PITCH Pitch is the measure of how high or how low a note is relative to other notes.

s. Pitch is determined by the frequency of vibrations per second by the sound producing agent. An interval is the general distance between two notes

DURATION Duration is the element concerned with the distribution of notes in time. We are interested in measuring when a note stops and starts. Beat: The basic time unit of a piece of music usually indicated by regular impulses that are louder than others. The beat is regular It is usually made obvious by drums Repetitive notes indicate the beat Meter: The division of beats into regularly recurring groups, generally 3 or 4. The first beat is generally accented. Bar: A bar is the area between two vertical barlines in which the music is broken into regular segments Tempo: The speed of a piece of music (fast, slow, moderate) often expressed in Italian terminology (presto, lento, moderato) Time Signature: Two numbers expressed like a fraction to indicate how many beats in a bar, and what type of beats they are. The bottom number indicates the type of note duration (based on US terminology). The top number indicates the number of these notes in a bar.

TONE COLOUR Tone Colour: The quality of sound produced by a sound source. The quality differs according to the material from which the sound source is made (wood, metal etc.) and the way the sound is produced (plucked, bowed, blown etc.) Four families in the orchestra are woodwind, percussion, string and brass Woodwind: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, piccolo, cor anglais, bass clarinet, double bassoon, contra bassoon Brass: trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Harp Percussion: Tuned timpani, glockenspiel, tubular bells Untuned - Snare drum, cymbals, triangle, castanets Instruments may sound different because of the way they are played (struck, embouchure, shaken etc.), what they are made out of (wood, brass etc.), how th ey are shaped (bigger bells on saxaphones create a lower pitch or how big they are e.g. piccolo) The brass family is played by blowing a raspberry into the mouth piece The string family has four strings Embouchure: The mouth shape and position when playing brass and woodwind instruments Plucking = pizzicato Bowed = arco Shorter wavelengths mean a higher frequency which means a higher pitch and vice versa. The higher the amplitude the louder the sound Four main voice types are soprano, alto, tenor and bass

DYNAMICS The varying gradations of loudness or softness in music (measure of volume)

Crescendo and diminuendo

STRUCTURE Structure refers to the plan or pattern to which the music is written Forms are: Binary form is the most simple of forms. Used mainly in music of the 17th and 18th centuries (A-B) Ternary form is musically satisfying as it provides both variety and continuity (A-B-A) Rondo form is when one section is repeated throughout. It provides continuity and variety (A-B-A-C-A-D etc.) Popular song form is very commonly used in pop/rock music. The verse develops the storyline The chorus sums up the meaning of the song The bridge is the musically contrasting section that generally changes key The instrumental section is where the instruments take over the melody DC (De Capo in Italian) means to go back to the start DS means go back to the sign DS al coda means go back to the sign and then when you see TO CODA marking, jump to coda section DC al coda means go back to the start and when you see TO CODA marking, jump to coda section Jazz characteristics: Pitch: complicated chords (7ths and 9ths) Duration: usually swing rhythm so a lot of things are offbeat. Variation to compound time. Walking bass line plays crotchets. Tone Colour: acoustic instruments such as guitars, saxaphones, keyboards, double bass etc. Structure: clear emphasis on improvisation after melody Reggae characteristics: Pitch: simple chords such as C, F etc. Duration: 4/4 with guitar on 2&4, snare on 3. Usually slow to moderate tempo. Tone Colour: Electric guitar, bass, drums Voice generally has a Jamaican accent Popular song form Styles of music from earliest to latest are: Baroque Classical Romantic Modern