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Classical music composers masterfully use simple techniques to add immense complexity to their works. From melody and rhythm to the tempo of performance-this is what makes each piece of music unique. Although it's a bit more complicated than that, let's break it down into a few simple basic concepts. The basic elements of music are notes, their pitch, and rhythm- the duration of each note. A note can be short or long. Combine several notes together and you get a melody. When you create a melody or motif, you can repeat it slightly differently. And then play with it. You can create variations of your motif where they compete or echo each other.
Most music is written in a specific key and mode. The key indicates the main notes and those that sound to our ears as supporting, " home" notes. The tone helps determine the mood. It can be major, light and cheerful, or minor by changing just a few notes. And then the music becomes darker or sadder. You can play two examples to hear which is major and which is minor. Fun. And now-sad. Time is a way of organizing rhythm using bars. Although the basic rhythm is stable, notes can be grouped using strong beats or accents. Although there are many sizes, we will show three main ones: 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4. One of the tasks of a conductor with a baton is to clearly reflect the rhythm. 2/4-it's like a march. 1 2 A 3/4-it's like a waltz. 1
2 3 1 2 3. And 4/4 is called common time because it is the most common time signature. 1 2 3 4. The rhythm is usually predictable. You know, the stable bit. This is exactly what is usually needed, unless you play jazz. Now let's add some syncopation. This is when you emphasize weak particles in an unexpected way. Let's highlight weak parts or add some Gershwin-style syncopation. I like it. Julie, let's try it without syncopation. Understood., baby. A very important tool for a composer is dynamic contrast, playing quietly and loudly. The music is full of volume instructions in Italian words. Piano-quiet, crescendo-gradual increase, forte- loud, fortissimo- very loud, and then
diminuendo-to the lowest volume, pianissimo. Let's try this on the piano. These are piano, crescendo, forte, fortissimo, diminuendo, and pianissimo. In addition to changing the volume, the composer can shape the sound of the notes. Notes can be combined smoothly and coherently, as if into a musical sentence or phrase. This is legato. Or they can be separated, like little musical jolts-that's staccato. I really like that you can play legato with one hand and staccato with the other at the same time. And to do this truly masterfully, the composer can add different types of expression. These musical phrases can be shaped so that they
build up expressively. This is called rubato. Melodies can range from gentle. This is a piece. This is a very tender play called "Dreaming." To the very excited, molto agitato. In fact, a composer can specify the exact number of beats per minute using a number. This metronome is set to 120 beats per minute. This is called marching tempo, two beats per second. I really want to march. Of course, there are Italian words that a composer can use to indicate how fast or slow he wants to perform a piece. Lento means very slow. Andante is like a walk. Allegro is like running. And presto- that's very fast. From lento to presto. Yes, a composer has many tools to create beautiful music. There is one last technique in the arsenal of composers-that is dissonance. Adding
a few dissonant notes that create tension or an intentionally disturbing effect. And when you release the tension by returning to notes that sound harmonious together, you get a resolution. Amen. I love when you start and end on the tonic, or root note of the scale, it sounds so nice. And if you don't end on the tonic, you're left with the feeling that just one note is missing. If you want to know how to wake me up in the morning, tease me with the lack of a solution. Just play the first seven notes of the scale. Perfectly.
