An Introduction to Music

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Contents

Why living Music is so Important

What is Music

Fundamental Blocks for Music

– Melody
– Harmony
– Rhythm
– Lyrics*

Mapping between key terms in Indian and western music

Expressing Emotions through Music

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Why live Music

Music - Essential Life Component

• Human Brain has natural affinity

towards music. A musical activity
improves intellectual brain activity.

• Music skills enhance Self

Confidence, Social Bonding and
Success in society .

• Playing music helps in bringing

down Stress levels and improves
overall health and well being. From Loving to Living Music
• Actively playing music (living music) is
infinitely more enjoyable than passively
listening to it

• Every Human being has the potential to

evolve into a Musical genius with
proper training and Practice

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Music – Organized Sound evoking Emotions

Organized Sound
Rhythmic patterns Pitch / Frequency

Melodic Phrases Timbre / Voice

Harmonic Progressions Loudness / Dynamics

evoking

Emotions
Wide melodic range, Consistent strong rhythm, Major Chords

Narrow melodic range, Slow rhythm, Minor Chords

Wide melodic range, Rhythm variations, Mixed Chords

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Building Blocks of Music

Song /
Lyrics Rhythm
Composition
Rhymes Syllables Meter Tempo

Melody Harmony

Scale Phrase Chord Progressions

Musical Note

Duration Pitch Intensity Timbre

Beats Frequency

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Musical Note

Duration
• Duration tells how long the note
lasts or the Time Value of the note Whole note Half Note Quarter Note Eighth Note
• This is usually expressed in Beats 4 Beats 2 Beats 1 Beat half Beat

(measure of time in music) Time value of Notes

Pitch
• Auditory property helping sound to Higher Notes
be perceived as higher or lower
Lower Notes
• Depends on Frequency, expressed in
Quarter Note A on Staff = 440 Hz
Hertz (cycles per second)

Tone and Note

• A sound of a specific frequency and pitch is referred to as a Musical Tone. In addition to

these Tone has following Attributes
Intensity: A measure of loudness
• Tones of specific frequency are referred to as Musical Notes and have associated names.
E.g. Notes, C, D, E, F in western music

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Melody – Musical Scales

Overview
• A Musical Scale consists of a collection of C5 523 Hz
Notes with pre defined Pitch distances B

• Notes with Frequency difference of two

A
times are said to be an Octave apart. 440 Hz

• In a commonly used ‘Equal Tempered’ G 392 Hz

scale, the Notes are divided equally into
several parts, usually 12
F 349 Hz
S
• The Ratio of Frequencies of adjacent E
intervals is fixed – 1.059 approx (12th
root of 2)
D

• Each Step is referred to as a Semitone (S) T

and 2 steps as Tone (T) Middle C 261.5 Hz

(C4)

• The Note A above middle C with

frequency of 440 Hz is used as Tuning Music Scale shown over 12 Equal Temperaments

Standard in Western Music

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Melody – Musical Scales
Most of the Music systems in the world use Diatonic Scale as the basic framework for musical
Compositions which follows same pattern of Pitch distances T T S T T T S

8 C C D E F G A B C
7 Guitar
B

6 A

Piano
5 G C D E F G A B C

4 F Staff
S Notation
3 E

English Notes C D E F G A B C
2 D

T Indian Notes Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa

1 C
Spanish Notes Do Re Me Fa So La Ti Do

Pitch gaps in a Diatonic Scale Diatonic Notes Names in various Music Systems

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Instrument Ranges
Human Voice

Concert Piano

Violin

Bass Guitar

Guitar

C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 Octave C8
Middle C

• Every Instrument has a limited Range of Pitches it can play

• Most Vocalists have a Vocal Range of 2-3 Octaves. Some people can go upto 3.5 or even 4

• Sound of same frequency from different Sources sounds very similar even if tone quality
(or timbre) is very different. Sound of Frequency in factors of 2 (Octaves) sounds very
similar

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Musical Phrases

• Melody is created using different patterns of Notes in a Musical Scale

• Musical phrase is a unit in Composition which has complete musical sense

• A melody typically consists of several consecutive musical phrases.

• Phrases usually culminate into a more or less definite cadence.

• Cadence is musical melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of Resolution

Twin kle Twin kle lit tle star how I won der what you are

Example of a common Melody

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Harmony

• Combinations of certain notes sound pleasant and certain others sound annoying
(dissonant) based on harmonic interaction between different frequencies

• Simultaneous notes of different pitches produce Chords, which provide fundamental

building block for Harmony in Western Music

• The study of Harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions.

Consonance and Dissonance

• Consonance is a chord or Interval that sounds

pleasant to most people and appears to be at Rest.

• Consonances are generally points of arrival,

Resolution or Rest. Most Harmonies and Melodies C Chord = C + E + G
end on Consonance Chords
Example of C Chord on
• Dissonance appears to be Unpleasant and at Unrest Piano and guitar

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Chord Progressions

• Series of Chords that establish a Tonal Function for each Chord to produce Harmonic Flow

• Change of Chord, or "chord change", generally occurs on an accented Beat,

• Most Common Chords consist of Triads (3 notes) Formed using alternate notes. E.g. CEG
= C Chord, GBD = G Chord

• Chords created using Bass notes of various Scale Degrees of the Tonic (Key) are often
referred to with equivalent Roman Numerals. E.g. in the Key of C, C Chord = I, F Chord =
IV, G Chord = V

3 Chord Progressions Circle Progressions Blues Changes

• I - IV - V – V
• I-V-I • I-I-I-I
• I - I - IV – V
• IV - IV - I – I
• I - IV - I – V
• I - IV - V - I • V-V-I-I
• I - IV - V - IV

Examples of Chord Progressions

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Rhythm

Rhythm
• Rhythm is regulated succession of strong and weak elements and made up of sounds and silences.
• The strong and weak elements (sounds and silences) are put together to form a pattern of sounds which
gets repeated
• A rhythm has a steady beat, but it may also have different kinds of beats.

Tempo Metric Level Meter

• Speed or Pace of a given piece
• Can affect the mood and
difficulty of a piece.
• Usually expressed in Beats per
minute
• Basic Unit of time that can
be audible
• Also called Beat level
• Repeating series of
identical distinct periods
• Organization of music into
regularly recurring measures
of stressed and unstressed
"beats“
• Indicated in Western music
notation by a time signature
and bar-lines.

Whole note Half note Quarter note Eighth note

4 Beats 2 Beats 1 Beat 1/2 Beat

Beat Level Division Level

Multiple Levels

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Expressing Emotions through Music

Emotion Melody Rhythm Harmony (Chord/

Tonality)

Happiness, Wide Range Consistent, Major

Excitement Strong, Loud, Fast
Love, Affection, Medium Gentle, Major
Tenderness Medium Tempo

Sadness flat Slow Minor

Tranquillity flat Smooth, Gentle Major/Minor

Triumph, Wide Jumps Energetic, Power Chord

Ecstasy Loud,
Fast

This is only a Rough Guideline. The infinitely complex musical structures and patterns allow
Infinitely Complex Emotions to be Expressed with Music

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We welcome your involvement in living music

THANK YOU

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