Elements of Music

What is the secret code behind so many musical compositions How do you substitute chords to create greater musical complexity Why is music so good at playing with peoples emotions In this compact book, composer and pianist Jason Martineau presents the elements of music in clear and comprehensible terms. Packed with superb diagrams and a wealth of fascinating hardtocomeby musical tips, this is a great primer, and an invaluable resource for novice and professional alike.

• First published 2008 AD This edition Wooden Books Ltd 2008 AD Published by Wooden Books Ltd. 8A Mar
• for someone special With gratitude to my mother and father for their support in my life pursuits.
• 1 INTRODUCTION Music is the art medium that communicates interiority, being only perceived by the ea
• 2 3 What Is MusIc and all that jazz Music is ... a mothers lullaby. It gives sound to our feelings
• 4 5 EpIgraMs and dIalEctIcs ideas in sound When music parallels language, it often chooses devices t
• 6 7 acoustIcs and ovErtonEs from one note to seven and beyond Any sound that can be perceived as a p
• 8 9 undErstandIng scalEs streets and stairways A scale is a collection of discrete tones that are a
• 10 11 MEEt thE IntErvals and the circle of fifths A musical interval is the distance between two ton
• 12 13 BasIc rhythMs meter and the big beat Rhythm is the component of music that punctuates time, ca
• 14 15 tonE tEndEncIEs tension and release Because of the powerful gravity and stability of the stati
• 16 17 BasIc harMonIEs triangles and triads The major triad, which occurs naturally in the harmonic s
• 18 19 BasIc MElody steps and leaps, contour and gesture A melody is created by the succession of ton
• 20 21 chord progrEssIons tonic, dominant, and subdominant Chords take on the identity of the station
• 22 23 InstruMEntatIon the textures of timbre Musicologists identify six basic types of musical instr
• 24 25 MorE coMplEx rhythMs dynamics, articulation, elocution, syncopation Sounds evolve over time,
• 26 27 ForM and structurE where am I going and how did I get here Musical structure tends to unfold i
• 28 29 MorE coMplEx harMonIEs sevenths and their inversions add suspense Continuing to stack thirds
• 30 31 tonalIty and ModulatIon theres no place like home Tonality, or the sense of being in a particu
• 32 33 Modal, tonal, dronal world systems and scales In every musical scale there is a muchused prima
• 34 35 thE thrEE MInors natural, harmonic, and melodic The active role of leading tones in harmonic m
• 36 37 MorE IntErvals the big get bigger and the small get smaller Just as chords are invertible, so
• 38 39 FurthEr MElodIc ElEMEnts epigrammatic development Humans are fundamentally patternbased beings
• 40 41 coMplEx chord progrEssIons getting out of the box To develop a richer harmonic palette and get
• 42 43 around thE World in four songs Every system of musical notation is essentially a set of instru
• 44 45 advancEd harMonIEs rascals and spices Because the dominant chord is the chord of hope and anti
• 46 47 advancEd ForMs getting organised Musical forms are often mixed and matched, with historical hy
• 48 49 puttIng It all togEthEr conceive, create, and compose Perceiving music as an unfolding of epig
• 50 51 glossary oF tErMs AccidentAl Any of the five symbols bb, b, nat, , x that lower or raise a pi
• 52 53 appEndIx I BasIc notatIon
• 54 55 55 55 appEndIx II scalEs
• 56 57 appEndIx III sElEctEd rhythMs appEndIx Iv harMonIEs
• 58 appEndIx v solFEgE MnEMonIcs Above A dodecahedral mapping of the twelve notes of the scale w