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Musical Terms

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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Musical Terms

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  1. Musical Terms

  2. Basic Elements of Music • Melody • Rhythm • Texture • Harmony • Loudness • Tone • Basic Structure • Context

  3. More Basic Elements of Music • Pitch • Duration • Intensity • Waveform • Derived from sound waves.

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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)

  10. 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.

  11. 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

  12. 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.

  13. 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

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. 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

  17. 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.

  18. 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

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