Transcript Music Elements and Terms Defined

The Elements of Music
Basic Terms to Understand as a
Song Leader
Sound: Pitch, Dynamics, and
Tone Color
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Pitch - The high or low quality of sound
Dynamics - The loud or soft quality of
music
Tone color - Also known as timbre,
refers to the unique quality of sound
Dynamics
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Forte --f,ff,fff-loud
Piano --p,pp,ppp-very soft
Mezzo ---mf,mp--medium
Crescendo --gradually louder
Decrescendo,diminuendo --gradually
softer
Voices
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Women’s Voices
– Soprano or 1st Soprano
– Mezzo-soprano
– Alto
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Men’s Voices
–
–
–
–
Falsetto
Tenor
Baritone
Bass
Rhythm
The flow of music through time; the pattern of
durations of notes and silences in music
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Beat - the pulse of music
Meter - the grouping of beats
Tempo - the speed of the beat
Accent - a pitch that is played more
loudly, held longer or is higher in pitch
than the nearby notes
Syncopation - When an accented note
comes where we would normally not
expect it
Tempo Markings
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Molto-much
Moto-Ritard means slow down exceedingly
Troppo - too much (fast or slow)
Poco – Literally “little by little”
Accelerando - gradually faster
Ritardando - gradually slower
A Tempo – Return to original tempo after
Ritard
Rubato – means “Robbed”. A lingering on
some notes and hurrying of others; free from
strict tempo.
Tempo Terms
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Grave, Very Slow
Largo, Lento – Slow
Larghetto, A little faster than Largo
Adiago, Moderately Slow
Andante, “Walking” Tempo
Andantino, A little faster than Andante
Allegretto, A little slower than Allegro
Allegro, Fast
Vivace, Lively
Presto, Very Fast
Prestissimo, Very Very Fast
Moderato, Moderate(ly)
Accel, Accelerando, Gradually becoming faster
Rit., Ritardando, Gradually becoming slower
Music Notation
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Notating pitch
– Staff: the five lines and four spaces on
which music is written
– Note: an oval which represents a specific
pitch
– Clef: placed at the beginning of the staff,
the clef assigns pitch names to the lines
and spaces
Music Notation
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Notating Rhythm
– Durations: the color of the note and the
presence of stems or flags and beams and
dots affect the duration of a note
– Rests: symbols for pauses with specific
durations
Music Notation
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Notating meter
– Time signature: placed next to the clef,
the top number of the time signature
indicates the grouping of beats and the
bottom number indicates what kind of note
will receive one beat.
Melody
A succession of pitches which add up to a
recognizable whole
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Intervals: the distance between two
pitches
Sequence: the repetition of a melodic
pattern at a higher or lower pitch
Harmony
the vertical aspect of music
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Chord: a combination of three or more
notes sounded simultaneously
Consonance: harmony that is stable
and restful to the ear
Dissonance: tense and unstable
harmony that demands onward motion
to stable harmony (resolution or
resolve) voice - Intonation
Key - Tonality
the homing instinct of music
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Major scale: a succession of eight pitches
arranged from low to high, based on the
intervals of the white keys of a piano
Minor scale: a succession of eight pitches
arranged from low to high, based on a
specific pattern of whole and half steps which
results in a dark quality of melody and
harmony
Key-Tonality
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Chromatic scale: a series of 12 pitches
based on the black and white keys of
the piano
Modulation: the shifting from one key
to another
Texture
layers of sound
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Monophonic: a single unaccompanied
melody line
Polyphonic: two or more independent
melody lines happening simultaneously
Homophonic: melody plus
accompaniment