Aesthetics of Music Test 1

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There are Six Elements of Music

Rhythm: the organization of music in time

Pitch: the degree of highness and lowness of a sound

Line: when pitch and rhythm come together

Texture: the result and character of the musical lines in a piece

Form: the way a musical piece is built

Color: the unique sound an instrument or voice makes

Rhythm

There are three levels of rhythm

Pulse: the heartbeat of the composition

Meter: the arrangement of the pulses into a pattern of strong and weak beats

Rhythmic Patterns: a set of beats and rests that defines the tempo and pace of a musical piece

Time Signature: tells how many of which type of beat are in each measure

Ex: 2/4 is two quarter notes in each measure

Tempo: how fast or slow the piece is played

Ex: Largo, Adagio, Andante, Allegro, Presto

accelerando and ritardando

Syncopation: when the composers put the accents on the weak beats instead of the strong ones

Pitch

Acoustics: the branch of physics that studies sound

sound waves: the vibrations of sounds

regularity and irregularity: the types of wave forms; regular are repeating and musical, irregular are non- musical and non-repeating

speed of vibration: if the vibration is faster the pitch is higher and vice versa

amplitude: the volume of a pitch

waveform: unique form sound waves create (see color for more detail)

Scale: a set of fixed pitches

Interval: the distance between fixed pitches

Modulations: when the composer moves away from the main key

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