7 Different Elements of Music

7 Elements of Music * Rhythm - It may be defined as the pattern or placement of sounds in time and beats in music. Roger Kamien in his book Music: An Appreciation defines rhythm as "the particular arrangement of note lengths in a piece of music." Rhythm is shaped by meter; it has certain elements such as beat and tempo. * Melody - It refers to the tune of a song or piece of music. it is the memorable tune created by playing a succession or series of pitches. * Timbre - Also known as tone color; it refers to the quality of sound that distinguishes one voice or instrument from another. Timbre may range anywhere from dull to lush, from dark to bright (such as the sound of glockenspiels). * Beat and Meter - In order to define meter, let's first define beats. Beats give music its regular rhythmic pattern. Beats are grouped together in a measure; the notes and rests corresponds to a certain number of beats. Meter refers to rhythmic patterns produced by grouping together strong and weak beats. Meter may be in duple (2 beats in a measure), triple (3 beats in a measure), quadruple (4 beats in a measure) and so on. * Tempo - The Italian word at the beginning of a music piece that indicates how slow or fast the piece should be played. This is called the tempo which is effective throughout the duration of the music unless the composer indicates otherwise. * Dynamics - Dynamics are abbreviations or symbols used to signify the degree of loudness or softness of a piece of music. It also indicates whether there is a change in volume. * Harmony - In general, harmony refers to the combination of notes (or chords) played together and the relationship between a series of chords. But to give you a better understanding of harmony, let's first define melody. Melody refers to the tune of a song or piece of music. It is created by playing a series of notes one after another. Harmony accompanies and supports the melody. It is created by playing a group of notes