This document provides information about various musical elements and genres. It defines key terms needed to understand music notation, such as notes, time signatures, and bars. It also summarizes several musical styles like minimalism, club dance music, reggae, and their characteristic features. Minimalism is described as using patterns of different lengths played simultaneously and gradually changing over time. Reggae is characterized by an off-beat rhythm and roots in Jamaican culture.

2. Knowing what all of these
words mean is really
important, as they come
into nearly every question.
You’ll need them to
understand what the
questions mean.
ELEMENTS

3. Here is a slightly more detailed explanation of the elements with lots
of useful terms it will be useful to know.ELEMENTS

4. MUSIC
NOTATION
You do NOT need to know the
names of the notes (semibreve
etc.) but there WILL be a
question where you have to
identify the correct rhythms, and
write down a rhythm that you
hear.
So, you need to know how long
the notes are, and how to make
bars add up correctly to match
the time signature. (see next
slide)

5. TIME SIGNATURES
Treble
clef
Time signature. TOP
number tells us how many
beats in a bar. So, in this
piece, each bar must add
up to 3.

6. MINIMALISM
Patterns of
different lengths
played at the same
time
Terry
Riley
Steve
Reich
In C
Clapping
Music
Electric
Counterpoint
Filling the gaps
in a pattern one
note at a time
Changing a
pattern one
note at a time
Chords
gradually
fading in and
out
A style of music
developed in the
USA in the 1960s

7. CLUB DANCE: REVISION
(FOR 9UVA, 9UVC, 9UVD, 9WXC, 9WXD, 9WXE)
Both styles have 4 beats in a bar.
They both have riffs and heavy bass lines.
House
Tempo 120bpm
Soulful vocals
Simple, disco drum beat
Synth sounds
Trip hop
Slower, about 70bpm
Melancholy vocals
More complex drum
beat
Strings sounds, maybe
piano

8. REGGAE
(FOR 9UVB, 9UVE, 9WXA, 9WXB)
Bob Marley
Burning Spear
UB40
One Love
No
Woman, No
Cry
Buffalo
Soldier
Off the beat On 2nd and 4th
beats of bar
Off-beat
chords
played on
guitar, pian
o, organ
Religion followed by
Bob Marley and many
other reggae artists
Jamaica