the elements of music...the most important elements, especially in music that uses instruments...

G C S E M U S I C – E L E M E N T S O F M U S I C W O R K B O O K

of 21 © W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S . C O . U K

THE ELEMENTS OF

MUSIC

WORKBOOK



INTRODUCTION The different kinds of music played and sung around the world are incredibly

varied, and it is very difficult to define features that all music shares; one piece

might be characterised as a melody supported by an accompaniment of chords,

but another might have neither melody nor harmony (chords) but still be

regarded as music.

When we try to get inside music and understand how it works, we usually do this by identifying different

‘elements’ that can be described separately – while remembering that in reality we hear all of these

elements simultaneously.

The first thing we can do in defining these elements is to distinguish the ways in which sounds are

differentiated from each other from the arrangement of these different sounds in time. The ways in which

sounds can be distinguished from each other are many (pitch, timbre/sonority, loudness and so on) and

they need to be picked apart a little further. Pitch is defined by the frequency of vibration of a sounding

body (a string, a column of air, a metal plate, etc.). Faster vibrations give rise to ‘higher’ pitches, slower

vibrations to ‘lower’ pitches. The description of pitch as relatively ‘high’ or ‘low’ is reflected in the

notational convention of indicating higher pitches (those involving faster vibrations) higher on a musical

staff than low pitches. A succession of pitches gives rise to melody; simultaneous pitches define harmony.

Most real-world sounds comprise not a single frequency of vibration but a complex mixture of frequencies,

and this combination gives rise to the perception of timbre/sonority: timbre/sonority is one of the principal

elements that allows us to distinguish a clarinet from a trumpet, for example, or to distinguish between the

voices of two singers. Although usually considered rather lower down in the list of elements,

timbre/sonority plays an essential role alongside melody and harmony in western music, and can be one of

the most important elements, especially in music that uses instruments without definite pitches.

Similarly, dynamic contrasts (between louder and softer sounds) are important in many kinds of music. As

for the ways in which different sounds are arranged, this gives us the broad category of musical time

(under which come rhythm, metre, tempo and pulse). This is also linked to other phenomena, such as

melody and harmony, since they involve the arrangement of sounds in time, as noted above; melody and

harmony are placed among the most important elements in western music.

Finally, we must consider the ways in which different voices and instruments combine. This is partly a

matter of timbre/sonority (since different combinations of instruments have distinctive timbral/sonorous

characteristics) and partly of dynamics (i.e. dynamic levels and their variations), but it can also be much

more than that; the ways in which different lines of the music combine together is described as its texture,

which is another important aspect of music that we can investigate. This gives us the following list of

musical ‘elements’ which can be grouped in related

clusters, in the order in which they are discussed in the

following section:

• TIME: DURATION, PULSE, METRE, TEMPO,

RHYTHM.

• PITCH: MELODY, TONALITY, HARMONY.

• TEXTURE, TIMBRE/SONORITY, DYNAMICS.



TIME - DURATION PULSE METRE

TEMPO AND RHYTHM The way music proceeds through time is defined in several basic ways, of

which the most important are DURATION, PULSE, METRE, TEMPO AND

RHYTHM. Perhaps the easiest of these concepts to grasp is DURATION: any

performance of a piece of music lasts a particular length of time. A song can

be short, as little as two or three minutes. An opera or a musical religious

ritual can last several hours. A concerto, a symphony or an Indian raga, might

last anywhere between fifteen minutes and an hour or so. There may also be

sections within this overall duration: three or four movements within a concerto or symphony, verses and

choruses within a song. And, of course, individual sounds also have DURATION.

Most music has a PULSE, which is perceived as a series of regular beats. In

some music it is obvious; in other music it is subtle. In certain kinds of music

there is no pulse, or a pulse that is weak or intermittent.

In most music the beats are arranged into a regularly repeating pattern, in

which some beats are stressed, others unstressed. This pattern is called

METRE (as in poetry). It is important to be clear about the distinction between

pulse and metre. Pulse underlies

the basic beat, METRE is the way

those beats are arranged into patterns of stressed and

unstressed. The most common metres have measures (bars,

groups or cycles) of two, three or four beats (though many

other groups are encountered, particularly in musical

traditions of the Balkans, the Middle East and India). In

western music notation, the metre is indicated by a time

signature (2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8 and so on), and by division of the

score into bars. (The second or lower figure in a time

signature refers to a particular note value, such as a crotchet (/4) or quaver (/8); the first or upper figure

gives the number of these note values per bar.)

The TEMPO of music is defined by the rate of pulse. Fast music is

music with a fast pulse; slow music is music with a slow pulse.

RHYTHM is the general term to describe how sounds are

distributed over time (so pulse, metre and tempo are all aspects of

rhythm in this broad sense). During a piece of music, notes or

sounds will come and go in varying patterns in relation to the

pulse, metre and tempo. These patterns are what is most often

meant by the ‘rhythm’ of the music. The rhythm can consist of patterns of longer or shorter notes in

various combinations: even or uneven, emphasising the metre and stresses or disrupting them. Patterns

tend to be grouped in identifiable PHRASES, similar to the phrases of speech. Much of the character of

music is determined by this detailed rhythm and its grouping into phrases, and the way they relate to

pulse, metre and tempo.



ACTIVITY 1 We’re going to begin exploring the ‘elements’ of music by looking at

Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C minor, a piece of late eighteenth-century

western art music, with a duration of about half an hour. It is divided

into three sections called MOVEMENTS. We’ll begin by exploring the second movement, the ‘slow

movement’ of the Concerto. Scan the QR code above and listen to the opening bars of the second

movement and try to establish the METRE. How many beats do you think there are to the bar: two, three

or four? Try counting the music in different ways (in twos, threes and fours) to establish what METRE you

think the movement has?

ACTIVITY 2 Look at the score of this passage from the second, (‘Larghetto’), movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C

minor, given as SCORE 1 on the following pages. In this version of the score, the orchestral parts have

been reduced onto two staves, to make them easier to read. Look at the opening bars, which are for piano

only. Don’t worry if you are not used to reading a score on more than one staff. All you are looking at is

the number of beats in the bar – how many are there?

ACTIVITY 3

Scan the QR code to the right and listen to more of Mozart’s Piano

Concerto in C minor, which repeats this passage, this time continuing a

little further to bar 12. As you do so, try to follow the score, given as

SCORE 1 on the following pages. For most of this passage you can just concentrate on the piano part, and

particularly the upper staff of the piano part, which carries the melody. You only need to follow the

orchestral part in bars 5-8. Think about the rhythmic character of bars 1-12.

How might you describe the rhythm of this music?

Does it have clearly defined PHRASES – is it easy to break up into short chunks – or are the phrases difficult

to identify?

Does the rhythm have sudden contrasts, or does it flow smoothly?

Does the rhythmic character of the music change during this passage?



SCORE ONE

Piano Concerto in C minor, K491, second movement, bars 1–23 (piano reduction) - Wolfgang Amadeus

Mozart



ACTIVITY 4

We’re now going to look at the opening of the first movement of

Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C minor. Without looking at the score on the

following pages, scan the QR code to the right and listen to the opening

of the first movement. As you listen, try to establish in your mind the PULSE and METRE of this movement,

as you did with the slow movement. It may take you a while to be sure, because the opening bars do not

make it clear, but once the music “gets going”, try counting two, three or four against the music, and try to

establish the metre

Can you feel a regular pulse?

If so, how fast is it?

Is this movement in two-, three- or four-time?

ACTIVITY 5 Now listen to this same passage again, by scanning the QR code above and try to follow the score, given as

SCORE 2 on the following pages. Again, you don’t need to be able to pick out a lot of detail, just think

about the rhythmic character of the music. Use the times on your media player to identify points where

you think the rhythmic character of the music changes, and mark these points on the score on the

following pages. Then look specifically at bars 1-5 on the score and consider how the rhythmic character of

those bars is reflected in what you see on the score.

How does it compare with the rhythmic character of the second movement?

Does it flow smoothly, or are there distinct contrasts in rhythm in this passage?

If there are distinct contracts, what are they?



SCORE TWO

Piano Concerto in C minor, K491, first movement, orchestral exposition, bars 1–99 (piano

reduction) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart



PITCH - MELODY TONALITY

HARMONY

Most music consists of notes of particular PITCHES (though

there are some exceptions – music for unpitched drums, for

example). Notes of different pitch occurring one after

another form MELODIES. Of course, there needs to be a

certain number of notes before one really perceives a fully

fledged melody, as the term is commonly used. Some music for instruments is made up of little groups of

two or more notes, which are more generally referred to as PHRASES, or (if they recur) MOTIFS. You could

say that these are fragments of melody – though it is also possible for a motif to consist of just a rhythm.

The notes of a melody are chosen from the notes of a SCALE or MODE. There are many different scales in

the world. In western music from the eighteenth century onwards, the two most common types of scale

have been the MAJOR SCALE and the MINOR SCALE. A major scale is said to be in a MAJOR KEY, and a

minor scale in a MINOR KEY. The name of the major or minor key is determined by the starting note

(TONIC or key note) of that scale. So a major scale that

starts on the note G is a scale of G major.

When notes of different pitch sound simultaneously, the

generic term for the result is HARMONY. Any single

instance of notes sounding simultaneously is a CHORD.

When the harmony of the music consists simply of a

succession of chords, this is HOMOPHONY (CHORDAL).

But it is also possible to create harmony in which one

melody co-exists with another, sounding simultaneously

on a different voice or instrument; this is POLYPHONY.

ACTIVITY 6

Scan the QR code to the right and listen to the first twelve bars of the

second movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C minor again

following the score, given as SCORE 1. This time, as you listen, think

about the PITCH elements of the music.

During the first four bars, what is the melody doing?

Is it repeating the same note, going up, going down, moving suddenly or gradually, by small steps or by

larger steps?

What shape is being created by these movements up or down?



ACTIVITY 7

Look at SCORE 1 and listen to the opening of the second movement

again.

What key is the second movement in? (Look at the key signature and the opening notes of the music and use the “Key Signature Chart (Circle of Fifths)” below to help you)

Then, look at the melody of the first four bars. Do you think that it sticks closely to the notes of the key, or does it deviate from it?

ACTIVITY 8

Look again at SCORE 2 showing the opening of the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C minor.

What key is the first movement in? (Look at the key signature and the opening notes of the music and use the “Key Signature Chart (Circle of Fifths)” below to help you)

Look at the melody of the opening bars (bars 1-13). Does it stick closely to the notes of the key?



ACTIVITY 9 Staying with SCORE 2, now consider the shape of the melody at the beginning of the first movement and its groups into phrases. How might you describe the phrases in the first nine bars: how is the music divided into phrases and what are the melodic shapes of those phrases? How would you compare this with the beginning of the second movement from Activity 6?

TEXTURE TIMBRE SONORITY

AND DYNAMICS When you have several different notes sounding together,

whether in simple chords or in complicated polyphony, whether

voices or instruments, this creates what is known as a TEXTURE.

This term is also used with a fabric, in which the combining of

threads creates a particular texture – fine or coarse, open or

dense, for example.

TIMBRE and SONORITY are the terms used to describe the tone

quality of a sound, voice or instrument, for example its

brightness, mellowness or purity.

Finally, musicians use the term DYNAMICS to

describe levels of loud or soft.

The terms TEXTURE, TIMBRE/SONORITY and

DYNAMICS are grouped together in this section

because, in practice, they interact with each other. A

TEXTURE of different instruments playing together

will sound quite different, depending on the

TIMBRE/SONORITY and DYNAMICS of each

instrument within it.

Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C minor is scored for

piano with quite a small orchestra (by modern

standards), but it contains a wealth of effects and

subtleties in its use of TEXTURE, TIMBRE/SONORITY

and DYNAMICS



ACTIVITY 10

Listen again to the opening of the first movement of Mozart’s Piano

Concerto in C minor by scanning the QR code to the right. Just listen

straight through the track (bars 1-52). This time, listen out for the

different instruments and their combinations. Make a note of each

striking change of TEXTURE, TIMBRE/SONORITY and DYNAMICS in this passage. It is suggested that you

do this twice, once just listening to the recording and the second time following SCORE 2 again. Some of

the changes in TEXTURE are more striking than others. Where does the most striking change occur?

MUSICAL NOTATION Notation also has a profound effect on the language we use to describe music: for instance, we describe harmony as the ‘vertical’ dimension of music because harmony is notated with the notes sounding together represented as vertical stacks; rhythms are referred to as ‘dotted’ if their notation requires the use of dots. This section on Musical Notation thinks about the ways in which musicians use notation, what it is good for and what its limitations might be. You will be comparing three pieces of notation all asking you to listen to a piece of music while attempting to follow it in a corresponding piece of notation. This may be harder in one or more examples than it is in the others, in which case don’t worry about ‘following the score’ but concentrate on how the notation is presented and what sense you can make of it.

ACTIVITY 11

Think back to the previous activities, where you were asked to listen to the first fifty-two bars of the first

movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C minor while following the two-stave score given on SCORE 2.

Which elements of the music you heard were indicated on the score and which were not? (Look back at SCORE 2 and listen to the opening again using the QR code above).



ACTIVITY 12

Repeat Activity 11, doing exactly the same thing using an audio track and

printed music for a very different piece of music – a song by Captain

Beefheart and The Magic Band called ‘Big Eyed Beans from Venus’ – given

as SCORE 3 and listening by scanning the QR code above. Since far less

information is contained on the printed music, you might like to make brief notes about all the things that

could have been represented in notation but have not been (at least in this version).

SCORE THREE

Big Eyed Beans from Venus – Captain Beefheart (words and music by Don Van Vliet)



In sum, the score of the Mozart contains enough information for suitably trained musicians to play the

opening of his Piano Concerto in C minor. A pianist can sit down at a piano and play the two-stave score.

The full orchestral score contains more or less everything you need to know in order to arrange a

performance of the concerto by an orchestra and pianist.

By contrast, the printed music of ‘Big Eyed Beans

from Venus’ doesn’t contain enough information

to enable a rock group to do the equivalent job.

This kind of printed music, comprising lyrics and

guitar chords, is very common in popular music;

it is often extremely useful in enabling bands or

solo guitarists to play passable versions of songs

(the same musicians would almost always refer

also to recorded versions of the songs as a

guide). If you are a guitarist and you like Captain

Beefheart’s music, you will want to figure out

how his guitarists play those riffs – and if this is

the only notation you have got, you are going to

have to figure it out for yourself!

Of course, if you think of an actual rock

performance for a moment, this is entirely

logical; rock bands don’t play from notation but

from memory, and there simply isn’t a score in

the way that there is a score of the Mozart. Rock

musicians don’t generally learn songs from

notation either, although they might use sheets

like this to get a head start in figuring out how

another band’s song is to be played. The point of

this is simple but fundamental: musical notation

exists to do a particular job within a particular

musical tradition, so the ways in which notation is used and the information that the notation contains

vary between musical traditions.

ACTIVITY 13

Scan the QR code to the right and watch two video clips of the Mozart and

Captain Beefheart pieces in performance. Watch them now.

How, if at all, is notation used in the two performances?



The basic notation of a song in pop or jazz is called a LEAD SHEET. It usually consists of the melody (the

‘lead’), with lyrics if there are any, and indications of the accompanying harmony using chord symbols as a

shorthand. In jazz, lead sheets provide an aide memoire for a core repertoire of standards (often American

popular songs) with which jazz musicians are expected to be familiar, but also provide a basis for sharing

new compositions. The lead sheet provides only a rough guide for performances, as the same composition

can be performed in infinitely different ways. Most significantly, jazz musicians will also decide on a

particular ‘feel’ for their interpretation – a combination of the tempo and ‘groove’, for example swing or

bossa nova – which provides the rhythmic basis for the performance. Even the melody and harmony are

rarely performed simply as notated on the lead sheet – often the rhythm of the melody is treated very

freely, and different harmonies are added or substituted. Of course, many elements of a jazz performance

are not usually represented on the lead sheet at all, such as a bass line, drum part and patterns for

accompanying chordal instruments such as guitar and piano, which, along with solos, are usually

improvised in accordance with the chosen ‘feel’ for the performance.

ACTIVITY 14

Scan the QR code to the right and listen to the first 0’54” of Veena

Sahasrabuddhe’s performance of a composition called ‘Ranga de

rangarejavaa’ following the notation given below as you listen. The

notation has been given in two forms, firstly, the traditional Indian

notation and secondary transcribed into traditional western standard notation.

‘Ranga de rangarejavaa’ (Raga Madhmad Sarang, teental) as sung by Veena Sahasrabuddhe, first line in

Indian notation.

The top row (3, X, 2, 0) indicates the structure of the tala or metre: X marks beat 1 but occurs in the middle

of the line because the piece begins on beat 12. The letters on the second row indicate the main notes to

be sung.

‘Ranga de rangarejavaa’ (Raga Madhmad Sarang, teental) as sung by Veena Sahasrabuddhe, first line

transcribed in western standard

With indications of the tala structure added. Written at the pitch used for the recording; the Indian

notation indicates only relative pitch.

How much does the notation tell you about the music you hear on the recording?



ACTIVITY 15

Read the following regarding “Musical Notation” filling in the missing word or words

choosing from those given in the box below:

Of the three examples you’ve explored – the Mozart Piano Concerto, the Captain

Beefheart Lead Sheet and the Indian notation of Raga Madhmad Sarang, the score

contains by far the most , because it is intended to enable

to play the piece. Of course, it isn’t all they need to know, because to be able to carry out the

instructions properly requires many years of – musicians bring

an enormous amount of contextual and to bear in interpreting a

. Nevertheless, what this kind of notation allows

to do is to reproduce a very complex music, often involving the coordination

of many different , with a high degree of precision. There are other examples of musical

traditions involving the coordination of many different parts, such as ,

which use notation very little or not at all. But in these cases musicians tend to be much less concerned

with playing music the same way it has been played before, and more comfortable with the idea that the

piece is being recreated in a slightly different each time.

To some extent then, notation can help to a piece of music in a particular form and

slow down what would otherwise be an inevitable process of change; in western art music this is often

considered desirable. This doesn’t mean the of the music doesn’t change over time,

but the things that change most tend to be the things that aren’t on the score: the

instrumental and ,

precise and , rather than the actual notes. This is

just one of many ways in which the nature of the notation musicians use plays a role in determining the

music which is played and listened to.

dynamics score stabilise western classical musicians specified information

sound musicians Mozart parts technical knowledge playing techniques

tempo markings timbres/sonorities Indonesian Gamelan training and practice form



There are many other kinds of notation in use around the world, and to get a sense of this – without

getting into too much detail – we’re going to look at how a well-known melody – “Greensleeves” – can be

represented in different forms of notation.

‘Greensleeves’, in the Dorian Mode

– a simple transcription of melody

onto a single staff

‘Greensleeves’, including chord

notations for the guitar. This is

similar to a LEAD SHEET in popular

songs, but without the words.

(Note the convention here of indicating a

minor chord with a lower-case letter (e.g.

‘e’): the alternative way of writing this

same chord, ‘Em’ is more common in lead

sheets)

‘Greensleeves’, in a type of modern guitar

TABLATURE.

(Here, the horizontal lines represent not notes but

strings on a guitar. The small numbers replacing

note heads indicate which fret on which the string

must be pressed down when it is plucked. The

notation is therefore a direct instruction to the

musician where to place his or her fingers. As long

as the tuning is known (and here it is given as the

top line of the notation), the pitches can be

deduced, but they are not represented directly as

they are in standard notation)

‘Greensleeves’, melody in CIPHER

NOTATION using Arabic numerals

(Number 1 refers to the first note of the scale, 2 the second

note, and so on. It does not indicate that it is to start from

the note E as the previous three examples do, and nor does

it specify which scale is to be used (e.g. major or minor –

this version of the tune is actually in the DORIAN MODE).



Looking at these different notations of the same

melody – ‘Greensleeves’ – tells us different things:

they do not all convey the same information. The first

shows us the tune – that is, the pitches, the relative

durations of the notes and the metre – but doesn’t tell

us what instrument(s) it is to be played on. The

second indicates chords that can accompany the

melody, but leaves open the question of how they

might be played (guitar symbols are given, but from

the chord names, one could just as easily make a

simple accompaniment on the piano, for example).

The third example specifies exactly how to play the

tune on a particular instrument, as does the fifth,

whereas the fourth gives the least information of all –

and is therefore the most flexible and adaptable to

different instrumental and vocal ensembles.

ACTIVITY 16

On the next page, match the correct Element of Music key word or words to the correct definition.

‘Greensleeves’, arranged for the Chinese lute

(pipa) by Tsun Yuen Lui.

(This is also a form of TABLATURE, but it is very

different! It is written for the Chinese lute (pipa)

and the two lines of characters in each column

represent the pitch (indicated in cipher notation –

using numerals) and the right-hand plucking

technique to be used).



The Elements of Music Key

Words

Spend a few moments looking at the words below and then complete the table at the bottom of the page

by adding the correct word(s) to give the correct definition of each of the Elements of Music.

ARTICULATION RHYTHM PITCH MELODY SILENCE

DURATION STRUCUTRE & FORM TONALITY TEXTURE TEMPO

DYNAMICS METRE HARMONY TIMBRE/SONORITY

Element(s) of Music Definition

The highness or lowness of the sound

The speed, or fastness or slowness of the music

The way in which a piece of music is put together. Usually created by organising or repeating different sections in a particular order.

The volume or loudness or softness of the music.

The division of a rhythm into parts of equal value

Describes the different sounds or ‘tone colours’ produced by instruments and voices allowing us to tell them apart

The length of each sound

A tune or succession of notes, varying in highness or lowness, that have an organised and recognisable shape

Layers of sound combined to make music. More layers produce a ‘thicker’ sound, fewer produce a ‘thinner’ sound.

How you play or sing a note – it’s an important part of performing music expressively. Includes terms such as staccato, legato, accent, pizzicato, sforzando.

The effect produced by two or more pitched notes sounding at the same time, often described as a chord.

The opposite of sound

A series of notes of different lengths that create a pattern. Usually fits with a regular beat or pulse

The relationship between notes of different pitches in a musical scale. Can be described in a number of ways: major, minor, modal etc.

the elements of music...the most important elements, especially in music that uses instruments...

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