Year 7/8

The 6 Concepts of Music

Name: __________________ Class: ____
_______

Date: __ __ / __ __ /

1. Pitch
The concept of pitch relates to high and low sounds in music. Pitch
also relates to harmony in music major and minor chords. Major
chords sound happy and bright. Minor chords sound sad and gloomy.
High sounds

Low sounds

Draw a picture of something that has a

high pitch.

Draw a picture of something that has a

low pitch.

Major chords

Minor chords

Draw a picture of something that sound

happy and bright

Draw a picture of something that sounds

sad and gloomy

Pitch Listening.
Listen to the teacher play four excerpts of music on the piano and
identify if they are high, low, major or minor.
1. Is this melody high or low ?
2. Is this melody high or low ?
3. Is this a major or minor chord?
4. Is this a major or minor chord?
2. Duration

The concept of duration relates to the length of the notes in music,

long and short sounds. Duration also relates to the speed of the
music, we call this the tempo of the music.
Short sounds

Draw a picture of something that uses

short sounds

Fast tempo

Draw a picture of something that sounds

fast

Long sounds

Draw a picture of something that uses

long sounds

Slow tempo

Draw a picture of something that sounds

slow

Duration Listening.
Listen to the teacher play four excerpts of music on the piano and
identify if they are short, long, fast or slow.
1. Is this melody using short or long notes?
2. Is this melody using short or long notes?
3. Is this melody being played fast or slow ?
4. Is this melody being played fast or slow ?

3. Structure
The concept of structure relates to how a piece of music is put
together. We can also describe structure as the different sections
that make a piece of music. The most common type of structure in

music is used in popular music. Most pop songs have an

introduction, verses and a chorus that is repeated. Pop songs also
have bridges and instrumentals to make the song interesting.
Structure Listening.
Listen to the following pop song and using dot points, write down
the structure of the song. The song begins with an introduction.
Introduction

4. Texture
The concept of texture relates to the layers of sound in a piece of
music. If there are many layers we describe the texture as thick. If
there are fewer sounds we describe the texture as thin.
Thick texture

Thin texture

Draw a picture of something that has

many layers

Draw a picture of something that has

one or two layers

Texture Listening.
1. Is this song using a thick or thin texture?
2. Is this song using a thick or thin texture?

5. Dynamics
The concept of dynamics relates to soft (piano) and loud (forte)
sounds in music. Dynamics also relates to music getting louder
(crescendo) and music getting softer (decrescendo).
Loud (forte) sounds

Soft (piano) sounds

Draw a picture of something that is loud

Draw a picture of something that is soft

Crescendo

Draw a picture of something that gets

louder

Decrescendo

Draw a picture of something that gets

softer

Dynamics Listening.
Listen to the teacher play four excerpts of music on the piano and
identify if they are soft (piano), loud (forte), getting louder
(crescendo) or getting softer (decrescendo).
1. Is this melody loud or soft ?
2. Is this melody loud or soft ?
3. Is this melody getting louder or getting softer ?
4. Is this melody getting louder or getting softer ?

6. Tone Colour
The concept of tone colour relates to the quality of a sound. For
example, a flute sounds bright and airy and a clarinet sounds woody and
mellow.
Tone Colour Listening.
Use one word to describe the tone colour of the following sounds.
1. ________________________________

2. ________________________________
3. ________________________________
4. ________________________________