| It's no secret that virtually everyone loves | | | | to even conceive of a song or piece. |
| music in some form or other. After all, it is | | | | |
| the universal language, and we all | | | | In musical notation, the melody is almost |
| participate in it to some degree from the | | | | always written in the treble clef - also |
| cradle to the grave. It starts with our | | | | known as the treble staff. It consists of a |
| Mothers' lullaby, ends with our funeral song, | | | | horizontal line of notes that move up and |
| with a zillion other stops along the way. | | | | down on the clef as the tune moves higher or |
| | | | lower. |
| But what is music, anyway? What makes it | | | | |
| tick? We all love some form of it and dislike | | | | Rhythm is the beat - the swing - the throb of |
| other forms of it. | | | | the music. It happens in repeating patterns, |
| | | | depending upon the type of music. It is like |
| The country-western fan may not like jazz, | | | | a horizontal line of beats which occur at |
| but he or she sure loves the sound of pickin' | | | | regular or semi-regular intervals. A waltz, |
| & grinnin'. And the jazz fan feels just the | | | | for example, basically consists of a heavy |
| opposite. | | | | beat followed by two lighter beats. So we say |
| | | | that a waltz is in triple meter - one strong |
| And that's as it should be. If we all liked | | | | beat followed by two weak beats, then |
| the same kind of music, there just wouldn't | | | | repeated. |
| be the variety that is available to us now. | | | | |
| We can choose from musical styles ranging | | | | A march, on the other hand, generally |
| from heavy classical and opera to rock to | | | | consists of a heavy beat followed by a light |
| children's songs to Broadway musicals to | | | | beat, then another heavy beat followed by |
| gospel music to the blues. | | | | another light beat. (I'm simplifying, of |
| | | | course - there are many varieties...) So a |
| Each has its place, and each seems on the | | | | march is in duple meter - as you might expect |
| surface to be drastically different than | | | | since we have two feet and we march in |
| another form of music. The key word is "on | | | | left-right-left-right patterns. |
| the surface." But beneath the surface of all | | | | |
| music is a commonality that is organic to all | | | | All rhythms are some combination of triple |
| forms and styles of music. | | | | meter and/or duple meter, and the |
| | | | possibilities are endless - from boogie to |
| So what does all music have in common? | | | | R&B to mambos and sambas and bossa novas |
| | | | and....on and on. |
| At least 3 things - sometimes more, but never | | | | |
| less: | | | | Harmony, the 3rd aspect of music, is the |
| | | | musical background of a song - the chords, or |
| 1. Melody | | | | intervals "behind" the melody. Without |
| | | | harmony, a song sounds empty - like a |
| 2. Rhythm | | | | vocalist singing without an accompanist - or |
| | | | accapella. Music doesn't HAVE to have harmony |
| 3. Harmony | | | | to function, but in actual practice it almost |
| | | | always does, even if it is just the interplay |
| The melody is the part of a song or | | | | of two melodies, as in counterpoint. |
| composition that you whistle or hum - in | | | | |
| other words, the tune of the song. In one | | | | You could spend a lifetime learning all the |
| sense, it is the most visible of the 3 | | | | nuances of music, but it its most basic form, |
| elements, because melody is what identifies a | | | | it is these 3 elements combined together; |
| song. Without melody, it would be difficult | | | | melody, rhythm, and harmony. |