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Sound
What is sound?

Sound is made when elastic bodies vibrate.

This vibration propagates as waves through a solid, liquid or gas. When the waves reach
the pinna, the eardrum detects them and they are transmitted to the brain. The brain
then interprets them as sound. This process is called hearing.

Sound waves can be perceived by other senses too. We can also sometimes see them or
feel them with our sense of touch.

Example
If you pluck or strum a guitar's strings, you can see them vibrate.

The characteristics of sound

The characteristics (qualities) of sound help us identify them and distinguish them from
other sounds. They are: pitch, duration, loudness and timbre.

The pitch is the characteristic that allows us to differentiate between high and low
sounds. It depends on the number of vibrations per second. The quantity that measures
pitch is frequency, and its unit is hertz (Hz).

Example
The frequency of the 'La' note is 440 Hz. Its wave vibrates 440 times per
second.

Depending on the pitch, we can distinguish two types of sounds:

Sonido fuerte son altas y sonido suave bajas

a. Low sounds : fewer vibrations per second (low frequency or pitch)
b. Higher pitched sounds
sounds: a high number of vibrations per second (high frequency
or pitch)

Duration is the characteristic that allows us to differentiate between short and long
sounds. It depends on how long the object vibrates for.

Sonido grave pocas ondas y si es agudo muchas

Example
If we pluck a guitar string and leave it to vibrate, the sound is long.

Loudness is the characteristic that allows us to differentiate between loud and quiet
sounds. It depends on the wave amplitude and is called volume.

Example
The loudness of different sounds.

Finally, timbre is the quality that allows us to differentiate the colour and qualities of
each sound.

Is the característics sound of an instrument or sound, material how you play the shape.

Example
If we play the same note with different instruments, it sounds different.

Silence

Silence is the absence of sound or noise; there is no vibration or sound

wave.

It is very important to learn to value silence in our lives. Music would not exist without
silence, as it is a mix of different sounds and silence.

Musical notes
Piece of música and say the names of it.

Musical notes show a sound's pitch, and note values show their duration.

A stave is five lines and four spaces which we draw the musical notes on.

A score, or sheet music, is made up of several lines of staves. Each stave has five
horizontal lines parallel to each other. This is where we write the musical notes,
indicating the pitch and length of each sound.

The stave lines are numbered from the bottom up. So, the bottom line is the first line
and the top line is the fifth.

Every line and every space between lines in a stave is named after a musical notes.
These will depend on the clef. The names of the musical notes are: do, re, mi fa, so, la, ti,
do.

At the beginning of each stave there is a sign that tells the reader the reference note to
read the stave from. That sign is called the clef.

There are three main clefs. The line which the clef is written on determines how we
read the rest of the music. This applies for notes going both up or down in scale.

Treble clef

This clef is used to represent the sounds of the central octave going up (midrange to
high). It is the most well-known. The treble clef goes on the second line of the stave, it
is written 'in second'. The second line then corresponds to the note 'so'. This means the
space below will be 'fa' and the space above will be 'la'.

Note values

Note values are indicated on the lines and in the spaces between the lines on the stave.
They show the length of the note. They are a whole note (1), minim (2), crotchet (4),
quaver (8), semiquaver (16), demisemiquaver (32) and hemidemisemiquaver (64).

The maximum duration is the whole note, or semibreve. This divides into two minims
and these can be divided into two crotchets and so on. Look at the picture, it shows the
notes from the semibreve to semiquaver.

Rests

Just as we have note values that show the duration of a sound, there are also signs to
show how long a period of silence is. These are called rests. We have breves,
semibreves, crotchets, quavers, semiquavers, demisemiquavers and
hemidemisemiquavers. The length of the silence is the same as the note value.

Rests have value but do not have sound. They help show note duration.

Loudness indicators

The loudness indicators are:

a. pp - pianissimo - very soft

b. p - piano - soft
c. mf - mezzoforte - moderately loud
d. f - forte - loud
e. ff - fortissimo - very loud.

The recorder: position, basic breathing,

finger positioning and articulation.

Here you can see the main positions to play the flute.

Repertoire for all levels.

Activities

Rhythm
What is rhythm?

Rhythm is one of the fundamental elements of music. We can find examples in the
natural world (waves in the sea, the change from day to night, etc.) and in our bodies
(breathing, our heartbeat, the steps we take when we walk, etc.).

The combination of sounds and silences are what make up different musical rhythms.
Beat is the most important part of rhythm. We can feel a beat in our own bodies with
our pulse, or we can hear it in a ticking clock. Music always has a beat; we can tap our
feet or clap our hands in time with it.

When we play a beat in a regular pattern, it makes up different bars.

Time signatures are written as two numbers, one on top of the other, on the stave to
the right of the clef. The most common, simple time signatures are 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4.
Time signatures: solo nos va poner la tabla esa y nada de teoría.
A number at the top is called the numerator and the number at the bottom is called the
denominator.

a. The numerator indicates how many beats there are in each bar.

b. The denominator indicates the note value.

These are the basic rhythms:

a. Binary rhythm
rhythm: The bar is divided into two equal parts. The first part is
emphasised.
b. Ternary rhythm
rhythm: The bar is divided into three equal parts. The first part is
emphasised.
c. Quaternary rhythm : The bar is divided into four equal parts, and the first part is
emphasised.

Conductors move their hands or a baton to indicate the rhythm of a piece of music.

Symbols which show if a note should be

prolonged

The symbols which indicate the prolongation of a note are ties, dots and fermatas.

A tie is a curved line which connects two notes of the same pitch. It adds
the duration of the two notes together.

A dot is a point placed to the right of a musical note or silence. It adds

half of the note's value to it. In other words it increases the note's
duration by 50%.

Example
A crotchet has a defined duration. A dotted crotchet lasts for 1 + 0.5, its time
and a half. It is actually the same as a crotchet tied to a quaver.

A fermata is a semicircle with a point in it's centre. It is placed above a

note or silence and indicates that a note should be prolonged. There is
no defined time for this prolongation, but it is usually double the time.

Activity

Tempo

This is the speed of the beat. It is represented by Italian words which

indicate speeds from very slow to very fast. They can be added in any
language.

The most common tempo markings are:

Tempo esto
a. Presto - very, very fast
b. Allegro - fast
c. Andante - walking pace
d. Adagio - slow
e. Largo - very slow

We can also use a metronome mark

mark, which indicates a speed of crotchets per minute.

A metronome measures the pulse rate, or beat, of a piece of music. It is a

device with a pendulum that makes a clicking sound for each pulse.
Nowadays digital metronomes are more commonly used.

Nuances of tempo

There are more concepts which express changes in the tempo of a piece of music.

Accelerando : getting gradually faster; Ritardando : slowing down.

Activities

Activities

Melody and harmony

Melody

Melody is what we remember most easily from a piece of music. It is a

combination of different pitched sounds, one after the other, played for
different durations.

The melody is shown in a horizontal line. It is the expression of a musical idea including
the use of scales, intervals, harmony and rhythm.

There are several different types of melodies, among which the upstream, downstream
and wavelike.

Example
Ascending melody.

Example
Descending melody.

Example
Undulating, or wavelike, melody.

Musical phrases

A melody is divided into phrases.

Musical phrases are similar to sentences. They are usually separated by rest or
cadences.

Example
Phrases which are tied together.

Those cadences include:

a. Open cadence continues the musical idea.

b. Closed cadence gives the sensation of finishing the musical idea, concluding the
piece.

Scales

These are ordered sequences of sounds. The most commonly used scale
has seven sounds.

The distance between a note and another note in a scale can be tone or semitone. The
difference between two notes is called the interval.

There are major and minor scales, depending on where the tones and semitones are
placed. The scale used in a piece of music affets how it sounds.

A piece of music written in C Major will use the notes from this scale especially at the
beginning and end. This is called thetonality
tonality of a piece of music. The music stays close
to this tonal centre. The distance between the tones and semitones is kept constant.

Activity

Accidentals

There are some symbols that we can place in front of notes to modify
their pitch. We need them to keep the distances between the tones and
semitones in the scale which is used in the piece of music.

There are three types of accidentals:

a. Sharp ♯ - Increases the pitch of the note by half a tone

b. Flat ♭ - Decreases the pitch of the note by half a tone
c. Natural - Cancels out the sharp and the flat. The note goes back to its natural
state.

Intervals

These are the differences in pitch between sounds.

We can identify intervals in different ways. They can be:

a. Ascending or descending
descending: when the note goes from low to high or high to low.
b. Melodic and harmonic
harmonic: when the notes are playing close together or at the same
time

Activity

Harmony

When notes are played at the same time, it is called harmony. Harmony
accompanies and enriches the melody. Along with the melody and
rhythm, it is the third basic element of music.

From a scientific standpoint, harmony is the science that studies chords.

Chords

These are the basis of harmony. They are based on a set of three or more
notes being played at the same time. Chords are written vertically on the
stave (notes go one on top of the other). Remember that melody is
written horizontally.

To form basic chords we need three notes: the first, the third and fifth. We can also
overlap two thirds and get the same result.

Activity

Musical instruments
Organology is the science of studying and classifying musical
instruments.

Each instrument has its own timbre. Most intruments are grouped into families or make
up groups. We will look at different families of instruments and their characteristics in
this unit.

We often classify an instrument based on what material vibrates to make the sound.
This could be string, wind, brass, etc. Following this classification, there are four basic
families, and a newer one, electrophones.

Musical instruments and their families

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