The

Elements of Music, Part I

Dr. Lara Housez
School of the Arts
McMaster University

Topics for today and Friday

Melody
Rhythm
Harmony
Texture
Timbre
Dynamics
Form
Word-Music Relationships
Genre

Melody
What is a melody?
A single line of notes heard in succession as a
unit.

What are notes?

The smallest unit of music, the building blocks
out of which larger structures are created.
Musical notes are given names: A, B, C, etc.; also
# and.

A melody is like a sentence and the notes

are the words that make up the sentence.

 Just as sentences can subdivide into smaller

sections, so can melodies. Smaller sections of a
melody are called phrases and if they too
subdivide further then these even smaller
sections are called subphrases.
Melody
/ \
Phrase Phrase
/ \ / \
Subphrase Subphrase Subphrase Subphrase

 What is an interval?
The distance between two notes; e.g. from C to
E is a 3rd, from C to F is a 4th, etc.
2nds and 3rds are narrow intervals, while 4ths,
5ths, and 6ths are wide intervals.

 What is melodic motion?

It refers to the shape or direction of a string of notes.
Upward motion: ascending trajectory
Downward motion: descending trajectory

 More on melodic motion:

Conjunct motion: stepwise, side-by-side
motion; narrow intervals
Disjunct motion: motion by leaps; wide
intervals
A melodys overall shape is referred to as its
contour, which is frequently arch shaped (rise
and fall)

What are the melodic characteristics of

Row, Row, Row Your Boat? Happy
Birthday? Mary Had a Little Lamb? O
Canada?

 What is a cadence?
A melody typically ends with a cadence (Latin,
cadere, to fall).
A cadence signals the end of a unit that can
stand on its own. When we hear a cadence, as
listeners, we sense of point of resolution, like a
period at the end of a sentence.

Star Spangled Banner

Notes
Phrase
Sub-phrase 1

Sub-phrase 2

Conjunct

Disjunct

Cadence

 What is a scale?
A series of notes that moves
stepwise and covers a
complete span of an octave
(so-called because it covers 8
notes)
Each scale has a start and
end note, the tonic, and is
made from a pattern of
whole steps and half steps
We can use the following
syllables to refer to notes in
the scale: Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-
ti-do (Do Re Mi from The
Sound of Music)

 What is a key?
The most important note of a scale and the
central mode on which a melody or piece is
based. Most of Western music is based on one of
12 major and minor keys.
A scale starting on tonic note C = music in the
key of C
For each possible tonic, there are 2 possible
keys, one major and one minor

How does a major key sound?

Happy, bright

How does a minor key sound?

Sad, dark

Rhythm
Rhythm is the ordering of music through
time
Most music gits within a regular time grid
made up of beats
Beats are usually organized into groups of
either 2 (duple), 3 (triple) or 4 (duple) beats:
| 1 2 | 1 2 |
| 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 |
| 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 |

 The grouping of beats is called meter

(duple meter, triple meter)
Each group of beats is called a bar (or
measure)
Within a bar some beats are more important
than others, usually the girst:
1 2 3 | 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 (strong-weak-weak or
long-short-short)
Clap the rhythm of Happy Birthday and
identify the meter

Rhythm
Level Name
1
Beat

Description
Regular pulse underlying music

Measure Organization of beats into groups (duple/

triple, strong and weak beats)

Rhythm Articulation of levels 1 and 2 through the

ordering of music through time

Are these pieces in duple or triple meter? 1 2 3

 What is tempo?
The speed at which music is played or sung.

Harmony
What is harmony?
The sound created by multiple notes played or
sung simultaneously.
When three or more notes sound at the same
time, as a group, they are called a chord.
Music 1AA3 in harmony:
DO-MI-SOL-DO
Chords can be based on any note of the scale. If
the chord is based on the tonic, then that chord
is called the tonic chord. Most pieces begin and
end with the tonic chord.

For Friday
If you havent already done so, purchase the
textbook and accompanying CDs or get
access to these materials by signing up
online, read pp. 1-15 on The Elements of
Music, and listen to tracks 1-18.