5 Basic Aspects of Music
Music is the craft of arranging sounds in specific time to create a tune through the elements of harmony, melody, rhythm, and timing. It’s one of those universal artistic aspects of all human cultures. We all understand that music has the power to evoke emotion, to communicate deep feelings, and to create a mood. And music does that much more in each genre than other forms of art. For instance, Western music has its own particular tone and cadence, and this creates the familiar rhythmic feel that so many people know and love.
Classical music is characterized by the sustained tonality of certain scales and the use of very specific expressive techniques to create a sense of melody. These expressive techniques can include extended notes, octaves, or the use of minor and dominant sevenths to bring forth an emotional response. It is also characterized by the prevalence of repeated tonality, which is a repetitive signature that expresses a single thought.
The third basic aspect of music is its tone color. The range of tones in a piece of music is referred to as tonality. It can be bright, warm, dark, or even delicate. Bright timbre is most commonly associated with music performed on the strings of a violin, while mellow timbre is more common in classical compositions.
The fourth aspect of music is its tonal balance. This aspect defines how well two or more instruments are combined in a composition. If an arrangement has a great sense of balance, the melody will also follow suit. An uneven tonal balance is where one or more notes are louder in the background than in the melody, or where a middle note is played louder than any of the high notes.
Lastly, the fifth aspect of music is its key signature. This refers to the relationship of a melody and a main dominant or secondary tonality. For instance, if a piano piece is composed of three chords, the melody must match the key signature of C major. Other instruments such as a guitar or a violin can have their own key signatures.
In addition, musical instruments must also have certain characteristics that allow them to change source and/or tempo. For instance, a piano can be played in full swing (medium speed) or in half swing (light speed). A guitar could be strummed or plucked. Percussion instruments like drums have percussion marks that signify where they hit the surface of a surface and at what pitch. This is called timbre.