Elements of Sound - Musical Identity

Musical identity

The combination of features that makes a piece or idea recognizable.

Rhythmic pattern

A recognizable arrangement of when sounds and silences happen.

Motive

A short musical idea that can return at different points in the music.

Ostinato

A musical pattern that repeats over and over.

Melody

The main tune or line of notes that you can usually sing or hum.

Melodic contour

The overall shape created by notes moving higher, lower, or staying around the same level.

Harmony

When different notes are heard together at the same time.

Chord

A group of notes heard together as one unit.

Harmonic progression

A series of groups of notes that occur one after another.

Pitch content

The specific notes chosen and used in a musical idea or piece.

Major/minor

Two different ways notes can be organized; one is commonly associated with a brighter sound and the other with a darker or more somber sound.

Timbre

The quality of a sound that lets you tell different instruments or voices apart, even when they play the same note.

Texture

How the different sounds or musical parts are combined and interact.

Tone

A steady sound where you can clearly hear a specific highness or lowness.

Sound wave

A disturbance caused by vibration that travels through something such as air.

Longitudinal wave

Particles move back and forth in the same direction that the disturbance travels.

Transverse wave

Particles move up and down or side to side while the disturbance travels forward in a different direction.

Amplitude

The size or strength of a vibration; a greater amount usually makes a sound louder.

Wavelength

The distance between one point of a repeating pattern and the same point on the next repetition.

Frequency

How many times a vibration repeats each second; a greater amount produces a higher sound.

Pitch

How high or low a sound seems to your ears

Ornament / Embellishment

Extra notes added to make a musical line more decorative or interesting.

Conjunct motion

Notes move mostly by small steps from one to the next.

Disjunct motion

Notes move with larger jumps from one to the next.

Cantus firmus

An existing tune that a composer uses as the base for other musical parts.

Imitation

A musical idea is introduced in one part and then repeated by another part or voice.

Melodic range

The distance between the highest and lowest notes in a tune.

Musical phrase

A group of notes that belongs together as one complete idea.

Antecedent phrase

The first part of a pair that sounds unfinished, almost like a question.

Consequent phrase

The second part of a pair that answers the first and sounds more finished.

Theme

An important, longer musical idea that may return throughout a piece.