Chapter 2: Rhythm, Melody, and
Harmony
Rhythm
• Rhythm: the organization of time in music
– Gives shape or profile to the melody
– Provides vitality and definition to a melody
– Divides long spans of time into smaller, more easily
comprehendible units
• Rhythm is the most fundamental element of music
Elements of Rhythm
• Beat: a regularly recurring sound that divides the
passing to time into equal units; the basic pulse of
music
• Tempo: speed at which the beat sounds
– Allegro, Presto; Lento, Grave
– Accelerando: speeding up
– Ritardando (Ritard): slowing down
• Meter: organizing beats into groups
– Measure: each group of beats
– Downbeat: first beat in each unit
– Accent: emphasis or stress places on a beat
Rhythmic Notation
• Music notation began in 13th-century Paris
Meter/Time Signatures
• Duple (2/4) meter: two beats per measure
Meter/Time Signatures
• Duple (3/4) meter: two beats per measure
Syncopation
• Syncopation: when the accent is on the weak beat or
between beats
– Creates a feeling of being “off beat”
– Often heard in jazz, Latin music, and hip-hop
Listening Exercise: Rhythm
• Pg. 17
Melody
• Melody: a series of notes arranged in order to form a
distinctive, recognizable musical unit; the “tune”
• Pitch: the relative position (high or low) of a musical
sound
• Octave: Span between the first note and the eighth
note of a scale
• Interval: the distance between any two pitches
Listening to Melodies
• Listen for the melodic contour
Melodic Notation
• Musical notation began around the year 1000 CE
• Staff: Gridwork of line and spaces where music is
written
• Noteheads and flags show different durations and
rhythms
• A clef indicates the range of pitches
• Grand Staff:
Scales, Mode, Tonality, and Key
• Scale:
– A sequential arrangement of pitches
– Ascend and descend in an unvarying pattern
– Mode: term describing a general type of scale: major,
minor, etc.
• Major and minor scales used in almost all Western melodies
• Chromatic Scale: Uses all twelve pitches equally divided
within the octave
Scales
• Major
• A seven-note scale
• Order of whole and half steps: 1-1-1/2-1-1-1-1/2
• Usually associated with joy, confidence, tranquility, etc.
• Minor
• A seven-note scale
• Order of whole and half steps: 1-1/2-1-1-1/2-1-1
• Usually associated with fear, anxiety, sorrow, despair,
etc.
Major/ Minor Listening Quiz
• E-book p. 24
Tonality
• Tonality(or Key): The organization of music around a
central pitch (the tonic)
– Modulation: a musical move to a different tonal center
• Planets rotate around and are pulled towards the sun, just as
outlying pitches are pulled toward the tonic pitch
Hearing Melodies and Phrases
• Melodies are composed on smaller segments
called phrases
– We usually follow along with the phrases when we
listen to music
Harmony
• Harmony: sounds that provide the support and
enrichment - an accompaniment – for melody
– Built on chords: a group of two or more pitches that sound
at the same time
– Triad: the basic chord in Western music
• Tonic: first note of the scale
• Dominant: fifth note of the scale
• Chord Progression: a succession of chords moving
forward in a purposeful fashion
– Cadence: the end of a chord progression
Harmony Illustration
• E-book p. 26 (Oh What a Beautiful Morning)
• E-book p. 29 (Duke of Earl)
Consonance and Dissonance
• Consonance: pitches sounding agreeable and stable
– Creates a sense of calm
• Dissonance: pitches sounding momentarily
disagreeable unstable
– Creates a sense of tension and anxiety
• Consonance and Dissonance allows music to convey
a wide range of emotion