THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC WE WILL USE FOR ANALYSIS: 4th Grade (Keep in Folders)

MELODY -- It is a sung or played musical line. It can flow smoothly (conjunct), or it can leap from one note to the next using large intervals (disjunct). If it is sung, these two differences have very different effects. If it is played on instruments, the effects are less obvious. Horizontal.

HARMONY -This accompanies (goes with) the melody. It can be used to support or highlight the melody or it can be another melody line under the main melody. (Vertical)

TEXTURE - The number of instruments that are playing. This is also the quality of the instruments that are heard; are they mostly percussion?, or are they mostly melodic? (carrying a tune or a melody).

RHYTHM---What kind of Beat does this music have? Is the beat simple? Is it compound? Is it complex? Is it fluid? (Does it seem to change all the time). Does the beat sound like a dance beat or does it sound like a song or music for ritual or ceremony?

DYNAMICS - How loudly or softly music is played or sung. Dynamics also indicate whether the music is growing louder or growing softer. In our culture this is called Crescendo (growing louder) and Decrescendo or diminuendo (growing softer).

The following are symbols that we in the Western Hemisphere of the Globe use for written music: p= piano (soft) mp = mezzo piano (medium soft), f = forté, (loud), mf = mezzo forté (medium loud) ff = fortissimo (very loud).