Four Basic Qualities

of Musical Sound:
Duration (how long or short?)
Intensity (how loud or soft?)
Pitch (how fast or slow the sound vibrates;
how high or low?) (notes)
Timbre (distinctive "color" of the sound;
e.g., sax vs. violin)

The combination of these musical

elements are what shape the music.
Duration becomes Rhythm = A mixture of
long and short notes.
(One Note Samba)

Intensity becomes Dynamics = (howloudor

soft?)

(pp p mp mf f ff)
Pitch becomes Melody and Harmony
Timbre becomes Instrumentation.

 Melody=notesplayedoneatatime,insuccession
(linear/horizontal).

Chords=3ormorenotesplayedatthesametime
(vertical).

HarmonyandChordProgression=thechordsina
piece/songandhowtheymovefromonechordtothe
next.

Riff=short,repeatedmelodicfigure(Africanheritage).

Other Elements:

Texture: how the music is interwoven.

Classical music often employs
counterpoint.
Rock styles usually exhibit homophonic
textures.
Jazz is typically contrapuntal (incorporates
counterpoint)
Form: organization
of music over time;
the shape of the music.

i.e.,ProkofievPianoConcerto3

Texture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKJm3Wre1iU

Counterpoint

vs.

Homophonic

Melody

Melody 1
Melody 2
Melody 3

Incontrapuntaltexture,23or
moremelodiesworktogetherto
createtherhythmicenergyina
piece.

C
h
o
r
d
s
Bass Line coincides with
chords provides roots.

AfricanRhythmsinAmericanMusic
Almostalltwentiethcenturypopularmusicgrowsoutofan
AfricanAmericanreinterpretationofAfricanRhythms.

Africanrhythmswereoftenbuiltintocomplex,layeredtextures.
Thesetribalrhythmswerepasseddownoverthecourseof
thousandsofyearsaurally.
Thedrumsplayedallofthetime.
LedtothedevelopmentofthedrumsetinAmerica

TutsiDrums

Terms To Know
Tempospeedofthebeat(measuredinquarternotes)
SurfaceRhythmsfasterrhythmsthatare
emphasizedoverthebasictempo.
Meter,measure,andbarlines
4/4mostcommonmeter(countto4eachmeasure)
3/4alsocommon(countto3eachmeasure)

Barlinesameasurelastsfrombarlinetobarline

TheBasicRhythms
Knowthese!

Quarternotes
Eightnotes
Triplets
Sixteenthnotes

1
2 3
4
1&2&3&4&
TripletTripletTripletTriplet
1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a

TheroleofrhythminTwentiethCenturyPopMusic

1920s193040s1950s1960s1980s1990s
FoxtrotSwingRocknRollLatinrhythms(Some)Techno
inpopmusic
TwobeatFourbeat

Disco!
(Halfnotes)(Quarternotes)(Eighthnotes)(Sixteenthnotes)(Thirtysecondnotes)

Therefore, the main rhythmic component found

in almost all American popular music is the

BACKBEAT
-Something is struck on beats TWO and FOUR
of each measure.

The Major Scale

12345678

Octave

There are 7 notes in the major scale. The 8th note is the o
duplicates the 1st note an octave higher.
A Key is made of the notes of a major scale.
There are 12 different keys (e.g., C, C#, D, Eb, E, F, F#, G, Ab, A, Bb, B)

Chords can be stacked on top of each note of the

scale.
There are 7 chords in a Key

Arpeggios playing the notes of a chord one note

at a time.

Out of all the chords, traditionally

the THREE MOST IMPORTANT are:

The Most Important

Chord Progression in Jazz

ii V I

The Major Scale - Europe

1234567(8)
Bluenotes

Bluenotes
The Blues Scale

1b34#45b7(8)

 b=flatlowersthenotebyahalfstep.
#=sharpraisesthenotebyahalfstep.
Halfsteponekeytothenextonapiano.
Dominantchordschordswith4notesandthe
highestnoteisflatted.TheBluesincorporates
dominantchordsandthelowerednotemakes
themsoundblue.

AMoreLiteralDescriptionofBluesForm
(B.B.Kingversion)

(12BarBlues)

Beginning

Midpoint

PHRASE1

I (IV)

PHRASE2

IV

PHRASE3

IV I

B.B.King
NoGood

Lyric/PoeticFormat
Read/Repeat/Rhyme

Line1(Statement)
Yourletterreachedmeearlythismorning,baby
AndIreadeverywordyouhadtosay.

Line2(Repeated)
Yourletterreachedmeearlythismorning,baby
AndIreadeverywordyouhadtosay.

Line3(Variedwithendrhyme)
Butifyoulovemelikeyousayyoudo,baby,
Iwanttoknowwhyintheworlddidyougoaway?