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Music 42
West Hills College
Lisa Butts, Instructor
Lisabutts@westhillscollege.com

ELEMENTS OF SOUND
PITCH-The relative highness or lowness that we hear in sound.
Without difference in pitch, speech would be monotone.
VIBRATIONS-The pitch of sound is determined by the frequency of its vibrations.
The faster the vibrations, the higher the pitch; the slower the vibrations, the lower the pitch.
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ELEMENTS OF SOUND
In music, a sound that has a definite pitch is called a tone. It has a specific frequency, such as 440 cycles per second.
Tones like crashing cymbals or squeaking breaks have an indefinite pitch because they produce irregular vibrations.
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ELEMENTS OF SOUND
The difference in pitch between two tones is called an interval.
Two tones that are separated by an octave sound very much alike. They will vibrate either twice that of each other or half that of each other.
(A-440 then go up one octave to A-880, or A-440 and then go down to A-220)
When sounded together, two tones that are an octave apart will almost merge into one tone.
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ELEMENTS OF SOUND
As time passed, 5 more tones were added to the original 7 to make a total of 12.
These tones are produced by the black keys on the keyboard.
All twelve tones are duplicated in higher and lower octaves.
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ELEMENTS OF SOUND
The distance between the lowest and highest note that a voice or instrument can produce is called its pitch range, or simply itsrange.
Composers use pitch range to indicate different moods. Low ranges are used for sad music, high ranges for happy or dance-like music. A steady rise in pitch can create tension.
Most music that we listen to is based on definite pitches, but indefinite pitches also play an important part such as the boom of the bass drum or the crash of the cymbal.
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ELEMENTS OF SOUND
Dynamics
A performer can emphasize a tone by playing it more loudly than the tones around it. This kind of emphasis is called an accent. Skillful use of dynamics can make listening and playing music more interesting.
Here is a list of the most common dynamic terms:
Pianissimoppvery soft
Pianopsoft
Mezzo pianompmedium soft
Mezzo fortemfmedium loud
Fortefloud
Fortissimoffvery loud
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ELEMENTS OF SOUND
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Symbols for gradual changes in dynamics:
Decrescendogradually softer
Diminuendo
Crescendogradually louder

ELEMENTS OF SOUND
Tone Color (Timbre)
We can tell instruments apart because of the color of their sound. This quality is called timbre or tone color.
Words used to describe tone color
Bright
Dark
Brilliant
Mellow
Rich
Changes in tone color can create variety in music and bring attention to different melodies, or instrument groups.
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