You are embarking on an adventure through musical time, and this journey will be more pleasurable if you first become familiar with some basic musical concepts. Keep in mind that most new experiences require some initial adjustment and insight. The process is similar to visiting a distant country for the first time: You are instantly immersed in a different culture and surrounded by people who speak an unusual language or follow unfamiliar customs. This new experience could be either very exciting—or quite unbearable—depending on your perspective. If you were not prepared for this journey, your naive responses and actions might bring you embarrassment or instill the anger of others. Worst of all, you would get very little from a potentially rewarding experience.
These new ideas will be introduced gradually, systematically and actively, so for now, focus on learning the fundamental elements of music and their related terms Listen carefully for these aspects in the music you hear, and—in time—you will attain a heightened understanding that will open your ears, mind and soul to the deeper levels of musical thought.
ELEMENT Rhythm: Dynamics: Melody: Harmony:
Tone color: Texture:
Form:
Basic Related Terms
(beat, meter, tempo, syncopation)
(forte, piano, [etc.], crescendo, decrescendo)
(pitch, theme, conjunct, disjunct)
(chord, progression, consonance, dissonance, key, tonality, atonality)
(register, range, instrumentation)
(monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, imitation, counterpoint)
(binary, ternary, strophic, through-composed)
