Basic Terms to Understand as a Song Leader The Elements of Music Basic Terms to Understand as a Song Leader

Sound: Pitch, Dynamics, and Tone Color Pitch - The high or low quality of sound Dynamics - The loud or soft quality of music Tone color - Also known as timbre, refers to the unique quality of sound

Dynamics Forte --f,ff,fff-loud Piano --p,pp,ppp-very soft Mezzo ---mf,mp--medium Crescendo --gradually louder Decrescendo,diminuendo --gradually softer

Voices Women’s Voices Men’s Voices Soprano or 1st Soprano Mezzo-soprano Alto Men’s Voices Falsetto Tenor Baritone Bass

Rhythm The flow of music through time; the pattern of durations of notes and silences in music Beat - the pulse of music Meter - the grouping of beats Tempo - the speed of the beat Accent - a pitch that is played more loudly, held longer or is higher in pitch than the nearby notes Syncopation - When an accented note comes where we would normally not expect it

Tempo Markings Molto-much Moto-Ritard means slow down exceedingly Troppo - too much (fast or slow) Poco – Literally “little by little” Accelerando - gradually faster Ritardando - gradually slower A Tempo – Return to original tempo after Ritard Rubato – means “Robbed”. A lingering on some notes and hurrying of others; free from strict tempo.

Tempo Terms Grave, Very Slow Largo, Lento – Slow Larghetto, A little faster than Largo Adiago, Moderately Slow Andante, “Walking” Tempo Andantino, A little faster than Andante Allegretto, A little slower than Allegro Allegro, Fast Vivace, Lively Presto, Very Fast Prestissimo, Very Very Fast Moderato, Moderate(ly) Accel, Accelerando, Gradually becoming faster Rit., Ritardando, Gradually becoming slower

Music Notation Notating pitch Staff: the five lines and four spaces on which music is written Note: an oval which represents a specific pitch Clef: placed at the beginning of the staff, the clef assigns pitch names to the lines and spaces

Music Notation Notating Rhythm Durations: the color of the note and the presence of stems or flags and beams and dots affect the duration of a note Rests: symbols for pauses with specific durations

Music Notation Notating meter Time signature: placed next to the clef, the top number of the time signature indicates the grouping of beats and the bottom number indicates what kind of note will receive one beat.

Melody A succession of pitches which add up to a recognizable whole Intervals: the distance between two pitches Sequence: the repetition of a melodic pattern at a higher or lower pitch

Harmony the vertical aspect of music Chord: a combination of three or more notes sounded simultaneously Consonance: harmony that is stable and restful to the ear Dissonance: tense and unstable harmony that demands onward motion to stable harmony (resolution or resolve) voice - Intonation

Key - Tonality the homing instinct of music Major scale: a succession of eight pitches arranged from low to high, based on the intervals of the white keys of a piano Minor scale: a succession of eight pitches arranged from low to high, based on a specific pattern of whole and half steps which results in a dark quality of melody and harmony

Key-Tonality Chromatic scale: a series of 12 pitches based on the black and white keys of the piano Modulation: the shifting from one key to another

Texture layers of sound Monophonic: a single unaccompanied melody line Polyphonic: two or more independent melody lines happening simultaneously Homophonic: melody plus accompaniment