This document provides an overview of the key elements of music, including: - Rhythm, which refers to the beat and patterns of long and short sounds. It is indicated by time signatures and bar lines. - Melody, which combines rhythm and pitch to create a "singable" tune. Melodies can move in different directions and ranges. - Form, which describes how musical elements are organized over time into structures like phrases, periods, and larger sections. - Timbre, dynamics, tempo, and texture, which relate to the quality, volume, speed, and layering of sounds. The document also lists different voice and instrument classifications and common notation for elements like dynamics

1. What is MUSIC
*Something people make
or do
* Reflects its maker or
performer
*Expresses thoughts, ideas,
feelings and emotions
*Music is sounds organized
with a context and a purpose.

2. What kind of sounds can be organized
in order to make sounds?
Nature sounds
Ex. Rain, birds, leaves
Environment/objects sound
Ex. Pencils, pots & pans, shoes
People sounds
Ex. Voice, sneeze, fart
Instrument sounds
Ex. Piano, flute, drum

3. ELEMENTS
of
MUSIC

4. Music Elements
Rhythm
Melody
Form
Timbre
Dynamics
Tempo
Texture
Harmony *
*No formal instruction in harmony from K to 3

5. What is RHYTHM?
• Rhythm is the beat in music
• Underlying, evenly spaced beats are
called steady beats or pulse. The pulse
is always “felt” even if it is not „‟heard„‟.
• Rhythmic patterns are made up of
combinations of long and short sounds.
• The length of sounds is called duration.

6. What is Rhythm
• Some steady beats (pulse) are accented.
Accented beats are strong beats that mark
the grouping of beats.
• The accent mark looks like this : >
• The grouping of steady beats is called meter.
Steady beats can be grouped in to 2’s- duple,
3’s-triple, or 4’s- quadruple.
• On a music score, meter is indicated by two
symbols: the time signature and the bar lines.

7. What is MELODY?
• Melody is the tune of a particular song.
• It is that “singable” part of an
instrumental or vocal piece.
• Melody is made up of both rhythm and
pitches. (rhythm + pitch = melody)
• Pitch is the highness or lowness of
sounds.

8. What is MELODY?
• Tones in melody may move in
ascending or descending
direction, or they may be
repeated.
• Tones in a melody may move in
steps, skips, or leaps.
• Melodic contour has to do with the
“shape” of a melody. Many
melodies are either uneven and
jagged, or smooth and flowing.

9. What is MELODY?
• Melodic range covers the
distance between the lowest
pitch and the highest pitch in a
melody. Many melodies have
either a limited range or a wide
range.
• The highest point in a melody is
called its climax.

10. What is MELODY?
• Pitches are named using letters or
so-fa syllables.
• Pitches are notated on a musical
staff, a symbol made up of 5 lines
and 4 spaces.
• A musical staff needs to be
marked by a clef sign in order for
you to know the identity of a
notated pitch.

11. What is Form
• Form has something to do with
the structure of music, the way
sounds are organized in time.
• Recognizing form depends on
your ability to recognize
repeated, similar, or contrasting
musical materials and musical
patterns.

12. What is Form
• Motive- the smallest part of a musical
composition;
• Phrase- a musical line that expresses a
complete musical idea
• Period- formed when 2 phrases
(antecedent and consequent phrases) are
put together in question-and-answer form
• Section- formed from phrases and
periods

13. Kinds of Form
1. Unitary Form- has only one section
2. Strophic Form- has 2 or more
sections that use the same tune but
different lyrics
3. Binary Form- has 2 contrasting
sections (AB)
4. Ternary Form- has 3 sections (ABC),
the third similar to the first (ABA)

14. Kinds of Form
5. Rondo Form- has contrasting
sections in between repetitions of the A
section (ABACA)
6. Theme and Variations- two or more
sections repeat the same basic melody
but presents it in various ways
7. Responsorial form
8. Antiphonal Form

15. What is Timbre?
• It has to do with the quality of sound.
• Also called tone quality
Ex. The voice of an old woman is
different from the voice of
an infant.
Ex. The sound of the violin is
different
from the sound of a jaw‟s harp.

16. Classification of Voices
Soprano- high, light and bright female
voice
• Alto – low, thick and heavy female
voice
• Tenor- high, brilliant male voice
• Bass- low, thick and heavy voice
• Baritone- medium male voice
• Contralto- very low female voice
(lower than an alto)

17. Classification of Instruments
• Aerophone- played by blowing; vibrating air
column produces sound
• Chordophone- played by plucking, bowing,
or hitting; vibrating string produces sound
• Idiophones- played by hitting, banging,
scraping, shaking, etc; vibrating body
produces sound
• Membranophone- played by hitting;
vibrating skin or membrane produces sound
• Electrophone- produces sound by means of
an electric current.

18. What is DYNAMICS
•Dynamics deals with
volume. It has to do
with the loudness or
softness of sound.

19. Common Dynamics Markings
• Piano (p) – soft
• Mezzo piano (mp) –moderately soft
• Pianissimo (pp) – very soft
• Pianissisimo (ppp) – very, very soft
• Forte (f) – loud
• Mezzo forte (mf) – moderately loud
• Fortissimo (ff) – very loud
• Fortissisimo (fff) –very, very loud
• Crescendo- gradually becoming louder
• Decrescendo - gradually becoming softer

20. What is TEMPO
• Tempo is the speed of music. It
has to do with the fastness or
slowness of sound.
• Tempo is determined by the
distance between steady beats
(or pulse); the closer they are
to each other, the faster the
music.

21. Common Tempo Markings
• Largo – very slowly and broadly
• Andante- slowly, walking tempo
• Allegro- fast
• Vivace- very fast and lively
• Presto- very, very fast
• Accelerando (accel.)- gradually becoming faster
• Ritardando (rit.)- gradually becoming slower
• Fermata- hold the note longer than its time
value
• A tempo- return to the original speed or tempo

22. What is TEXTURE
• Texture refers to the relationships
between one or more “melodies”
and other accompanying musical
sounds.
• Like an interweaving of melody
and harmony
• May be light or thin, heavy or thick

23. What is TEXTURE
• Texture is determined by –
1. the timbre of voices or
instruments
2. the number or size of
performers
3. the manner by which one
or more melodies are
harmonized

24. What is TEXTURE
• Monopony- one melody stands
alone, without harmony or
accompaniment
• Homophony- one melody with
harmonic/accompaniment
• Polyphony- 2 or more melodic
lines of equal importance, sung or
played together.

25. What is TEXTURE
•Mixed Texture =
polyphony + homophony
•Heterophony- 2 or more
voices or improvising on
the same melody at the
same time

26. HARMONY
*No formal instruction in
harmony from K to 3

27. THANK
YOU