elements of music a basic introduction to the fundamentals of music

Elements of Music

A Basic Introduction

to the Fundamentals

of Music

Purposes of Music

• Convey specific emotions

• Tell stories

• Imitate sounds of nature

• Persuade others

• Invoke meaning

• Recreation/relaxation

The Main Purposes for this Course

• Ceremonial: ritual, celebration, commemoration

• Recreational: a means of diversion to support recreational activities – dances, social gatherings, festivals

• Artistic Expression: communicate emotions, feelings, ideas, or information (narrative)

Basic Elements/Terminology

• Melody: Main theme/tune of the piece

• Harmony: Accompanying parts that are not the melody. They blend with/support the melody

• Rhythm: Patterns of sounds and silence – it’s the pulse/beat and how it is organized

Elements Continued…

• Tempo: Speed of the beat or pulse and the changes that occur to it.

• Dynamics: Degrees of loudness and softness

• Timbre/Tone Color: The quality of sound as determined by the instruments or voices that are performing the music.

• Form: The organization/structure of a musical composition.

Pitch, what is it?

• The sound of music is actually the waves that carry the sound from the initial vibrating item (instrument/vocal chords) to the listener’s eardrum.

• The number of waves or cycles per second determines the pitch. (This gives us melody and harmony)

How do these have an effect on the other elements of music?

Effects…

• Dynamics/Volume – vertical size of the wave

• Timbre/tone color – shape of the wave and overtones created by combining waves

• Rhythm – when the sounds of the waves start and stop

Melody: How the pitch changes and the pitch location

• There are four types: – Repeated pitches– Stepwise motion– Movement in skips– Motion in leaps

Harmony

• Help to determine the key or tonality (tone) of the music (In conjunction with the melody)

• Major = happy or cheerful sounding

• Minor = sad, gloomy, uneasy, spooky

• Modal = major or minor but with a few notes that “don’t fit”

Things we will cover later…

• Pentatonic scale

• Whole tone scale

• Atonal music

Texture – An aspect of harmony

• Texture = thickness of sound– Monophonic: “one sound” music is performed

in unison; everyone plays or sings the same part at the same time. Therefore, Harmony doesn’t exist in monophonic music.

– Homophonic: “same sound” music has multiple or different parts being sung or played, but they are done at the same time. Melody and harmony exist, but melody rules!

Texture continued…

• The final texture-– Polyphonic: “many sounds” music has

multiple, independent parts that are sung or played at the same time. Each part is as important as the others. Because the parts overlap, there is usually no silence, making this the thickest sounding type of the three.

A minor point:

• Vocal music that is performed without accompanying instruments is called “a capella”

Tonality or Key

Sharp = raises the pitch by ½ step

Flat = lowers pitch by ½ step

Natural= cancels a sharp or flat

Key Signature

• Another place you will find these symbols is at the beginning of a piece of music. Combinations of these symbols make up the “key signature”

• The key signature tells the musicians which notes are played or sung throughout the piece of music.

Key Signature

Rhythm

• The most complex element of music.

• Defined as the patterns of sounds and silences that make music move through time. Written as a fraction w/o the line.

• Usually top number= multiple of 2 or 3.– Multiple of 2 = duple meter– Multiple of 3 = triple meter

Rhythm continued…

• Top number tells how many beats are in each measure.

• Bottom number tells what kind of note is equal to one beat.

Silence counts as well…

• The duration of silence in music is notated using rests. Observe the following and note the similarities to the note values.

Tempo

• The speed of the beat of the music.• Traditional tempo markings are done in

Italian terms.• The following are the most common tempo

markings:– Allegro – Fast– Moderato – Moderate– Adagio – Slow– Largo – Very Slow

VOLUME!!!! or Dynamics

• Dynamics are the degrees of loudness or softness (volume) and intensity of sound.

• Based off of two main Italian words – – Forte = strong and loud– Piano = soft

Common Dynamic Markings

• pp pianissimo very soft

• p piano soft

• mp mezzo piano mod. soft

• mf mezzo forte mod. loud

• f forte loud

• Ff fortissimo very loud

Greek Music

• Most of what we know is associated with the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras.

• He discovered how mathematical proportions were important in creating the musical scale.

• Logically, music is mathematical in nature.

More on Pythagoras

• Discovered certain mathematical proportions applied to the length of strings created pitches of different intervals.

• Octave – 2:1• Perfect 5th – 3:2• Perfect 4th – 4:3

Greek Mythology

• Music was created by the Gods and Demi-gods such as:

– Apollo– Amphion– Orpheus

People with musical talents were considered divine

Thoughts on Music

• Music was almost all monophonic

• Aristotle believed that music should lead a person to have noble thoughts.

• Music was believed to affect character; it was strictly regulated.

• Greek Purposes for Music: instruct, inspire, alter mood

Instruments

• Lyre: a small handheld harp – inspiration for lyric poetry, or poetry recited while the harp was played or strummed

• Aulos: a cross between oboe and bagpipes. Used in worship of Dionysis. Accompanied the greek theater, and thus the name for the “chorus” as singers/chanters in the play