Week 1: What is Music?LA RUE’STHE FIVE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC

La Rue’s Five Elements of Music

Sound Harmony

Melody Rhythm

Growth

SOUND Sound is what we hear, that are audible

Sound is comprised of three characteristics: Dynamic Range Timbre Texture

TIMBRE

The difference between the quietest and loudest volume of an instrument, part, or piece of music. We measure the ‘dynamic range’ from quiet to load.

DYNAMIC RANGE

Also known as “tone color” or “quality,” Timbre is the unique color and/or quality of a sound. It is timbre that helps us to distinguish one musical instrument from another (Ex: Violin vs. Piano)

TEXTUREThe number of ‘layers’ of melody used in a composition/song or how many musical lines are happening within a piece of music.

Monophonic – Only one melody line present, all singers/musicians play the same melodyeveryone in unison (literally “one sound”)

Polyphonic - Multiple (two or more) melodic lines blending together to make a piece of music

YouTube Video Example HERE

TEXTURE continued…

Homophonic – The word means “the same sound,” there is a single melody line with supporting harmony underneath.

Musical Example:Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb_jQBgzU-I

HARMONY Harmony or harmonics is when you have multiple pitches (more than

one) being played at the same time. In most cases, harmony occcurs in the simultaneous sounding of three or more pitches/notes which make up, what we call ‘chords.’

Much of the music we hear features a melody accompanied by a sequence of harmonics (a “harmonic progression”). This creates a homophonic texture as explained in Texture above.

It is comprised of three factors: Consonance vs. Dissonance Musical Phrases & Cadences Key & Mode (Shared with MELODY)

Consonance vs. Dissonance

Consonance Stable Pleasing Sound Sounds in ‘agreement’ with one

another

Dissonance Unstable Tension and Clashing Jarring

Musical Example of Consonance vs. Dissonance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Ph0sa0Gc0

Musical Phrasing Just as we naturally divide our words into sentences, we can

naturally divide most melodies into a number of distinct phrases. This is especially true in the case for music with lyrics (words), but musical phrasing is a common feature of instrumental music as well.

A phrase is a single musical thought. Multiple phrases are put together to create a song. A phrases ends naturally, in cases with lyrics it is when one would take a breath.

Phrases typically end with a cadence, the ending of a musical phrase. There are strong cadences and weak cadences. Strong cadence: at the end of a musical phrase and feel like they are “finished” Weak cadence: a midpoints in the song and feel like they want to go on to finish

the thought.

Musical Phrasing continued…

For example, in “Mary Had a Little Lamb” we have TWO phrases. There is a natural pause in between phrases. Click HERE to hear.

WEAK CADENCE

STRONG CADENCE

MELODY Melody is a memorable set of pitches or the “tune” of a song.

Comprised of Pitch/Melodic Range Key Mode

Major Minor

Pitch & Melodic Range

Harmony and melody are united by a focus on pitch, a single note (one sound) or, scientifically, the relative frequencies of different sounds.

We can say that a melody which varies greatly in pitch has a wide melodic range

Melodic Range is the distance between the lowest and highest pitch/note in a piece. If a melody in a piece is close together with no skips or leaps it is a narrow

melodic range. Also known as conjunct or close. If a melody has leaps and varying low and high notes, it has a wide melodic

range. Also known as disjunct not close.

Melodic Range

Narrow/Limited Melodic Range Conjunct

Wide Melodic Range Disjunct

Melodic Range can also reflect the melodic shape, or the direction a melody draws.

EX: “Mary Had a Little Lamb”

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb little lamb | Mary had a little lamb with fleece as white as snow ||

Key The whole idea of keys is that we can play the very same melody using

different starting pitches as long as the relative distance between each subsequent pitch remains the same. Consequently, you might not hear much of a difference between a melody played starting on one note vs. one starting on another.

Key is a group of pitches (scale) which a musical composition is based upon. Each key is built upon a tonic or home note. For example if a piece is in the KEY of C, then tonic or ‘home’ note is C.

ModeUnlike a change in key a change in mode, what major or minor scale a piece is stationed in, can radically alter the feel of the music. In technical terms, the pattern of whole steps and half steps that forms the minor scale begins with a whole step and a half step—unlike the major scale, which begins with two whole steps. This little change means everything.MAJOR

“Happy” Sounding Starts with 2 full steps on a piano Ex: C Major

MINOR “Sad” Sounding Starts with 1 full step and 1 half step on a piano Ex: C minor

RHYTHM A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound Is the steady beat that provides a rhythmic foundation for the

music Most songs have a steady and regular beat.

Comprised of: Tempo Meter

Duple & Quadruple Triple

Tempo

Is the speed at which rhythm goes within any one piece It can be either fast or slow Keep track of the beat in a song and you can determine whether

the tempo is fast or slow.

MeterThe re-occurring pattern of stresses or accents that provide the pulse/beat in music

Duple Meter – Meter is divided into groups of 2

Quadruple Meter – Meter is divided into groups of 4

Example:

Duple Meter

Triple Meter – Meter is divided into groups 3 beats

Quadruple Meter vs. Triple Meter

GROWTH Development

Contrast Repetition

Form Large-scale Forms

Development

How a piece can grow or expand within itself:

Contrast – how a piece can develop or grow through contrasting or different types of musical elements (melody, tempo, etc.)

Repetition – how a piece can grow through repetition, Ex; the more you repeat a phrase, the bigger the piece becomes.

Form

Form is the shape or structure of a piece of music, wherein a song is divided into sections.

For example:

Large scale form:When a piece has multiplesections to it.

END WEEK 1