Music Appreciation Elements of Music
1. The four main properties of musical sounds are; Tone Color (Timbre), Pitch, Dynamics and Duration.
Tone Color also known as timbre pertains to the distinguishing attributes of one voice or instrument from another. A good example is the tone difference between a saxophone and a guitar, or even between a nylon and steel string guitars.
Pitch mainly has to do with the relative highness or the lowness of a sound. It is determined by the frequency of the vibration of sound. Smaller objects (shorter strings) produce high pitch notes while larger objects or longer strings produce low pitch notes.
Dynamics is the loudness or softness of a musical sound. Dynamics is a result of the amplification of a vibration. When a tone is amplified louder than the tones that accompany it we call that accent.
Duration is the amount of time that a musical note is played. The longest time a note is played is known as a whole note and it takes four counts in a bar. A variation of time and how they are played creates beats and rhythm.
2. The six main categories of musical instruments are;
Strings instruments which include the violin and the double bass. The violin is among instruments played by drawing a bow over the strings, while the double bass is in the group of those played by plucking the strings with the fingers or plectra (Pizzicato). String instruments can produce more than one note at a time.
Woodwind instruments such as the clarinet can only play one note at a time and are usually for melodic solos. Woodwind instruments such as the saxophone and the oboe rely on reeds to produce their sounds.
Brass instruments are such as the trumpet of which the sounds are produced from the musicians’ lips as they blow into the funnel shaped mouth pieces.
Percussions are mainly instruments that are struck by hand using a stick of some sort. Examples of such instruments are the xylophone, the glockenspiel, and the bass drums which are struck with two hammers.
The piano is a
Tone Color also known as timbre pertains to the distinguishing attributes of one voice or instrument from another. A good example is the tone difference between a saxophone and a guitar, or even between a nylon and steel string guitars.
Pitch mainly has to do with the relative highness or the lowness of a sound. It is determined by the frequency of the vibration of sound. Smaller objects (shorter strings) produce high pitch notes while larger objects or longer strings produce low pitch notes.
Dynamics is the loudness or softness of a musical sound. Dynamics is a result of the amplification of a vibration. When a tone is amplified louder than the tones that accompany it we call that accent.
Duration is the amount of time that a musical note is played. The longest time a note is played is known as a whole note and it takes four counts in a bar. A variation of time and how they are played creates beats and rhythm.
2. The six main categories of musical instruments are;
Strings instruments which include the violin and the double bass. The violin is among instruments played by drawing a bow over the strings, while the double bass is in the group of those played by plucking the strings with the fingers or plectra (Pizzicato). String instruments can produce more than one note at a time.
Woodwind instruments such as the clarinet can only play one note at a time and are usually for melodic solos. Woodwind instruments such as the saxophone and the oboe rely on reeds to produce their sounds.
Brass instruments are such as the trumpet of which the sounds are produced from the musicians’ lips as they blow into the funnel shaped mouth pieces.
Percussions are mainly instruments that are struck by hand using a stick of some sort. Examples of such instruments are the xylophone, the glockenspiel, and the bass drums which are struck with two hammers.
The piano is a