Elements of Music

Module 1
 FLASHBACK!!!
From our previous lesson, we learned about the basic concepts in
music:
1. Sound – when two objects collide, they form vibrations
transmitted through the air. Basically, we use our sense of
hearing.
2. Volume – Loudness and softness of sounds. Can be
measured through decibels
3. Pitch – the highness and lowness of sound
 FLASHBACK!!!
From our previous lesson, we learned about the basic concepts in music:
3. SILENCE – the absence of sound or noise. As meaningful as with sound in
music.
4. MUSIC – organized; array of sounds which is meaningful, perceptual when
experienced. Follows (usually) a conventional patterns to convey a message
and to express aesthetic, culture, or artistic purposes
5. NOISE – any sound that lacks reference to musical quality. Generally
considered unpleasant or unbearable to human ear.

“Silence by itself cannot be music, but as a part of a music, it could be as

meaningful as with sound.”
Now, we proceed to our
new topic…
ARE YOU READY?
THE ELEMENTS IN
MUSIC
Preliminary Activity:
Please refer to your Module 1 Activity Notes with the title – Preliminary
Activity 1.
Please read the instructions carefully and make sure to follow the format.

Start at 00:18:00 sec

What makes MUSIC different to
NOISE?
- In our past discussion, it was stated that music has organization and may
usually have conventional patterns to convey message or as form of
‘musical aesthetics’.

- If you could recall your favorite music or song, in what aspect of the
song/music did you like? Is it the lyrics, the melody, the beat, or other
factors?

- Most of the hit songs of all-time has a remarkable melody on it. That’s why
sometimes, even though it’s ‘baduy’, we tend to jive with it because of its
catchy melody. Remember Pusong Bato? Baby by Justine Beiber? Woops
Kiri? ……ring a bell?
 • Leaves a lasting impression in the minds of the listener
• It’s what makes the music ‘catchy’
• Mostly found in the chorus or refrain
• Musicians usually refer to melody as a ‘line’
• It could also set the entire mood of the song
• It can usually (but not all the time) suggest if the song is happy and
cheerful, somber and melancholic, soulful, patriotic, etc.
 The highness and lowness
of sound

• -is made up of group of pitches used

in coherent pattern or succession

The distance between two pitches

in music is called an INTERVAL
Shape
Range/compass is
the distance
between the
HIGHEST pitch to
the LOWEST pitch

• Determined by intervals used, whether

its steps, skips, or huge leaps
We can draw a line graph of a melody’s shape to see how it moves

Shape :
Motives
• Passages/melodies that are short but -it’s when you heard that tune,
quite remarkable instantly reminds you of something

Listen to:
1. Beethoven’s 5th Symphony (Listen 00:00-00:5:00 sec only)

2. Nestle ice cream jingle (link)

Short activity:
Refer to the Module 1 Activity notes.
Title: Exercise 1 Melody
The event in which two or more pitches, or notes, sound simultaneously

LISTENING EXERCISE: Give time to listen to these two songs: GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. What have you noticed to those two
Note: pay attention to the first parts of the songs (intro)
songs?
2. What could be the similarities of the
1. Some Nights by Fun ------------------------------ given songs?

2. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen ----------------

The event in which two or more pitches, or notes, sound simultaneously

CONSONANCE DISSONANCE

When two or more notes at rest or resolved with each other

When two or more pitches sound tense or unresolved when heard
together
For example:
• In the movie, Pitch Perfect, the group singing Price Tag For example:

• A Church choir singing gospel songs • When your overconfident friend sings karaoke out of tune
• A band practicing with an out of tune guitar
Chord
CHORD

A device in harmony where two or three

pitches are sounded together
String
Example:
We look for the right chords of a song to play the guitar. Fret
If you can notice, the strings of the guitar has different pitches,
and it changes once you press a string in a fret. When you press,
say for example, three strings located in different frets, as shown
in the picture, this is called the chord D.
 Scale
A set of pitches arranged in a particular sequence and may be either run going up (ascending) or down (descending)

C Major Scale
 Texture
Various layers of melodic lines and sounds happening simultaneously in a composition

MONOPHONY HOMOPHONY POLYPHONY

Most basic texture
Single accompanied melody
Example:
When you’re singing a capella
in the bath
A melody is accompanied and When two melodies are sung
harmonized simultaneously by together at the same time
chords
Listen:
Melody is the primary interest Concrete Wall by Zee Av
The accompanying chords are
subordinate to the melody

WATCH:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teh22szdnRQ&t=2s
Deals with the loudness and the softness of the sound (volume).

Expresses feelings and emotions in music

A living communicative form

Listen:

"In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg

Some dynamic terms:
Pianississimo (ppp) - very very soft
Pinanissimo (pp) -very soft
Piano (p) -soft
Crescendo (crec.) -gradually getting louder
Mezzo piano (mp) -moderately soft
Decrescendo (decresc.) -gradually getting softer
Mezzo Forte (mf) -moderately loud
Forte (f) - loud
 • Aspect of time in music
• How long or short a pitch will sound
• Time patterns
• Length of silences in between notes
• Covers the speed of the music
• Gives direction and character to each piece
• In music, we use beats or counts to measure musical time
• Conductors use hand gestures or their baton to wave and
count the time when directing an orchestra, choir or band.
• Some rock stars do “head banging” motions to give a
sharper sense of rhythm to music.
Meter
A repeating pattern of strong and weak beats

*Just remember your High School days with the flag ceremony, then your
teacher wave their hands so that all students can sing Lupang Hinirang in
the same tempo (kahit wala sa tono).
Meter
DUPLE METER TRIPLE METER

Beats are grouped into two Beats are grouped into threes

Example: Example:
March songs like “Lupang Hinirang” “Bahay Kubo”

*That’s why Lupang Hinirang is

supposed to be sung like a Marching
song. This is NOT a Ballad song.

*Can you think of other pop songs that

has duple and triple meter?
Tempo
It lets us know how quickly or slowly these beats happen
The word tempo means “time” in Italian

*some terms/markings

Grave - very slow

Adagio - slow
Andante - at a walking pace
Moderato - moderately
Vivace - lively, with life, quickly
Presto - very fast
Tempo
Mood or character markings are also sometimes used
together with tempo markings

(convey human feelings and emotions)

*some terms/markings

Affettuoso - with emotion

Animato - animatedly, with life
Dolce - sweetly
espressivo - expressively
Glocoso - with humor
Grazioso - gracefully
Tone color/ Timbre
Have you been watching singing competitions like The
Voice, Tawag ng Tanghalan, or Philippine Idol?

Notice how judges/ coaches comment on the “tone” of the

singer’s voice

What does TONE means for these singers?

Tone color/ Timbre
It is the quality of notes we here in music

It’s like we can easily distinguish the voice of Moira from

Sarah G even though they may sing the same beat or
background music. How? Because they have different tone
of voice.

In the same sense, we can easily differentiate the sound of

guitar from ukulele even though those are both string
instruments, because of their distinctive tone.
A note for the song composition requirement…

Composing a song is no easy, but any inspiration could help.

Even it’s about the outer space. Here, I’d like to share you a song
which is recently featured by NASA, titled, A Song About Space,
composed by a Filipino singer/songwriter. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlp9guR4Jy4
Application
Please refer to the Module 1 Activity Notes
Title: Application