An Introduction to Music

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Contents
Why living Music is so Important
What is Music
Fundamental Blocks for Music

Melody
Harmony
Rhythm
Lyrics*

Mapping between key terms in Indian and western music

Expressing Emotions through Music

Why live Music

Music - Essential Life Component

Human Brain has natural

affinity towards music. A
musical activity improves
intellectual brain activity.
Music skills enhance Self
Confidence, Social Bonding
and Success in society .
Playing music helps in
bringing down Stress levels
and improves overall health
and well being.

From Loving
to music
Living Music
Actively
playing
(living
music) is infinitely more
enjoyable than passively
listening to it

Every Human being has the

potential to evolve into a
Musical genius with proper
training and Practice

Music Organized Sound evoking Emotions

Organized

Sound

Rhythmic patterns

Pitch / Frequency

Melodic Phrases

Timbre / Voice

Harmonic Progressions

Loudness / Dynamics

evoking

Emotions
Wide melodic range, Consistent strong rhythm, Major Chords
Narrow melodic range, Slow rhythm, Minor Chords
Wide melodic range, Rhythm variations, Mixed Chords

Building Blocks of Music

Song /

Lyrics
Rhymes

Rhythm

Composition

Meter

Syllables

Harmony

Melody
Scale

Chord Progressions

Phrase

Musical Note
Duration
Beats

Pitch
Frequency

Intensity

Timbre

Tempo

Musical Note
Duration
Duration tells
how long the
note lasts or the Time Value
of the note
This is usually expressed in
Beats (measure of time in
music)

Whole note
4 Beats

Half Note
2 Beats

Quarter Note
1 Beat

Eighth Note
half Beat

Time value of Notes

Pitch helping
Auditory property
sound to be perceived as
higher or lower

Higher Notes
Lower Notes

Depends on Frequency,
expressed in Hertz (cycles
per second)

Quarter Note A on Staff = 440 Hz

Tone and Note

A sound of a specific frequency and pitch is referred to as a Musical Tone.
In addition to these Tone has following Attributes
Intensity: A measure of loudness
Tones of specific frequency are referred to as Musical Notes and have
associated names. E.g. Notes, C, D, E, F in western music
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Melody Musical Scales

A Musical Scale
consists of a
Overview
collection of Notes with pre
defined Pitch distances
Notes with Frequency difference
of two times are said to be an
Octave apart.
In a commonly used Equal
Tempered scale, the Notes are
divided equally into several parts,
usually 12

C5
B

440 Hz

392 Hz

F
E

The Ratio of Frequencies of

adjacent intervals is fixed 1.059
approx (12th root of 2)

523 Hz

349 Hz

D
T

Each Step is referred to as a

Semitone (S) and 2 steps as Tone
(T)

Middle C
(C4)

261.5 Hz

Music Scale shown over 12 Equal Temperaments

The Note A above middle C with

frequency of 440 Hz is used as
Tuning Standard in Western Music 7

Melody Musical Scales

Most of the Music systems in the world use Diatonic Scale as the basic
framework for musical Compositions which follows same pattern of Pitch
distances T T S T T T S
8

E F

B C

Guitar

Piano
5

Staff
Notation

English Notes

Indian Notes

Sa Re Ga Ma

Pa Dha Ni Sa

Spanish Notes

Do Re Me

So

D
T

Pitch gaps in a Diatonic Scale

Fa

La Ti

Diatonic Notes Names in various Music Systems

Do

Instrument Ranges
Human Voice
Concert Piano
Violin
Bass Guitar
Guitar

C0

C1

C2

C3

C4
Middle
C

C5

C6

C7 Octave C8

Every Instrument has a limited Range of Pitches it can play

Most Vocalists have a Vocal Range of 2-3 Octaves. Some people can go
upto 3.5 or even 4
Sound of same frequency from different Sources sounds very similar
even if tone quality (or timbre) is very different. Sound of Frequency in
factors of 2 (Octaves) sounds very similar
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Musical Phrases
Melody is created using different patterns of Notes in a Musical Scale
Musical phrase is a unit in Composition which has complete musical
sense
A melody typically consists of several consecutive musical phrases.
Phrases usually culminate into a more or less definite cadence.
Cadence is musical melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a
sense of Resolution

Twin

kle

Twin kle

lit

tle

star

how

Example of a common Melody

10

won der

what you are

Harmony
Combinations of certain notes sound pleasant and certain others sound
annoying (dissonant) based on harmonic interaction between different
frequencies
Simultaneous notes of different pitches produce Chords, which provide
fundamental building block for Harmony in Western Music
The study of Harmony involves chords and their construction and chord
progressions.
Consonance
and or
Dissonance
Consonance
is a chord
Interval that
sounds pleasant to most people and
appears to be at Rest.

Consonances are generally points of

arrival, Resolution or Rest. Most
Harmonies and Melodies end on
Consonance Chords
Dissonance appears to be Unpleasant and
at Unrest
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C Chord = C + E + G

Example of C Chord on
Piano and guitar

Chord Progressions
Series of Chords that establish a Tonal Function for each Chord to
produce Harmonic Flow
Change of Chord, or "chord change", generally occurs on an accented
Beat,
Most Common Chords consist of Triads (3 notes) Formed using alternate
notes. E.g. CEG = C Chord, GBD = G Chord
Chords created using Bass notes of various Scale Degrees of the Tonic
(Key) are often referred to with equivalent Roman Numerals. E.g. in the
Key of C, C Chord = I, F Chord = IV, G Chord = V
3 Chord Progressions

I
I
I
I

IV
IIV
IV

-VV
IV V
-IV
- V - IV

Circle Progressions

I-V-I
I - IV - V - I
Examples of Chord Progressions

12

Blues Changes

I-I-I-I
IV - IV - I I
V-V-I-I

Rhythm
Rhythm

Rhythm is regulated succession of strong and weak elements and made up of

sounds and silences.
The strong and weak elements (sounds and silences) are put together to form a
pattern of sounds which gets repeated
A rhythm has a steady beat, but it may also have different kinds of beats.

Tempo

Metric Level

Speed or Pace of a given

piece
Can affect the mood and
difficulty of a piece.
Usually expressed in
Beats per minute

Basic Unit of time that

can be audible
Also called Beat level
Repeating series of
identical distinct
periods

Whole note
4 Beats

Meterof music
Organization
into regularly recurring
measures of stressed
and unstressed "beats
Indicated in Western
music notation by a
time signature and barlines.

Quarter note
1 Beat

Half note
2 Beats

Beat Level

Multiple Levels

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Eighth note
1/2 Beat

Division Level

Expressing Emotions through Music

Emotion

Melody

Rhythm

Harmony (Chord/
Tonality)

Happiness,
Excitement

Wide Range

Consistent,
Strong, Loud, Fast

Major

Love, Affection,
Tenderness

Medium

Gentle,
Medium Tempo

Major

Sadness

flat

Slow

Minor

Tranquillity

flat

Smooth, Gentle

Major/Minor

Triumph,
Ecstasy

Wide Jumps

Energetic,
Loud,
Fast

Power Chord

This is only a Rough Guideline. The infinitely complex musical structures and patterns allow
Infinitely Complex Emotions to be Expressed with Music

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We welcome your involvement in living music

THANK YOU

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