The 6 Concepts Of Music

THE SIX CONCEPTS OF MUSIC

It is impossible for any of the six concepts of music to work in isolation from another. Every sound we hear, identified as music, even if is consists of a single note played once, can be described using all 6 Musical concepts. The skill lies in the ability to differentiate, label and then successfully communicate our listening experience.  

Try to think of music as a conversation between the composer, musicians and audience. When discussing music we use the concepts as a frame work in order to justify subjective responses. In essence this means that, properly justified, every interpretation is valid.  

Tone colour

Tone colour refers to that aspect of sound that allows the listener to identify the sound source or combination of sound sources.

Tone colour and expresssive techniques are often linked. An expressive technique change the tone color of any given instrument.  

Tone colour

How to approach tone colour

Students should be able to discuss the following aspects of tone colour as relevant to the music studied: sound source material, for example, wood, metal, string, skin, electronic and vocal method of sound production, for example, blowing, hitting, plucking, scraping and shaking combination of sound sources, for example, single voice, multiple voices, voices accompanied or unaccompanied by instruments.

Performing media Solos: voices or instruments, accompanied or unaccompanied. Small ensembles: duets, trios, quartets etc. Large ensembles: choirs, opera choruses, orchestra (string, chamber, symphony). Electronic music: synthesisers, effects pedals for electric guitars, musique concrete. World music: gamelan orchestras, indigenous instruments, e.g. koto, didjeridu, sitar, mbira etc. Unorthodox use of instruments, e.g. extremes of register. Unorthodox combinations of instruments. Objective descriptions String sounds: describe how they are played. Reeds: single or double reed instruments. Brass: including all mutes (hand, cup, wah-wah, harmon). Winds: flutes, recorders. Remember to include all indigenous sounds. Vocal sounds (not just singing). Subjective descriptions Dark, mysterious, sombre. Warm, bright, clear. Nasal, harsh, etc. Is there a relationship between tone colour and structure? Is tone colour used to differentiate between sections and create contrast? Support ALL subjective comments with reasons.

Duration

Duration refers to the lengths of sounds and silences in music and includes the aspects of beat, rhythm, tempo, pulse rates and absence of pulse.

Aspects of duration

Duration and its terms

Students need to be able to discuss the following aspects of duration as relevant to the music studied: Beat: the underlying pulse in music. Rhythm: patterns of long and short sounds and silences found in music. Tempo: the speed of the beat. Music may be relatively fast or slow and may become faster or slower. Metre: the grouping of the beats. Beats can be grouped in any combination including 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and so on. Where appropriate to the musical context, the following should be observed: regular and irregular metres metric groupings tempo rhythmic devices such as syncopation, augmentation and diminution methods of notating duration, both traditional and graphic.

Metre and phrasing Beat (steady/strong) Time signatures: simple and compound (common are 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 9/8). Absence of time signature Multimetre (changing time signature) Rhythmic phrase is regular or irregular Rhythmic phrase is balanced or imbalanced. Rhythm Metrical (with regular pulse) Syncopation Rubato Rhythmic ostinato Repetitive patterns Polyrhythms Cross rhythms Hemiola Motivic development. Tempo How fast or slow? Changing or constant?  Do changes accentuate a musical climax?

Pitch

Pitch refers to the relative highness and lowness of sounds. Important aspects include high, low, higher and lower pitches, direction of pitch movement, melody, harmony, indefinite and definite pitch.

Aspects of pitch

Words and phrases applying to pitch

Students should be able to discuss the following aspects of pitch as relevant to the music studied: High/low: pitches can be comparatively high or low. Direction of pitch movement: up, down, same level. Melody: a horizontal succession of pitches. Harmony: two or more pitches sounding together. Indefinite pitch: untuned sounds, for example, the speaking voice. Definite pitch: tuned sounds, for example, the singing voice. Students should understand and apply the following (where appropriate to the musical context): definite and indefinite pitch pitch direction and contour pitch patterns pitch range and register harmony methods of notating pitch, both traditional and graphic various scales, modes and other ways of organising pitch.

Melody The style of a piece of music will often indicate melodic and harmonic characteristics which may appear in a piece of music. Aspects of melody include: melodic contour scalic, stepwise melodies chordal melodies repetition of melody sequence melodic motifs, riffs, ostinati (and their development) imitation countermelody melodic ornamentation vocal melisma phrasing (length, even, symmetrical, asymmetrical, anticipated cadence points, question and answer etc) strophic or through-composed songs balance use of unity and variety. Tonality (melody) diatonic major/minor modal pentatonic whole tone modal chromatic blues atonal. Tonality (harmony) major/minor chords chordal patterns, e.g. 12 bar blues added note chords as used in jazz (7ths, 9ths, 11ths etc) atonality/polytonality parallelism (organum/impressionism) chromatic harmonies modulations dissonance.

Dynamics and expressive techniques

Dynamics refers to the volume of sound. Important aspects include the relative softness and loudness of sound, change of loudness (contrast) and the emphasis on individual sounds (accent).
Expressive techniques refers to the musical detail that articulates a style or interpretation of a style.

Dynamics and expressive techniques

Observations

Students should understand and apply the following (where appropriate to the musical context): a range of dynamics, including gradations articulations tempo and gradations of tempo stylistic indications.

Dynamics volume levels and changes such as crescendo and decrescendo common terminology (may be Italian, German, French or English) terraced dynamics accents. Expressive techniques articulation patterns such as staccato, legato,tenuto various accents, e.g. sfz instrumental techniques such as glissando, sul ponticello, spiccato, con sordino (mute), distortion, guitar pedal effects etc. stylistic indications such as dolce, cantabile,con forza, tranquillo, rubato, various tempo changes.

Texture

Texture results from the way voices and/or instruments are combined in music.

Texture	Words or phrases applying to texture
Students should be able to discuss the following aspects of texture as relevant to the music studied: the layers of sound and their function the roles of instruments and/or voices.	Layers of sound monophonic texture homophonic texture polyphonic texture heterophonic texture. Density of sound rich, full, thick, dense etc. (give reasons) light, airy, sparse, transparent etc. (give reasons) changing densities (identify the sections).

Structure

Structure refers to the idea of design or form in music. In organising sound the concepts of duration, pitch and tone colour are combined in some way for a particular purpose. Structure relates to the ways in which music sounds the same (or similar) and/or different.

Structure

Observations of structure

Students should be able to discuss the following aspects of structure as relevant to the music studied: phrases motifs riffs and other repetitive patterns techniques of call and response or question and answer traditional and non-traditional patterns of musical structure structures used in world music structures used in single pieces of music multi-movement structures, e.g. symphony.

Identification Identify the main motifs or themes and where they re-occur. Analysis of structure New material/old material. Repetition of themes or motifs. Development of themes or motifs. Discuss unity or contrast achieved through repetition or variation. Recognised FORMS (depends on style) Binary (A B) Ternary (A B A) Rondo (A B A C A) Sonata (first movement) form Theme and variations, including fugue, canon, chaconne etc Strophic or through-composed Fugu