UNIT 1: ELEMENTS
Chapter 1: SOUND
Sound is all around us
 John Cage (1912-1992), 4’33”
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What is
“sound”?
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Sound –
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Vibration of an object
Transmitted to our ears through the air
Eardrums begin to vibrate
Impulses/signals sent to the brain
Signals organized and interpreted
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Music – a type of sound with 4
main properties:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Pitch
Dynamics
Tone color or timbre
duration
1. PITCH
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Pitch – the relative highness or
lowness of a sound
Determined by the frequency of its
vibrations

The faster the vibrations, the
higher the pitch.
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Vibration is measured in cycles per
second. The smaller the vibrating
object, the faster is vibrations
Sound that has a definite pitch is
called a tone
The distance in pitch between any
two tones is called an interval.
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When tones are separated by the
interval called an octave, they
sound very much alike
Octave = important in music
The interval between the first and
last notes of most familiar scales
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Range – the distance between the
highest and lowest pitch in a song
or that an instrument can play
Pitch – the first tool a composer has
in creating a mood.
2. DYNAMICS
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Dynamics – degrees of loudness or
softness in music
Loudness is related to amplitude of
vibration
Accent – when a performer
emphasizes tone by playing it more
loudly than the tones around it.
Notating Dynamics (in Italian):
Term
Abbreviation Meaning
Pianissimo
pp
very soft
Piano
p
soft
Mezzo piano
mp
moderately soft
Mezzo forte
mf
moderately loud
Forte
f
loud
Fortissimo
ff
very loud
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Gradual changes are shown as:
Symbol Term
Meaning
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crescendo
gradually louder
decrescendo or
diminuendo
gradually softer
Listening for Dynamics
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Turn in books to page 11:
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“Lohengrin,” Prelude to Act III
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“The Firebird,” Scene 2
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Richard Wagner (“Vahgner”)
Igor Stravinsky
O Magnum Mysterium
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Morten Lauridsen
3. TONE COLOR/TIMBRE
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Timbre – the quality that
distinguishes one tone from another
Words like bright, dark, mellow,
rich, etc.
Composers use different
combinations of instruments to
create the tone color they want.
4. DURATION
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Music is divided into long and short
notes
Rhythm – the organization of long
and short pitches through time
Beat – a regular, recurrent
pulsation that divides music into
equal units of time

Forms the background against which
the composer places notes of varying
lengths. Beats are basic units of time
by which all notes are measured.
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Meter – the organization of
accented and unaccented beats in
music
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Look in books, page 40
Syncopation – an effect when an
accented note comes where we
normally would not expect one (the
“offbeat”)
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Defining characteristic of jazz music
Listening for Syncopation
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Turn in books to page 42
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I Got Rhythm
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George Gershwin
Unsquare Dance
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Dave Brubeck
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Tempo – the speed of the beat, the pace
of music
Tempo markings:
Prestissimo – as fast as possible
Presto – very fast
Vivace – lively
Allegro – fast
Allegretto – moderately fast
Moderato – moderate
Andante – moderately slow, walking speed
Adagio – slow
Grave – very slow, solemn
Largo – very slow, broad
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Other markings: accelerando
(becoming faster) and ritardando
(becoming slower)
metronome