UNIT 4

TIM BRE A ND TEXTURE

L E SSO N 1 T I M BRE

L E SSO N 2 T E X TURE

L E SSO N 3 CO MPOSITION

TEXTURE IN MUSIC DEALS WITH HOW THICK OR THIN THE SOUND IS,
WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS THAT MAKE IT SOUND THICK OR THIN, DARK
O R B R I G H T. T I M B R E D E A L S W I T H T H E Q UA L I T Y O F A C E RTA I N
MUSICAL INSTRUMENT OR A PARTICULAR VOICE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE
F L U T E ’ S T I M B R E I S L I G H T W H I L E T H E T R O M B O N E ’ S T E X T U R E H E A V Y.

I N T H I S U N I T, W E W I L L L E A R N A N OT H E R F O R M O F T E X T U R E CA L L E D
POLYPHONY AND COMPARE IT TO THE OTHER TWO TEXTURES WE HAVE
D I S C U S S E D. W E W I L L A L S O TAC K L E T H E D I F F E R E N T T I M B R E S O F
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS USED IN AN ORCHESTRA.

47
 Le sso n 1
TIMBRE
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Identify tonal qualities of musical instruments

Identify why each instrument sound dark or bright

Does the body of an instrument

affect the total quality of the
sound it produces?

How can we describe the

timbre of musical instruments
from different musical families?

Let's listen to
"Tayo Ay Pilipino"

48
 DARKEST TIMBRE

Listen to the chorus of the song "Tayo Ay Pilipino" played by different instruments.
Can you identify which one has the darkest sound among the strings family?

TAYO AY PILIPINO (Excerpt)

Sabay sabay isigaw

Tayo ay Pilipino!
Isigaw sa buong mundo
Tayo ay Pilipino!
Kulturang sa atin ay ating
mamahalin
Kay sarap awitin
Ang musikang Pilipino!
Strings Family

Violin Viola Cello

Which instrument has the darkest timbre? _____________________

Patriotism is a common virtue among Filipinos. Their love DID YOU

for the nation, culture, local songs, values and beliefs are
still being upheld up to this day. KNOW?

49
 TIMBRE

Timbre can be defined as the character of a musical instrument. This

element of music deals with the quality of the sound (round, dark,
sharp, or bright) that a musical instrument produces.

Below is an illustration on how instruments vary in timbre:

Low Mid High

Dark Sound Warm Sound Bright Sound

Vocals (Female)
Vocals (Male)

Flute

Clarinet

Tenor Saxophone

Trumpet

French Horn

Tenor Trombone

Violin
Viola

Cello

Guitar

Ukulele

Piano
Organ

Kick Drum

Floor Drum

50
 ST RINGS & LUTE FAMILY
STRINGS

VIOLIN
A bowed stringed instrument which is
the smallest and highest-pitched of the
string instrument family.

VIOLA
A bowed stringed instrument after the violin
and produces sounds lower than a violin.
The viola’s body is bigger than a violin.

CELLO
A bowed, and occasionally plucked,
instrument in the strings family. Its
body is much bigger than viola and
can produce a low, dark sound.

LUTE

ACOUSTIC GUITAR
A fretted musical instrument that
usually has six strings and played
through plucking or strumming

UKULELE
A small guitar or banjo with four strings.
This instrument is of Portuguese origin and
popularized in Hawaii in the 1880s.

51
 KEYBOARD A ND
PERCUSS ION FA MILY
KEYBOARD

Piano
A large keyboard musical instrument
played by pressing the white and
black keys.

ORGAN
A keyboard instrument with one or more
pipe divisions. This instrument can be
played with the hands on the keyboard,
and with the feet using pedals.

PRECUSSION

KICK DRUM
Also called as bass drum, is the lowest
pitched instrument in a standard drum kit.

FLOOR DRUM
Floor Tom or Low Tom is a part of a standard
drum kit that produces low tones.

52
WOODW IND FA MILY

FLUTE
A woodwind instrument that produces its
sound from the flow of air across an opening.

CLARINET
A woodwind instrument that has a singlereed
mouthpiece. The reed is attached to
the mouthpiece that when the player
breathes on it, the vibration produces the
sound of the clarinet.

SAXOPHONE
An instrument made of brass but belongs
to the woodwind family because it
produces sounds by the vibrations made
with the help of the reed. Like the
clarinet, saxophones have holes that the
player covers or uncovers through
pressing of keys.

53
BRASS FAMILY

TRUMPET
A brass instrument that can produce
sound when the trumpeter buzzes his lips.
This instrument also has a mouthpiece
made of brass.

FRENCH HORN
A brass instrument made of tubing
wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. Like
other brass instruments, the pitch of a
french horn is controlled through the
player’s lip muscle (or what we call
embouchure) in the mouthpiece while
pressing the valves.

TROMBONE
This is another member of the brass
family. Like other brass instruments,
sound is controlled and produced
through the mouthpiece and the lip
muscle of the player. But unlike the french
horn that has valves to determine the
pitch, the trombone has a telescoping
slide to change the pitch.

54
 Le sso n 2
TEXTURE
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Identify the 3 different types of texture

Understand monophony, homophony and polyphony

How are textures

different from each other?

What is polyphony?

55
 TEXTURE

Texture in music is about the combined elements we hear. How thick and thin
the sound is, how many layers of sound we can hear, how wide the range
is (lowest to highest pitches), the number of voices can we hear, and how
many instruments are used in the band. These elements make up the texture.

There are different kinds of texture in music. Let us look at the difference
between monophony, homophony, and polyphony:

Monophony Homophony Polyphony

One melody line; no One clear melody More than one

counterpoint; played with an independent melody
accompaniment; all played or sang at
the same time

One line has a We can usually hear Has a lot of

specific pitch the word “chords” counterpoint or
when describing this contrapuntal music.
texture

Examples: a girl Example: Choral Example: Rounds

whistling a tune; a singing with parts; A
group of people singer accompanied
singing in unison by a guitar or piano
(altogether, without
parts)

56
 PI E C E # 2 | WARM UP

1. Place both right and left hands on the piano. Play right hand notes first, then left hand.
Middle C

C3 C4 C5

2. Play the vertically-aligned notes together once you've mastered both right and left
hand notes. Follow tempo, finger positions, dynamic markings and repeat signs.

57
P I EC E # 2 | TAYO AY P I LI P INO

58
P I EC E # 2 | TAYO AY P I LI P INO

59
 Le sso n 3
COMPOS ITION
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Write your own composition on a music sheet

Music compositions last

longer when they are written.
Famous composers since the
1800s have written many
pieces which are still being
played today.

HOW DO WE START?
Let's write our composition on
a music sheet one element
at a time.

60
 WRIT ING ON A M US I C S H E E T
Write your composition on the music sheet on the next page and follow these steps one at a time:

1. Add a title to your composition.

2. Write your melody line and chords.

• A = verses 1 & 2
• B = chorus

3.Write your lyrics below the notes.

4.Write your chords above each bar.

5. Put a beginning repeat sign on the first bar, and put an end repeat sign on the last bar.

6.Write tempo markings above the first bar of the staff which would fit your song.

Example:

61
M Y CO MPO SITIO N

62
Acknowledgements

Composers and Arrangers

Education Head Axel Mhar Generalao
Elijah Soriano Jobert Solero
Joed Janry Cruz
Writers
Randyl Barliso
Ma. Renela Fernandez
Ellen Rachel Ingay Video Editors
Jane Claire Magallanes Therese Marie Militante
Jethro Felipe
Transcriber
Airene Cedava
Jowena Christy Fabunan
James Ralf Blancaflor
Mark Stephen Lladones
Graphic Artist
Randyl Barliso
Joshua Orlina
Alan Paul Querequincia
Digital Illustrator
Vocals
Roy Diaz
Karen Gil Tirante
Axel Mhar Generalao
MAGNUS CREATIVE MUSIC, INC.
Central Office:
Lot 8 Blk 14 Road 9A Area 5 UPS 5, Parañaque City
Magnus Creative Music