The Elements of Music

Background Information

There are six elements of music that allow musicians to play music, compose music
and write about music. Each of these elements has features that allow us to identify
what is happening in a piece of music.

The six concepts of music are: (1) Pitch

(2) Duration

(3) Structure

(4) Texture

(5) Dynamics and Expressive Techniques

(6) Tone Colour

What do you already know about the concepts of music?

PITCH DURATION

TEXTURE
STURCUTRE

TONE COLOUR
DYNAMICS AND
EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUES
 Features of the Concepts of Music
Concept of Music
Pitch
Relates to melody and harmony in music.
Duration
Relates to the length, speed and arrangement of
rhythms in music.
Structure
Relates to how the music is put together.
Texture
Relates to the layers of sound we hear in music.
Dynamics and Expressive Techniques
Relates to loud sounds, soft sounds, and the way
musicians play their instruments.
Tone Colour
Relates to the quality of the sound. How we can
describe and identify the sound.
Name a piece of music you know really well and could discuss one aspect of the six
concepts of music.
Song Title: _____________________________________________________________
Artist: _________________________________________________________________
Features of the concept
Melody: High notes, low notes, middle range notes,
definite pitch (we can sing or play them), indefinite
pitch (we cannot sing or play them), Melodies, Scales,
Leaps, Steps, ostinatos/riffs (repeated melodies)
Harmony: major chords (sounds happy), minor
chords (sound sad), harmonies, consonant (sound
resolved), dissonant (sound unresolved),
Time Signature (how many beats in each bar), Tempo
(the speed of the music), Accents (strong beats in the
bar), Rhythms (short, medium and long rhythms),
Styles of rhythms (rock, waltz, jazzy), Poly-rhythms
(multiple rhythms used at once), Beat (regular or
irregular timing), Syncopation (an emphasis on the off
beats).
Popular Music: Introduction, Verses, Choruses,
Bridge, Coda (the ending).
Other Music: Binary form (two sections, A and B),
Ternary form (three sections, A, B and a return of
section A), Rondo form (many sections - ABACA or
AABACA).
Sections: Percussion layers, Brass layers, Woodwind
layers, String layers, Vocal layers and Technology
layers.
Formal Texture: Monophonic (one single layer of
sound), Homophonic (a melody and accompaniment),
Polyphonic (many layers) Duo (two layers), Trio
(three layers), Quartet (four layers).
Dynamics: Loud, Soft, Medium, Crescendo (getting
louder), Decrescendo (getting softer).
Italian Terms: Pianissimo – pp (very soft), Piano - p
(soft), Mezzo Piano - mp (moderately soft), Mezzo
Forte - mf (moderately loud), Forte - f (loud) and
Fortissimo – ff (very loud).
How we play instruments: bow, pluck, blow,
strum, pick, hit and scrape.
Describing Words: mellow, harsh, metallic,
piercing, bright, muffled, static, smooth and rough.
 PITCH
MELODY

Pitch relates to the _____________ and _____________ in music. A melody can have
many features that we need to identify and discuss.

An example of an instrument playing a high melody would be a __________. An

example of an instrument playing a low melody would be a ___________ ________.

Pitch is mostly made up of definite pitches. Definite pitch is a note we can sing or play
on a melodic instrument. Sometimes pitches are made by instruments that create an
indefinite pitch. An example of an instrument producing an indefinite pitch would be a
w________ b________.

When discussing melodies, we can describe the melody as being based on a scale or
moving by ___________ and _____________.

Another important factor of pitch and melodies are repeated patterns. We call these
repeated patterns ________________ or __________.

Ostinatos Steps wood block flute leaps harmony

melody double bass riffs

Describe the melodies notated below:

(1) This melody is going up by S________.

(2) This melody is going down by L______.

(3) This melody is H_________.

(4) This melody is L____.

(5) This is an example of an O__________.

 PITCH
HARMONY

Harmony relates to the chords and progression of chords we use in music. Some
pieces of music 2-6 chords as their progression and song songs use many chords as
their progression. The two main chords used in music are m________ chords and
m________ chords. Major chords sound bright and ________ and minor chords sound
mellow and _____.

When we are discussing harmony, we need to identify if the harmonic progression is

c_____________ or ______________. A consonant harmony resolves and sounds like
every day music. A dissonant harmony is unresolved and sounds like the music is
clashing and out of tune.

dissonant sad minor consonant major happy

Using a keyboard, play the chords below and identify the harmonic feature being used.

(1) This is a m________ chord.

(2) This is a m________ chord.

(3) This progression uses _______ different chords.

(4) This progression uses c____________ harmony.

(5) This progression uses d____________ harmony.

 DURATION
Match the terms below:

Time Signature Strong beats in the bar.

Tempo How many beats in each bar.

Accents The speed of the music.

Rhythms An emphasis on the off beats.

Rhythmic Styles Many rhythms played at once.

Poly-rhythms Short, medium and long notes.

Beat Rock, waltz and jazz.

Syncopation Regular and irregular timing.

 DURATION
Symbols

(1) This symbol is a t______ s______________.

(2) This symbol is an a___________.

(3) These are examples of r______.

(4) These are examples of long and short r_______.

(5) This is an example of a rhythmic O__________.

List one song that uses a slow tempo ____________________________________.

List one song that uses a fast tempo _____________________________________.

List one song that uses mostly short rhythms ______________________________.

List one song that uses mostly long rhythms _______________________________.

List one song that uses a rhythmic ostinato ________________________________.

List one song that uses a tempo change __________________________________.

 STRUCTURE
Structure in music relates to ___________________________________________.
Complete the sections of each formal structure type below

Structure Type Sections

Popular Song Introduction, V_________, C_________,

B_________ and C_______.

Binary Form Section ___ and Section ___.

Ternary Form Section ___, Section ___ and a return of

Section ___.

Theme and Variation Section A, Section A1, Section A2,

Section A___, Section A___, Section _____,

Section A6, etc...

Rondo Form Section A, B, ___, C, ___

Or

Section A, A, ___, ___, C, ____

Through Composed The song is always Ch___________. There are no

repeats in the piece.

TEXTURE
Identify the layers below using their formal texture terms.

(1) M________________ Texture.

(2) H________________ Texture.

(3) P________________ T______.

(4) D____.

(5) T_______.

(6) Q_______________.

TEXTURE
 Describe the texture of the music score below:

The texture of this piece has __________ individual parts. As there are many parts to
this piece, we could identify this piece as ______________ texture.

There are four instrument families represented on this score. They are the S________
family, the W______W_______ family, the B_______ family and the P____________
family.

DYNAMICS AND EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUES

Complete the table below:

Italian Term Abbreviation/Symbol Definition

Pianissimo Very Soft
p Soft
Mezzo Piano mp
Moderately loud
Forte f
ff
Getting Louder
Decrescendo

EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUES:

Name 2 ways you can play a violin _______________ and_ __________________.

Think of a way to create sound on a piano without using the keys ______________

___________________________________________________________________.

How could you alter the sound of an electric guitar? _________________________.

What is a staccato? ___________________________________________________.

What is tenuto? ______________________________________________________.

What is vibrato? _____________________________________________________.

What is a glissando? __________________________________________________.

What is ornamentation? _______________________________________________.

What are trills? ______________________________________________________.

What is a slur? _______________________________________________________.

What is rubato? ______________________________________________________.

TONE COLOUR
 Tone colour relates to the qu_____________ of the sound. Tone colour allows us to
_____________ and ______________the sounds we are hearing.

Tone colour is closely related to the material the instruments are made of, how the
instruments are played and the size of the instruments.

Using groovy jungle, listen to the instruments below and suggest a word that
describes the tone colour of the instruments:

Woodwinds

Flute: ___________________________________
Clarinet: ___________________________________
Oboe: ___________________________________
Bassoon: ___________________________________
Saxophone: ___________________________________

Strings

Violin: ___________________________________
Viola: ___________________________________
Cello: ___________________________________
Double Bass: ___________________________________
Harp: ___________________________________

Brass

Trumpet: ___________________________________
Trombone: ___________________________________
Tuba: ___________________________________
French Horn: ___________________________________

Percussion

Snare Drum: ___________________________________

Bass Drum: ___________________________________
Cymbals: ___________________________________
Triangle: ___________________________________
Glockenspiel: ___________________________________
UNITY AND CONTRAST
Using a dictionary, look up and write definitions for the following terms.
Unity: _________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Contrast: ______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

In music we are often asked to discuss unity and contrast. Suggest four ways we
can achieve unity and contrast in a piece of music.

Unity: (1) ______________________________________________________

(2) ______________________________________________________

(3) ______________________________________________________

(4) ______________________________________________________

Contrast: (1) ______________________________________________________

(2) ______________________________________________________

(3) ______________________________________________________

(4) ______________________________________________________

HSC Music Questions

During the HSC music exam, you will be asked to describe, discuss, identify and
suggest how unit and contrast is achieved in a piece of music. Each of these terms
requires you to answer in a specific way.

Describe: This is a factual description of exactly what you are hearing. There is no
room for opinion, it must be fact.

Discuss: In your own words, you relate to the examiner the details of what you
are hearing and also the effect it has on the music. There is room for opinion here
as long as it is backed up with evidence from the music.

Identify: work out what the important concepts being used are and name them.

Achieved: Name and discuss the concepts of music that are used to bring about
unity ad contrast.