Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle (384-322 BC), likened sound moving through air to ripples from a pebble dropped in a pool of water, hence the term, sound wave.
Sound waves begin with vibration of an object such as footsteps on a wooden floor or a cymbal crash. These vibrations are transmitted to our ears by the medium of air, traveling at 767 MPH at sea level. When sounds reach us, our eardrums vibrate, resulting in an electrical signal being sent to the brain. Our brains interpret the electrical impulses, decoding them into sound categories stored in the cerebrum.
With a cacophony of sound bombarding our ears twenty-four hours a day, how do we make sense of it all? Our brains have the ability to categorize and selectively listen to sound. We can pick out a trumpet solo against an orchestra, zero in on a conversation across the room or tune a guitar in a noisy room where electronic tuners fail. In other words, human brains have the ability to make sense out of seemingly random sounds. And that ability uniquely equips humankind for music making. We can not only make sense of random sounds, but can create and organize sound as communication. Indeed, after the spoken word, music is mankind's most expressive, persistent and universal form of communication.
What Are Musical Elements?
To understand the process of music, begin by exploring music's physical and technical components. These components are called Musical Elements and include sound, melody, rhythm, harmony, texture, instruments, voices, and notation. Said concepts form the foundation of our studies during the semester.
Attributes of Musical Sounds
Musical sounds may have attributes such as pitch, dynamics, duration and timbre. We'll examine these attributes in our study of Musical Elements.
Musical Pitch
Pitch is the highness or lowness of a musical tone. Sing The Star-Spangled Banner. The lowest pitch is sung on “say” while the highest pitch is on “see.”
Definite Pitch
Sounds with definite pitch are called musical tones. Musical tones may be written as notes or expressed as solfège (musical syllables): do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do. Sing the scale below while vocalizing solfège syllables:
Frequency
The pitch of musical tones may be represented as repetitions of a wave pattern over time. These wave repetitions are known as frequency and are expressed numerically as frequency of vibration (i.e., cycles per second) or Hertz (Hz). For example, the note la (6) depicted above is 440Hz, meaning the wave pattern vibrates 440 times in one second. The faster the vibration, the higher the pitch.
Although the terms pitch and frequency of vibration are synonymous, musicians discuss pitch as letter names whereas frequency of vibration (Hz) is primarily used for scientific and technical specifications such as the pitch range of headphones.
Sound Waves | The graphic represents sound frequencies: the larger waves have lower frequencies than the smaller waves. | Wikimedia Commons
When you sing Happy Birthday, you are creating definite pitch:
Happy Birthday | Definite pitch
Indefinite Pitch
Indefinite pitch exhibits irregular vibration patterns and, thus, can't be expressed as Hertz or as a musical tone such as do, re, mi. When you clap your hands or stomp your feet, you are creating indefinite pitch. Indefinite pitch is within the realm of percussion instruments such as the temple block, congas and cymbal.
Happy Birthday | Indefinite pitch
Indefinite pitches have three properties: dynamics, duration and timbre. Whereas definite pitches have four properties: pitch, dynamics, duration and timbre.
Interval
The distance between two pitches is called an interval. Intervals are expressed numerically. Sing the do, re, mi, fa, so, la ti, do scale. The interval from do to re is a second. From do to mi is a third. From do to fa is a fourth.
The interval from do to do is an octave. The scale pattern of do, re, mi, fa, so, la ti, do starts over at the octave. Sing the first two notes of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The interval between the first two notes (some- to where) is an octave. The octave is heard again between the seventh and eighth notes:
The octave is used as a unit to express the pitch range of a voice or instrument. For example, a piano has a seven-octave range. In other words, the do, re, mi, fa, so, la ti, do scale can be played seven times from the bass to the treble side of the keyboard. In contrast, the guitar has a three and one half octave range.
Expressive control of volume—loudness and softness in music—is called dynamics. Dynamics help shape the emotional expressiveness of music. For example, a volume increase creates excitement. A decrease in volume may suggest relaxation.
Dynamic Accent
If a single tone is emphasized by playing it louder than the surrounding tones, it draws attention to itself. Such an emphasis is called a dynamic accent.
Pianissimo passage with dynamic accent:
Dynamic Terms
Italian words are used to label dynamics. Italian musicians were among the first to indicate dynamics and tempo in scores, so their terms became standard. Here are the basic dynamic terms and abbreviations from very soft to very loud:
pianissimo or pp (very soft)
piano or p (soft)
mezzo piano or mp (medium soft)
mezzo forte or mf (medium loud)
forte or f (loud)
fortissimo or ff (very loud)
Gradual Changes
Crescendo, decrescendo and diminuendo are gradual changes in dynamics. Crescendo is a gradual increase in volume whereas decrescendo and diminuendo indicate a gradual decrease in volume. These terms may be abbreviated:
crescendo or cresc. (gradually louder)
decrescendo or decresc. (gradually softer)
diminuendo or dim. (gradually softer)
Crescendo and decrescendo may be written as large greater than (<) and less than (>) symbols, often called hairpins.
Hairpins | Greater than symbol = crescendo | Less than symbol = decrescendo
Duration
The length of a musical sound is called duration. Specific aspects of duration such as rhythm, meter and tempo will be discussed in upcoming chapters of Elements.
The unique character or quality of sound produced by an instrument or voice is called timbre, i.e., tone color. Humans distinguish a trumpet from an ukulele by their distinctive timbres. Because human ears are sensitive to minute changes in tone color, timbre is an integral part of musical expression.
Harmonic Series
Instrumental and vocal timbre is determined by which overtones, also known as partials, are emphasized. What is an overtone? Smack a kitchen pot lid with a chopstick and you'll hear several distinct tones: the lowest tone, the fundamental, and softer tones above it called overtones. When overtones are presented in ascending order they are referred to as the harmonic series.
Overtones | The numbered notes symbolize overtones generated above the fundamental (first note). This grouping of overtones is called the harmonic series.
The above audio is for illustration purposes only. In reality, overtones are heard as softer tones sounding simultaneously with the fundamental.
Theoretically, the harmonic series extends far beyond the 7th partial. Many textbooks list the harmonic series all the way up to the 32nd partial, albeit we normally can't hear the upper range of partials due to extreme softness.
Tibetan Singing Bowl
Listen to the Tibetan singing bowl audio below and you'll hear a soft low pitched fundamental with several higher pitched overtones above it. Tibetan singing bowls are exceptional insomuch as some partials are louder than the fundamental, making identification of overtones easy compared to a guitar, piano or human voice.
Tibetan Singing Bowl Tone
Pick Your Timbre
When artists create images, they choose and mix color from a palette of colors. Timbre plays a similar role for musicians: choice of an instrument or voice is an important part of the creative process. For example, a trumpet produces a strikingly different effect than the same melody played on a plucked (pizzicato) violin.
Trumpet
Pizzicato Violin
There is no specialized terminology to describe timbre. Instead, subjective terms from everyday language are used: dark, nasal, muffled, thin, rich, bright, etc.
The Attributes of Music | Anne Vallayer-Coster, 1770 | Musée du Louvre
Vocabulary
sound wave, musical elements, pitch, definite pitch, indefinite pitch, musical tones, solfège, Hertz, frequency of vibration, interval, octave, pitch range, dynamics, dynamic accent, pianissimo, piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte, mezzo forte, fortissimo, crescendo, decrescendo, diminuendo, hairpin, timbre, overtone, partials, harmonic series
We're Made for Music
What Are Musical Elements?
Musical Pitch
Definite Pitch
Frequency
Indefinite Pitch
Interval
Dynamics
Duration
Timbre
