MARY GRACE NACION

J3A
The Elements of Music
Beat and Meter - In order to define meter, let's first define beats. Beats give music its
regular rhythmic pattern. Beats are grouped together in a measure; the notes and rests
corresponds to a certain number of beats. Meter refers to rhythmic patterns produced by
grouping together strong and weak beats. Meter may be in duple ! beats in a measure",
triple # beats in a measure", $uadruple % beats in a measure" and so on.
Dynamics - &ynamics are abbreviations or symbols used to signify the degree of
loudness or softness of a piece of music. It also indicates whether there is a change in
volume.
Harmony - In general, harmony refers to the combination of notes or chords" played
together and the relationship between a series of chords. But to give you a better
understanding of harmony, let's first define melody. Melody refers to the tune of a song or
piece of music. It is created by playing a series of notes one after another. 'armony
accompanies and supports the melody. It is created by playing a group of notes either
simultaneously or as broken chords" behind the melody thus giving it musical te(ture.
P roperties of music
Rhythm : )hythm is the structure of the placement of notes in musical time. *o create
our rhythmic fractals, we used different types of rhythmic patterns and different note
lengths
Intervals : Intervals are the distances between notes in the musical scale. *hese are easily
measured in half-steps, which makes it very simple to create a simple fractal.
Dynamics : &ynamics are the changes in volume during a musical piece. *here are
appro(imately +-,- general dynamic levels which can have fractal properties. *hough we
did not use dynamic properties in our own fractals, they are another important aspect of
the frac
Pitch : .itch is the sound fre$uency of any given note. *his is an important part of
creating fractals as it allows a musical phrase to be raised or lowered in its pitch in order
to further an interval or rhythmic fractal
Three primary types of M usical instruments
,. trin! Instruments: generate a sound when the string is plucked, strummed, slapped,
etc. *he fre$uency of the wave generated and therefore the note produced" usually
depends on the length of the vibrating portion of the string, its mass, the tension of each
string and the point at which the string is e(cited; the tone $uality varies with the
construction of the resonating cavity.
"# Reed$%ind& Instruments: generate a sound when a column of air is made to vibrate
inside them. *he fre$uency of the wave generated is related to the length of the column of
air and the shape of the instrument, while the tone $uality of the sound generated is
affected by the construction of the instrument and method of tone production. *he group
is typically subdivided into Brass and /oodwind instruments.
3# Percussion
Instruments: create sound, with or without pitch, when struck. *he shape and material of
the part of the instrument to be struck and the shape of the resonating cavity, if any,
determine the sound of the
TYPES OF MUSIC
Classical Music
Ah yes, the music of the old days. The kind of music that most of us have
forgotten, yet listen to everyday. Because most of what we hear now is derived
from what the great classical composers created decades and centuries ago. We
may think of classical music as what orchestras play in a giant auditorium,
wearing black clothes, with a conductor frantically waving his staff about. That's a
very base description of something that the composers dedicated their lives to
Rock Music
The origins of rock 'n' roll are as foggy as the genre is popular. What I can offer
you is this the term was coined in !"## by Alan $reed, a disc %ockey from &hio.
The oldest form of rock 'n' roll '!"#(s) was a mi*ture of +,B, country and
rockabilly 'it was %ust called hillbilly music back then), only it was faster, louder
and 'dangerous'. The man at the forefront of this genre was 'and still is) -lvis
.resley, followed by personalities like /huck Berry and 0ittle +ichard.
Blues
The reason why blues became so popular can only be understood when you look
at its time of creation. The origin of blues is too unclear to pinpoint to one artist or
one year1 for the sake of historic importance, it's believed that the blues music
was created in the late !"th century, by the black slaves that were forced to work
in the cotton fields. Blues has firm roots in African traditional music. But above all
else, the purpose of making the blues is always the same the e*pression of
intense emotions. It is the one reason why this genre had such a profound effect
on America, and eventually the world.
Jazz is the second genre born from African traditional music. It is considered to
be America's first indigenous form of music. It is believed to have started after the
/ivil War, when the black people were free to travel and seek employment.
Electronic music is much older than you think. The first in the history of
electronic music was Thaddeus /ahill and his telharmonium in !2"3. 4ince then,
composers started using the concept of electronically generated music to
produce scores that were impossible to replicate by man through e*isting
mechanical instruments.
Folk music can be broadly classified into two groups, traditional folk and folk
revival. 5ot styles, like other genres. There is only one type 6 folk. The actual folk
songs are something that are indigenous to a culture, populari7ed at events and
passed down mostly orally.
Country music originated around the !"8(s, part in 4outhern 9.4. and part in
the Appalachian mountains. It comes from a combination of southern folk
songs, gospel and blues music. It all started with '4allie :ooden' by -ck
+obertson. ;is style was similar to what we can call country music. The
genre was made famous by <immie +odgers, who is also known as the
$ather of /ountry =usic.
R&B which stands for +hythm and Blues, was a name coined due to
need rather than style. >uring the ?(s, any music created by the African6
American populace was termed 'black music' or 'race music'. The term
was @uite offensive and therefore, stunted the growth and popularity of
the artists. In order to make it sound more upbeat, Billboard reporter
<erry We*ler coined +,B, and the phrase has stuck since then.
!i" !o"# The music of hip hop is %ust a part of the whole culture, a very
big part. The music is marked by a significant importance to the bass and
the beats, with rapping as the predominant vocal art form. Which is why
rap is a part of hip hop culture and therefore, its styles are also a part of
hip hop music.