How we talk about music

1
How we talk about music

• Especially 20th century music

2
All music, like art, is composed of elements and
how these elements are combined produces the
different sounds and musical styles.
3
The elements of music are

• Melody
• Harmony
• Texture
• Tone color / timbre
• Dynamics
• Rhythm

4
Melody

• Succession of pitches / notes
• Horizontal arrangement of music
• The movement of sound in time
• Not the lyrics

5
Scales

• Originally western European music had modal
  scales based on Greek theory of mathematics
  (second selection on Introduction to Music)
• Later tonal scales became the norm
• Blues scales combine western and African scales
  of flatted thirds, sixths and sevenths with
  standard western octave

6
Harmony

• Relationship between and among pitches
• Vertical arrangement of pitches / notes
• Whats happening musically at 1 particular time
• 3 or more pitches that blend together form a
  chord

7
Tone color / timbre

• Quality of sound that a voice or instrument makes

8
Dynamics

• Loudness or softness of the sounds

9
Rhythm

• Meter the organization of time
• Duration the length of time
• Articulation how the time is divided
• Accent which beat is emphasized
• syncopation
• Polymeter, polyrhythm

10
Texture

• Complex sound which is governed by tone color,
  rhythm, pitch and harmony
• 3 types
• Monophony one sound of 1 or more
  voices/instruments
• Polyphony meant to hear multiple sounds at the
  same time (Ex. Counterpoint)
• Homophony melody accompanied by chords
  producing a blended sound