The physical qualities of sound include duration; amplitude (a measure of force or strength) and its temporal envelope, or evolution (attack, sustaining, and decay characteristics); and frequency (the fundamental rate of vibration, measured in cycles per second, also called hertz).
A straightforward relationship exists between frequency and Pitch: the higher fundamental frequency, the higher the received Pitch. Loudness depends both on amplitude and on the frequency spectrum, since sound with more higher frequency are perceived as more intense. Timbre is the characteristic tonal quality of a sound, which enable one to distinguish voices of two people, or a clarinet from a flute. Several physical factors influence in the perception of timbre: the envelope; the frequency spectrum; and the formats, one or more regions in an instrument that resonate and amplify any frequency that pass through them.
The most important elements of music are rhythm, melody, counterpoint, harmony, form and tone color. Other element such as dynamics (variation in loudness), texture and density, can also be identified, but these are usually employed to underscore formal or expressive patterns.
Rhythm: a rhythmic pulse marks off division of time. Pulses may be stressed or unstressed. Many early medieval and some Renaissance works are unstressed, with subtly shifting accents determined by the sung text.
Melody: A Melody is a succession of tones in rhythm. Melodies are structured into phrase, each of which ends with a cadence, a relaxation of breathing time. Sometimes a fragmentary but incisive pitch or rhythmic figure of a few notes, called a motive, is repeated several times. Motives, phrases or entire melodies can also be varied (repeated with alterations) or developed (broken into smaller units that are combined in new ways of transposed to as “lines” because of the audible shapes they traces. In large scale works the principal melodies are called themes.
The development of western music, by contrast, has been characterized largely by the combination of tones and melodies in ever new ways, through polyphony (“many sound”) and counterpoint (“point against point”). The separate melodies usually called “voices” even in instrumental work, maintain independent contours and may end at different places, but they are also interrelated to produce a composite formal design.
Harmony: Groups of tones sounded together create Harmony. Harmonic practice, with evolve out of melodic and polyphonic procedures, is among the most distinctive features of Western music. The basic unit of harmony is the chord, two or more tones that fuse into a single musical sound. The harmonic quality of chord is determined by the interval between its tones and by its relation to other chord in a passage.
The basic chord of tonal music is the triad, consisting of tree tones, each two diatonic scale step apart (for example tones 1, 3 and 5 of major or minor scale). Triads and more complex chords with additional tones, can relate to each other in changing ways, resulting in modulation, a temporary shift into some other key.
Form: Form is the architectural structure of music, the process trough which the tiniest details are linked and related through points of tension, climax, and resolution to create the overall design of work. Formal principles can be grouped into two broad categories, outlines and procedures. Outline, or scheme, consists of a general sequences of events. The most important arrival points are full cadences-the point of harmonic repose that mark off sectional divisions. Two-part forms present a statement and a response. The second section may begin with contrasting ideas, or with restatement or the initial material.
STANDARD DURATIONAL NOTATION
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