Elements of Music

1. Rhythm- the pattern of regular and irregular pulses caused in by music by the occurrence of
strong and weak beats.
2. Dynamics- It is the loudness and quietness of sound. Crescendo/Diminuendo/Accent
3. Timbre (musical tone/color)- Unique characteristics of sound.
4. Melody- series of pitch
- horizontal relationship of sound
5. Pitch- highness and lowness of a sound
6. Harmony- 2 or more notes that are being played at the same time
- opposite of melody/vertical
- art of combining pitches into chord
7. Musical Form- arrangement of musical piece
-used to describe how certain parts of the musical piece is repeated
-generally observed in the entire music.
 strophic= uses the same melody repeated (AAA)
 binary= two related sections, both of which are usually repeated (AB)
 ternary= three-part musical form where the first section (A) is repeated after the
second section (B) ends (ABA)
8. Style- Examples of styles include middle age, renaissance, baroque, classic, romantic and
modern
-it allows you to understand more not just of the music, but also of the cultural,
historical, and social implications of the song.

NAME SYMBOL MEANING

piano p Soft
Pianissimo pp Very soft
Pianississimo ppp Very very soft
Forte f Loud
Fortissimo ff Very loud
Fortississimo fff Very very loud
Mezzo-piano mp Moderately soft
Mezzo-forte mf Moderately loud
Decrescendo > Get softer (sing from loud to soft)
crescendo < Get louder (sing from soft to loud

THE AFRICAN MUSIC

African music
 African music has rich and diverse cultural heritage that exist in hundreds of different
languages.
  technique of "Call and Response"
 percussion instruments played either by hands or with sticks, drums, and others.
 50 ethnic divisions of the continent.
 European rule of the different nations up to the end of the 19th century.
African traditional music is largely functional in nature, used primarily in ceremonial rites, such as
birth, death, marriage, succession, worship, and spirit invocations

Popular Music
 "Music of the populace"
 developed in the 20th century
 songs and ballads of the legendary Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Frank Sinatra to the
rock and roll craze of Elvis Presley and the Beatles and the present-day idols in the
alternative music and disco modes.
1. Afrobeat - is a term used to describe the fusion of West African with black American music.
2. Apala (Akala) - is a musical genre from Nigeria in the Yoruba tribal style, used to wake up the
worshippers after fasting during the Muslim holy feast of Ramadan, Percussion instrumentation
includes the rattle (sekere), thumb piano (agidigbo), bell (agogo), and two or three talking drums.
3. Axe - is a popular musical genre from Salvador, Bahia, and Brazil. It fuses the Afro-Caribbean
styles of the marcha, reggae, and calypso, and is played by carnival bands.
4. Jit - is a hard and fast percussive Zimbabwean dance music played on drums with guitar
accompaniment, influenced by mbira-based guitar styles.
5. Jive - is a popular form of South African music featuring lively and uninhibited variation of the
jitterbug, a form of swing dance.
6. Juju - is a popular music style from Nigeria that relies on the traditional Yoruba rhythms, where
the instruments more Western in origin. A drum kit, keyboard, pedal steel guitar, and accordion are
used along with the traditional dun-dun (talking drum or squeeze drum).
7. Kwassa Kwassa - is a dance style begun Zaire. In the late 1980s, it was popularized by Kanda
Bongo Man. In this dance style, the hips move back and forth while the arms follow the hip
movements.
8. Marabi- is a South African three-chord township music of the 1930s-1960s which evolved into
African jazz
LATIN AMERICA MUSIC INFLUENCEND BY AFRICAN MUSIC
Reggae is a Jamaican musical style that was strongly influenced by the island's traditional mento
music.
Salsa- Salsa music is Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Colombian dance music. It comprises various
musical genres including the Cuban son montuno, guaracha, chachacha, mambo, and bolero.
Samba- Samba is a Brazilian musical genre and dance style.
Soca- Soca is also known as the "soul of calypso."
Were- Were is a Muslim music often performed as a wake-up call for early breakfast and players
during Ramadan celebrations. Relying on pre-arranged music, it fuses the African and European
music styles.
Zouk- Zouk is fast, carnival-like rhythmic music, from the Creole slang word for "party".
Son- fusion of the popular music of Spain and the African rumba rhythms. Originating in Cuba, it is
usually played with the tres (guitar), contrabass, bongos maracas, and claves
STANDARD- used to denote the most popular and enduring songs from a particular genre or style.
Its style is mostly in a slow or moderate tempo with a relax mood
ROCK AND ROLL- Hugely popular song form in the United States during the late 1940s to the
1950s. The lead instruments were the piano and saxophone, but these were eventually replaced
by modern instrument.
DISCO- Disco Music pertained to rock music that was more danceable thus leading to the
establishment of venues for public dancing also called discos. Originated from the French word
“discotheque” which means a library for phonograph records
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF AFRICA
Idiophones- These are percussion instruments that are either struck with a mallet or against one
another
Rasp - a hand percussion instruments whose sound is produced by scraping a stick (or similar
object) that has a series of indentations or notches with another stick, creating rattling effects.
Djembe- It is shaped like a large goblet and played with the bare hands
Shekere- A type of gourd and shell megaphone from west Africa, consisting of a dried gourd with
beads woven into a net covering the gourd.
Agogo- a single bell or multiple bells that had its origins in traditional Yoruba Music
Balafon- It is a west African xylophone with bars made from the logs or bamboo
Atingting Kon- These are slit gongs used as communication between villages
Slit drum- it is usually carved or constructed from bamboo or wood into a box with one or more
slits in the top.
Membrano Phones- Usually drums, which have a vibrating animal membrane
Talking Drum- Used to send message to announce births, deaths, marriages, sporting events,
dances, initiation or war.
Body Percussion: African people frequently use their bodies as musical instruments
Lamellaphones- A set of plucked tongues or keys mounted on a sound board
Mbria- It consist of wooden board with attached metal tines of graduated sizes
Chordophones- Are instruments which produce sounds from the vibrations of strings
Musical Bow- The ancestor of all string instruments. It is the oldest and one of the most widely-
used string instruments of Africa
Lute- Originating from the Arabic states, is shaped like the modern guitar and played in similar
fashion
Zeze- A fiddle from Sub-Saharan Africa played with a bow, a small wooden stick, or plucked with
the fingers.
Zither- A string instruments with varying sizes and shapes whose strings are stretched along its
body
Kora- Africa’s most sophisticated harp, while also having features similar to a lute
Aerophones- Musical Instruments that produce sound primarily by trapping or enclosing a body of
column of air.
Trumpets- These are made of wood, metal, animal horns, elephant tusks, and gourds
Reed Pipe- It is the vibration of this reed that causes the air within the hollow instrument to create
the sound
Kudu Horn- This is one type of horn made from the horn of the kudu antelope
Whistles- These are found throughout the continent and may be made of wood or other materials
Flutes- They are usually fashioned from a single tube closed at one end
Atenteben- It is a bamboo flute from Ghana
Fulani- the traditional flute of the Fulani People
Panpipes- It consists of cane pipes of different lengths tied in a row or in a bundle held together by
wax or a cord
CALL AND RESPONSE
-a person leads by singing a phrase and followed and answered by group of singers
-played either hands or with sticks, drums, and others
-used for communication to convey news, for teaching, for telling a story, and for religious
purposes.
The Characteristics of Afro-Latin American Music
1. Conversation: "Call and Response" The performance of voice interaction as an answer to the
first chant.
2. Improvisation- Non-scripted ways of singing that allow sincere conversations. It is a framework
where the artist has freedom in creating musical mood.
3. The voice as an instrument- It is the manipulation of a freely controlled piece where they can
change the tone of voice, its tempo, the creation of moods, and even changing the range and
voice power.
4. The instrument as a voice- the instrument serves as a "singer" along with the performer.
LATIN AMERICAN MUSIC (SALSA, SAMBA, SON)
 Andean Region- a mountain system of western south America along the coast from
Venezuela to Tierra del Fuego- Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela
 Central America- Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama
 Caribbean- Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, Puerto Rico
 Brazil