Elements of Music
THE TOOLS OF MUSIC
To appreciate means to understand. To broaden your knowledge base and facilitate understanding, it is necessary to learn how music reflects culture, economics, politics, and environmental concerns. It is also necessary to learn its parts and how composers/artists manipulate these parts to create their unique sound. Musical expression is just that - an expression of a lived experience.
Music is the intentional organization of sounds in time by and for human beings. Music moves through time; it is not static. To appreciate music, we must remember what sounds happened, and anticipate what sounds might come next.
Here are the basic elements which will be used to analyze musical works of the great composers in this course:
MELODY – a line, or the tune, of the music
RHYTHM – what moves music forward in time
METER – organizes the beats in music
HARMONY – the vertical aspect of music: how notes sound together
TEXTURE – interweaving of the melodic lines with harmony
TEMPO – the rate of speed, or pace, of the music
DYNAMICS – how loud or soft the music is played or sung.
Explore the world of music on the Music Appreciation Web