G C S E M U S I C E L E M E N T S O F M U S I C W O R K B ... · Concerto in C minor, ... M U S I C...
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G C S E M U S I C – E L E M E N T S O F M U S I C W O R K B O O K
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THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC
SAMPLE WORKBOOK
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INTRODUCTION The different kinds of music played and sung around the world are
incredibly varied, and it is very difficult to define features that all music
shares; one piece might be characterised as a melody supported by an
accompaniment of chords, but another might have neither melody nor
harmony (chords) but still be regarded as music.
When we try to get inside music and understand how it works, we usually do this by identifying
different ‘elements’ that can be described separately – while remembering that in reality we hear
all of these elements simultaneously.
The first thing we can do in defining these elements is to distinguish the ways in which sounds are
differentiated from each other from the arrangement of these different sounds in time. The ways in
which sounds can be distinguished from each other are many (pitch, timbre/sonority, loudness and
so on) and they need to be picked apart a little further. Pitch is defined by the frequency of
vibration of a sounding body (a string, a column of air, a metal plate, etc.). Faster vibrations give
rise to ‘higher’ pitches, slower vibrations to ‘lower’ pitches. The description of pitch as relatively
‘high’ or ‘low’ is reflected in the notational convention of indicating higher pitches (those involving
faster vibrations) higher on a musical staff than low pitches. A succession of pitches gives rise to
melody; simultaneous pitches define harmony. Most real-world sounds comprise not a single
frequency of vibration but a complex mixture of frequencies, and this combination gives rise to the
perception of timbre/sonority: timbre/sonority is one of the principal elements that allows us to
distinguish a clarinet from a trumpet, for example, or to distinguish between the voices of two
singers. Although usually considered rather lower down in the list of elements, timbre/sonority
plays an essential role alongside melody and harmony in western music, and can be one of the
most important elements, especially in music that uses instruments without definite pitches.
Similarly, dynamic contrasts (between louder and softer sounds) are important in many kinds of
music. As for the ways in which different sounds are arranged, this gives us the broad category of
musical time (under which come rhythm, metre, tempo and pulse). This is also linked to other
phenomena, such as melody and harmony, since they involve the arrangement of sounds in time,
as noted above; melody and harmony are placed among the most important elements in western
music.
Finally, we must consider the ways in which different voices and instruments combine. This is
partly a matter of timbre/sonority (since different combinations of instruments have distinctive
timbral/sonorous characteristics) and partly of dynamics (i.e. dynamic levels and their variations),
but it can also be much more than that; the ways in which different lines of the music combine
together is described as its texture, which is another important aspect of music that we can
investigate. This gives us the following list of musical ‘elements’ which can be grouped in related
clusters, in the order in which they are discussed in
the following section:
TIME: DURATION, PULSE, METRE,
TEMPO, RHYTHM.
PITCH: MELODY, TONALITY, HARMONY.
TEXTURE, TIMBRE/SONORITY,
DYNAMICS.
A general introduction
outlines the Learning
Objectives covered in the
Elements of Music Workbook
A general introduction
outlines the Learning
Objectives covered in the
Elements of Music Workbook
Key 2016 GCSE (9-1) Music
Musical Vocabulary used
throughout
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ACTIVITY 1 We’re going to begin exploring the ‘elements’ of music by looking at Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C
minor, a piece of late eighteenth-century western art music, with a duration of about half an hour.
It is divided into three sections called MOVEMENTS. We’ll begin by exploring the second
movement, the ‘slow movement’ of the Concerto.
Listen to the opening bars of the second movement on Elements Audio 1 and try to establish the
METRE. How many beats do you think there are to the bar: two, three or four? Try counting the
music in different ways (in twos, threes and fours) to establish what METRE you think the
movement has?
ACTIVITY 2 Look at the score of this passage from the second, (‘Larghetto’), movement of Mozart’s Piano
Concerto in C minor, given as SCORE 1 on the following pages. In this version of the score, the
orchestral parts have been reduced onto two staves, to make them easier to read. Look at the
opening bars, which are for piano only. Don’t worry if you are not used to reading a score on more
than one staff. All you are looking at is the number of beats in the bar – how many are there?
ACTIVITY 3
Now listen to Elements Audio 2, which repeats this passage, this time continuing a little further to
bar 12. As you do so, try to follow the score, given as SCORE 1 on the following pages. For most
of this passage you can just concentrate on the piano part, and particularly the upper staff of the
piano part, which carries the melody. You only need to follow the orchestral part in bars 5-8.
Think about the rhythmic character of bars 1-12.
How might you describe the rhythm of this music?
Does it have clearly defined PHRASES – is it easy to break up into short chunks – or are the
phrases difficult to identify?
Does the rhythm have sudden contrasts, or does it flow smoothly?
Does the rhythmic character of the music change during this passage?
Space in the Pupil Booklet
allows them to record their
answers and responses
Musical Scores are provided
to allow pupils practice in
Score Reading
All of the Audio and Video
Media Files available to
complete activities.
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The basic notation of a song in pop or jazz is called a LEAD SHEET. It usually consists of the
melody (the ‘lead’), with lyrics if there are any, and indications of the accompanying harmony using
chord symbols as a shorthand. In jazz, lead sheets provide an aide memoire for a core repertoire
of standards (often American popular songs) with which jazz musicians are expected to be
familiar, but also provide a basis for sharing new compositions. The lead sheet provides only a
rough guide for performances, as the same composition can be performed in infinitely different
ways. Most significantly, jazz musicians will also decide on a particular ‘feel’ for their interpretation
– a combination of the tempo and ‘groove’, for example swing or bossa nova – which provides the
rhythmic basis for the performance. Even the melody and harmony are rarely performed simply as
notated on the lead sheet – often the rhythm of the melody is treated very freely, and different
harmonies are added or substituted. Of course, many elements of a jazz performance are not
usually represented on the lead sheet at all, such as a bass line, drum part and patterns for
accompanying chordal instruments such as guitar and piano, which, along with solos, are usually
improvised in accordance with the chosen ‘feel’ for the performance.
ACTIVITY 14
Listen to the first 0’54” of Veena Sahasrabuddhe’s performance of a composition called ‘Ranga de
rangarejavaa’ given on Elements Audio 5 following notation given below as you listen. The
notation has been given in two forms, firstly, the traditional Indian notation and secondary
transcribed into traditional western standard notation.
‘Ranga de rangarejavaa’ (Raga Madhmad Sarang, teental) as sung by Veena Sahasrabuddhe,
first line in Indian notation. The top row (3, X, 2, 0) indicates the structure of the tala or metre: X marks beat 1 but occurs in the middle of the line
because the piece begins on beat 12. The letters on the second row indicate the main notes to be sung.
‘Ranga de rangarejavaa’ (Raga Madhmad Sarang, teental) as sung by Veena Sahasrabuddhe,
first line transcribed in western standard With indications of the tala structure added. Written at the pitch used for the recording; the Indian notation indicates
only relative pitch.
How much does the notation tell you about the music you hear on the recording?
Includes World Music in
addition to music from The
Western Classical Tradition
and Popular Music
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THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC KEY WORDS
Key Word Meaning Understood
(tick) Signatures
(staff, student, parent)
Chord
Duration
Dynamics
Harmony
Lead Sheet
Melody
Metre
Mode
Motif
Movement(s)
Notation
Includes space for pupils to record
their own definitions or meanings of all
Key Musical Vocabulary including the
opportunity for testing and revision
and monitoring by staff, student and
parents.
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Learning Outcomes
(Grade 1-3)
(Grade 4-6)
(Grade 7-9)
Signatures (staff, student, parent)
I can list the Elements of Music from memory
I can describe the musical elements associated with “Time” –
Duration, Pulse, Metre, Tempo and Rhythm
I can establish the Metre of different pieces of music when listening
I can describe the Rhythms of different pieces of music when
listening and compare and contrast rhythmic features
I can describe the musical elements associated with “Pitch” –
Melody, Harmony and Tonality
I can describe the Melody of different pieces of music when
listening and compare and contrast melodic features, melodic
movement and melodic shape
I can identify the Tonality (key signature) of different pieces of
music
I can describe the musical elements of Texture, Timbre/Sonority
and Dynamics
I can identify changes of Texture, Timbre/Sonority and Dynamics
when listening to a piece of music
I can describe what Musical Notation is
I can identify what Elements of Music are indicated on a musical
score
I can identify what elements of music are indicated on a Lead
Sheet
I can describe how musical notation is used during live musical
performances
I can comment on how much musical notation tells about the music
heard on a recording
I understand that there are different types of musical notation and can identify
what different elements of music different forms of musical notations tell the
performer and cab describe the limitations of different types of musical notation.
A self-assessment of Learning
Outcomes allows pupils the
opportunity to reflect on their own
learning, together with a chance for
monitoring by staff, student and
parents.
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THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC
SAMPLE TEACHERS NOTES
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ACTIVITY 1
This activity encourages pupils to count out the metre to the second movement of Mozart’s Piano
Concerto in C minor, K491 in different ways. By actively “counting out the metre” in different ways,
pupils should have been able to discount a three-beat metre as a possibility – counting three to
this music shouldn’t have felt plausible at all. Both two and four should have been more
comfortable: the music is like a gentle walk, with a clear BINARY METRE (i.e. regular to-and-fro
as in the alternation between left and right foot). Without looking at the score, pupils may have
found it impossible to be sure whether the music is in two- or four- time. So either two or four is a
correct answer.
ACTIVITY 2
The arrangement of the bars shows that there are four crotchet beats per bar.
ACTIVITY 3
Pupils should have identified that the music has clearly defined phrases.
Bar 1, for instance, seems like a clearly defined unit or phrase; so do bars 2, 3 and 4. So, the first
four bars (shown below) consist of four little phrases, which together form a longer unit – pupils
may like to think of this as a ‘sentence’. Unlike verbal language, music has no absolute definition
of what a ‘phrase’ is, so there are various possible ways of describing this music. Some musicians
might think of the whole four bars as one long phrase, with each bar forming a ‘sub phrase’. But
what matters is that pupils can hear that the four bars consist of four separate little units, which
come together to form the whole four-bar-long melody.
Mozart, Piano Concerto in C minor, K491, second movement, bars 1-4
The overall impression of the rhythmic character of this music is that it flows smoothly, and that
there are no sudden contrasts of rhythm. There are notes of different lengths – crotchets, quavers,
some dotted rhythms, but nothing interrupts the rhythmical flow of the music. There are some
contrasts in this music, but they are mostly caused by things other than changes in rhythm. The
orchestra answers the piano at bar 5, with a loud phrase followed by a soft phrase. This is
certainly a contrast to the sound of the piano. But the rhythm is the same as the piano’s opening
bars. Where the rhythm does change is at the next piano entry, at bar 9. Here, the rhythm
becomes simpler, forming a repeating pattern of crotchet and quavers:
ACTIVITY 4
The movement opens with a couple of quite long notes. This may make it difficult for pupils to
establish the pulse and metre straight away. Mozart is being deliberately ambiguous, only
gradually revealing what the metre and pulse of the music are. But, once the music gathers
energy, it becomes clearer that the pulse is quite fast, and is in three-time. In other words the
music has a three-beat (or ternary) metre.
Full discussion and answers to pupil
activities are given in the
accompanying “Teacher’s Notes”,
together with sample scores and
diagrams to clarify concepts and
learning.