Music
is made up of many different things called elements.
They are the building bricks
of music. When you compose a
piece of music you use the
elements of music to build it, just
like a builder uses bricks
to build a house. If the piece of
music is to sound right
then you have to use the elements of
music correctly.
What
are the elements of music ??
PITCH
:
Pitch means the highness
or lowness of the sound. Some
pieces need high sounds
and some need low, deep sounds.
Some have sounds that are
in the middle. Most pieces use a
mixture of pitches.
TEMPO:
Tempo means the fastness
or slowness of the music.
Sometimes this is called
the speed or pace of the music. A
piece might be at a moderate
tempo, or even change its tempo part-way through.
DYNAMICS:
Dynamics means the loudness
or softness of the music.
Sometimes this is called
the Volume. Music often changes
volume gradually, and goes
from loud to soft, or from soft to
loud.
DURATION:
Duration means the length
of each sound. Some sounds or
notes are long, some are
short. Sometimes composers combine long sounds with short
sounds to get a good effect.
ATTACK
AND DECAY:
Attack and Decay means the
way sounds start and stop. Some sounds
begin crisply and suddenly, some sounds creep up on
you. Sounds can stop
suddenly , or they may die away.
Choose your starts and stops
to fit the mood of your music.
TEXTURE
:
If all the are playing at
once the, the texture is thick. If only
one instrument is playing,
the texture is thin. you can build
up the texture from thick
to thin, or reduce it from thin to
thick.
TIMBRE
:
Every instrument has its
own tone colour or timbre. For
example, a metal instrument
sounds different from a wooden
one, and hitting the skin
if a drum sounds different from
blowing a recorder. Different
examples of timbre are : wood,
metal, reed, gut and skin.
SILENCE
:
Silence is as important
as sound in music. It gives time to
think and for echoes to
die away. It can also be dramatic. |