Elementary Harmony

What are the three elements of music?

By Ann Kim

The three elements of music

Melody Rhythm Harmony

Let us assume that you have just heard a single musical sound…

• Melody: how high or low is the sound?

• Rhythm: how long is the sound held?

• Harmony: what is the distance between pitches?

Melody

• Melodies consist of a linear succession of sounds (pitches) and silences moving through time.

Rhythm

• Rhythm refers to all the duration of the sounds and silences in the musical flow.

Harmony

• Harmony results when two or more pitches are sounded simultaneously.

The Staff

* The staff is composed of five lines and four spaces.

5

3

12

43

2

4

1

Pitches on the Staff

Treble or G clef

E FG AB CD EF

Pitches on the Staff

Bass or F clef

cD EF

G

A

B A

G

Accidentals

Sharp. Raises the pitch of a tone one half step.

Flat Lowers the pitch of a tone one half step.

Location of on the keyboard

You can find any C on the keyboard by finding the white key immediately to the Left of any group of two black keys.

two two

Names of the Keys

D E DF G A B BAGFE

Notes & Keys

D E DF G A B BAGFE

Half Steps and Whole Steps

half step1/2

half step1/2

Dc E G AE F CB

Notes and Rests

Whole Note 1 Whole Rest

Half Note 1/2 Half Rest

Quarter Note

1/4 Quarter Rest

Eight Note 1/8 Eight Rest

Sixteenth Note

1/16 Sixteenth Rest

Time Signature, Measure, and Bar Lines

time signature bar line

3 4

measure measure

double bar line

Introduction to Chords

* A chord is a combination of three or more notes.

* This type of chord is called the triad.

rootthird

fifth

Perfect and Major Intervals

M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 M7 P8

Check these web links

• http://ditto.com/searchResults.asp?mainToolbar=imageSelected&pid=7002&p=1&ss=music

• http://www.musictheory.net

• http://web1hamilton.edu/javamusic/PianoKeyFinder.html

• http://web1hamilton.edu/javamusic/NoteReading.html

Credits

musictheory.net

Elementary Harmonyby Robert W. Ottman

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