A time for sound and silence

Time is measured in sound and silence, sound in notes and silence in rests. Name Semibreve whole note Minim half note Crotchet quarter note Quaver eighth note Semiquaver sixteenth note Demisemiquaver thirty-second note Hemidemisemiquaver sixty-fourth note Value 4 crotchets 2 crotchets 1 crotchet Note Rest

1/2 of a crotchet

1/4 of a crotchet

1/8 of a crotchet

1/16 of a crotchet

Total time is calculated by adding the notes and rests. Two quavers equal a crotchet. Four crotchets equal a semibreve. Eight quavers equal a semibreve. This music plays for 16 crotchets.

How long is 16 crotchets in seconds? See Tempo later in this book of Time.

Picture notes
If you are learning to read music for the first time, it might help to see the notes in pictures.

Every note begins with a note-head. The notehead is oval shaped.

A semibreve is an empty notehead Notes shorter than a semibreve have a stem. A stem is a vertical line jutting up from the right or down from the left of the notehead A minim is a semibreve with a stem. A crotchet is a minim with a coloured notehead

A quaver is a crotchet with a tail.

A semiquaver is a crotchet with two tails.

A demisemiquaver is a crotchet with three tails.

A hemidemisemiquaver is a crotchet with four tails.

Introducing the beam

Clap your hands to the beat. Tails are beamed to the beat. Here are some examples. 2 quavers beamed to a crotchet beat.

4 semiquavers beamed to a crotchet beat.

8 demisemiquavers beamed to a crotchet beat. In a crotchet beat two factors are important. Notes are beamed in multiples of 4. You can slice the beam (beat) in half.

16 hemidemisemiquavers beamed to a crotchet beat.

Here are some more complex patterns. In these patterns the beat is equal to a crotchet, so you can count up to the value of a crotchet under every beam. Remember, we beam the beat.

Beam (beat) 1. Quaver - Semiquaver - Semiquaver Beam (beat) 2. Semiquaver - Semiquaver - Quaver Beam (beat) 3. Semiquaver - Quaver - Semiquave

Ever Heard Of The 7 Elements of Music?

March 7, 2011 By Teresa 7 Comments

If you are currently learning about music right now in a class or on your own, you may have heard someone talk about the 7 elements of music. Dont worry about understanding this completely right now. It is just a way to break down a piece of music into specific areas making it easier to learn, think about, and discuss. The elements of music is jargon for the different components or parts that music is made up of. If you take an introductory course in music, this is one of the first things you will learn. According to the National Standards for Arts Education, there are a total of 7 elements of music. My intention here is to define these for you in very simple terms to make it easier to understand.

1. Pitch the high and low quality of sound.

Pitch is basically a way of describing how high or low a sound is.

2. Rhythm sound and silence organized in time.

We can have long and short durations of sound and silence that moves to a steady pulse or beat, kind of like your heart beat.

3. Harmony a collection of pitches sounding simultaneously.

A chord is used most often to represent harmony. It is 3 or more notes sounding together.

4. Dynamics how loud or soft music is.

There are sometimes markings in music that tell the performer how loud or soft to play certain parts. This makes the music more interesting to play or listen to.

5. Timbre a distinct sound native to the instrument or voice.

This can also sometimes be referred to as tone color. Think of it as an artists palette of color. There are so many different kinds of sounds that can be created from one voice or instrument.

6. Texture the horizontal and vertical relationships within music.

This is something you will discover as you continue learning to read music. There are times when a composer uses a simple melody with very little harmony. We would call this a very thin texture. Other times, the composer likes to write heavy chords with a lot of action in the melody line. This would represent a thick texture. When you listen to music, you can hear some music sounding a lot more complicated than others. What you are hearing is the texture of the music.

7. Form how written music is organized and designed.

I tell many of my students that the form of music is similar to how an academic paper is written. There is an introduction, body and conclusion. Music can sometimes be organized in this way also. There are times when composers will write music with a specific form in mind. In other cases, they create the music first and then see what organization of the music (if any) happens as a result. If you are new to learning music, dont get caught up in trying to understand all of the 7 elements of music right now. This can be too much information that will paralyze you and not help you to move forward in your learning. For those learning to read music for the first time, you will mainly want to focus on pitch and rhythm. It is good to know from a general point of view what parts make up music, but remain focused on where you are at right now and what you are currently learning. This will all be more understandable in time as you dive deeper into learning a piece of music. Do you have any questions about the 7 elements of music or some interesting thoughts to share? If so, please leave them below and I will get right back to you.