Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Part 1: Elements
Responses to musical performance/an artist is subjective and rooted in deep feeling
Basic elements of Music include: rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, and texture
In order to be considered music, these aspects must be met:
Sound, organization by a human, moving through time, and the intent of eliciting an
aesthetic response (in a human)
I. Sound: Pitch, Dynamics, and Tone Color
Sound
Begins w/ the vibration of an object, which are transmitted to our ears by a medium (~air)
o Causes our eardrums start vibrating
o Impulses (signals) are transmitted to the brain and are selected, organized &
interpreted
Music is based on the org. of sounds in time
Distinguished by other sounds by recognizing 4 main properties of musical sounds:
Pitch, dynamics, tone color, and duration (length of time a musical sound lasts)
Pitch- relative highness/lowness that we hear in a sound
Tone- a sound that has a definite pitch
Vibrations of a tone are regular and reach the ear at equal time intervals
o Noise-like sounds have an indefinite pitch bc theyre produced by irregular
vibrations
Interval- distance in pitch b/w any two tones
Octave- when tones are sep. by the interval and sound much alike
Octave cycles and frequency #s are used to distinguish notes
Dynamics- degrees of loudness/softness
Loudness related to amplitude of vibration that produces the sound
Gradual inc. in loudness often creates excited
o Dec. = calamity
Accent- an emphasis in dynamics
Italizian words are notated in music to indicate dynamics
Tone Color (Timbre)- the quality that distinguishes two different sounds at the same time
Can be desc. By words bright, dark, brilliant, mellow, and rich
Creates variety & contrast; can be used to highlight a new melody
Diversity of different expressive effects
Listening Outlines, Vocal Music Guides, and the Properties of Sound
Stravinskys The Firebird, Finale Scene 2 vs. Ellingtons C-Jam Blues
Qualifying words are sometimes are sometimes added to tempo indications to make more
specific
2 common examples: molto (much) & non troppo (not too much)
allegro molto (allegro molto)
allegro non troppo (not too fast)
Same temp. not used throughout a piece:
o Accelerando (becoming faster)