Medium of Music
Medium of Music
Tone is the medium of music and refers to the sound that travels through air and reaches the audience. It is produced by an instrument or by the voice and has 4 qualities: * Timbre * Pitch * Duration * Intensity
Timbre (also called tone color or tone quality) is the distinctive quality of a tone.
Pitch refers to the highness and lowness of a tone. The vibrations and sound-producing material determine the pitch of a tone : the slower the vibration, the slower the pitch; the shorter the vibrating material, the higher the pitch it produces.
Duration is the length of sound in time. The varying length of sounds in time creates rhythm, and these variations are what make compositions interesting. In music, time is indicated by symbols we call notes.
Intensity means the loudness and softness of a sound produced by the varying degrees of pressure applied to the instrument producing the sound. It evokes the emotional features in music as music moves from loud to soft and vice versa. Symbolic indications of intensity are often written in Italian likeforte (loudly), fortissimo (very loudly), piano (softly) and pianissimo (very softly). Indications of softness and loudness are written as crescendo(becoming louder), decrescendo (decrease loudness) or diminuendo(becoming softer).
Pianoforte is the longer name of piano, because it was an innovative instrument in the 17th century Italy that allowed the dynamics of softness (piano) and loudness (forte) to be reproduced by its mechanisms.
The Musical Instruments
The Western Orchestra has the following classification of instruments:
Strings. The string section includes the violins, violas, violoncello (cello) and double bass (string bass). They produce sound because a string stretched across these instrument’s bodies vibrate. Vibrations are produced by horsehair stretched in a violin’s bow rubbing over these strings or by fingers plucking them. The string section is the nucleus
Tone is the medium of music and refers to the sound that travels through air and reaches the audience. It is produced by an instrument or by the voice and has 4 qualities: * Timbre * Pitch * Duration * Intensity
Timbre (also called tone color or tone quality) is the distinctive quality of a tone.
Pitch refers to the highness and lowness of a tone. The vibrations and sound-producing material determine the pitch of a tone : the slower the vibration, the slower the pitch; the shorter the vibrating material, the higher the pitch it produces.
Duration is the length of sound in time. The varying length of sounds in time creates rhythm, and these variations are what make compositions interesting. In music, time is indicated by symbols we call notes.
Intensity means the loudness and softness of a sound produced by the varying degrees of pressure applied to the instrument producing the sound. It evokes the emotional features in music as music moves from loud to soft and vice versa. Symbolic indications of intensity are often written in Italian likeforte (loudly), fortissimo (very loudly), piano (softly) and pianissimo (very softly). Indications of softness and loudness are written as crescendo(becoming louder), decrescendo (decrease loudness) or diminuendo(becoming softer).
Pianoforte is the longer name of piano, because it was an innovative instrument in the 17th century Italy that allowed the dynamics of softness (piano) and loudness (forte) to be reproduced by its mechanisms.
The Musical Instruments
The Western Orchestra has the following classification of instruments:
Strings. The string section includes the violins, violas, violoncello (cello) and double bass (string bass). They produce sound because a string stretched across these instrument’s bodies vibrate. Vibrations are produced by horsehair stretched in a violin’s bow rubbing over these strings or by fingers plucking them. The string section is the nucleus