THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC If you play a "C" on the piano and then sing that "C", you and

1. RHYTHM the piano have

Rhythm is the element of "TIME" in music. When you tap your foot to obviously produced the same pitch; however, your voice has a
the music, you different sound
are "keeping the beat" or following the structural rhythmic pulse of the quality than the piano. Although the scientific principles of
music. There musical acoustics are
are several important aspects of rhythm: beyond the scope of this course, it is safe to say that each
• DURATION: how long a sound (or silence) lasts. musical instrument or
• TEMPO: the speed of the BEAT. voice produces its own characteristic pattern of “overtones,”
(Note: Tempo indications are often designated by Italian terms):
which gives it a unique
Largo = "large" or labored (slow)
Adagio = slow "tone color" or timbre. Composers use timbre much like
Andante = steady "walking" tempo painters use colors to
Moderato = moderate evoke certain effects on a canvas. For example, the upper
Allegro = fast ("happy") register (portion of the
Presto = very fast range or compass) of a clarinet produces tones that are
2. DYNAMICS brilliant and piercing, while
All musical aspects relating to the relative loudness (or its lower register gives a rich and dark timbre. TEXTURE
quietness) of music fall under Texture refers to the number of individual musical lines
the general element of DYNAMICS. (melodies) and the
The terms used to describe dynamic levels are often in Italian: relationship these lines have to one another.
pianissimo [pp] = (very quiet) NOTE: Be careful not to confuse the number of musical lines with the number of
piano [p] = (quiet) performers
producing the musical lines.
mezzo-piano [mp] = (moderately quiet)
Monophonic (single-note) texture:
mezzo-forte [mf ] = (moderately loud) Music with only one note sounding at a time (having no
forte [f ] = (loud)
harmony or
fortissimo [ff ] = (very loud)
accompaniment).
Other basic terms relating to Dynamics are:
Homophonic texture:
Crescendo: gradually getting LOUDER
Music with two or more notes sounding at a the same time,
Diminuendo (or decrescendo) : gradually getting QUIETER
but generally
Accent: "punching" or "leaning into" a note harder to featuring a prominent melody in the upper part, supported
temporarily emphasize it. by a less
3. MELODY intricate harmonic accompaniment underneath (often based
Melody is the LINEAR/HORIZONTAL presentation of pitch on
(the word used to homogenous chords—BLOCKS of sound).
describe the highness or lowness of a musical sound). Many Polyphonic texture:
famous musical Music with two or more independent melodies sounding at
compositions have a memorable melody or theme. the same time.
THEME: a melody that is the basis for an extended musical The most intricate types of polyphonic texture— canon and
work fugue—may
Melodies can be derived from various scales (families of introduce three, four, five or more independent melodies
pitches) such as the simultaneously!
traditional major and minor scales of tonal music, to more This manner of writing is called COUNTERPOINT.
unusual ones such as (MELODY)
(Chordal
the old church modes (of the Medieval and Renaissance Accompaniment)
periods: c. 500–1600), the MELODY 1
MELODY 2
chromatic scale and the whole tone scale (both used in MELODY 3
popular and art-music Imitative texture:
styles of the late 19th and 20th-century periods), or unique Imitation is a special type of polyphonic texture produced
scale systems devised in whenever a
other cultures around the world. musical idea is ECHOED from "voice" to "voice". Although
Melodies can be described as: imitation can be
• CONJUNCT (smooth; easy to sing or play) used in monophonic styles, it is more prevalent in polyphonic
• DISJUNCT (disjointedly ragged or jumpy; difficult to sing or art-music—
play). especially from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
4. HARMONY 6. MUSICAL FORM
Harmony is the VERTICALIZATION of pitch. Often, harmony The large-scale form of a musical composition can be
is thought of as the projected via any
art of combining pitches into chords (several notes played combination of the musical elements previously studied.
simultaneously as a Traditionally, however,
"block"). These chords are usually arranged into sentence-like musical form in Western music has been primarily associated
patterns called with the order of
chord progressions. melodic, harmonic and rhythmic events (or the text) in a piece.
Harmony is often described in terms of its relative Letters (i.e., A, B, C)
HARSHNESS: are used to designate musical divisions brought about by the
• DISSONANCE: a harsh-sounding harmonic combination repetition of melodic
• CONSONANCE: a smooth-sounding harmonic combination material or the presentation of new, contrasting material. Some
Dissonant chords produce musical "tension" which is often of the most common
"released" by musical forms are described below:
resolving to consonant chords. Since we all have different BASIC FORMS (more sophisticated forms will be covered later in this book)
opinions about Strophic Form: a design in VOCAL music, in which the same
consonance and dissonance, these terms are somewhat music is used
subjective. Binary Form a two-part form in which both main sections are
Other basic terms relating to Harmony are: repeated (as
Modality: harmony created out of the ancient indicated in the diagram by "repeat marks"). The basic premise
Medieval/Renaissance modes. of this
Tonality: harmony that focuses on a "home" key center. form is CONTRAST:
Atonality: modern harmony that AVOIDS any sense of a Ternary Form a three-part form featuring a return of the initial
"home" key center. music after a
contrasting section. Symmetry and balance are achieved
5. TONE COLOR (or TIMBRE -pronounced through this
"TAM-BER") return of material: