The Elements of Music Terms You Must Know

The Elements of Music Terms You Must Know

What Is Music? l l l Scientific Definition: “Sound organized in time. ” Actual Definition: add “For the expression of thoughts, ideas and emotions” to above Music is special because it affects people without requiring participation

Why Music? l l l “The Mozart Effect”: A 1993 study showed that student test scores improved after listening to Mozart Retailers use music to put shoppers in a better mood so that they will spend more Relieves stress, reduces pain, helps growth

The Elements of Music l l l These are the basic parts of music that can be heard They are used in all forms of music across all points in history and across all cultures These are the most basic things to be heard

Rhythm l l This is the way the beat is broken down The center of rhythm is the beat or pulse The way the pulse is grouped is called the meter When the pulse is subdivided, rhythm is created

Melody l l l This is the main line of music It is the part that is sung in pop songs It moves up and down by pitch It can move by steps, skips or leaps This is the horizontal placement of pitch

Harmony l l l This is how sounds are blended together They can be consonant (sound good-blend) They can be dissonant (sound bad-clash) These are the chords The way music is put together vertically

Form l l This is the structure of a piece Traditional forms are binary (AB) and ternary (ABA) The verse, chorus form used in pop songs is binary Other forms are round, theme & variation, sonata

Dynamics l l l l This is the volume of music Terms are Italian Fortissimo-Very Loud Forte-Loud Mezzo Forte-Med. Loud Mezzo Piano-Med. Soft Piano-Soft Pianissimo-Very Soft

Tempo l l l This is the speed of the pulse Terms are Italian Presto-Fast Andante-Medium Largo-Slow Some music can give different feels based on tempo

Timbre/Tone Color l l l This is the unique sound that each instrument makes Just like each of your friends’ voices sound different, so do instruments Differences can be great or very detailed

Style l l l The overall characteristics of sound in a piece Musical style is more diverse today than in any other time in history Style is influences by time, culture and technology