Concepts

of Music

Pitch
Refers to the relative highness and lowness of sounds. Important aspects include: comparative
highness or lowness of pitch, melody, harmony, definite and indefinite pitch.

Melody
* Is there a melody?
* Is there a main melody? Or many different melodies in succession?

* Is there more than one melody at a time?
* Vocab: Triadic, broken chord, cells, retrograde, imitation
Make sure you have identified each melody clearly, either by relating it to the structure or another
clearly identifiable concept eg. Tone colour. Then consider the following:

A description of the melody; including the following questions:
- Does it move by step or leap? Is it scale like?
- Are the leaps large, awkward or small intervals? Microtonal?
- Do some intervals recur?
- What is the shape of the melody ie. Does it move up/down or stay on the same pitch?
- Does it have a wide or narrow range?
- Is the melody organised into phrases?
- Is the melody decorated or improvised?

What is the mood or style of the melody?
- Is it lyrical, agitated, easy to sing or instrumental? Performance techniques, ornamentations, sliding,
vibrato, timbral effects.
Is the melody accompanied or unaccompanied?

Are there fragments of the melody, which recur or are developed? For Example:
Motives, phrases, riffs or ostinatos, diminution, augmentation.

With one or more melody consider whether they are similar or different.
Is there a countermelody? How do they fit together? For Example:
As a canon or round?
What is the register of each melody (treble, middle, bass)

Describe the phrases: for example:

- How many phrases are there?
- Are they repetitive?
- Are they balanced/symmetrical?
- Are they sequential?
- Are they unbalanced?
- Are they contrasting?
- Are they question and answer?
- Is there a sense of climax?

Describe the tonality, example:

- Is it major/minor/pentatonic/modal? - Is it atonal? (12-tone, aleatoric)
- Is it chromatic?
- Centred on a particular note?
- Does it modulate?


Harmony

- Can you recognise the chordal progression?
- Are there more complex chords used? 7ths, 9ths, 11ths?
- Is there any dissonance used? Is it resolved or unresolved?
- Is there any chromaticism?
- Are there any respected chord patterns, 12-bar blues?
- Are there any sequences of chords?
- Is there a drone or a pedal point used?
- Are there any accompanying figures such as an Alberti bass, walking bass?
- How fast does the harmony change?
- How does harmony relate to the other concepts?

Tone Colour
Refers to the aspect of sound that allows the listener to identify the sound source of combination or
sound sources. Important aspects are:

- Type of sound source/different timbres (instrument) ie. wooden, metallic, string, percussion,
electronic and vocal.
- Combinations of sounds eg. Single voice, multiple voices, voices accompanied or unaccompanied.
- Method of sound production ie. blowing, hitting, plucking, scraping, shaking and/or electronic.
* Electronic manipulation use of pedals (echo, distortion, wah)
* Does one tone colour or type of tone colour dominate the music or is there a combination or
colours?
* Do the tone colours contrast?
* Do different colours help differentiate the layers of sound in the music?
* Are the unusual techniques that alter the tone colour, such as pizz. flutter tongue or use of mutes?
* Are there particular registers of the instruments used?
* How does tone colour relate to the other concepts?

Texture
Refers to the way musical ideas are combined in music. That is layers of sound in the music or the way
voices and/or instruments are combined.

* What are the layers of sound heard?
* What is the role of each layer: melody/harmony or counter melody/bass line?
* What is the relationship between the different layers?
* What is the degree of intensity of the texture: dense or sparse?
* Does the intensity of the texture change?
* Is imitation used between the parts?
* Are there antiphonal effects used?
* Is the piece monophonic, polyphonic or homophonic? Does it change?
* How does texture relate to the other concepts?

Structure
Refers to the organisation of sounds. It is the overall plan or design, which allow musical ideas to be
manipulated effectively. This plan relies on the use of repetition and contrast of ideas.

* Are there clear phrases or larger melodic ideas?
* Is there a motif that is used throughout the music?
* Is there a repetitive pattern that is used throughout the music?
* Are the melodic ideas organised into larger divisions or sections?
* Is there a clear pattern of repetition of ideas contrasted with new ideas: ternary, binary, sonata
form, theme and variation, 12-bar blues, verse/chorus.
* Is there a technique of question and answer or call and response?
* Is it strophic, through composed?
* Is there a theme that is then used as a basis for a set of variations?
* Is there a set of chords, such as a 12-bar blues, that becomes the basis of the overall design?
* How does structure relate to the other concepts?

Dynamics and Expressive Techniques
Dynamics refers to volume of sound, important aspects are: relative softness and loudness of sound,
change of volume (contrast) and accent.
Expressive technique refers to musical details that allow a performer to interpret the style of the
music. Such as phrasing, articulation, tempo, ornamentation and other signs or terms that indicate
mood or general style.

* Describe the loudness or softness of the music. Describe gradations of dynamics or the use of
terraced dynamics.
* How are the dynamic levels achieved? For example:
- How many instruments are playing? refer to texture.
- What types of instruments are playing?
- How loudly are the individual instruments playing?
* Are dynamic changes sudden or gradual?
* Are there terraced dynamics?
* Are there changes of articulations?
* How is silence used? Are there pauses?
* What is the tempo of the piece? Are there any changes to the tempo?
* Is there use of ornamentation/graphic notation?
* Conventional/unconventional use of instruments.
* How does dynamics and expressive techniques relate to the other concepts?

Duration
Refers to lengths of sounds and silences and includes: beat, rhythm, metre, tempo, pulse and absence
of pulse.

* Describe the beat: is it steady? Hemiola? Superimpositions? Anacrusis?



is it indefinite?



is it strong or weak?
* Are there any accents: regular or irregular?
* Describe the metre: changing or unchanging? Cross rhythms,
* Is there any syncopation used?
* What are the note values: long, sustained or dotted notes?
* Are there any recurring rhythmic patterns?
* Describe the mood, influenced by rhythms.
* How does rhythm relate to the other concepts?
* Use of diminution, augmentation.