Overview of key music concepts and building blocks. Focus has been on simplifications and generalizations rather than exactness and comprehensiveness.

1. An Introduction to Music
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2. Contents
Why living Music is so Important
What is Music
Fundamental Blocks for Music
– Melody
– Harmony
– Rhythm
– Lyrics*
Mapping between key terms in Indian and western music
Expressing Emotions through Music
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3. Why live Music
Music - Essential Life Component
• Human Brain has natural affinity
towards music. A musical activity
improves intellectual brain activity.
• Music skills enhance Self
Confidence, Social Bonding and
Success in society .
• Playing music helps in bringing
down Stress levels and improves
overall health and well being. From Loving to Living Music
• Actively playing music (living music) is
infinitely more enjoyable than passively
listening to it
• Every Human being has the potential to
evolve into a Musical genius with
proper training and Practice
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4. Music – Organized Sound evoking Emotions
Organized Sound
Rhythmic patterns Pitch / Frequency
Melodic Phrases Timbre / Voice
Harmonic Progressions Loudness / Dynamics
evoking
Emotions
Wide melodic range, Consistent strong rhythm, Major Chords
Narrow melodic range, Slow rhythm, Minor Chords
Wide melodic range, Rhythm variations, Mixed Chords
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5. Building Blocks of Music
Song /
Lyrics Rhythm
Composition
Rhymes Syllables Meter Tempo
Melody Harmony
Scale Phrase Chord Progressions
Musical Note
Duration Pitch Intensity Timbre
Beats Frequency
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6. Musical Note
Duration
• Duration tells how long the note
lasts or the Time Value of the note Whole note Half Note Quarter Note Eighth Note
• This is usually expressed in Beats 4 Beats 2 Beats 1 Beat half Beat
(measure of time in music) Time value of Notes
Pitch
• Auditory property helping sound to Higher Notes
be perceived as higher or lower
Lower Notes
• Depends on Frequency, expressed in
Quarter Note A on Staff = 440 Hz
Hertz (cycles per second)
Tone and Note
• A sound of a specific frequency and pitch is referred to as a Musical Tone. In addition to
these Tone has following Attributes
Intensity: A measure of loudness
• Tones of specific frequency are referred to as Musical Notes and have associated names.
E.g. Notes, C, D, E, F in western music
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7. Melody – Musical Scales
Overview
• A Musical Scale consists of a collection of C5 523 Hz
Notes with pre defined Pitch distances B
• Notes with Frequency difference of two
A
times are said to be an Octave apart. 440 Hz
• In a commonly used ‘Equal Tempered’ G 392 Hz
scale, the Notes are divided equally into
several parts, usually 12
F 349 Hz
S
• The Ratio of Frequencies of adjacent E
intervals is fixed – 1.059 approx (12th
root of 2)
D
• Each Step is referred to as a Semitone (S) T
and 2 steps as Tone (T) Middle C 261.5 Hz
(C4)
• The Note A above middle C with
frequency of 440 Hz is used as Tuning Music Scale shown over 12 Equal Temperaments
Standard in Western Music
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8. Melody – Musical Scales
Most of the Music systems in the world use Diatonic Scale as the basic framework for musical
Compositions which follows same pattern of Pitch distances T T S T T T S
8 C C D E F G A B C
7 Guitar
B
6 A
Piano
5 G C D E F G A B C
4 F Staff
S Notation
3 E
English Notes C D E F G A B C
2 D
T Indian Notes Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa
1 C
Spanish Notes Do Re Me Fa So La Ti Do
Pitch gaps in a Diatonic Scale Diatonic Notes Names in various Music Systems
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9. Instrument Ranges
Human Voice
Concert Piano
Violin
Bass Guitar
Guitar
C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 Octave C8
Middle C
• Every Instrument has a limited Range of Pitches it can play
• Most Vocalists have a Vocal Range of 2-3 Octaves. Some people can go upto 3.5 or even 4
• Sound of same frequency from different Sources sounds very similar even if tone quality
(or timbre) is very different. Sound of Frequency in factors of 2 (Octaves) sounds very
similar
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10. Musical Phrases
• Melody is created using different patterns of Notes in a Musical Scale
• Musical phrase is a unit in Composition which has complete musical sense
• A melody typically consists of several consecutive musical phrases.
• Phrases usually culminate into a more or less definite cadence.
• Cadence is musical melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of Resolution
Twin kle Twin kle lit tle star how I won der what you are
Example of a common Melody
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11. Harmony
• Combinations of certain notes sound pleasant and certain others sound annoying
(dissonant) based on harmonic interaction between different frequencies
• Simultaneous notes of different pitches produce Chords, which provide fundamental
building block for Harmony in Western Music
• The study of Harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions.
Consonance and Dissonance
• Consonance is a chord or Interval that sounds
pleasant to most people and appears to be at Rest.
• Consonances are generally points of
arrival, Resolution or Rest. Most Harmonies and C Chord = C + E + G
Melodies end on Consonance Chords
Example of C Chord on
• Dissonance appears to be Unpleasant and at Unrest Piano and guitar
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12. Chord Progressions
• Series of Chords that establish a Tonal Function for each Chord to produce Harmonic Flow
• Change of Chord, or "chord change", generally occurs on an accented Beat,
• Most Common Chords consist of Triads (3 notes) Formed using alternate notes. E.g. CEG
= C Chord, GBD = G Chord
• Chords created using Bass notes of various Scale Degrees of the Tonic (Key) are often
referred to with equivalent Roman Numerals. E.g. in the Key of C, C Chord = I, F Chord =
IV, G Chord = V
3 Chord Progressions Circle Progressions Blues Changes
• I - IV - V – V
• I-V-I • I-I-I-I
• I - I - IV – V
• IV - IV - I – I
• I - IV - I – V
• I - IV - V - I • V-V-I-I
• I - IV - V - IV
Examples of Chord Progressions
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13. Rhythm
Rhythm
• Rhythm is regulated succession of strong and weak elements and made up of sounds and silences.
• The strong and weak elements (sounds and silences) are put together to form a pattern of sounds which
gets repeated
• A rhythm has a steady beat, but it may also have different kinds of beats.
Tempo Metric Level Meter
• Organization of music into
• Speed or Pace of a given piece • Basic Unit of time that can regularly recurring measures
• Can affect the mood and be audible of stressed and unstressed
difficulty of a piece. • Also called Beat level "beats“
• Usually expressed in Beats per • Repeating series of • Indicated in Western music
minute identical distinct periods notation by a time signature
and bar-lines.
Whole note Half note Quarter note Eighth note
4 Beats 2 Beats 1 Beat 1/2 Beat
Beat Level Division Level
Multiple Levels
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14. Expressing Emotions through Music
Emotion Melody Rhythm Harmony (Chord/
Tonality)
Happiness, Wide Range Consistent, Major
Excitement Strong, Loud, Fast
Love, Affection, Medium Gentle, Major
Tenderness Medium Tempo
Sadness flat Slow Minor
Tranquillity flat Smooth, Gentle Major/Minor
Triumph, Wide Jumps Energetic, Power Chord
Ecstasy Loud,
Fast
This is only a Rough Guideline. The infinitely complex musical structures and patterns allow
Infinitely Complex Emotions to be Expressed with Music
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15. We welcome your involvement in living music
THANK YOU
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