Fundamental Elements Of Music

SURVEY OF MUSICFUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS

Listening to Music, Chapters 2 & 3

2 Lectures

FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF MUSIC Rhythm Pitch Timbre Texture Dynamics (Form)

RHYTHMRhythm: The organization of time in musicWe listen for regular beatsWe listen for accents among the beats to define meter and measureWe listen for strength of accents to determine phrase

CD Icon = Wright, Intro CD, Track #5 Hearing MetersRhythm Wright 14 / Meter Wright 16Example from poetry = Twas the Night Before Christmas4/4 = Yes, Owner of a Lonely Heart (CD track 1) // Irregular = Yes, Changes (CD track 4)

RHYTHMTempo governs the rhythms pace or speed

Tempo may be steady or uneven (rubato)

Syncopation is accenting weak beats rather than strong

Rhythm can be dominant or subtle implicit or explicit

RUBATO = Bach Cello Suites, disk 1, track 11SYNCOPATION = Jupiter (Media Player) at 7:39IMPLICIT/EXPLICIT = Peter Gabriel, Mercy Street (CD track 6)

RHYTHMTime Signatures

Rhythmic notation

Musics Rhythm Code

Musics Rhythm Code

Everything lines up vertically (the TIME axis)

PITCHPitch: The highness or lowness of a tone in musicMost instruments, including the human voice, are designed to produce various pitchesPitches in rhythm are called notesA sequence of notes in music is a melody

Pitch Wright 20 / Melody Wright 20Tuning Fork

PITCHTwo or more pitches sounding together create harmony

Pitches perceived to sound good together are consonant

Pitches perceived to sound bad together are dissonant

Harmony = Take 6 When You Wish Upon a Star Explain ratios to help describe consonance and dissonance

PITCH: KEYSPitches are organized in musical scales, and scales define keys

In Western music we have 12 major and 12 minor keys

Within each key, there are positions: some at rest and some in tension

Explain how each position holds tension or restsPlay Twinkle Twinkle, dont resolve

PITCH: KEYSPositions within keys are:

TonicSupertonicMediantSub-DominantDominantSub-Mediant, andLeading Tone

What they need to know = Tonic & Dominant

PITCH: KEYSKey Signatures

Modes: IonianDorianPhrygianLydianMixolydianAeolianLocrian

The names of the church modes are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian, and they match geographic or ethnic regions in ancient Greece. The philosophy writings of both Plato and Aristotle (approx 350 BCE) include large sections that describe the effect of different musical modes on mood and on character formation. For example, this quote from Aristotle's "Politics": "The musical modes differ essentially from one another, and those who hear them are differently affected by each. Some of them make men sad and grave, like the so called Mixolydian; others enfeeble the mind, like the relaxed modes; another, again, produces a moderate or settled temper, which appears to be the peculiar effect of the Dorian; and the Phrygian inspires enthusiasm." Both Plato and Aristotle believed that the modes to which a person listened molded the person's character. The modes even made the person more or less fit for certain jobs. The effect of modes on character and mood was called the 'ethos of music.'... So concepts like "Rock 'n roll can rot your mind" aren't really that new after all.

Musics Pitch CodeClefs anchor the note locations on the staff

This is how performers know what note is supposed to be produced.

Explain that the Treble clef is the G Clef, circling the note G

Musics Pitch Code

Everything lines up horizontally (the PITCH axis)Review pitch and rhythm in this example

TIMBRETimbre: The characteristics of the sound itself

We often use terms from the visual arts to describe musical timbre

Timbres often hold strong associations in our minds

CD Icon = Wright, Intro CD, Track #10-13 Instruments of the OrchestraWynton Marsalis, Silent Night with Kathleen BattleAlso called tone colorWindows Media Player Bars & Waves: Ocean Mist to see spectrum of frequencies for Intro CD tracks 10-13English association = Gabriel plays a trumpet (Handel) / German association = Gabriel plays a trombone (Mozart)

TIMBREThe sound of solo or section instruments is also an aspect of timbre

Certain composers were so good at creating and combining tone colors, we say their instrument was the orchestra

Play Berlioz, Beethoven, or Richard Strauss

TEXTURETexture: The consistency of musical soundsMonophonic texture means only one line of music sounding aloneHomophonic means one line leads and the others support itMultiple independent lines happening together is called polyphonic texture

CD Icon #1= Wright, Intro CD, Track #20 Hearing Musical Textures CD Icon #2= Wright, Intro CD, Track #19 Handel: MessiahMonophonic = ChantHomophonic = HymnsPolyphonic = Rounds

FORMForm: The structure of a musical composition

The primary elements of form are repetition, contrast, and variation

Forms range in scale from very small to very large

Contrast and Variation = Content (music) and Key (pitch level)Scale = Twinkle Twinkle to a Mahler Symphony

FORMEight Basic Categories of Form:StrophicBinaryTernaryRondoTheme & VariationsSonataFugueThrough-composed

Strophic Form = Repeated over and over (hymns and jazz tunes: Nutville)Binary Form = A / B = Contrast is in key area (art music)Ternary Form = also called Song form = A / B / A = B contrasts in music & key (Tchaik: Nutcracker on intro cd)Rondo Form = A / B / A / C / A / B / A (see picture on Wright, p.64)Theme & Variations = A primary theme and then some number of variations of style, key, treatment, etc.Sonata Form = Theme A (in tonic key) Theme B (other key) / Theme A (other keys) Theme B (tonic key)Fugue = Imitative contrapuntal form in which all voices (parts) enter sequentially in opposing keys, then develop.Through-composed = no formal constraints

DYNAMICS

Dynamics: The volume or loudness of the music

This may refer to contrast among sections of a piece, the mix within a piece, or the overall presentation

FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF MUSIC Rhythm Pitch Timbre Texture Dynamics (Form)

2 LecturesCD Icon = Wright, Intro CD, Track #5 Hearing MetersRhythm Wright 14 / Meter Wright 16Example from poetry = Twas the Night Before Christmas4/4 = Yes, Owner of a Lonely Heart (CD track 1) // Irregular = Yes, Changes (CD track 4)RUBATO = Bach Cello Suites, disk 1, track 11SYNCOPATION = Jupiter (Media Player) at 7:39IMPLICIT/EXPLICIT = Peter Gabriel, Mercy Street (CD track 6)

Everything lines up vertically (the TIME axis)Pitch Wright 20 / Melody Wright 20Tuning ForkHarmony = Take 6 When You Wish Upon a Star Explain ratios to help describe consonance and dissonanceExplain how each position holds tension or restsPlay Twinkle Twinkle, dont resolveWhat they need to know = Tonic & DominantThe names of the church modes are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian, and they match geographic or ethnic regions in ancient Greece. The philosophy writings of both Plato and Aristotle (approx 350 BCE) include large sections that describe the effect of different musical modes on mood and on character formation. For example, this quote from Aristotle's "Politics": "The musical modes differ essentially from one another, and those who hear them are differently affected by each. Some of them make men sad and grave, like the so called Mixolydian; others enfeeble the mind, like the relaxed modes; another, again, produces a moderate or settled temper, which appears to be the peculiar effect of the Dorian; and the Phrygian inspires enthusiasm." Both Plato and Aristotle believed that the modes to which a person listened molded the person's character. The modes even made the person more or less fit for certain jobs. The effect of modes on character and mood was called the 'ethos of music.'... So concepts like "Rock 'n roll can rot your mind" aren't really that new after all. Explain that the Treble clef is the G Clef, circling the note GEverything lines up horizontally (the PITCH axis)Review pitch and rhythm in this exampleCD Icon = Wright, Intro CD, Track #10-13 Instruments of the OrchestraWynton Marsalis, Silent Night with Kathleen BattleAlso called tone colorWindows Media Player Bars & Waves: Ocean Mist to see spectrum of frequencies for Intro CD tracks 10-13English association = Gabriel plays a trumpet (Handel) / German association = Gabriel plays a trombone (Mozart)Play Berlioz, Beethoven, or Richard StraussCD Icon #1= Wright, Intro CD, Track #20 Hearing Musical Textures CD Icon #2= Wright, Intro CD, Track #19 Handel: MessiahMonophonic = ChantHomophonic = HymnsPolyphonic = RoundsContrast and Variation = Content (music) and Key (pitch level)Scale = Twinkle Twinkle to a Mahler SymphonyStrophic Form = Repeated over and over (hymns and jazz tunes: Nutville)Binary Form = A / B = Contrast is in key area (art music)Ternary Form = also called Song form = A / B / A = B contrasts in music & key (Tchaik: Nutcracker on intro cd)Rondo Form = A / B / A / C / A / B / A (see picture on Wright, p.64)Theme & Variations = A primary theme and then some number of variations of style, key, treatment, etc.Sonata Form = Theme A (in tonic key) Theme B (other key) / Theme A (other keys) Theme B (tonic key)Fugue = Imitative contrapuntal form in which all voices (parts) enter sequentially in opposing keys, then develop.Through-composed = no formal constraints