ELEMENTS OF MUSIC

 Listening to music for a music class is different than just listening to your favourite song on the radio.  You need to listen for certain things and think about it in a more academic way.  The elements of music are a group of musical terms to describe many different aspects of the music that you hear.  If you follow these elements, it gives you a way to think about different parts of the music and examine each part separately in detail. WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC?

1.Dynamics 2.Rhythm 3.Melody 4.Harmony 5.Timbre THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC ARE: 6.Instruments 7.Texture 8.Form 9.Mood 10.Imagery

 Volume level of the music  pp – pianissimo (very soft)  p – piano (soft)  mp – mezzo piano (medium soft)  mf – mezzo forte (medium loud)  f – forte (loud)  ff – fortissimo (very loud)  Crescendos and Decrescendos (gradual change in dynamics) 1. DYNAMICS

 Can be broken down into 3 separate parts 1.Tempo – speed 2.Duration – length of notes and rests 3.Meter – beat or pulse 2. RHYTHM

 Speed of the music  Largo – slow  Andante – walking speed  Moderato – medium  Allegro – fast  Presto – very fast  And more… 2. TEMPO

 Sounds and silences in rhythmic patterns  Busy rhythms – fast-moving notes with few rests  Sparse rhythms – lots of space, long held notes and long rests  Syncopation – e q e  Ostinato – repeated rhythmic pattern  Driving rhythms - like continuous eighth notes 2. DURATION

 Beat or pulse in the music  Simple meter – the beat can be subdivided into 2  Includes – 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, etc.  Compound meter – the beat can be subdivided into 3  Includes –6/8, 9/8, 12/8, etc. 2. METER

 Pitch  Can be high or low  Shape  Can be smooth (like a scale) or jagged (big interval jumps)  Key  Major, minor, other mode, atonal (does not have a center) 3. MELODY

 Notes played at the same time that blend together into one sound.  Harmonies can be:  Consonant – stable sounds (i.e. major chord or perfect fifth)  Dissonant – unstable sounds (i.e. cluster chord or diminished interval)  Chord Progression – Analysis of the chords in the piece and how they relate to each other. 4. HARMONY

 Certain tonal quality of a voice or instrument  Bright timbre – i.e. oboe, violin, trumpet, high soprano voice.  Dark timbre – i.e. clarinet, cello, baritone voice, low notes on organ. 5. TIMBRE

 We can hear…  Single instruments  Instrument Families  Strings  Woodwind  Brass  Percussion  High or low groups  Upper - violin, flute, trumpet  Middle – viola, clarinet, horn  Bass line – cello, bassoon, tuba 6. INSTRUMENTS

 Texture can be:  Monophonic – 1 melodic line  Homophonic – 1 melodic line harmonized with a few voices and a simple accompaniment.  Polyphonic – 2 or more independent melodies 7. TEXTURE

 Form can be analyzed in sections  Using letters  ABA form  ABACA (Rondo) form  Using song form (Pop music)  Chorus, Verse, Bridge, Intro, Outro  Using Italian “road mapping” terms  Coda, D.C., D.S., Fine 8. FORM

 Music can have different moods.  Happy  Playful  Calm  Energetic  Gloomy  Mysterious  It’s up to you to describe! 9. MOOD

 Composers may write music with an image or story in their mind. This is called programmatic music.  Lots of music doesn’t have a story attached to it, so you need to “paint your own picture” from what you hear.  Other elements (like instruments and dynamics) can contribute to the imagery of a piece. 10. IMAGERY

 In a listening selection many elements happen all at once, so choose the elements that stand out the most. As you get more practice in listening, you will be able to recognize more elements. Don’t feel like you have to address everything all at once.  Elements often change throughout the piece. For example, it may start off pianissimo and crescendo to fortissimo in the middle and back to pianissimo at the end. Make sure you describe where you are hearing this. You can do this by mentioning a time marker. (“At 3:24 on the recording …”)  Some elements can be subjective. For example, you might think the mood of a piece is “sad” and someone else might say it is “scary.” Both answers may be correct. However, if you said “happy”, that is wrong. Try to justify your choices and explain what you are thinking. HOW TO LISTEN TO MUSIC

HAVE FUN LISTENING! You can refer back to this presentation anytime you are listening to a piece of music to remind yourself of what you should be listening for.