PROPERTIES OF

MUSICAL SOUNDS
Pitch

Dynamics
Tone

Color/Timbre
Duration

1. PITCH

is the highness or lowness that we hear in

a sound. Most men speak and sing in a
lower range than women or children do. On
a piano, the highest frequency tone is
4,186 cycles per second and the lowest is
about 27 cycles per second.

Example of PITCH

Pitch
Sound is a form of vibration and when we
count the number vibrations per second this
is
called Frequency.
Sounds with a definite frequency are called a
Tone.

2. Dynamics

Dynamics are the loudness or softness in

music
Volume in music is created by the amount
of vibration produced by that sound.

Dynamics

Changes in dynamics add spirit and

mood to music.
When a performer plays a note louder
than all other notes around it, this is
called an Accent.
Dynamic Words: words in Italian in
music that tell us how loud or soft to
perform the music

Crescendo Example: Guitar solo in Dont Stop Believin by Journey

Higher order question.

Think of 5 examples of sound
from everyday life and give them
dynamic markings.
Example: The fire alarm is
fortissimo.

3. Tone Color

The quality of a sound that makes it

different from other sounds is called Tone
Color/Timbre.
Makes music interesting.

4. Duration

The length of time that a note is sounded.

This term can also refer to the notation of
the length of time that a note is to be
sounded or the length of time that a rest
should be observed (silence).

Duration