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⚫The art of combining sounds of varying
pitch to produce a coherent composition that
is melodious, harmonious, intelligible and
expressive of ideas and emotions
⚫The material of music is sound.
⚫Musical sounds or tones are produced by
man-made instruments and by human voice.
⮚Two Media Used in Music
⚫1. Instrumental medium
⚫2. Vocal Medium
Most musical instruments have three
things in common:
⚫1. A part which vibrates,
⚫2. a part which amplifies the sound by bouncing off
the vibrations away from the instrument
⚫3. A system for producing and regulating fixed
pitches
⚫Generally, musical instruments are grouped
according to their vibrators ( how these are made to
vibrate) and their resonators ( whatever amplifies
vibrations). Each group is often referred to as a “
family” or “choir”. The groups are as follows:
 String/stringed

⚫Have strings which are either plucked or

bowed
PLUCKED INSTRUMENTS
GUITAR UKELELE
BANJOS MANDOLINS
HARP ERSTWHILE LYRE
BOWED INSTRUMENTS
VIOLINS VIOLAS
 VIOLINCELLOS or
CELLOS
DOUBLE
VIOLINCELLOS/CELLOS
BASES/CONTRABASES
Wind Instruments
⚫Require wind to produce sound so they are
blown
Woodwinds
PICCOLO
⚫So-called because they were
originally made of wood
FLUTE OBOE
ENGLISH HORN CLARINET
BASS CLARINETS BASSOONS
CONTRABASSOONS
BRASSES
⚫Usually made of brass and some other metal
BRASS INSTRUMENTS

SAXOPHONES TRUMPHETS
FRENCH HORN THROMBONES
TUBA CORNET
The Percussion Choir
⚫1. those that produce musical tones and have definite
pitch, and
⚫2. those noisemakers, which do not have definite
pitch

⚫Instruments that are beaten or struck

 GLOCKENSPIELS
DRUMS
XYLOPHONES
MARIMBA
GONGS CYMBALS
TRIANGLE CHIMES
Keyboard Instruments
⚫Have keys which are pressed to produce the
desired sounds
PIANO ORGAN
CELESTA
PIANO ACCORDION
HARMONIUM
Composition of Symphony
Orchestra
⚫String choir-consists of the violin, the viola ( cello)
and the double brass. Each of these instruments has a
hollow sound box across which nylon, wire or gut
strings are stretched.
⚫These strings are made to vibrate by means of
horsehair bow which is rubbed on the strings at
different points on the fingerboard, so that only a part
of the string vibrates at a time.
Wind Instruments
⚫The instruments are found behind the string choir in
orchestra. These instruments are sounded by blowing into
them, thus setting a column of air vibrating. These are
grouped under the woodwind and the brass choirs
⚫The instruments of the woodwind family consist of tubes,
usually made of wood, which have holes on the sides.
When one or another of these holes is opened or closed,
the length of column of air inside the tube is changed, the
producing tones of different pitches. A set of keys,
arranged to suit the natural position of the fingers, is
manipulated by the musician as he plays the instrument.
⚫Brass Instruments- consists of cylindrical brass
tube of varying length. This tube either doubled on
itself or coiled ( for ease in handling) and expands
into a bell-shaped end. The player of a brass
instrument not only in the tube, but also makes his
tightly stretched lips move in a certain way on the
mouthpiece.
⚫To go from one pitch to another, the musician uses
the valves or a slide to lengthen or shorten the length
of the tube, varies the pressure of his lips and controls
his breath.
The word percussion means “the sharp striking of one
body against another.
The complete percussion section includes almost any
instrument that is sounded by striking, shaking or
scratching with the hands or with another object.
These instruments are used to emphasize the rhythm,
generate excitement and enliven the orchestral
sound.
⚫Instruments which are equipped with keyboards
occasionally play with the symphony orchestra.
⚫These include piano ( which is the most familiar
keyboard instrument and basically a stringed
instrument because its strings are struck with small
felt hammers, controlled by levers attached to the
keyboard), and harpsichord ( which is also stringed
instrument whose strings are plucked by plectra made
from quills, leather tongues held in place by wooden
jacks attached to the keys
Human Voice
⚫When one sings, the vocal chords ( membranes
contained within the voice box or larynx)are
subconsciously tightened to a certain tension. A stead
stream of air is directed against them from the
singer’s lungs, setting them into vibration. The sounds
are amplified in the cavities of the larynx, mouth and
nose resonators capable of regulating the force and
the volume of the output of the vocal cords.
⚫The Human voice is classified according to range
and tone quality:
⚫1. Soprano-The high pitched female voice
⚫2. Alto- The low- pitched female voice
⚫3.Tenor- the high-pitched male voice
⚫4. Bass- The low- pitched male voice
⚫Most choirs and choruses are made up of these four
voices. Two intermediate classifications are the
mezzo-soprano, a voice combining the attributes of
both the soprano and the alto, and the baritone,
lying between tenor and the bass.
Literature
⮚Literature uses words which have fairly definite
meanings in their context, and are capable of
suggesting other meanings which allows the reader to
go beyond the simple story line to other levels of
meanings
THE COMBINED ARTS
⚫Such as drama or opera ⚫Plot- rendered by
in theatrical actors and actresses
productions use several emoting and speaking or
media- The play itself singing their parts
⚫(which is a literary according to their roles)
form)
⚫Costumes, the stage ⚫Music ( which may
setting where the serve as a part of the
scenery, props and plot or as background
lighting have been that sets the mood of the
arranged to provide the story)
illusion of reality;
⚫Through electric
methods , these
performances and other
forms of entertainment are
transmitted into viewers’
homes, which enable them
to watch the performances
without joining a specific
crowd, or getting bothered
by the presence of an
orchestra pit or footlights.
⚫Television cameras
allow the viewers to have a
close-up look at the
performer, or a panoramic
view of the performance,
which can either be live or
previously recorder in
video tape.
⚫The cinema (or
motion pictures)
which is an extension of
photography, uses
combined several “shots”
which are, in fact, made
up of a series of pictorial
units or “frames”, taken
from one point of view
⚫Sound is then added to
this series, which has
been recorded on optical
or magnetic film and
synchronized with the
pictures. One of these
series of pictures are
projected in rapid
succession, they produce
an illusion of reality,
which altogether present
the following:
⚫1. a fictional story (a ⚫2. an educational
dramatic work for feature (a photographic
entertainment, essay), or
including animated
cartoons ⚫3. a documentary (a
rendering of facts or
events with a particular
viewpoint)