Unit 01 Music Fundamentals PPT Flashcards
Melody
A sequence of pitches arranged in a meaningful and often memorable way. It is the “tune” of a piece of music.
The melody is the part of the music you sing (think about the national anthem. The words that you sing are the melody)
Note
The smallest unit of music
Phrase
a distinct, cohesive musical thought or segment, typically consists of a series of notes or chords that express a complete idea, generally ending with a cadence, and is commonly around 4 or 8 measures in length.
a substantial musical thought, which ends with a musical punctuation called a cadence
“Oh say can you see? [BREATH] By the dawn s early light? (two musical phrases that make up the melody, separated by a breath)
Cadence
a point of arrival in music
Think …and the home of the brave!
Rhythm:
The pattern of sounds and silences in time
the systematic arrangement of musical sounds, principally according to duration and periodic stress (Jenkins)
Dynamics
a term used to indicate the volume of sound ranging from soft
to loud (piano, mezzo-piano, mezzo-forte, forte)
Meter
grouping of beats into measures
An underlying pattern of beats that maintains itself consistently throughout a work.
(1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 OR 1,2,3 1,2,3)
Texture
The way musical layers interact.
how the tempo and the melodic and harmonic materials are combined in a musical composition, determining the overall quality of the sound in a piece (Jenkins); Monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic
a function of the number and general relationship of musical lines to one another (text)
Harmony
The combination of different pitches sounded together
the sound created by multiple notes played or sung simultaneously.
Usually describes the note that are played underneath or around the melody
Homophonic Texture:
(a melody with chordal accompaniment)
a musical texture where multiple voices move together harmonically at the same pace
ex: Journey, Any Way You Want It
Monophonic Texture
(a single melody with no accompaniment)
A single melodic line with no harmony
ex: Adele, Someone Like You
Polyphonic Texture:
multiple independent melodies)
When the melody is performed against another line of equal importance
ex: Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody
Timbre
The quality of a sound that distinguishes different instruments and voices. It is influenced by an instrument’s construction and playing technique.
(tam-bur) the character or quality of a musical sound or voice as distinct from its pitch and intensity (Jenkins)
The color of music, the character of sound (text)
Timbre is used to describe the quality of sound, and cannot be quantified or measured in any way. It is purely subjective.
Examples:
○ The timbre of a trumpet is often described as bright or sharp
○ The timbre of a clarinet is often described as dark or warm
Tempo
speed of the beat
the speed at which a work of music is performed.
