Elements of music  

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-An '''aspect of music''' is any [[characteristic]], [[dimension]], or [[wiktionary:element|element]] taken as a part or component of [[music]].  
-==European music==+[[Music]] can be [[music analysis|analysed]] by considering a variety of its '''elements''', or [[property (philosophy)|parts]] (aspects, characteristics, features), individually or together. A commonly used list of the main elements includes pitch, timbre, texture, volume, duration and form. The elements of music may be compared to the [[elements of art]] or [[design elements and principles|design]].
-The traditional musicological or European-influenced aspects of music often listed are those elements given primacy in European-influenced classical music, so 7 basic elements of music: [[melody]], [[harmony]], [[rhythm]], [[Timbre|tone]], [[Musical form|form]], [[tempo]] and [[dynamics]] .+
-*[[Melody]] is a succession of notes heard as some sort of unit. It is a single line of tones that moves up, down, or stays the same using steps, skips and repeated tones.+
-*[[Harmony]] is the relationship between two or more simultaneous pitches or pitch simultaneities, chord progression affects the key.+
-*[[Rhythm]] is the variation of the accentuation of sounds over time.+
-*[[Tone color]] is timbre, see list below.+
-*[[Musical form|Form]] is the structure of a particular piece, how its parts are put together to make the whole.+
-*[[Tempo]] is the speed of communicating an emotion in a particular piece, how fast or slow it's played.+
-*[[Dynamics]] is the volume of all parts as a whole and every layer in the structure.+
-However, a more comprehensive list is given by stating the aspects of sound: [[Pitch (music)|pitch]], [[timbre]], [[loudness|intensity]], and [[duration (music)|duration]]. (Owen 2000:6)+==See also==
-*[[Pitch (music)|Pitch]] is the perception of the [[frequency]] of the sound experienced, and is perceived as how "low" or "high" a sound is, and may be further described as [[definite pitch]] or [[indefinite pitch]]. It includes: melody, harmony, [[tonality]], [[tessitura]], and [[Musical tuning|tuning]] or [[musical tuning|temperament]] (ibid).+*[[Combinatoriality]]
-*[[Timbre]] is the quality of a sound, determined by the [[fundamental frequency|fundamental]] and its [[frequency spectrum|spectra]]: [[overtone]]s or [[harmonic]]s and [[envelope]], and varies between [[register (music)|voices]] and types and kinds of [[musical instrument]]s, which are tools used to produce sound. It includes: tone color and articulation (ibid).+*[[New musicology]]
-*Intensity, or [[Dynamics (music)|dynamics]], is how loud or quiet a sound is and includes how [[beat (music)|stressed]] a sound is or articulation.+*[[Noise in music]]
-*Duration is the temporal aspect of music; [[time]]. It includes: [[pulse (music)|pulse]], [[Beat (music)|beat]], rhythm, rhythmic density, [[Metre (music)|meter]], [[tempo]] (ibid).+*[[Permutation (music)]]
- +*[[Philosophy of music]]
-These aspects combine to create secondary aspects including form or [[structure]], [[Texture (music)|texture]], and [[Music genre|style]]. Other commonly included aspects include the spatial location or the movement in space of sounds, gesture, and [[dance]]. [[Silence]] is also often considered an aspect of music, if it is considered to exist.+*[[Process music]]
-*Structure includes: [[motif (music)|motive]], subphrase, [[phrase]], phrase group, [[period (music)|period]], [[section (music)|section]], [[Exposition (music)|exposition]], [[repetition (music)|repetition]], [[variation (music)|variation]], [[Musical development|development]], and other formal units, textural continuity (ibid).+*[[Serialism]]
-*[[Texture (music)|Texture]] is the interaction of temporal and pitch elements. It includes: [[homophony]], [[polyphony]], [[heterophony]], and simultaneity. (ibid)+*[[Set (music)]]
-*Style is defined by how the above elements are used. It is what distinguishes an individual composer or group, period, genre, region, or manner of performance (ibid).+*[[Sound art]]
-*[[Aesthetic]]s is another element that many do not know. This is how the music affects you emotionally. For example: an upbeat tune may make you joyful, while a slow violin song may make you feel lonely, cold, and depressed.+
- +
-==Persian music==+
-A [[dastgah]] is a [[melody type]] used in [[Persian traditional music|Persian music]], on the basis of which a performer produces extemporised pieces. Although 50 or more dastgahs have been used, theorists generally discuss a set of twelve principal ones.+
- +
-Each dastgah consists of seven basic notes, plus several variable notes used for ornament and [[modulation (music)|modulation]]. The dastgahs revolve around central nuclear melodies ('''gusheh''') which the individual [[musician]] comes to know through experience and absorption. This process of [[centonization]] is personal, and it is a tradition of great subtlety and depth. The full collection of gushehs in all dastgahs is called the [[Musical radif|Radif]].+
- +
-==Universal aspect==+
-Often a definition of music lists the aspects or elements that make up music under that definition. However, in addition to a lack of consensus, [[Jean Molino]] (1975: 43) also points out that "any element belonging to the total musical fact can be isolated, or taken as a strategic variable of musical production." Nattiez gives as examples [[Mauricio Kagel]]'s ''Con Voce'' [with voice], where a masked trio silently mimes playing instruments. In this example sound, a common element, is excluded, while gesture, a less common element, is given primacy. In classical music of the [[common practice period]], for instance, melody and harmony are often considered to be given more importance at the expense of rhythm and timbre. [[John Cage]] considers duration the primary aspect of music as, being the temporal aspect of music, it is the only aspect common to both "sound" and "silence".+
- +
-It is often debated whether there are aspects of music which are [[Universality (philosophy)|universal]]. The debate often hinges on definitions, for instance the fairly common assertion that "tonality" is a universal of all music may necessarily require an expansive definition of tonality. A [[pulse (music)|pulse]] is sometimes taken as a universal, yet there exist solo vocal and instrumental genres with free and improvisational rhythms no regular pulse (Johnson 2002), one example being the [[alap]] section of an [[Indian classical music]] performance. "We must ask whether a cross-cultural musical universal is to be found in the music itself (either its structure or function) or the way in which music is made. By 'music-making,' I intend not only actual performance but also how music is heard, understood, even learned." (Dane Harwood 1976:522)+
- +
-According to Merriam (1964, p. 32-33) there are three aspects always present in musical activity: [[concept]], [[behaviour]], and sound. [[Virgil Thomson]] (Erickson 1957, p. vii) lists the "raw materials" of music in order of their discovery: rhythm, melody, and harmony; with the construction of these materials using two major techniques: [[counterpoint]] (the simultaneity and organization of different melodies) and [[orchestration]]. Rhythm does not require melody or harmony, but it does require melody if the instrument produces a continuous sound, harmony arises from reverberation causing the overlap of different pitches, and counterpoint arises from multiple melodies.+
- +
-Kenneth Gorlay recounts that, "Writing of her own [[Igbo music]], the Nigerian musicologist Chinyere Nwachukwu maintains that the 'concept of music ''nkwa'' combines singing, playing musical instruments, and dancing into one act' (1981: 59). Whatever concept of 'music' is held by members of western society, it is highly improbable that, apart from forward-looking scholars and composers, it will contain all three elements. ''Nkwa'' in fact is not 'music' but a wider affective channel that is closer to the karimojong mode of expression than to western practice. The point of interest here is that Nwachukwu feels constrained to use the erroneous term 'music': not because she is producing a 'musical dissertation,' but because the 'one act' which the Igbos perform has no equivalent in the English language. By forcing the Igbo concept into the Procrustean bed of western conceptualization, she is in effect surrendering to the dominance of western ideas—or at least to the dominance of the English language! How different things would have been if the Igbo tongue had attained the same 'universality' as English!" (1984, p.35) He then concludes that there exists "nonuniversality of music and the universality of nonmusic."+
- +
-==Other common aspects and terms==+
-Other terms used to discuss particular pieces include [[note]], which is an abstraction which refers to either a specific pitch and/or rhythm or the written symbol; [[chord (music)|chord]], which is a [[simultaneity]] of notes heard as some sort of unit; and [[chord progression]] which is a succession of chords ([[simultaneity succession]]).+
- +
-For a more comprehensive list of terms see: [[List of musical topics]]+
- +
-==Sources==+
-*Thomson, Virgil. "Introduction" to Erickson, Robert (1957). ''The Structure of Music: A Listener's Guide''. New York: Noonday Press. Subtitled "a study of music in terms of melody and counterpoint".+
-*Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1987). ''Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music'' (''Musicologie générale et sémiologue'', 1987). Translated by Carolyn Abbate (1990). ISBN 0-691-02714-5. +
-*Molino, J. (1975). "Fait musical et sémiologue de la musique", ''Musique en Jeu'', no. 17:37-62. Cited in Nattiez (1987).+
-*Harwood, Dane (1976). "Universals in Music: A Perspective from Cognitive Psychology", ''Ethnomusicology'' 20, no. 3:521-33. Cited in Nattiez (1987).+
-*Gourlay, Kenneth (1984). Cited in Nattiez (1987).+
-*Owen, Harold (2000). ''Music Theory Resource Book''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511539-2.+
-*Johnson, Julian (2002). ''Who Needs Classical Music?: Cultural Choice and Musical Value''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514681-6.+
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Music can be analysed by considering a variety of its elements, or parts (aspects, characteristics, features), individually or together. A commonly used list of the main elements includes pitch, timbre, texture, volume, duration and form. The elements of music may be compared to the elements of art or design.

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