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Musical Means of Expression

beat, meter, dynamics, harmony, melody

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Carolina
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22 views

Musical Means of Expression

beat, meter, dynamics, harmony, melody

Uploaded by

Carolina
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Musical means of expression

Expression is not the result of inspiration. Expression is the result of study, practice, and the lifelong acquisition of
taste. Begin by studying the music. I don’t mean just to play through it, I mean to really look at it, and figure out
what you want to do. You should know the structure of every single phrase; you have a plan for every note in
every phrase. You also need a plan for the whole movement, the whole work, even the whole concert.
You don't need to be a musician in order to understand the basic elements of music. Anyone who appreciates
music will benefit from learning how to identify music's building blocks. Music may be soft or loud, slow or fast,
and regular or irregular in tempo—all of these are evidence of a performer interpreting a composition's elements or
parameters.
It's worth pointing out that the leading musical theorists differ on how many elements of music there are.
Some say as few as four or five, others as many as nine or 10, and a number of experts also allow for intangible
characteristics as well.
BEAT AND METER
A beat is what gives music its rhythmic pattern; it can be regular or irregular. Beats are grouped together in a
measure; the notes and rests correspond to a certain number of beats. Meter refers to rhythmic patterns produced
by grouping together strong and weak beats. A meter may be in duple (two beats in a measure), triple (three beats
in a measure), quadruple (four beats in a measure) and so on.
DYNAMICS
Dynamics refers to the volume of a performance. In written compositions, dynamics are indicated by abbreviations
or symbols that signify the intensity at which a note or passage should be played or sung. They can be used like
punctuation in a sentence to indicate precise moments of emphasis. Dynamics are derived from Italian. Read a
score and you'll see words like pianissimo used to indicate a very soft passage and fortissimo to indicate a very
loud section, for instance.
HARMONY
Harmony is what you hear when two or more notes or chords are played at the same time. It supports the melody
and gives it texture. Harmonic chords may be described as major, minor, augmented or diminished, depending on
the notes being played together. In a barbershop quartet, for example, one person will sing the melody.
The harmony is provided by three others—a tenor, a bass, and a baritone, all singing complimentary note
combinations— in perfect pitch with one another.
MELODY
Melody is the overarching tune created by playing a succession or series of notes, and it is affected by pitch and
rhythm. A composition may have a single melody that runs through once, or there may be multiple melodies
arranged in a verse-chorus form, as you'd find in rock 'n' roll. In classical music, the melody is usually repeated as
a recurring musical theme that varies as the composition progresses.
PITCH
The pitch of a sound is based on the frequency of vibration and the size of the vibrating object. The slower the
vibration and the bigger the vibrating object, the lower the pitch; the faster the vibration and the smaller the
vibrating object, the higher the pitch. For example, the pitch of a double bass is lower than that of the violin
because the double bass has longer strings. Pitch may be definite, which is to say easily identifiable (the piano,
with a key for each note, is a good example), or indefinite, meaning pitch is difficult to discern (percussion, such
as the cymbals).
RHYTHM
This 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.
TEMPO
Tempo refers to the speed at which a piece of music is played. In compositions, a work's tempo is indicated by an
Italian word at the beginning of a score. Largodescribes a very slow, languid pace (think of a placid lake),
while moderato indicates a moderate pace and "presto" a very fast one. Tempo can also be used to indicate
emphasis. Ritenuto, for instance, tells the musicians to slow down suddenly.
TIMBRE
Also known as tone color, timbre refers to the quality of sound that distinguishes one voice or instrument from
another. It may range from dull to lush and from dark to bright, depending on technique. For example, a clarinet
playing an up tempo melody in the mid to upper register could be described as having a bright timbre. That same
instrument slowly playing a monotone in its lowest register could be described as having a dull timbre.

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