Introduction to MUSIC “Music is one form of sound, but not all sounds are music.”

1. Introduction to MUSIC “Music is one form of sound, but not all sounds are music.”

2. Musical Structure • Sound • Tone • Melody • Rhythm • Meter • Measure • Time Signature • Notes • Rests • Tempo • Harmony • Texture

3. Sound • As the pressure of air changes rapidly, the ear-brain detects the changes as sound. • Sound waves and vibrations • Some sounds are musical and some are noise.

4. Sound • Musical tones consist of a series of regular, evenly timed vibrations recurring in a pattern. • Noise tones consist of random and irregular vibrations. • Irregular vibrations cause unrest while ordered vibrations soothe.

5. Tone • The basic element in a musical tone is pitch. • Without this element a tone would forever remain on the same level.

6. Tone • The pitch is determined by the number of vibrations that occur during a second: • the greater number of vibrations causes a higher pitch • the fewer vibrations, the lower the pitch

7. Tone • Pitch– the highness or lowness of a tone. • Duration– the length or count a tone is held (the amount of time) • Intensity– the loudness or softness of a tone • Timbre– tone quality – the particular sound of a tone for voice or instrument.

8. Melody • Melody exists when tones are arranged on a staff in a meaningful manner • Melodies are often called a “tune.”

9. Melody • Disjunct – where there are great intervals between low and high parts of the melody. • The melodies have a tendency to be dramatic. • Many people have trouble singing The Star Spangled Banner because of the discrepancies in intervals.

10. Melody • Conjunct – where intervals between low and high parts of the melody are attainable by most voices and are lyrical and pleasing to hear.

11. Rhythm • Not only do notes go up and down on the musical staff, but some notes are held longer than others – usually in a pattern. • This is called the rhythm of a piece. • It has a “beat.” • The most distinctive rhythmical “beat” is the drum – it is the easiest to hear and follow.

12. Meter • Rhythm is usually written in patterns with certain patterns being repeated several times within the body of the work. • The pitch may move up and down, but the rhythm remains the same. • The meteris the accent within the various phrases or patterns that make up the piece of music. • Meter keeps a piece from being presented in a monotone manner

13. Measure • Counts or beats are grouped together to form measures. • Measures may contain two, three, or four more counts. • Measures are separated by bar lines. • A piece of music no matter how simple contains many measures.

14. Measure

15. Time Signature • The grouping of counts into measures is indicated by the time signature, which appears at the beginning of each song. • The marks that indicate the time signature are called clefs. • The mark on the top staff is called a base clef. • The top number of the time signature tells how many beats there are in each measure • The bottom number tells what kind of note is to receive one count.

16. Time Signature

17. Notes • In most music the fundamental beat is assigned to the quarter note. • If the quarter note gets one beat (count), then a whole note gets 4 beats (there are four quarters in a whole). • If the fundamental beat is an eighth note, it would get one count. • If an eighth note is assigned one beat, then a 6/8 time signature would indicate that the eighth note gets one count and that there are six counts to a measure.

18. Notes

19. Rests • A sign indicating that for a specified time the music ceases – at least in one of the parts. • For each of the notes there is a corresponding rest indicated by a special sign.

20. Rests

21. Rests

22. Tempo • Like poetry or drama, where the voice accelerates to add to the feeling of speed or slows down to emphasize a passage – written music also has indicators to guide the performer. • The words are usually in Italian. • Accelerando: for moving ahead • Ritardando: for slower movements

23. Harmony • Harmony involves the blending together of two or more notes which adds richness and depth to the melody. • In written music, harmonyis referred to as a chordwith three or more tones sounded simultaneously.

24. Harmony • If the chord sounds pleasing to the ear, it is said to be harmonious or consonant. • If the chord sounds harsh to the ear, it is said to be dissonant.

25. Texture • When there is an interweaving of layers of sound, it is called a texture.

26. Texture • When a melody is sung or played alone it is called a monophonic texture. • Several voices or instruments combined in a number of different ways is called a polyphonic texture.