MUSI 1003: Elements of Music

What is Music?

Music can be defined as organized sounds (and silences), even when they are organized by our perception of them as music.

Pitch

Refers to our perception of the frequency of sound waves (the rate of vibration which we measure in cycle per second also known as Hertz)

Pitch - Tuning Systems

12 tone equal tempered turning

Chromatic scale

Pitch - Turning systems - Scale/Mode/Key

Major vs Minor

Major: tone - tone - semi - tone - tone - tone - semi

Minor: tone - semi - tone - tone - semi - tone - tone

Pitch - Melody: phrase, contour, ornamentation

Melodic phrases, contour (harmony), ornamentation

Pitch - Harmony - Interval/Chord/Chord Progression

Intervals: major and minor

Chords: revolve around key (I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii)

Chord progression: stable vs unstable, matching and moving

Sound - Dynamics

Low/High Amplitude determines how loud or quiet a sound (vibration) is

Range: ppp - fff (pianississimo - fortississimo)

Sound - Timbre - Sound envelope

Timbre is dependant on sound envelop (shape of amplitude)

Describes how sound changes in volume over time

Timbre: Sound envelope; ADSR model

Attack: Time it takes for the sound to go from silence to peak

Decay: Time it takes for sound to drop from peak to sustain level

Sustain: Level of volume sound maintains while note i sbeing held (think piano key)

Release: Time it takes for sound to fade to silence after note is released

Timbre: harmonic spectrum

Made up of:

1. fundamental frequency: lowest frequency produced, our ears perceive as the actual pitch of the note

2. Overtones/harmonics

= spectrum

Sound - Duration - Pulse

A sequence of regularly spaced sounds

Sound - Duration - Rhythm - Meter

Examples:

Take five - Dave Brubeck Quartet (5/4)

Money - Pink Floyd (7/4)

Golden Brown - The Stranglers (alt 7/8 or 13/8 [instrumental sections] and 6/8 or 3/4 for vocal sections])

Sound - Duration - Rhythm - Groove

Cold sweat - james brown
Emphasis on beat 1

**microtiming

Sound - Tempo

tempo is tempo :)

Sound - Form - Shape

Defined as the variation in some parameter of sound over time

12 Bar Blues Form

1. 12 Bar structure

2. Three chord harmonic structure (I, IV, V)

3. Importance of call and response: often 2 bar vocal call, 2 bar instrumental response

4. Three-line lyric structure in AAB form

Sound - Form - Structure

Structure can be defined as the relationship between the parts of a piece of music and the relationship of those part so of the whole

AAAAA, AABAABA, ABABCAB, AABA

Example of AABA form

Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Wizard of Oz

Try a Little Tenderness - Otis Redding

Form: Sonata-Allegro Form

intro

Exposition

theme 1, bridge, theme 2, closing theme

Development

any or all themes developed, retrainsition

Recap

theme 1, bridge, theme 2, closing theme

**option coda

EXAMPLE: Eine Kleine