Unit 6 –Music
LESSON 2
JESSICA R. BALDEMOR
Instructor
The Elements and Organization of music
Musical notation
- Notation is a system of signs by means of which music is written down.
- Serves mainly to indicate two properties of tone which ate pitch and duration.
Notation of pitch
CLEF
•is a letter sign placed on the staff in order to indicate the pitch of the notes.
•The clef signs used in musical notations are the G clef, C clef, and F clef.
•For ordinary purposes the notes are arranged on two staffs. The C at the beginning is
located between the two staffs.
F or Bass Clef G or Treble clef
Notation duration
- One has to know not only where a note is but also how
long a time it is held.
- Duration of silence between notes is indicated by rest.
- Every kind of note has a corresponding kind of rest
to indicate that nothing shall be sounded.
-It takes two notes of one kind to make
the same time value of the next larger
kind note: two half notes make one
whole note, two sixteenth notes make
one eighth note.
Triplet groups
•Sometimes note values are divided by three’s of two’s.
•Indicated by the sign 3.
Meter
•Is a series of regular pulses, as in the ticking of a clock.
•If we are to think of them as being grouped in two’s, three’s, or fours, we are in this way measuring the pulse
•This indicated the time signatureswhich show the number of beats to a measure.
• Measures are indicated by means of vertical lines or bars down through the staff
- The time signature of a composition appears on the staff or staffs at the beginning
of the score.
- It consists of two numbers:
o The upper number indicates the number of beats to a measure.
o The lower number indicates the kind of note that will receive one beat.
Accent mark
•Above a note gives extra stress to the note it accompanies
It means play the note louder
Crescendo mark
•Indicates a gradual increase in loudness.
•Also called Diminuendo mark, gradually decreases the loudness.
Fermata
Means the holding of a note or chord longer than its normal value.
A dot over or under a note indicates Staccato. Detached or
shortening the sound.
Legato
- A curved line above or below or more notes.
- Connected, no silence between notes
Key signature
•The group of flats or sharps appearing at the beginning of a piece.
•Each sharp or flat, appearing on the line of the staff, means that the tone is to be raised or
lowered by a half tone throughout the
entire composition unless it is temporarily cancelled for duration of the measure by the use
of a natural sign appearing immediately before a note.
•Every key signature may indicate either a major or a minor key.
A chart of key signatures and the keys, major or minor, can be seen in the appendix.
Sound
- Music is an art whose basic material is sound.
- Musical sounds have no meanings beyond themselves and therefore may be said
to deal with pure sound.
The performers who make it possible for the listener to hear or understand the
composition.
Tone
- It is a sound produced by regular vibrations of air.
Components of Tone
1. Pitch
- Refer s to the highness or lowness of tonal sounds.
2. Duration
- Is determined by the length of time the vibration is sustained.
3. Intensity of volume
- Tone may vary in their degree of loudness and softness.
- The fundamental to musical rhythm and it provides the basis for a separate
musical element.
4. Timbre
- Enables one to distinguish one sound from another, one instrument
from another.
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ELEMENTS THE
ORGANIZATION OF PITCH
- Speed
✓ Allegro – fast
✓ Vivace - lively
✓ Moderato- moderate
✓ Andante- moderate slow
✓ Adagio- slower than andante
✓ Lento – slow
✓ Largo- very slow
Melody
•Make the most direct appeal.
•Consists of a series of pitches and durations.
Four characteristics or properties
1. Dimension
- Length and range.
2. Register
- The relative highness or lowness of the aggregate tones of a melody.
3. Direction
- Upwards and downwards.
- Melody may moves rapidly or gradually, ascending or descending.
4.Progression
- Refers to the intervals between the tones as a melody moves from one tone to the next.
FUNCTION OF MELODY
- Melody is the element of music that arouses interest.
- It is what listener can easily identify.
- It is the musical idea around which a composition is constructed.
- This melodic idea or basic tune of the composition is called theme.
- The theme is of paramount importance to composition, and it provides one of
the most important approaches to intelligent listening.
- The ability to recognize one or more themes, when the recur in a composition,
is clear indication that you are moving toward full appreciation.
Harmony
•Simultaneous sounding of two or more tones.
Chord
- is two or more notes or tones sounded at the same time and conceived as entity.
•Triad- the most common chord in our music is a certain combination of three tones.
Chord progression
- Chords not only are constructed in a variety ways, but also progress from one to another according to
many different plans.
- The scheme by which chords change.
Consonance and dissonance
Consonance – certain combinations of tones produce a quality of repose or relaxation.
Dissonance – certain other combinations of tones produce a quality of unrest or tension.
Polytonality
•Music which two or more keys are combines simultaneously in a single
composition.
•Is used to bring out the different levels or planes of the harmony.
To the direction of dynamics:
✓ Crescendo- becoming louder
✓ Diminuendo- becoming soft
✓ Sudden stress- sforzando(accent on a single note or
chord).
Timbre
The tone quality.
Texture
•Refers to the melodic and harmonic relationship of musical factors.
TYPES OF TEXTURE
Nonmelodic texture
- Is created for special effects in which harmonic
sounds obscure or partly exclude the melodic
content of a composition.
- Occurs in contemporary and modern music.
Sonority
- Is an attribute of texture which is based more on harmonic than
melodic consideration.
- Refer to the quality of richness or thinness of texture.
