Introduction to the

Elements of Music
What are they?

 All music can be described in relation to the

elements of music, which are different
_______________ of music.

 These include:
 Dynamics
 Rhythm/Metre
 Pitch/Melody/Harmony
 Instrumentation/Timbre
 Texture
 Tempo
 Structure/Form
 Context
Dynamics

Change in volume, musical expression, determining partly

the mood of the piece. This indicates the
loudness/softness of a piece of music, and the way to
attack certain notes (ie. Accents)

These are notated using abbreviations or symbols.

Some Common Dynamic
Markings
ppp - pianissinissimo
pp – pianissimo (softer than piano)
p – piano (soft)
mp – mezzo piano (stronger than piano, but still soft)
mf – mezzo forte (medium strong)
f – forte (strong/loud)
ff – fortissimo (stronger than forte)
ARTICULATIONS
< - accent
- - sustain (sustenuto)
. = staccato (short note)
Some Common Dynamic
Markings
< = Crescendo (cresc.) – getting louder
>= decresceno (decresc.) – getting softer
Sfz = surprise! – suddenly loud
Rhythm/Metre

Your definition: The arrangement of musical time. Music is

arranged in beats grouped into measures. Meter is the
grouping of strong and weak beats. Rhythm is the
arrangement of note lengths in a piece of music.

“Rhythm is shaped by metre”

Pitch/Melody/Harmony
/Tonality
PITCH
Music is produced through VIBRATIONS. The frequency of
these vibrations produce sounds of varying lowness or
highness.

Slowly vibrations/bigger objects:

Faster vibrations/smaller objects:
Pitch/Melody/Harmony
/Tonality
MELODY

This is the arrangement of series pitches in musical time.

This can be considered the recognizable ‘tune’ of the
piece.

This is the HORIZONTAL aspect of music

Pitch/Melody/Harmony
/Tonality
HARMONY

This is a group of notes (chords) played

together and the relationship between
a series of chords.

This usually supports the melody, played

simultaneously or as broken chords,
giving music it’s TEXTURE.

This is the vertical aspect of music.

Pitch/Melody/Harmony
/Tonality
TONALITY
Also known as the key. A piece can be centered around a
certain set of pitches (major and minor scales), where
there is a sense of completion when the CHORDS return
to the TONIC, from the DOMINANT (Key of C: returning
from G to C)
Instrumentation/Timbre

What is producing the music. This describes what

instruments [or voices] are heard. This will greatly
affect the mood of the piece.

Timbre is also known as TONE COLOR, which is the quality

of sound that is used to distinguish between instruments
Texture

This describes the layers in music and how they relate to

each other. This is also related to the VERTICAL aspect
of music.
Tempo

How fast or slow music is played. This is

usually marked using with symbols or
italian terms

Some Common Tempo Markings

Largo
Andante
Allegro
Allegretto