Elements of Music

MELODY  Melody is the part of the music you can sing. To play or sing a melody, there can only be one note at a time. It is also known as the tune.

HARMONY  Harmony supports the melody. Harmony occurs when two or more notes are sung or played at the same time. Harmony does not usually exist without a melody.

RHYTHM  Rhythm is long and short sounds in combination. Rhythm can change. It doesn’t have to remain constant.

BEAT  Beat is the steady pulse throughout the piece of music. It can be fast or slow just like your heartbeat, but it must remain steady. The beat will not change.

TEMPO  Tempo is the speed of the music.

DYNAMICS  Dynamics describe how loud or how soft the music is.

TIMBRE  Timbre is the type of sound. On the keyboards, you can use the Voicing function to change the timbre from Keyboard to another kind of voice.

TEXTURE  Texture is created when different timbres are used. Each sound creates a layer of music. The layers are put together to create a texture.