies are often described as being made up of phrases. They are actually a lot like grammatical phrases. A melodic phrase is a group of notes that make sense together and express a definite idea, but it takes more than one phrase to make a complete melody.
MELODY Motif – is a short musical idea, shorter than a phrase, that occurs often in a piece of music.
MELODY Theme – is generally at least one phrase long and has several phrases. Many longer works have more than one melodic theme.
TONALITY Tone – the sound produced by an instrument or singer
TONALITY Tone Quality – may refer specifically to the “quality”, as when a trombonist is encouraged to have a “fuller” or “more focused” tone; or it can refer neutrally to differences in sound, as when an orchestra trombonist is asked to play with a “brassy” sound in one passage and a “mellow” tone in another
FORM Form – is the overall pan or structure of a piece of music
FORM Theme and Variation – is a piece of music that is expected to have a main theme or motif that is repeated several times with slight changes in either rhythm, tone, or style: A A’ A’’ A’’’
FORM Rondo – has several themes or motifs that are structured in a repeated manner: A B A C A D A etc.
FORM Strophic – has one theme or motif repeated indefinately: A A A A A
FORM Binary – has two themes or motifs, one played after the other: A B
FORM Ternary – has two themes or motifs, where one theme is played between the other: A B A
FORM Sonata – is an extension of the ternary form, often called the sonata allegro / compound binary. This form has an exposition (A), development (B), and the recapitulation (A). This form will also often contain an introduction and a coda.
TIMBRE Timbre / Color – a basic element of music that describes all of the aspects of a musical sound that do not have anything to do with the sound’s pitch, loudness, or length. It is the difference in the sound of a flute and an oboe.
Complete Vocabulary Rhythm Beat Measure / Bar Rhythm Section Syncopation Melody Melody Line Ornaments / Embellishments Contour / Shape Conjunct Disjunct Phrase Motif Theme Tone Tone Quality Form Theme and Variation Rondo Strophic Binary Ternary Sonata Timbre / Color
