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SURVEY OF MUSIC
FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS
Listening to Music, Chapters 2 & 3
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FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF MUSIC
Rhythm Pitch Timbre Texture Dynamics (Form)
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RHYTHM Rhythm: The
organization of time in music
We listen for regular beats
We listen for accents among the beats to define meter and measure
We listen for strength of accents to determine phrase
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RHYTHM Tempo governs the
rhythm’s 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
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RHYTHM Time Signatures
Rhythmic notation
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Music’s Rhythm Code
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Music’s Rhythm Code
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PITCH Pitch: The highness or
lowness of a tone in music
Most instruments, including the human voice, are designed to produce various pitches
Pitches in rhythm are called notes
A sequence of notes in music is a melody
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PITCH Two or more pitches
sounding together create harmony
Pitches perceived to sound good together are consonant
Pitches perceived to sound bad together are dissonant
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PITCH: KEYS Pitches 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
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PITCH: KEYS Positions within
keys are: Tonic Supertonic Mediant Sub-Dominant Dominant Sub-Mediant, and Leading Tone
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PITCH: KEYS Key Signatures
Modes: Ionian Dorian Phrygian Lydian Mixolydian Aeolian Locrian
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Music’s Pitch Code Clefs anchor the
note locations on the staff
This is how performers know what note is supposed to be produced.
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Music’s Pitch Code
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TIMBRE Timbre: 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
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TIMBRE The 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
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TEXTURE Texture: The
consistency of musical sounds
Monophonic texture means only one line of music sounding alone
Homophonic means one line leads and the others support it
Multiple independent lines happening together is called polyphonic texture
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FORM Form: 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
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FORMEight Basic Categories of
Form:1) Strophic2) Binary3) Ternary4) Rondo5) Theme & Variations6) Sonata7) Fugue8) Through-composed
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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
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FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF MUSIC
Rhythm Pitch Timbre Texture Dynamics (Form)
