Elements of Music

1. Elements of Music The Enjoyment of Music

2. Melody: Musical Line • Definition – coherent succession of single pitches • Pitch – refers to the highness or lowness of a tone depending on the rate of vibration (faster=higher) • Interval – distance between two pitches (small or large) • Range – distance between the melody’s lowest and highest tones • Shape – determined by the direction a melody takes as it turns upward or downward or remains static • Example p. 3

3. Melody cont • Conjunct – small intervals in a joined or connected manner • http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=ikQNFqVkNNc • Disjunct – disjointed or disconnected intervals • http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=veUJxETj7-c

4. Melody - Structure • Phrase – denotes a unit of meaning within a larger structure • Cadence – the phrase ends in a resting place, which punctuates the music in the same way that a comma or period punctuates a sentence • Example – prokofiev

5. Melody - Structure • Rhyme Scheme – poem that describes the similarity in sound of the last syllables in each line • Countermelody – “against the melody” • http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=0gF-Wzp8Ni8

6. Rhythm • Rhythm – the element that organizes movement in time • Beat – regular pulsation heard in most Western styles of music, some stronger than others known as accented beats (2,4 or 1,3) • Meters – patterns into which rhythmic pulses are organized and marked off into measures • Meter is a broader term. While rhythm encompasses the overall movement of music in time, meter is the actual measurement of time

7. Rhythm - patterns • Duple meter – two beats to a measure • Triple meter – three beats to a measure http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=2RskSMhNPoM • Quadruple meter – common time, four beats • Simple meter – subdivided into four • Compound meter – subdivided into three • Example p.8

8. Rhythm - patterns • Upbeat – begins with the last beat of the measure (America, the Beautiful) • Syncopation – a deliberate upsetting of the normal pattern of accentuation (accenting the weak beat instead of the strong beat) http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=pMAtL7n_-rc • Example p. 11 • Polyrhythm – (many rhythms) two against three or three against four http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=pMAtL7n_-rc • Additive meter – grouping of irregular numbers of beats that add up to a larger overall pattern

9. Harmony: Musical Space • Harmony – describes the movement and relationship of intervals and chords • Chord – when three or more tones sound together • Scale – collection of pitches arranged in ascending or descending order • Syllables – do-re-me-fa-sol-la-ti-do • Octave – do-do, or 1-8

10. Function of Harmony • Triad – most common chord in Western Music, a combination of three tones • Tonic – first degree of the scale • Tonality – organization around a central tone • Major and minor scales – degrees 1-8 in an arrangement of whole and half steps depending on major min http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=Qb_jQBgzU-Ihttp://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=N6K_IuBsRM4 • Diatonic – melodies or harmonies that are built from the tones of a major or min scale • Chromatic – describes the full gamut of notes available in the octave

11. Consonance and Dissonance • Dissonance – a combination of tones that sounds discordant, unstable, in need of resolution http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=qj9QlWltv8s • Consonance – combination of musical tones that provides a sense of relaxation and fulfillment • Drone – (far East) harmony takes the subsidiary role of a single sustained pitch http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=amNF_F6oeRU

12. Texture • Monophonic – single voiced • Heterophony – 2 or more, usually improvised • Polyphony – many voiced, 2 or more different melodic lines at once • Counterpoint – note against note, one musical line set against another • Homophony – a single voices takes over the melodic interest while the accompanying parts take a subordinate role http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=zR0ZJyEhNx0

13. Texture: counterpoint • Imitation – a melodic idea is presented in one voice and then restated in another http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=KdiHaWHJNc8 • Canon and round – each voice enters in succession with the same melody • Retrograde – a statement of the melody backward beginning with the last note • Inversion – turns the melody upside down, follows the same intervals but in the opposite direction • Retrograde inversion – upside down and backwards • Augmentation – melody to be presented in longer time values • Diminution – melody is presented in short time values

14. Musical Form • Variation – some aspects of the music are altered but the original is still recognizable • Improvisation – creating music on the spot • Binary form – two part A-B • Ternary form – A-B-A two part, repeat first part • Example p. 25

15. Form • Theme – when a melodic idea is used as a building block in the construction of a musical work • Thematic development – elaborating or varying a musical idea http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=N6K_IuBsRM4 • Sequence – idea may be restated at a higher or lower pitch • Motive – smallest fragment of a theme that forms a melodic-rhythmic unit • Call and Response – responsorial musichttp://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=uiB6vT5HT3U • Ostinato – a short musical pattern that is repeated • Movement – a complete, comparatively independent division of a large-scale work

16. Tempo • Tempo – rate of speed • Tempo markings • Grave, very, very slow • Largo, very slow • Adagio, quite slow • Andante, walking • Moderato, moderate • Allegro, fast • Vivace, lively • Presto, very fast

17. Dynamics • Dynamics – denote the volume at which music is played • pianissimo (pp), very soft • Piano (p), soft • Mezzo piano (mp), moderately soft • Mezzo forte (mf), moderately loud • Forte (f), loud • Fortissimo (ff), very loud • Crescendo and decrescendo