Understanding the Structure of Music

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Understanding the Structure of Music
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7 Elements of Music

• Rhythm
• Melody
• Harmony
• Form
• Tempo
• Timbre
• Dynamics

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Rhythm

• Rhythm is the sounds and silences in music and
  how those sounds and silences are grouped
  together and planned
• Rhythm uses symbols such as notes for sound and
  rests for silences
• Rhythm uses bar lines to divide notes and rests
  into smaller groups called measures.
• Rhythm uses meter signatures to tell the musician
  how many beats can go in each measure.

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Melody

• Melody is a series of notes with different
  pitches that make a pleasing sound.
• Melody is also known as the tune of the song
• When reading a melody, you have to look at where
  a note is on the staff
• Melodies can go Up, Down , or stay the same.
• Melodies can move by steps, leaps, or repeats

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E G B D F

• Every good burger deserves fries
• Elviss Guitar broke down Friday
• Elephants got big dirty feet
• Enthusiastic Gorillas bowl double frames
• Every great blacksmith dons flannel
• Every great Butler dusts furniture
• Extra gracious bikers definitely floss
• Exterminate Giant bugs, Dont flinch
• Empty garbage before Dad Flips

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Harmony

• Harmony is background music added to compliment
  the melody
• Harmony is often played by using groups of three
  notes called a Chord

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• Sometimes harmony can be in parts
• sopranos are usually women and they
• sing very high
• Basses are men who sing real low
• altos (women) and tenors (men) are in
• the middle
• 
  

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A little more about Harmony

• When people sing in unison, they are not singing
  harmony. They are singing the same thing MELODY
• Music is written in certain Keys based on the 8
  notes that are most common in the piece. These
  keys can be in Major or Minor.

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• A piece of music with the harmony in major
  usually sounds happy

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• A Piece of music with the harmony in minor
  usually sounds sad or scary

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Form

• Form is how we put the music together.The overall
  organization of a piece of music.
• 4 forms we need to know
• AB organization (aka verse refrain)
• ABA organization
• Call and response
• round

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AB

• This type of music has two different parts. The
  second one is different than the first
• Verse /refrain many popular songs are in this
  style. The song may have a verse followed by a
  chorus then another verse then another chorus.
  The melodies are different in the verse and the
  chorus making it an AB form. However in
  verse/refrain the chorus keeps the same words
  each time while the verses change words each
  time.

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ABA Form

• ABA has three musical parts. The first and the
  last are very similar if not exactly alike so
  they are both called A. The middle section is
  usually dramatically different.

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Call and Response

• Call and response form is used in dance as well
  as music. In call and response, one group or
  soloist sings something and another group
  responds. The response can be the same response
  to every call.
• Call and response form is popular for African
  American Spirituals

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Canon (aka Round)

• Everyone sings the same melody at the same tempo
  but different groups start the song at different
  times.
• Because they start at different times, they also
  end at different times or they end at a different
  spot in the song.
• Canons are a popular campfire song style. Row
  , Row, Row your boat is one of the most well
  known canons.

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Tempo

• Tempo is how fast or slow a steady beat of the
  music goes.
• Musicians use Italian words to describe the tempo
• Largo is very slow
• Adante is walking speed
• Allegro is fast
• Presto is very fast.

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Dynamics

• How loud or soft the musicians are supposed to
  perform the music.
• Dynamics can add a lot of emotion to a song.
• How does you feel when someone speaks very loud
  to you
• Would it change if they spoke the same words
  quietly?
• A musical pieces dynamics can affect the
  listener in the same way.

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Timbre (aka tone color)

• What does a trumpet sound like?
• Can you recognize a drum sound?
• Why?????????
• Because each instrument makes its sound a
  certain way and that affects the quality of the
  sound. Our ears can pick up differences in how
  the sounds are made and this is the sounds
  Timbre.

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What Next???

• Now that you know all the elements
• Its time to make some music