APPLICATION OF

THE ELEMENTS
OF MUSIC
OBJECTIVES:
• Identify the elements of music.

• Describe the elements of music and its

importance in rondalla.

• Analyze rondalla music scores and performances.

 Music Elements

Rhythm Tempo
Melody Texture
Form Timbre
Harmony Dynamics
Articulation Genre
1.RHYTHM
 RHYTHM
•Rhythm is the flow or movement of
sound
•It has interrelated units namely: beat,
accent, meter and time signature
•Beat or pulse of music is the basic unit of
music. It is “felt” even if it is not “heard”

•Rhythmic patterns are made up of long and

short sounds

•Duration is the length of sound

ANALYZING RHYTHM:
Beat
• Recurrent pulsation
• Divides music into equal units of time

Meter
•Grouping of beats
2’s & 3’s and strong &
weak beats
Time signature

• indicates the meter of a piece of music

• Appears at beginning of piece
• Appears again later if meter changes
2.Tempo
 TEMPO
• Tempo is the rate of speed of the rhythm in a
composition.
• Tempo is determined by the distance
between steady beats (or pulse); the closer
they are to each other, the faster the music.
Common Tempo Markings

• Largo – very slow and broad

• Lento – slow
• Andante- moderately slow, walking tempo
• Allegro- fast
• Vivace- quick and lively
• Moderato - moderate
• Accelerando (accel.)- gradually becoming
faster
• Ritardando (rit.)- gradually becoming
slower
• A tempo- return to the original speed or
tempo
3.Melody
 MELODY
• Melody is the tune of a particular song.

• It is that “singable” part of an instrumental

or vocal piece.
• Melody is composed of a series of tones that
are organized to make up a recognizable
whole music.

• It has two interacting elements:

namely pitch and duration.
•Pitch is the highness or lowness of
sounds. They are named using letters or
so-fa syllables.

•Pitches are notated on a musical staff, a

symbol made up of 5 lines and 4 spaces.
•Duration is an amount of
time or a particular time
interval; how long or short a
note lasts.
•A musical staff needs to be marked by a
clef sign in order for you to know the
identity of a notated pitch.

•Melodies may move in ascending or

descending direction
•Many melodies are either uneven ,
jagged, or smooth and flowing. This
characteristic of melody is called the or
the “shape” of a melody.
Analyzing Melody:
• Begins, moves, ends
• Tension & release
• Climax
• Legato vs. staccato
 form
4.
 FORM
• Musical Form is the organization of musical
elements to achieve utmost symmetry and
balance.
• Form is the over-all plan or structure of music
• No matter how simple, basic or complicated the
music is, it requires an organized structural
form
Forms of Music
1.Unitary Form- has only ONE section
2. Strophic Form- contains only ONE section. It
consists of one melody written in several stanzas
and is represented by the letter A
3. Binary Form- musical compositions that have
TWO contrasting sections (AB)
4. Ternary Form- has THREE sections
(ABC), the third similar to the first
(ABA)

5. Rondo Form- has contrasting sections

in between repetitions of the A section
(ABACA)
5.timbre
 TIMBRE
•Timbre or tone color refers to the quality of
sound that distinguishes one instrument from
another.
•Bright, brilliant, dark, mellow & rich are words
used to describe timbre.
6. dynamics
 DYNAMICS
•Dynamics refers to the loudness and
softness of sound.

•Dynamic levels may suggest feelings,

moods, or emotions
 Common Dynamics Markings
• Piano (p) – soft
• Mezzo piano (mp) –moderately soft
• Pianissimo (pp) – very soft
• Mezzo forte (mf) – moderately loud
• Fortissimo (ff) – very loud
• Crescendo- gradually becoming louder
• Decrescendo - gradually becoming softer
7.Texture
 TEXTURE
• Texture refers to the relationships between one
or more “melodies” and other accompanying
musical sounds.

• Refers to a single or several layers of sound

heard at the same time.
•Like an interweaving of melody and
harmony.

•May be light or thin, heavy or thick.

Musical Textures
• Monophony- ONE melody stands alone,
WITHOUT harmony or accompaniment
• Homophony- ONE melody WITH
harmonic/accompaniment
• Polyphony- 2 or more melodic lines of equal
importance, sung or played together.
•Heterophony- is created when singers
and instrumentalists simultaneously
perform different versions of what is
essentially the same melody
• 8.Harmony
 HARMONY
•The simultaneous sounding of two or more
pitches

• It is the vertical relationship between a

melody and its accompanying chords or between
melodies simultaneously played or sung.
9.Articulation
 ARTICULATION
• The direction or performance technique
which affects the transition or continuity on a
single note or between multiple notes or
sounds.
• Staccato - signifies a note of shortened duration,
separated form the note that may follow by silence.
• Martellato (Accent) – an articulation that indicates a
strong accent or hammered out.
• Tenuto – it can either hold the note in its full length or
longer or play the note slightly louder.
• Marcato – indicating a note is to be played louder or
more forcefully than surrounding music.
 Martellato Marcato
(Accent)

Staccato Tenuto
• Tremolo – a single note is repeated extremely rapidly with
the pick or plectrum.
• Sforzando – an indication to make a strong, sudden accent
on a note or chord.
• Fermata - a pause of unspecified length on a note or rest.
• Portato – denotes a smooth, pulse in articulation and is
often notated by adding dots over or under slur markings.
• Legato – indicates a smooth, flowing manner, without breaks
between notes.
 sforzando

Tremolo Fermata Portato Legato

•Up and Down Stroke –
indicates direction of picking,
either up or down.
Down

Up
•Trill - consisting of a rapid
alternation between two
adjacent notes, usually a
semitone or tone apart.
Key Signatures
Centering of a melody or harmony around a
central note

• The Major Scale

• The Minor Scale
10.Genre
 GENRE
• Characteristic way of using melody, rhythm,
tone color, dynamics, harmony, texture, and
form

• Shaped by political, economic, social, and

intellectual developments
MUSIC ANALYSIS
THANK YOU!