Elements of Music

Elements of Music

David took an harp and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was
well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
I Samuel 16:23

The man that hath no music in himself,

Nor is not moved mov’d with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus:
Let no such man be trusted.
Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

M
usic is one of the most wonderful parts
of our lives. Few things give as much
immediate satisfaction as does the
hearing of a familiar, enjoyable piece
of music. Something is deeply felt, something inner
is touched. It’s like eating a favorite meal without
the calories.
Few things can cause you to change your
mind or feelings as quickly as music. You need only
consider the effect of changing a CD or thumbing
your iPod to see how quickly your mood can shift.
An awareness of this power is not new. Lead-
ers as far back as the Greeks were mindful of the
effects of music on a person. Plato even went so far
as to say that the masses should not have free access
to music because when they heard it they couldn’t
control themselves. (Give that a serious moment of
thought and you agree with him.) While listening to
music they might get carried away and forget what
they were doing. They might even lose their ability
to resist doing something which they had previously
said they would not do, because music had the ability
to suspend their will power. Sound familiar? Keeping
that in mind, let’s look a bit deeper.
At its most basic music consists of two things:
pitch and time. When something vibrates it creates
a sound or tone. Pitch is the highness or lowness of
this sound. This highness or lowness is determined by
the number of vibrations per second. The human ear
is able to discern sound at rates of from 35 to 17,000
vibrations per second.
Contrary to what the stereo salesman told you,
a system that handles from 20 to 20,000 cps may be
capable of reproducing the extremes at either end of
the sound spectrum, but that is not what makes a good
stereo system. These sounds are beyond the range of the
human ear. At the low end they become simply sensa-
tions of movement. Rather than hearing, you feel the
deep bass from a good woofer. And even though your
CD player will play into the 19,000 range or higher,
only your dog will appreciate it. When he starts to
howl you’ll know your system is indeed hitting a very
high note. The faster the rate of vibration, the higher
the pitch. The distance between the highest and lowest
note an instrument is capable of playing is known as
its range.
A piano’s range is from roughly 70 to 6000 vibra-
tions per second, while the violin ranges from about 175
to 15,000. Other instruments have varying ranges but
all remain within the audible spectrum.
Pitch is measured in music through the use of
the notation system. Notes are arranged on a set of five
parallel lines called a staff. Notes are usually grouped
into two broad categories by symbols known as clefs.
Generally speaking higher notes are placed on a
staff marked as the treble clef, while notes in the lower
register are noted in the bass clef.
Although these two symbols may look strange
to our eye they are nonetheless simply letters of the
alphabet: G and F. The treble or G clef is so named
because the G seems to “circle” the second line on the
staff, which is a G.
The same is true for the F clef. Its two dots enclose
or define the second line down, the F line.
Another consideration of sound is timbre, or
“tone color.” Timbre (tam-ber) is the result of overtones,
certain tones which are set in motion when another pitch
is created. Have you ever had something in your car
start vibrating when your car reached a certain speed,
 Elements of Music
and then quit as soon as you exceeded this speed? These
sympathetic vibrations also occur in music, and are what
give each instrument its distinctive sound. It is through
timbre that a trumpet sounds like a trumpet and not a
piano or a flute or even the human voice, even though
all may be playing the same pitch.
Overtones are what give each of us a distinct voice.
The bone structure in your sinuses is what is responsible
for the overtone series which give your voice its unique
character. It is also why you don’t sound the same when
you have a cold or when you pinch your nose—your
overtones change.

THE ORCHESTRA
An orchestra is a large group of performers. The

instruments they play are traditionally grouped in four

classes: strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion.

STRINGS
Members of the string family are generally played
by drawing a bow across the strings, causing them to vi-
brate. The wooden box to which the strings are attached
is no more than a resonator, a sound box, which amplifies
the sound of the string.
You can produce the same effect with your voice.
Stand in any open space—i.e., by the side of a road—and
sing a few notes. Next go home and try the same thing
in a small room like your bedroom. Hear the difference?
In an open area your voice (or instrument) sounds lost.
It doesn’t have anything to bounce off; there’s nothing
to give it some fullness. A closed space makes a better
sound. That’s why stages are built with a definite shape and
 size—to project sound. That’s also why people
like to sing in the shower. You sound so good!
Today’s professionals, instrumental or vo-
cal, don’t have to worry about the stage (most
stadiums are not known for their acoustical excel-
lence) because they use electronics to enhance the
sound of their instrument or voice. All recordings
have echo added by the recording technician.
Other effects can be produced by altering
the way a string is set in motion. Plucking the
string is known as pizzicato. In his Symphonie
Fantastique Berlioz created another effect by
changing the way the strings were played. He
wanted to create the eerie sound of skeletons
dancing, so instructed his string players to turn
over their bows and play with the wood.
The string section, a remarkably agile and
versatile choir, blends more readily into a homo-
geneous-sounding group than any other section of
the orchestra. This section creates the sound that we
associate with orchestras. When we think of an
orchestra we’re really thinking about the strings.

VIOLIN Members of the violin family

were developed in Italy in the late 16th century.
Due to their superior sound, these instruments
gradually replaced their predecessors, the viols,
in the chamber ensembles and orchestras of
Europe.
String instruments are like good wine, they
get better with age. The most expensive today
were made in the 1500’s by Stradivarius in Italy.
And although today’s manufacturers have spent
thousands of hours and dollars trying to chemi-
cally analyze what woods and glues he used, no
one can duplicate his entire process. We don’t
know what the humidity was, the temperature,
the age of the wood, etc., all of which combine to
give his violins their unique sound (timbre). Today
a “Strad” sells for more than a million—and that
assumes you can even find one for sale.
The violin is the soprano voice of the string
section. It is also physically the smallest.

VIOLA The viola is the alto member of the

string family. It is slightly larger than the violin,
 Elements of Music
and its thicker, longer strings
result in a deeper, darker sound-
ing tone.

CELLO While the prop-

er name of this instrument is
the violoncello, it is commonly
known as the cello. It is lower in
range than the viola and is noted
for its resonant, lyrical quality.
Due to its size, it is played from
a seated position, being held
between the knees.

DOUBLE BASS. This

instrument, sometimes called
the bass viol or contrabass, is
the largest and lowest sounding member of the string
family. It provides the darkly resonant foundation of the
harmony.

Often the string instruments are grouped together

in an ensemble known as the string quartet. A string
quartet is composed of two violins, a viola and a cello.
The most rapid melody sections are given to the violins in
a quartet since it is easier to manipulate string length on
the smaller sized neck of that instrument than on either
the cello or the viola.

WOODWINDS
In the woodwind instruments, a column of air
inside the instrument is set into vibration when the
performer blows into the instrument. By opening and
closing holes and keys running along the length of the
instrument, the performer is able to change the length of
the air column, thus producing a series of different pitches
(since a longer column of air means a slower vibration
cycle. The members of the woodwind choir can produce
a wide variety of timbres.
Originally all woodwind instruments were either
Yes, a bass is large made of wood or employed wood as a vibrator. Today
many of the instruments (like the flute) are no longer
made of wood; but the category is still useful in grouping
the instruments according to timbre. Besides the general
grouping of woodwind, they may also be subdivided into
flutes, double reeds, and single reed instruments.
 FLUTES
FLUTE The flute, the most agile of the wood-
winds, is the soprano voice of the woodwind section.
The sound is produced by blowing across the tonehole,
which sets the air column in the instrument into vibra-
tion, thus producing the tone. In its low register the flute
sounds dark and somewhat breathy. The middle register
has a smooth and velvety tone, while in its upper range
the flute produces a bright and brilliant sound. Pitch is
changed by either depressing the keys of the instrument
in various combinations or through a process known as
“overblowing” which is to increase the air flow into the
flute causing a jump in octave.

PICCOLO The word piccolo means “little”-—it’s

a little flute. The tubing of the piccolo is one-half the
length of the flute, thus producing tones an octave higher.
The timbre of the instrument in its upper register is re-
markably brilliant and piercing and can easily be heard
through the mass of the orchestral sound. The piccolo is
often made of wood rather than metal.

a piccolo can be wood or metal
Single Reeds
CLARINET The clarinet is a single reed instrument
with an extremely wide range. It looks like a stick of black
wood. The clarinet is one of the newer members of the
orchestra, being invented by Johann Christian Denner
of Nuremberg, Germany, around the year 1700, almost
two centuries after violins made their debut.

Double Reeds
OBOE The oboe is a double-reed instrument with
a conical bore whose sound is produced by the vibration
of air between two narrow reeds. While the oboe produces
a rather nasal tone (think of the sound of a duck), in the
hands of an accomplished musician, the sound can range
from bright to mellow. Although its ancestry extends back
to ancient Egypt, the modern oboe was developed in Paris
in the late 1650’s by Jean Hotteterre.
The double reed consists of two reeds placed back
to back with a small, somewhat flattened oval opening
between them. It is difficult to play. The best way to see if
you’re an oboe player is to try “playing” your straw the next
time you go out for lunch. Prepare it by pressing the end
together with your lips until it is quite flattened but not
completely closed, then blow just hard enough to cause a
 Elements of Music

tone. If you don’t blow hard enough you will get no sound, while
if you blow too hard the straw will simply close off. Welcome to
the world of double reeds.

ENGLISH HORN The English horn is neither English

nor a horn. It is actually an alto oboe with a dark, mournful tone
and is played in the same manner as the oboe. It is often assigned
slow, expressive melodies in the orchestra (Dvorak’s New World
Symphony).

BASSOON The bassoon, which has a somewhat nasal

tone color (but less penetrating than the oboe), is a double-
reed instrument which was developed around the year 1600.
The bassoon’s brown wooden tube is over eight feet long, but is
doubled into a “U” shape to allow the performer to reach all the
keys and levers. It is often used for comical effects (the broom in
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice or the grandfather in Peter and the Wolf).

CONTRA BASSOON The contra bassoon, also known as

the double bassoon, can hit the lowest note in the orchestra. Its
role in the woodwind section is comparable to that of the double
bass in the string section in that it supplies a foundation for the
harmony. It provides those lows found only in sub-woofers, the
bassoon kind you can feel as one of those cars goes by, speakers pumping.

BRASS
The brass instruments are the most powerful section of the
orchestra. They have a cup-shaped mouthpiece (funnel-shaped
for the French horn) which, when “buzzed” into by the tightly-
stretched lips of the performer, sets into vibration the column
of air inside the instrument. Pitches are changed by the use of
valves or slide, as well as by the degree of lip tension used by the
performer.
TRUMPET The trumpet, an instrument of ancient origin,
is the soprano voice of the brass choir. Roman legions were an-
nounced with trumpet fanfares. During the Middle-Ages it was
employed mainly for martial purposes and only a nobleman could
employ trumpeters.
Unlike the early versions which changed pitch solely by the
use of the lips, the present-day trumpet, with its three piston valves
was developed in Germany about 1815. The three valves give
eight possible combinations of key position. This, coupled with
varying degrees of lip tension, allows the trumpeter to produce
a wide variety of pitches. The army bugle and English hunting
horn, both of which have no valves, are today’s only holdovers
from earlier times.
 FRENCH HORN The French horn, often referred to simply as
the horn, is descended from the ancient, valveless, hunting horn and still
retains its coiled shape. It has an extremely wide range and can produce
tones ranging from dark and mellow to very strident. It too alters pitch
through three valves in concert with the labial tension of the player. Ad-
ditionally, the horn player places his right hand into the bell, and can
change the pitch by changing the shape of his hand. (Never shake hands
with a horn player. His right hand is always soggy from the saliva being
blown through the horn.)
The horn blends equally well with
the brasses or woodwinds. In fact, the
French horn is a member of the wood-
wind quintet. Orchestral composers often
use the horns to produce the effect of
majesty and nobility.

TROMBONE The trombone

is the tenor voice of the brass section.
Rather than using valves, pitch changes
are obtained by both lip tension and mov-
ing the slide back and forth.

TUBA The tuba, the bass instru-

ment of the brass section, produces a full,
The Brass Family
dark tone and is often used to provide
or reinforce the harmonic foundation of
the orchestral sound. Surprisingly, in the hands of a skilled performer, this
ungainly looking instrument can be played with great agility. Contempo-
rary composers are increasingly taking advantage of the tuba’s capabilities.
The bulky tuba is also heavy enough to often require a separate metal
support of its own, with the performer snuggling up to the instrument.
The tuba used in marching bands was redesigned so it could be car-
ried over the shoulder. Since its designer was John Philip Sousa the modified
instrument carries his name: the Sousaphone. Today’s football half-time
programs, complete with rows of Sousaphones, owe their creation to one
of the best composers of marching music ever.

PERCUSSION
The members of the percussion section consist of a wide variety of
instruments that are sounded by striking, shaking, or scraping. This sec-
tion is often called the “kitchen sink” of the orchestra because it includes
just about everything. These instruments play a valuable supporting color
role in the orchestral sound, as well as occasionally taking a leading role
in some orchestral passages.
Percussion instruments are divided into two general categories: (1)
unpitched percussion which produce a sound, but not an exact musical
 Elements of Music
tone or pitch, and (2) pitched percussion upon which a melody may be played.
Some of the unpitched percussion instruments are snare drum, bass drum,
tambourine, cymbals, triangle, whip, gong, and a wide variety of Latin Ameri-
can instruments (Tchaikovsky called for live cannons in his 1812 Overture—it
was an outside performance).
Pitched percussion instruments include the timpani, or kettle drum. Pitch
is altered in the timpani by both the size of the drum and the tightness of the
drum’s head. The modern timpani alters pitch through the use of tuning pegs to
set the initial tone, and a pedal which rapidly tightens or loosens the drum head.
The harp also is usually included in the percussion section of the orchestra,
because a striking motion is used to create sound (rather than being lumped with
the “string” section because they have strings).

KEYBOARD
Keyboard instruments all have a common feature of having the action of
vibration started by pressing on a key. Each key is assigned a separate pitch. There
are three main classes of keyboard instrument: the organ, harpsichord, and piano.
The organ is the oldest keyboard instrument, dating back to antiquity.
Organs were known in ancient Greece and were common in Rome, where
they were used in the Colosseum. (That’s also why the early church didn’t use
organs—too many Christians had gone to their death in the Colosseum to the
sound of organ music.) Sound is created in the organ by air passing through
pipes of different lengths.
All the pipes have a small stop or plug at their base, and a constant supply

The Percussion Family

Conductor’s score, showing instrument parts. The conductor must read the
entire page at a time for it contains the lines for every instrument.
 Elements of Music
of air pressing against that stop. When the organist presses a key a lever moves
the stop away from the end of the pipe, allowing the air to rush through,
producing a pitch.
Organs may have several sets of keyboards or manuals, each with 61
keys. Each manual can be set to play a different set of pipes (a different timbre).
This gives the organist great flexibility in quickly changing sounds.
The size and shape of the pipes determines not only the pitch; but also
the timbre. Pipes are arranged according to timbre into groups called ranks,
with each rank having as many as 40 pipes.
Most modern church organs are electronic, rather than being true pipe
organs, and can generate the sound range of three to five ranks, while the
average pipe organ has between thirty or forty different ranks of pipes. Large
organs, like this one on our Rexburg campus, have over 100 ranks. That’s still
small. Other organs in New York and California have well over 400 ranks.
That’s not 400 pipes, but sets of pipes!
The difficulty in changing settings while playing a musical selection
means that the organist must preset most of ranks before she begins to play.
The multiple manuals, and even one for the feet, allow the organist to use many
different ranks or timbres at the same time.
There are also rows of buttons just under the front edge of each key-
board, and another three rows of buttons above the foot pedals, any of which

Ruffati Organ, Barrus Hall BYU-Idaho

 can be pressed to instantly change
which pipes are to play. Because
of its ability to produce a wide
variety of different sounds the
organ is known as “the king of
instruments.”
Years ago the air was forced
through the instrument by pumps
operated by several apprentices.
The first days of being a begin-
ning organ student meant that
you got the privilege of manning
the pumps during the Sunday
church services. In recent times
pumps became electric—an ad-
vancement that was a great relief
to organ students all over the
world.
The other major change
in organs has also been brought about by electricity. Most
of the organs in use are now electric rather than pipe. This
means that the sounds produced by many modern organs is
no longer produced by air passing through a specific pipe;
but rather through a series of electric oscillations running
through specified circuits. Today’s rock bands use the same
type of keyboard instrument, where all sounds are electroni-
cally generated.
The harpsichord was the next major keyboard
instrument, becoming popular during the 1600-1700’s.
With this instrument (as well as the piano) the vibrations
are created by the action of keys making specifically pitched
strings within the instrument vibrate. Each key on the key-
board of a harpsichord is attached to a lever. When the key
is depressed (by a finger; not by some bad news), the lever
raises a sort of jack with an attachment that plucks the string
producing a given pitch. Originally these devices were made
of goose quills. The process is the same as using a guitar pick
to produce a note on a guitar. The keyboard allows for a large
variety of notes, and chord combinations; but there was no
real range of dynamics possible on the harpsichord.
In 1709 Cristofore invented the piano as a means of
solving the dynamic inadequacies of the harpsichord. The
basic principle behind the piano also involves a key causing
tuned strings to vibrate. The major difference is that the
piano strikes the strings with hammers rather than plucking
them with tiny picks.
While this process seems simpler than the plucking
 Elements of Music

action of a harpsichord, the piano is in fact a very compli-

cated instrument. Each key consists of about 27 different
pieces of metal and wood, while a harpsichord employed
only eight. This allows the pianist to control the volume of
a note through the strength of her
touch, and is one of the reasons the
proper name for the instrument is
the piano-forte, referring in part
to the large dynamic variety of the
instrument.
Pedals on the piano also af-
fect the resonance of the sounding
board and strings. Most pianos
have three. The right pedal, by rais-
ing the dampers, can sustain notes
for long periods of time by allowing
them to continue to vibrate, while
the left pedal physically shifts the
hammers closer to the strings to
create a softer “dampened” sound.
On expensive pianos this is accom-
Most haprsichords have two keyboards, and the key colors are reversed. plished by shifting the entire key-
board to the right, so the hammers
strike only two of the three strings per
note. And on all but the best pianos,
those used for concerts, the middle
pedal does absolutely nothing. It’s just
there for looks.
Unlike the organ, the standard
size of a piano keyboard is 88 keys.
One of the best ways to get a
partial understanding of how all these
instruments interrelate is to look at
a page from an orchestral score. This
shows both how complex the process
of conducting is in addition to the
challenge of writing music for the
varied orchestral instruments.

VOICES
The human voice is an impor-
tant musical instrument. Because peo-
ple are different physically they have
voices of different timbres. When we here Justin Bieber sing,
we can tell that it’s not Michael Buble or Andrea Bocelli.
While no two voices sound exactly alike, there are
 some common voice types which allow us have a set
of general voice types, classed by both timbre and
pitch. The four basic types of voices are soprano,
alto (although the more correct, technical term is
contralto), tenor, and bass.
Sopranos are the highest voices, capable of
singing from approximately a high A to an A below
middle C. Within the soprano voice part there are
some subdivisions: Coloratura, known for singing
those fancy runs and doing all the high, light work;
Soprano, which covers the regular range; and Mezzo
Soprano, a somewhat darker, lower soprano sound.
The contralto or alto is the lowest of the tra-
ditional women’s voice parts. Not only is the pitch
lower, from roughly C above middle C to G below
middle C; but the tone quality is noticeably darker.
The alto voice lacks much of the bright clarity of the
soprano; but is nonetheless very expressive.
The tenor is the highest traditional male voice
part. It is high and clear sounding in timbre. A tenor’s
range is from around A above middle C to G below
middle C. One of the world’s greatest tenors, Luciano
Pavarotti, claims that part of the appeal of the tenor
voice is that “the sound is rather unnatural.” Maybe
that’s why a good tenor voice is so much appreciated,
and why Pavarotti has sold tens of millions of CD’s.
The lowest vocal parts are the baritone and
bass. The baritone voice is midway between a tenor
and a bass in both range and tone quality with a range
from roughly a low G to F above middle C. The bass
voice range is approximately one step lower on top
and about three steps lower at the bottom. A bass
voice sounds very dark and low. Some of the world’s
best male bass voices are not Italian but Russian.
Their culture promotes this rich sound, especially for
religious works. YouTube has many wonderful sites.

N
ow that we’ve discussed media, let’s
examine the building blocks of music.
Dynamics refers to the volume
of the music. The dynamic intensity of
a piece of music has a great deal of impact on our
intellectual and emotional responses as we listen. Dy-
namics is a relative phenomenon, that is to say levels
tenor of “loud” or “soft” depend to some extent on a basic
frame of reference, to the sound levels that we are
 Elements of Music
accustomed to hearing. The various dynamic levels
are referred to by a variety of Italian terms: from
fortissimo (very loud) to pianissimo (very soft).
Music would be boring if it played at one
dynamic level all the time, so composers have loud
and soft portions in the piece. While it would be
assumed that you would have each player simply
play louder or softer in order to change the overall
dynamics, such was not always the case. During
the Renaissance and early Baroque eras changes
in dynamic levels were accomplished by simply
adding or subtracting players rather than having
all of them play quietly. In the quiet sections only
a small group of the total orchestra would play,
then all would come in on the loud sections. The
Italian word for all is “tutti” and was written on
the orchestral score as such. It’s from this that we
have today’s ice cream flavor Tutti Fruity.
This way of thinking, of adding groups of
players to increase the volume, was a carryover from
bass
the organ (and harpsichord), where the volume was
augmented by adding more pipes. You can’t make
an organ louder by just striking the key
harder. That only works on a piano.
But gradual changes in volume
for all players were introduced, and are
also known by specific Italian terms.
Crescendo means to get louder, while
decrescendo (or diminuendo) is the
opposite.
Rhythm is the beat present in
nearly all music. It is in many respects the
most dominant part of music. When we
refer to tempo it is in beats per minute.
This basic “pulse” is what makes us tap
our feet along with the music. When
early monks tried to pass on church mu-
sic, they were left with the single melody
typical of Gregorian chants. Sometimes the beats
that are accented (emphasized) fall in unexpected
places. This is known as syncopation. It would be
like stressing “two” and “four” if one were counting
“one, two, three four.”
Without a means of accurately noting both
pitch and time value it is difficult, if not impos-
sible, to learn music by any way other than oral
repetition.
 Notes were developed as a means of determining
Dynamic Marks the length of time assigned to a specific pitch. Is the
note to be held a longer or shorter period than the notes
fff very, very loud around it? Note values answer this question. Rhythmic
ff very loud (fortissimo) notation in music is based on division by halves. A
f loud (forte) whole note is the largest note in terms of duration. All
mf medium loud other notes are related to this note in their duration.
mp medium soft A half note is one half the value of the whole note, a
p soft (piano) quarter note is half the size of a half note, an eighth
pp very soft (pianissimo) note is half again smaller, and so on. By placing a dot
ppp shhhhhh! to the right of a note, its value increases by one half.
If a composer wants silence for a period, then
a rest is marked on the page of music. Rests indicate
silence and are divided exactly the same way as notes
(wholes, halves, etc.) These relative note and rest values
remain constant. The specific length of a note in a given
Decibal Levels work of music depends on the time signature of a work.
of Common Sounds The time signature is NOT a fraction. Rather,
it is a symbol which describes note values within the
140 jet taking off work of music. The upper figure indicates how many
beats are in a measure, and the bottom figure identifies
pain, permanent damage
what kind of note (half, quarter, etc.) gets one beat (the
to ear counting unit).
120 rock concert Meter is the rhythm in music; it falls into two
110 damage to ear or three patterns. Where there is no meter evident (like
Gregorian chant) the music is known as nonmetric.
100 circular saw Regular patterns of twos (like a march), are double
90 street noise in a big city meter. Patterns of threes, like a waltz, are triple meter.
80 vacuum cleaner Tempo is the speed of the music; fast, slow, or
somewhere in between, and we have a short list of
70 telephone ring
words to indicate such. Since it was the Italians who
60 normal conversation invented these terms the world has simply adopted their
20 whispering words—largo, adagio, etc.
Melody is the tune or central musical idea of a
work. It may be defined as "placing tones together in a
recognizable arrangement." A simpler definition might
be “the part you can whistle.” In other words, it is the
Two time signatures
identifying element of a musical work. When we whistle
Yankee Doodle we whistle the melody.
An important part of how a melody sounds is
the key in which the piece is written. Key refers to the
scale which is used for the work; you may write a piece
in G Major or C Major or Eb Minor, etc. Each of these
refers to a scale or "key." Scales may be either a major or
minor depending upon how the 8 notes are arranged.
The 8-note groups are octaves, where the first and last
 Elements of Music

notes are the same, the last being one octave higher,
i.e., C to C or F# to F#. The basic major scale is easily
demonstrated by the song from the Sound of Music,
“Do Re Mi.” Do, re, mi, fa, so etc. are the basic notes
of the major scale.
Major scales are generally upbeat or "happy."
It’s not exotic, it’s sort of musical white bread. The
minor scale on the other hand is made by changing
the interval (space between notes) between the second
and third steps of the scale. This small change tends to
make minor music sound more mysterious or sad. In
Beauty and the Beast we can quickly recognize Belle by
her happy major scale. We can also recognize Darth
Vadar by his theme, but it's in a minor key and sounds
almost evil or bad.
Another element of music related to key is
harmony. In a general sense harmony
may be described as either consonant or
dissonant. Three or more notes played at
Tempo Markings the same time are known as a chord. Again,
(in beats per minute) consonant chords tend to be happy, while
dissonant harmonies can make a listener
uneasy. In any movie we know when the bad
40-60 Largo very slow
guy is coming or bad things are happening
60-70 Adagio slow because the music becomes dissonant.
Consonant and dissonant music is found
70-90 Andante walking pace in all we hear; it shapes our moods.
90-110 Moderato medium

110-140 Allegro fast

140-160 Vivace very fast

160+ Presto reeeeeally fast

staff, with clef and time signature