Updated Elements of Music (1)

PART I: ELEMENTS OF MUSIC

Overview of Music

• Vital part of human society

  • Provides entertainment and emotional release

  • Accompanies various activities

  • Ubiquitous presence in modern life

• Recorded music as a 20th-century innovation, enabled by:

  • Internet access

  • Portable audio devices

• Live performance adds unique excitement

  • Experience influenced by emotional state of performer and audience

  • Importance of evaluating music performances

    • Contrast between background music and active listening

    • Perceptive listening enhances enjoyment

    • Knowledge of musical elements improves perception

Sound as a Fundamental Element

• Characteristics of sound:

  • Pitch

  • Dynamics

  • Tone color

  • Duration

• Our world is filled with sounds, both pleasant and unpleasant; humans can focus on and ignore specific sounds

  • Sound originates from vibrating objects and is transmitted through media like air

  • Vibrations cause eardrums to vibrate, leading to brain processing

• Music defined as organization of sounds in time

Pitch

• Defined as the highness or lowness of sound

  • Determined by the frequency of vibrations

    • Fast vibrations = high pitch; slow vibrations = low pitch

  • General principle: smaller vibrating objects yield higher pitches

  • Definite pitch = tone, e.g., 440 cycles per second = the note A

  • Irregular vibrations yield indefinite pitch

• Key terms:

  • Interval: distance between two tones

  • Octave: doubling/halving frequency, blending tones an octave apart

  • Western music divides octave into 12 tones; non-western music may differ

  • Range: the distance between highest and lowest tones available to a voice or instrument

Dynamics

• Represents the relative loudness of sound

  • Connected to amplitude of vibrations

  • Changes can be sudden or gradual

• Key terminology:

  • Accent: a tone played louder than surrounding tones

  • Italian terms used for dynamics include:

    • ppp (pianississimo), fff (fortississimo)

    • Crescendo: build-up in loudness

    • Decrescendo (diminuendo): decrease in loudness

Tone Color (Timbre)

• Quality that distinguishes the sound of an instrument

  • Descriptions include bright, dark, mellow, etc.

  • Changes in tone color provide variety and contrast

• Specific melodies associated with specific tone colors

• Unlimited variety; composers blend instrument sounds for new tones

• Modern technologies contribute to creating new tone colors

Understanding Music through Listening

• Listening Outlines & Vocal Music Guides: help focus on musical events and features

  • Listening outlines identify notable musical sounds

  • Vocal music guides help follow lyrics and stories

• Suggestions for effective listening:

  • While listening to one passage, anticipate what follows

Performance Media: Voices and Instruments

• Voices: unique fusion of words and tone

  • Vocal range determined by physical structure and training

  • Classifications:

    • Female: soprano (highest), mezzo-soprano, alto

    • Male: tenor (highest), baritone, bass (lowest)

  • Vocal music often accompanied by instruments

• Instruments: mechanisms producing musical sounds

  • Six categories:

    • String

    • Percussion

    • Woodwind

    • Keyboard

    • Brass

    • Electronic

  • Varied sizes for range and tone color

String Instruments

• Produce sound via vibrating strings

  • Shorter and tighter strings yield higher pitch

• Key orchestral bowed instruments:

  • Violin, viola, cello, double bass

• Common techniques: pizzicato, vibrato, tremolo, double stop, harmonics, mute

• Some instruments played without a bow (e.g., guitar, harp)

Woodwind Instruments

• Traditionally made of wood; now also metal and plastic

• Tube length determines pitch; holes adjust sound length

• Main orchestral woodwinds:

  • Sounds through player’s breath; single note instruments

• Types:

  • Whistle mouthpiece, single reed, double reed instruments, saxophone

Brass Instruments

• Orchestral brass instruments arranged by range:

  • trumpet, french horn, trombone, tuba

• Sound produced by vibrating lips against a mouthpiece

  • Pitch altered by lips (pressure) and instrument lengthening/sliding

  • Employing mutes alters tone color

Percussion Instruments

• Sounds produced by striking, shaking, or rubbing instruments

  • Some have definite pitch; others sound like noise

• Requires versatility; traditionally focused on rhythm

  • Increased use in 20th-century music

Electronic Instruments

• Generate/amplify sound using electronics

  • Introduction around 1904; broad impact post-1950s

• Key developments in technology:

  • Tape studio during the 1950s

  • Synthesizers prominent in 1960s

  • MIDI technology (1983) allowed connection of devices

  • Modern composers integrate technology into new compositions

Rhythm

• Flow of music through time; defined by note lengths

• Key concepts:

  • Beat: recurrent pulsation organizing music into time units

  • Meter: grouping of beats; common in 2s and 3s

  • Accent: note emphasis

  • Syncopation: unexpected beat emphasis

Tempo

• Indicates the speed of the beat, affecting emotional impact

  • Often specified at the beginning of a piece using Italian terms

  • Metronome provides exact tempo

Music Notation

• Essential for composing and sharing musical ideas

  • Notates pitch, rhythm, meter, and harmony

• Notating Pitch:

  • Uses letter names (A-G) and staff systems

Notating Rhythm

• Indicates tone duration relative to others

• Rests represent silence within notation

Notating Meter

• Time signature shows music's meter at the beginning and during changes

  • Top number: beats per measure

  • Bottom number: note type representing one beat

Melody

• A recognizable series of notes that has a distinct beginning, movement, and end

• Involves tension and release, with various motions:

  • Stepwise vs. leap motion

  • Climax points and phrasing

• Features sequences within melodies and cadences (complete/incomplete)

Harmony

• Refers to chord structure and progressions

  • Chord: three or more simultaneous tones

  • Stable (consonant) vs. unstable (dissonant) chords, with resolutions enhancing harmony

• The triad is a basic chord consisting of three notes

  • Tonic (1st scale note): most stable, often beginning and ending pieces

  • Dominant (5th scale note): most tense, offering conclusive movement to tonic

Key

• Central note or harmony; influences the scale's mood

  • Major scale: bright, happy sound; minor scale: dark, sad sound

Key Signature

• Major and minor scales utilize signatures indicated at the beginning

• Chromatic scale encompasses all 12 notes of the octave

Modulation

• Key change within a piece, providing contrast and a return to the tonic key

  • Tonic key denotes the primary key, lending resolution

Musical Texture

• Layering of sound and their interrelations

  • Monophonic, polyphonic, and homophonic textures

  • Changes in texture create variety

Musical Form

• Organization of musical elements; creates coherence

  • Techniques: repetition, contrast, and variation

• Types of Musical Form:

  • Ternary (A-B-A), Binary (A-B), with subdivisions

Music Categories

• Art Music: Requires training, enduring quality

• Folk Music: Culturally specific, often passed down orally

• Popular Music: Appeals to mass audiences currently

Musical Styles

• Characteristic usage of elements in creating music

• Western Art Music historical periods:

  • Middle Ages (450-1450)

  • Renaissance (1450-1600)

  • Baroque (1600-1750)

  • Classical (1750-1820)

  • Romantic (1820-1900)

  • 20th Century (to 1945) and then 1945 to present

• Each period influenced by socio-political factors.