G C S E M U S I C E L E M E N T S O F M U S I C W O R K B ... · Concerto in C minor, ... M U S I C...

G C S E M U S I C – E L E M E N T S O F M U S I C W O R K B O O K

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THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC

SAMPLE WORKBOOK



INTRODUCTION The different kinds of music played and sung around the world are

incredibly varied, and it is very difficult to define features that all music

shares; one piece might be characterised as a melody supported by an

accompaniment of chords, but another might have neither melody nor

harmony (chords) but still be regarded as music.

When we try to get inside music and understand how it works, we usually do this by identifying

different ‘elements’ that can be described separately – while remembering that in reality we hear

all of these elements simultaneously.

The first thing we can do in defining these elements is to distinguish the ways in which sounds are

differentiated from each other from the arrangement of these different sounds in time. The ways in

which sounds can be distinguished from each other are many (pitch, timbre/sonority, loudness and

so on) and they need to be picked apart a little further. Pitch is defined by the frequency of

vibration of a sounding body (a string, a column of air, a metal plate, etc.). Faster vibrations give

rise to ‘higher’ pitches, slower vibrations to ‘lower’ pitches. The description of pitch as relatively

‘high’ or ‘low’ is reflected in the notational convention of indicating higher pitches (those involving

faster vibrations) higher on a musical staff than low pitches. A succession of pitches gives rise to

melody; simultaneous pitches define harmony. Most real-world sounds comprise not a single

frequency of vibration but a complex mixture of frequencies, and this combination gives rise to the

perception of timbre/sonority: timbre/sonority is one of the principal elements that allows us to

distinguish a clarinet from a trumpet, for example, or to distinguish between the voices of two

singers. Although usually considered rather lower down in the list of elements, timbre/sonority

plays an essential role alongside melody and harmony in western music, and can be one of the

most important elements, especially in music that uses instruments without definite pitches.

Similarly, dynamic contrasts (between louder and softer sounds) are important in many kinds of

music. As for the ways in which different sounds are arranged, this gives us the broad category of

musical time (under which come rhythm, metre, tempo and pulse). This is also linked to other

phenomena, such as melody and harmony, since they involve the arrangement of sounds in time,

as noted above; melody and harmony are placed among the most important elements in western

music.

Finally, we must consider the ways in which different voices and instruments combine. This is

partly a matter of timbre/sonority (since different combinations of instruments have distinctive

timbral/sonorous characteristics) and partly of dynamics (i.e. dynamic levels and their variations),

but it can also be much more than that; the ways in which different lines of the music combine

together is described as its texture, which is another important aspect of music that we can

investigate. This gives us the following list of musical ‘elements’ which can be grouped in related

clusters, in the order in which they are discussed in

the following section:

TIME: DURATION, PULSE, METRE,

TEMPO, RHYTHM.

PITCH: MELODY, TONALITY, HARMONY.

TEXTURE, TIMBRE/SONORITY,

DYNAMICS.

A general introduction

outlines the Learning

Objectives covered in the

Elements of Music Workbook

A general introduction

outlines the Learning

Objectives covered in the

Elements of Music Workbook

Key 2016 GCSE (9-1) Music

Musical Vocabulary used

throughout



ACTIVITY 1 We’re going to begin exploring the ‘elements’ of music by looking at Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C

minor, a piece of late eighteenth-century western art music, with a duration of about half an hour.

It is divided into three sections called MOVEMENTS. We’ll begin by exploring the second

movement, the ‘slow movement’ of the Concerto.

Listen to the opening bars of the second movement on Elements Audio 1 and try to establish the

METRE. How many beats do you think there are to the bar: two, three or four? Try counting the

music in different ways (in twos, threes and fours) to establish what METRE you think the

movement has?

ACTIVITY 2 Look at the score of this passage from the second, (‘Larghetto’), movement of Mozart’s Piano

Concerto in C minor, given as SCORE 1 on the following pages. In this version of the score, the

orchestral parts have been reduced onto two staves, to make them easier to read. Look at the

opening bars, which are for piano only. Don’t worry if you are not used to reading a score on more

than one staff. All you are looking at is the number of beats in the bar – how many are there?

ACTIVITY 3

Now listen to Elements Audio 2, which repeats this passage, this time continuing a little further to

bar 12. As you do so, try to follow the score, given as SCORE 1 on the following pages. For most

of this passage you can just concentrate on the piano part, and particularly the upper staff of the

piano part, which carries the melody. You only need to follow the orchestral part in bars 5-8.

Think about the rhythmic character of bars 1-12.

How might you describe the rhythm of this music?

Does it have clearly defined PHRASES – is it easy to break up into short chunks – or are the

phrases difficult to identify?

Does the rhythm have sudden contrasts, or does it flow smoothly?

Does the rhythmic character of the music change during this passage?

Space in the Pupil Booklet

allows them to record their

answers and responses

Musical Scores are provided

to allow pupils practice in

Score Reading

All of the Audio and Video

Media Files available to

complete activities.



The basic notation of a song in pop or jazz is called a LEAD SHEET. It usually consists of the

melody (the ‘lead’), with lyrics if there are any, and indications of the accompanying harmony using

chord symbols as a shorthand. In jazz, lead sheets provide an aide memoire for a core repertoire

of standards (often American popular songs) with which jazz musicians are expected to be

familiar, but also provide a basis for sharing new compositions. The lead sheet provides only a

rough guide for performances, as the same composition can be performed in infinitely different

ways. Most significantly, jazz musicians will also decide on a particular ‘feel’ for their interpretation

– a combination of the tempo and ‘groove’, for example swing or bossa nova – which provides the

rhythmic basis for the performance. Even the melody and harmony are rarely performed simply as

notated on the lead sheet – often the rhythm of the melody is treated very freely, and different

harmonies are added or substituted. Of course, many elements of a jazz performance are not

usually represented on the lead sheet at all, such as a bass line, drum part and patterns for

accompanying chordal instruments such as guitar and piano, which, along with solos, are usually

improvised in accordance with the chosen ‘feel’ for the performance.

ACTIVITY 14

Listen to the first 0’54” of Veena Sahasrabuddhe’s performance of a composition called ‘Ranga de

rangarejavaa’ given on Elements Audio 5 following notation given below as you listen. The

notation has been given in two forms, firstly, the traditional Indian notation and secondary

transcribed into traditional western standard notation.

‘Ranga de rangarejavaa’ (Raga Madhmad Sarang, teental) as sung by Veena Sahasrabuddhe,

first line in Indian notation. The top row (3, X, 2, 0) indicates the structure of the tala or metre: X marks beat 1 but occurs in the middle of the line

because the piece begins on beat 12. The letters on the second row indicate the main notes to be sung.

‘Ranga de rangarejavaa’ (Raga Madhmad Sarang, teental) as sung by Veena Sahasrabuddhe,

first line transcribed in western standard With indications of the tala structure added. Written at the pitch used for the recording; the Indian notation indicates

only relative pitch.

How much does the notation tell you about the music you hear on the recording?

Includes World Music in

addition to music from The

Western Classical Tradition

and Popular Music



THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC KEY WORDS

Key Word Meaning Understood

(tick) Signatures

(staff, student, parent)

Chord

Duration

Dynamics

Harmony

Lead Sheet

Melody

Metre

Mode

Motif

Movement(s)

Notation

Includes space for pupils to record

their own definitions or meanings of all

Key Musical Vocabulary including the

opportunity for testing and revision

and monitoring by staff, student and

parents.



Learning Outcomes

(Grade 1-3)

(Grade 4-6)

(Grade 7-9)

Signatures (staff, student, parent)

I can list the Elements of Music from memory

I can describe the musical elements associated with “Time” –

Duration, Pulse, Metre, Tempo and Rhythm

I can establish the Metre of different pieces of music when listening

I can describe the Rhythms of different pieces of music when

listening and compare and contrast rhythmic features

I can describe the musical elements associated with “Pitch” –

Melody, Harmony and Tonality

I can describe the Melody of different pieces of music when

listening and compare and contrast melodic features, melodic

movement and melodic shape

I can identify the Tonality (key signature) of different pieces of

music

I can describe the musical elements of Texture, Timbre/Sonority

and Dynamics

I can identify changes of Texture, Timbre/Sonority and Dynamics

when listening to a piece of music

I can describe what Musical Notation is

I can identify what Elements of Music are indicated on a musical

score

I can identify what elements of music are indicated on a Lead

Sheet

I can describe how musical notation is used during live musical

performances

I can comment on how much musical notation tells about the music

heard on a recording

I understand that there are different types of musical notation and can identify

what different elements of music different forms of musical notations tell the

performer and cab describe the limitations of different types of musical notation.

A self-assessment of Learning

Outcomes allows pupils the

opportunity to reflect on their own

learning, together with a chance for

monitoring by staff, student and

parents.



THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC

SAMPLE TEACHERS NOTES



ACTIVITY 1

This activity encourages pupils to count out the metre to the second movement of Mozart’s Piano

Concerto in C minor, K491 in different ways. By actively “counting out the metre” in different ways,

pupils should have been able to discount a three-beat metre as a possibility – counting three to

this music shouldn’t have felt plausible at all. Both two and four should have been more

comfortable: the music is like a gentle walk, with a clear BINARY METRE (i.e. regular to-and-fro

as in the alternation between left and right foot). Without looking at the score, pupils may have

found it impossible to be sure whether the music is in two- or four- time. So either two or four is a

correct answer.

ACTIVITY 2

The arrangement of the bars shows that there are four crotchet beats per bar.

ACTIVITY 3

Pupils should have identified that the music has clearly defined phrases.

Bar 1, for instance, seems like a clearly defined unit or phrase; so do bars 2, 3 and 4. So, the first

four bars (shown below) consist of four little phrases, which together form a longer unit – pupils

may like to think of this as a ‘sentence’. Unlike verbal language, music has no absolute definition

of what a ‘phrase’ is, so there are various possible ways of describing this music. Some musicians

might think of the whole four bars as one long phrase, with each bar forming a ‘sub phrase’. But

what matters is that pupils can hear that the four bars consist of four separate little units, which

come together to form the whole four-bar-long melody.

Mozart, Piano Concerto in C minor, K491, second movement, bars 1-4

The overall impression of the rhythmic character of this music is that it flows smoothly, and that

there are no sudden contrasts of rhythm. There are notes of different lengths – crotchets, quavers,

some dotted rhythms, but nothing interrupts the rhythmical flow of the music. There are some

contrasts in this music, but they are mostly caused by things other than changes in rhythm. The

orchestra answers the piano at bar 5, with a loud phrase followed by a soft phrase. This is

certainly a contrast to the sound of the piano. But the rhythm is the same as the piano’s opening

bars. Where the rhythm does change is at the next piano entry, at bar 9. Here, the rhythm

becomes simpler, forming a repeating pattern of crotchet and quavers:

ACTIVITY 4

The movement opens with a couple of quite long notes. This may make it difficult for pupils to

establish the pulse and metre straight away. Mozart is being deliberately ambiguous, only

gradually revealing what the metre and pulse of the music are. But, once the music gathers

energy, it becomes clearer that the pulse is quite fast, and is in three-time. In other words the

music has a three-beat (or ternary) metre.

Full discussion and answers to pupil

activities are given in the

accompanying “Teacher’s Notes”,

together with sample scores and

diagrams to clarify concepts and

learning.

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