What is Music? 

Music is a form of art and cultural expression. It is characterized by organized sound patterns created through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre, often conveyed through instruments, vocals, or electronic means. It serves various purposes, including entertainment, communication, emotional expression, and cultural identity.

What was your last musical experience? Was it driving in the car? Singing a lullaby to a child? Listening to a symphony? Maybe the radio that was playing at a store? 

Maybe the rhapsodic rhythm of the wind in the trees? The beat of your car blinker or the soft humming of a student in your classroom? Music is everywhere!

What is your background with music, and what is music to you? 

Why Music in the Classroom?

Music in the classroom has many benefits, including the following:

• Impact students’ academic achievement
• Encourage social and emotional development
• Strengthen memory and learning retention
• Influence motor development and physical maturation
• Enhance the connection between the body and mind
• Boost confidence and acquire 21st-century skills

Elements and Concepts of Music

Pitch

PITCH: sounds occurring at a certain frequency that can be described as high or low 

1. Pitches go up or down or repeat
2. Pitches may be represented by symbols
3. Pitches move up or down by step or skip

SCALE: pitches that are arranged in a specific order of whole and half steps. Scales determine tonality; different cultures and different periods in time use different scales.

MELODY: a succession of sounds (pitches)

• A melody may be based on a scale
• A melody has a range (low to high)
• A melody may move by steps, skips or remain the same
• A melody may have shape (melodic contour) moving up, down or remaining the same

CHORD: three or more pitches sounded simultaneously

HARMONY: the simultaneous sounding of two or more pitches; the vertical structure of music
moving through time and supporting the melody. Harmony may be homophonic and polyphonic.

• Monophonic: one melody that everyone sings or plays in unison without accompaniment
• Homophonic: single melody supported by an accompaniment (e.g., a hymn)
• Polyphonic: more than one melody performed simultaneously (e.g., "Row Your Boat" sung in a round)

TEXTURE: the interaction of melody and harmony. Two or more melodic or rhythmic lines may occur at the same time, resulting in a "thick" or "thin" texture or density of sound.

Duration

DURATION: lengths of sounds and silences that occur in music, as well as the organization of these sounds and silences in time 

BEAT: the underlying pulse that may be sounded or silent

• Sounds may be organized into steady beats, and music may or may not have a steady beat
• Silent beats are called rests

METER: the pattern of beats by which a piece of music is measured

• Beats may be organized into patterns of strong and weak
• These beats may create patterns of 2 or 3, or any combination of 2, 3, or 4

RHYTHM: the organization of sounds and silences in time

• Combinations of sounds may be of equal and unequal length
• More than one sound may occur during the time of a beat
• Long/short sounds and silences may be organized into rhythmic patterns
• Rhythmic patterns may be represented by symbols

Timbre

TIMBRE: characteristic sound (tone, color, or quality) of a voice or instrument (pronounced tam-ber)

Sounds are made by vibrating materials. The vibrating materials determine the quality and "color" of the sound. These may have a pleasant or unpleasant quality. One instrument may make many different sounds; different cultures use different kinds of instruments. Sounds may be organized into categories according to the vibrating material:

AEROPHONE: vibrating air (e.g., flute)

CHORDOPHONE:  vibrating strings (e.g., guitar) 

MEMBRANOPHONES: vibrating membrane (e.g., bongo drums)

IDIOPHONES: vibrator and resonator are the same (e.g., triangle)

DIFFERENT SOUND SOURCES: 

• Vocal: man, woman, child
• Instrumental: woodwind, brass, percussion, strings
• Environmental: sounds found in the environment

BODY PERCUSSION: examples include clapping, snapping, patting, stomping, etc.