Define the term music
According to dictionary.com, music is “an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and
emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.” In
other words, music is different patterns of rhythm, melody, harmony and color that express ideas
and emotions. That is only the dictionary definition, however. Music is much bigger than that
definition; it only scratches the surface of the true meaning. Cultures around the world have
different definitions of music.
Rhythm is defined as the regular rise and fall in the flow of sound or speech. In other
words rhythm is a steady beat of sounds that repeats itself over and over again. More than that,
according to the article “About Rhythm,” published by Studybass.com, rhythm is the way sounds
of different pitches and different lengths of notes combine to produce a recognizable beat.
Without rhythm, there is no music and there is definitely no song. People most often listen and
form opinions about songs based on the rhythm or lack thereof in that song. With rhythm, even
everyday objects and sounds can be integrated into a song, like in the case of Money by Pink
Floyd, where a cash register was integrated seamlessly into the song. Rhythm even has uses
beyond music. Humans have an obsession with rhythm, as it is seen in walking and running.
Nature even utilizes rhythm. Just look at rain or the ocean and this will become clear.
Melody is defined as a particular succession of notes. According to the article “Melody,”
melody is found in a song when a group of notes are played together. Specifically, a melody is
the notes that are heard more clearly; the notes that are more important to the piece. The article,
“The Four Elements of Music,” states that melody is characterized by range, shape and
movement. Range is the distance between the highest and lowest notes in a piece. Songs are
characterized as having low, medium or high ranges, based on this. Shape is the actual lines that
could be made when notes on a piece of sheet music are joined by an imaginary line. Notes
going higher have an upward shape and descending notes follow a downward path. The
movement of a melody is how closely its pitches are linked. A piece whose pitches are closely
related is called a conjunct piece whereas a piece whose pitches seem to jump everywhere is
called a disjunct piece.
Harmony is the combination of tones into chords and progressions of chords. The article,
“The Four Elements of Music,” states that a harmonic pattern happens when notes or chords are
in successive order. Harmonies can be consonant, agreeing with the melody, or dissonant,
disagreeing with the melody. The most common form of harmony across the genres is the triad,
which is a collection of three chords which are commonly found together. These are formed
when the composer combines the first, third and fifth chords in a scale. According to SFS Kids,
harmonies are played behind the melody, the supporting notes or chords. Harmony serves to give
the piece more embellishments and supports it.
Color when applied to music is also called timbre. It is the other aspects of music that
have nothing to do with rhythm, melody or harmony. The article, “Timbre: The Color of Music,”
claims that because of timbre, one can tell the difference between a guitar and a piano even when
both instruments play exactly the same note at the same volume for the same amount of time.
This is because each instrument has a unique combination of frequencies. These frequencies can
either be close to each other like in a flute or they can be scattered like is the case with drums.
When the factors of color or timbre combine, the resulting sound is called the tone or tone
quality.
Putting all these pieces together is what a composer does. Without any of these important
factors added to it, all a piece would be is a jumble of notes. Without rhythm, the piece would
have no backbone. Without melody, the song would not have any interesting parts to it. If there
was no harmony, the piece would have no underlying substance, no support system. If a
composer forgot about color, their song would have no differentiation to it. With each of these
aspects, music is interesting, hearty and fun to listen to.