THE ELEMENTS

OF MUSIC
The building
blocks of music

What are the elements of music?

Pitch
Dynamic
s
Tempo
Duration

Timbre
Texture
Silence

Composition Task
1
1. Get into groups of 4 or 5
2. Each person must create a sound with
their voice, body or musical instruments.
(L4)
3. Combine your sounds to create a
structure. (L5)
4. Perform your piece to the class. (L4, L5)

Rhythm
Rhythm is..
A collection of notes with different durations.
e.g. La la laaaa la la laaaaa
(short) (short) (long)

(short) (short) (long)

Class clapping!
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
Group
1

Group
2

Group
3

*
*

*
*

*
*

*
*

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

*
*
*

&

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

*
*

&

*
*
*

&

*
*

Crotchets

Quavers

Minims

&

Question & Answer

You got a detention, what was it for?

I got a detention for swearing at a

teacher

When you got home from school,

what did you do?

When I got home from school I went

to the park.

You watched TV last night, what did

you see?

I watched TV last night, Eastenders

was on.

When you had dinner, what did you

eat?

When I had dinner, I had sausages

and mash.

Structure
Structure is..
The order of sections in a piece of music.
e.g. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus
e.g. A

Composition
You are now going to combine what you
have learnt about pitch, rhythm,
structure.
1. Get into groups of 3
2. Name yourselves A B C
3. Play your melodies in the following
structure:
A B A CA
This is called RONDO

Instruments
The four families of instruments that form
the ORCHESTRA are:

STRINGS

BRASS

WOODWIND
PERCUSSION

Orchestra
Horns

Trombones Trumpets
Clarinets

Percussion

Flutes

Violin 2

Tuba

Bassoons
Oboes

Double
basses

Viola

Violin 1

Cellos

Conductor