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Elements of Music
Music, literature,
motion pictures, architecture, painting, sculpture, graphic arts are all art
forms. Music, literature and motion pictures are on a time line in which there
is a beginning and an end, time wise. So in that way these art forms can be and
most often are a moving description of life while other art forms are 'frozen'
in time.....like a photograph. Each has its own elements for creation.
Most often, a musical work, an
instrumental piece or a song, is identifiable and familiar by its theme or
themes (aka melodies/tunes). Longer ones can have more than one theme. Theme
'A' followed by Theme 'B' and a return to Theme "A" is one of the
most common forms. If these themes are developed the piece can last much longer
than a 30 second jingle. So that is what the melody is about. The melody is
often what endears a piece of music to its listener. The melody may use all or
just some tones from several scales familiar to our ears.
By itself, a melody can be compared
to a simple line drawing such as a when a child draws a stick person with a
crayon or a pencil. The object of the sketch may be identifiable just as the
melody for "Happy Birthday To You" is recognizable when played on a
piano one note at a time. When you put clothes on the stick person drawing
using shading and colors, the picture becomes more interesting and relevant.
This is what harmony does to a piece of music when you add the color and
interest of supporting sounds that may harmonize with and enhance the melody.
An example is a hymn. When we sing the hymn tune "Nearer My God to
Thee" it is at once recognizable. If others join in singing the alto,
tenor and bass parts, we have added harmony to the soprano melody.
Pitch, meaning the high or low frequency
of a sound is an important element of music. For the melody, the direction its
notes move upward and downward together with their duration and how loud or
soft (intensity) they are sung or played are integral in the creation and
performance of music. Moreover, it is the distance (interval) between these
pitches or sounds when we hear them together and the direction each voice or
part takes in relation to others (harmonically or in dissonance) that creates a
desired effect.
A song is sung to words which have
meter or rhythm. The rhythm of a song is often determined by the words and how
they flow as they are spoken or sung. All music does not have to be sung, but
all music needs the rhythm or pulse of accented and unaccented beats . . . long
and short notes. A melody may be unrecognizable if the notes are heard one at a
time without a defined length, either shorter or longer than others in the
melody. Ravel's orchestral work, "Bolero," heard in the movie
"Ten," has a compelling rhythmic motif or idea that is repeated over
and over from start to finish under several main themes to which the harmony of
added parts enhance its appeal.
The tambre or quality of the sound
is important as it conveys character and emotion to the music. The nature of a
woman's voice is quite different from that of a man's voice. Likewise, the
difference and nature of the sound emitting from a flute compared to the sound
of a cello is known as the of the sound. Middle -C- on the trumpet has a
different quality from the same pitch heard on the violin. Overtones along with
the manner in which the sound from each instrument starts up and stops
determines the tambre. This is how we distinguish a piece played on the piano
from one played on the organ.
How the the instruments are introduced
and used together (orchestration) in a symphonic work is called texture.
Music explores life's elements
Music explores the mysteries of
the essences of life: tension and release, struggle and conquest, movement and
stillness, sound and silence, growth and decline, affirmation and rejection,
life and death. These essences affect man in everyday life but are hidden from
him, for they are truths to be known and felt in the unguarded moments of
living.
The composer takes these essences,
these truths of life, puts them into another context, and returns them to man
for his edification.
One finds in music a great ability
to deal with these hidden mysteries. One only needs to hear the music to note
its struggles, its consequences, its still moments, the tensions, the climaxes,
its unity and diversity.
——Quentin Faulkner, WISER THAN
DESPAIR; THE EVOLUTION OF IDEAS IN THE RELATIONSHIP OF MUSIC AND THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH.
How should one practice?
In the first place one should
avoid making a mistake ever!
When you start to learn something
new, play it so slowly that the notes, the time, and the rhythm [and
fingering/pedaling too] are all played perfectly. Then gradually start to play
faster, but it must always be played correctly.
If you once make a mistake and are
not careful, you may repeat the mistake a time or two and then you are likely
to keep on with your mistake. In a word, you are perfecting the mistake!
The idea of never making a mistake
is a method of practice that takes nervous [mental] energy and requires great
discipline.
—Alexander Schreiner
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