ALL MUSIC HAS VALUE

TO SOMEBODY

What is Music?

What is Music?

• The Organization of Sound in Time

What is Music?

• The Organization of Sound in Time

• Sound

• Time

• Organization

Hearing vs Listening

• Passive listening (hearing) - being mildly aware of sound

• Active listening - concentrating on sounds.

Properties of Objects

• Size

• Shape

• Color

• Texture

Elements of Music

•Pitch

•Duration

•Dynamics

•Timbre

Pitch

• High or low sounds (notes)

Pitch

• High or low sounds (notes)

• Melody - the “tune”. A series of pitches heard one at a time.

• Motive - a short, instantly recognizable idea. Like a musical "word". Usually, a melody consists of several motives.

Pitch

• Harmony: Two or more sounds heard at the same time. Chords.

• Consonant - stable sound

• Dissonant - unstable sound

Pitch

• Interval - The distance between two pitches.

• Conjunct - step (small interval)

• Disjunct - leap (large interval)

Pitch

• Vibrato - a rapid, slight variation of pitch.

• Produces a stronger, richer tone.

• Done by voices and instruments (many, but not all).

Pitch

• Phrase - Part of a melody - when singing, as much as you sing in one breath

Pitch

• Shape - the contour of a melody - mapping out the highs and lows.

Pitch

• Cadence - Resting place. Complete (final / permanent) or incomplete (temporary or a mid-way pause).

• A phrase will often end with a cadence.

“The Ball”

• Watching an unfamiliar sporting event

• It is difficult to try to absorb all the rules and protocols immediately

• My advice, “Watch the ball”. The ball is the object of primary importance.

• Watch the ball to try to follow gameplay.

• In music, the melody is “the Ball”.

Pitch = Frequency

• Frequency is measured in Hertz, or cycles per second.

• The sound wave vibrates a number of times per second, and it in turn produces a specific pitch or note.

• A=440 is a standard tuning pitch for instruments. 440 cycles per second is the pitch A.

Frequency

• 440 Hertz is a tuning A.

• Human hearing commonly extends from 20 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz (or 20 KiloHertz KHz).

Duration

• The element of time.

Duration

• Beat - the steady pulse that flows through a piece of music.

• Fast or slow

• May be easy to hear (or feel), or it may not be.

• Nonmetric - If the beat is not evident.

Duration

• Meter - how the beats are grouped.

• Most often in either in 2, 3 or 4 (most common)

• Usually first beat is accented.

• Occasionally, meter is in another grouping.

Duration

• Tempo - the speed of the beats.

• Fast or slow.

• Remember, the beat usually remains steady

Duration

• Rhythm - a pattern of beats and accents, shorts and longs.

• Often the rhythm is a pattern that repeats.

Duration

• Syncopation - when the emphasis falls on a beat that is normally not accented.

• An exception in “classical” music, but a feature of “popular” music.

Dynamics

• Volume. Loud or soft

• The relative loudness or softness.

• Relative - loud to a flute is not the same as loud to a trumpet!

Dynamics

• p = piano - soft

• f = forte - strong (or loud)

• Mezzo- = medium or half

• -issimo = very

Dynamics

• pp = pianissimo

• p = piano

• mp = mezzo-piano

• mf = mezzo-forte

• f = forte

• ff = fortissimo

Dynamics

• pp - p - mp - - mf - f - ff

• -3 -2 -1 (0) 1 2 3

Dynamics

• Crescendo - gradual increase in volume

• Decrescendo - gradual decrease in volume

• Subito - sudden change in volume

Timbre

• A description of the actual sounds you are hearing.

Timbre

• Timbre can be a list of the instruments or voices that you hear.

• Timbre can also refer to the variations in tone color of a specific instrument (a bright guitar or dark voice).