Elements of Music Essay

Review Questions: 1. The basic elements of music are pitch, rhythm, dynamics, melody, and form. 2. Pitch is the frequency of a sound; it relates to the highness or lowness of a tone that we hear. 3. Syncopation involves placing emphasis on normally un-emphasized beats or using a rest on a normally emphasized beat. The types of music that uses syncopation are ska, reggae, rap, jazz, and some forms of metal. 4. The three examples in forms of music are concerto, sonata, and symphony. A concerto is a musical piece in which one solo instrument (such as a piano or violin) is accompanied by an orchestra. A sonata is a musical composition for a solo instrument (often piano or other keyboard instruments). A symphony is a musical piece that has been scored for a full orchestra; it is often an extended composition. 5. Form in music is the framework that a composer uses to create a piece of music. It is the combination of other musical instruments, such as pitch, tempo, and dynamics. Critical Thinking Questions 1. I definitely agree with this assessment because music speaks to different cultures around the world, defining the term ‘’universal’’. Even if two people speak two different languages, such as French or Japanese, they would still relate to their own way of music throughout their language in their types of background. 2. Musical notation is important because it determines how you learn the notes of the music and how the piece is played. The benefits of writing down notes to make a musical piece are creating the melody sharing the music with others by communicating them through the piece, and possibly make more pieces somewhat similar to that. 3. The ways we use music in our society are through listening on the radio in our cars, or on our mp3 players. We use it through TV commercials, movies, in stores as background music, videogames, and mostly on the internet. We can also make music ourselves based off of playing instruments, recordings in studios, and making beats with any object or instrument. This is also how I mostly use music in my life, particularly through being in choirs, singing, and getting inspiration to do so by listening to different types of music on my mp3 player. 4. The experience I felt which changed my mood about the specific music that played is when in 2005 I went to my first concert in California with my mother and my aunt to go see Madonna perform. As we sat in the front row, it began by a huge crystal ball coming down on the stage and while it split in two, Madonna appeared and singed with all the backup dancers surrounding her. It was a strange scenery for me on how she appeared on how she appeared and basing her theme off of glittery, shiny glamorous things throughout singing from her most notable songs. Though I was confused at first especially since I was young and never experienced that before, it made me feel excited and happy listening to the rhythm and the melody of the music, which was mainly fast tempo.