Transcript Elements of Music

Elements of Music
A Basic Introduction
to the Fundamentals
of Music
Purposes of Music
• Why do we create and listen to 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”
• Examples from recent popular culture
– Pitch Perfect
– The Pentatonix
– Straight No Chaser
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
p
mp
mf
f
ff
pianissimo
piano
mezzo piano
mezzo forte
forte
fortissimo
very soft
soft
mod. soft
mod. loud
loud
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