The

Elements of Music, Part II

Dr. Lara Housez
School of the Arts
McMaster University

Todays Topics
Melody
Rhythm
Harmony
Texture
Timbre
Dynamics
Form
Word-Music Relationships
Genre

Texture
What is texture?
Every work of music has a texture of some kind,
from thick (many voices) to thin (a single
voice). Sometimes one line or voice is more
important than the others; at other times, all
the lines or voices can be of equal importance.
Texture is a function of the number and general
relationship of musical lines or voices to one
another.

Three main types of textures

Monophony

Single unaccompanied melody; solo or unison

Thin

Polyphony
More than one voice or part plays a melody
simultaneously
Thick
Sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat as a round (next slide)

Homophony
Polyphonic music in which all melodic parts move
together at more or less the same pace
Listen to William Billings Chester (1770)

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

1 Row, row, row your boat,
2 Gently down the stream.
3 Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
4 Life is but a dream.

Timbre
What is timbre?
The colour of the music; the character of the
sound. The same melody can sound very
different depending on who is singing or what
instrument is playing (instrumentation).
Compare Kevin Gaffneys rendition of The Star-
Spangled Banner with Louis Armstrongs (CD
1, tracks 17-18)

Dynamics
What are dynamics?

The same music can be performed at many degrees

of volume, from very soft to very loud. Dynamics
determine the volume of a given work or passage in
a work of music.
Dynamics are referred to by using various Italian
terms:
pp (pianissimo): very soft, whispering
p (piano): soft, quieter than speaking voice
mp (mezzo piano): medium soft, speaking voice
mf (mezzo forte): medium loud, speaking voice
f (forte): loud, speaking loudly
ff (fortissimo): very loud, yelling

 Changes in dynamics can happen:

Suddenly
Slowly

Other terms that relate to dynamics:

cres. (crescendo): becoming louder
dim. (diminuendo): becoming softer
sfz (sforzando): suddenly louder, accented

Form
What is form?
The structure of a musical work.
Form is based on three principles:
1. Repetition (e.g., AA)
2. Variation (e.g., AA)
3. Contrast (e.g., AB)

Use uppercase letters to identify sections of a

piece of music (A, B, C, etc.). Some of the most
common forms include AB (two-part form)
and ABA (three-part form).

Word-Music Relationships
What are word-music relationships?
Interconnections between a text, whether sung
or associated in some way to the piece, and the
music

Word-painting in Handels Messiah,

from the tenors aria, Evry valley
shall be exalted (fast forward to 0:55)

Genre
What is genre?
The category of a given work, determined by a
combination of its performance medium and its
social context.
To help understand genre, consider
conventional generic designations in literature
or Jilm.
Symphony, sonata, opera, and song (Lieder,
rock) are all examples of genres. Each one tells
us in advance how long it is likely to be, what
kinds of instruments or voices we will hear, and
what kinds of forms we might hear.

Summary
Different types of musical texture
monophony, homophony, polyphony
Every instrument has a unique sound
timbre
Loudness and softness in music dynamics
Music made from individual units form
Different musical categories genre

For Tuesday
Read pp. 166-171