FUNDAMENTALS OF MUSIC

Basic Music Elements

 Sound (overtone, timbre, pitch, amplitude, duration)
 Melody
 Harmony
 Rhythm
 Texture
 Structure/form
 Expression (dynamics, tempo, articulation)
In order to teach something, we need a consensus on a basic list of elements and definitions. This list
comprises the basic elements of music as we understand them in Western culture.

1. Sound
Overtone: A fundamental pitch with resultant pitches sounding above it according to the overtone series.
Overtones are what give each note its unique sound.

Timbre: The tone color of a sound resulting from the overtones. Each voice has a unique tone color that is
described using adjectives or metaphors such as “nasally,” “resonant,” “vibrant,” “strident,” “high,”
“low,” “breathy,” “piercing,” “ringing,” “rounded,” “warm,” “mellow,” “dark,” “bright,” “heavy,”
“light,” “vibrato.”

Pitch: The frequency of the note’s vibration (note names C, D, E, etc.).

Amplitude: How loud or soft a sound is.

Duration: How long or short the sound is.

2. Melody
A succession of musical notes; a series of pitches often organized into phrases.
3. Harmony
The simultaneous, vertical combination of notes, usually forming chords.

4. Rhythm
The organization of music in time. Also closely related to meter.

5. Texture
The density (thickness or thinness) of layers of sounds, melodies, and rhythms in a piece: e.g., a complex
orchestral composition will have more possibilities for dense textures than a song accompanied only by
guitar or piano.

Most common types of texture:

Monophony: A single layer of sound; e.g.. a solo voice

Homophony: A melody with an accompaniment; e.g., a lead singer and a band; a singer and a guitar or
piano accompaniment; etc.
Polyphony: Two or more independent voices; e.g., a round or fugue.

6. Structure or Form
The sections or movements of a piece; i.e. verse and refrain, sonata form, ABA, Rondo (ABACADA),
theme, and variations.

7. Expression
Dynamics: Volume (amplitude)—how loud, soft, medium, gradually getting louder or softer (crescendo,
decrescendo).

Tempo: Beats per minute; how fast, medium, or slow a piece of music is played or sung.

Articulation: The manner in which notes are played or words pronounced: e.g., long or short, stressed or
unstressed such as short (staccato), smooth (legato), stressed (marcato), sudden emphasis (sforzando),
slurred, etc.
Music Teaching Vocabulary
After familiarizing yourself with the basic music vocabulary list above (e.g., melody, rhythm), familiarize
yourself with a practical teaching vocabulary: in other words, the music terms that you might use when
working in music with a lesson for children that correspond to their natural perception of music. For most
children, the basics are easily conveyed through concept dichotomies, such as:
 Fast or Slow (tempo)
 Loud or Soft (dynamics)
 Short or Long (articulation)
 High or Low (pitch)
 Steady or Uneven (beat)
 Happy or Sad (emotional response)
Interestingly, three pairs of these dichotomies are found in Lowell Mason’s Manual for the Boston
Academy of Music (1839).
For slightly older children, more advanced concepts can be used, such as:
 Duple (2) or Triple (3) meter
 Melodic Contour (melody going up or down)
 Rough or Smooth (timbre)
 Verse and Refrain (form)
 Major or Minor (scale)
Music Fundamentals
The emotive aspects of music are what most people respond to first. However, while an important part of
music listening in our culture, simply responding subjectively to “how music makes you feel” is similar to
an Olympic judge saying that she feels happy when watching a gymnast’s vault. It may very well be true,
but it does not help the judge to understand and evaluate all of the elements that go into the execution of
the gymnast’s exercise or how to judge it properly. Studies show that teachers who are familiar with
music fundamentals, and especially note reading, are more comfortable incorporating music when
working with children (Kim, 2007). Even just knowing how to read music changes a teacher’s confidence
level when it comes to singing, so it’s important to have a few of the basics under your belt.
Preparation for Learning to Read Music
Formal note reading is not required in order to understand the basics of music. Younger children can learn
musical concepts long before learning written notation. Applying some of the vocabulary and concepts
from above will help you begin to discern some of the inner workings of music. The good news is
that any type of music can be used for practice.
 Melodic Direction. Just being able to recognize whether a melody goes up or down is a big step,
and an important auditory-cognitive process for children to undergo. Imagine the melody of a
song such as “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Sing the song dividing it into two phrases (phrase 1
 begins with “row,” phrase 2 begins with “merrily”). What is the direction of phrase 1? Phrase 2?
Draw the direction of the phrase in the air with your finger as you sing.
 Timbre. Practice describing different timbres of music—play different types of music on Pandora,
for example, and try to describe the timbres you hear, including the vocal timbre of the singer or
instrumental timbres.
 Expression. Now practice describing the expressive qualities of a song. Are there dynamics?
What type of articulation is there? Is the tempo fast, slow, medium?

Learning Notation: Pitch

It sounds simple, but notes or pitches are the building blocks of music. Just being able to read
simple notation will help build your confidence. Learning notes on a staff certainly seems dull, but
coming up with mnemonics for the notes on the staff can actually be fun. For example, most people are
familiar with:
 Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge to indicate the treble clef line notes
 F A C E to indicate the treble clef space notes
 Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always for the bass clef line notes
 All Cows Eat Grass for the bass clef space notes
 But allowing children to develop their own mnemonic device for these notes can a creative way
to have them own the notes themselves. How about Grizzly Bears Don’t Fly Airplanes for the
lines of the bass clef, or Empty Garbage Before Dad Flips or Elephants Get Big Dirty Feet for the
lines of the treble clef?

Learning Notation: Rhythm

Rhythm concerns the organization of musical elements into sounds and silences. Rhythm occurs in a
melody, in the accompaniment, and uses combinations of short and long durations to create patterns and
entire compositions. Rests are as important to the music as are the sounded rhythms because, just like
language, rests use silence to help organize the sounds so we can better understand them.

Notes and rests

Whole note Whole rest

Dotted half rest

Dotted half note
 Half rest
Half note

Quarter rest
Quarter note

Eighth rest
Eighth note

Sixteenth rest
Sixteenth note

Learning Notation: Dynamics

Learning basic concepts such as dynamics and tempo will better equip you to involve children in more
nuanced music making and listening.
The two basic dynamic indications in music are:
 p, for piano, meaning “soft”
 f, for forte, meaning “loud” or actually, with force, in Italian
More subtle degrees of loudness or softness are indicated by:
 mp, for mezzo-piano, meaning “moderately soft”
 mf, for mezzo-forte, meaning “moderately loud”
There are also more extreme degrees of dynamics represented by:
 pp, for pianissimo and meaning “very soft”
 ff, for fortissimo and meaning “very loud”
Terms for changing volume are:
 Crescendo (gradually increasing volume)
 Decrescendo (gradually decreasing volume)

Learning Notation: Tempo

Tempo is the speed of the music, or the number of beats per minute. Music’s tempo is rather infectious,
and children respond physically to both fast and slow speeds. The following are some terms and their
beats per minute to help you gauge different tempi. The terms are in Italian, and are listed from slowest to
fastest.
  Larghissimo: very, very slowly (19 beats per minute or less)
 Grave: slowly and solemnly (20–40 bpm)
 Lento: slowly (40–45 bpm)
 Largo: broadly (45–50 bpm)
 Larghetto: rather broadly (50–55 bpm)
 Adagio: slow and stately (literally, “at ease”) (55–65 bpm)
 Andante: at a walking pace (the verb andare in Italian means to walk) (73–77 bpm)
 Andantino: slightly faster than andante (78–83 bpm)
 Marcia moderato: moderately, in the manner of a march (83–85 bpm)
 Moderato: moderately (86–97 bpm)
 Allegretto: moderately fast (98–109 bpm)
 Allegro: fast, quickly and bright (109–132 bpm)
 Vivace: lively and fast (132–140 bpm)
 Allegrissimo: very fast (150–167 bpm)
 Presto: extremely fast (168–177 bpm)
 Prestissimo: even faster than presto (178 bpm and above)

Terms that refer to changing tempo:

Ritardando: gradually slowing down

Accelerando: gradually accelerating