It’s no secret that practically everyone likes music in some form or other. After all, it is the universal language, and all of us take part in it to some degree from the cradle to the tomb. It starts with our Mothers’ lullaby, ends with our funeral song, and with a zillion other stops along the way.
What is music, anyway? What makes it tick? We all love some kind of it and dislike other forms of it.
The country-western fan may not like jazz, but she or he sure enjoys the sound of pickin’ & grinnin’. And the jazz fan feels simply the opposite.
Which’s as it must be. If all of us liked the exact same type of music, there just wouldn’t be the variety that is readily available to us now. We can pick from musical designs varying from heavy classical and opera to rock to children’s songs to Broadway musicals to gospel music to the blues.
Each has its place, and each appears on the surface area to be significantly various from other kinds of music. The keyword is “on the surface.” However, below the surface area of all music is a commonality that is organic to all forms and designs of music.
What does all music have in typical?
A minimum of 3 things– sometimes more, but never ever less:
- Melody.
- Rhythm.
- Consistency.
The melody is the part of a tune or structure that you hum or whistle — to put it simply, the tune of the tune. In one sense, it is the most noticeable of the 3 components, because the tune is what recognizes a song. Without a tune, it would be tough to even conceive of a tune or piece.
In musical notation, the melody is usually written in the treble clef — likewise called the treble personnel. It includes a horizontal line of notes that go up and down on the clef as the tune moves higher or lower.
Rhythm is the beat– the swing– the throb of the music. It happens by duplicating patterns, relying on the kind of music. It is like a horizontal line of beats that take place at regular or semi-regular intervals. A waltz, for example, generally consists of a heavy beat followed by 2 lighter beats. So we say that a waltz is in triple meter– one strong beat followed by two weak beats, then duplicated.
A march, on the other hand, typically includes a heavy beat followed by a light beat, then another heavy beat followed by another light beat. (I’m simplifying, naturally– there are numerous ranges …) So a march remains in duple meter– as you might anticipate given that we have 2 feet and we march in left-right-left-right patterns.
All rhythms are some combination of triple meter and/or duple meter, and the possibilities are limitless– from boogie to R&B to mambos and sambas and bossa novas and … on and on.
Harmony, the 3rd aspect of music, is the musical background of a song — the chords, or intervals “behind” the melody. Without consistency, a song sounds empty– like a singer singing without an accompanist — or Accapella. Music doesn’t HAVE to have harmony to function, however in real practice it almost always does, even if it is just the interaction of 2 tunes, as in counterpoint.
You might invest a lifetime learning all the nuances of music, but it’s the majority of fundamental type, it is these 3 components integrated together; consistency, rhythm, and tune.
We can choose from musical designs varying from heavy classical and opera to rock to kids’ tunes to Broadway musicals to gospel music to the blues.
Below the surface area of all music is a commonality that is natural to all kinds and designs of music.
Rhythm is the beat– the swing — the throb of the music. Harmony, the 3rd aspect of music, is the musical background of a song — the chords, or periods “behind” the melody. Music doesn’t HAVE to have harmony to work, however in real practice it nearly always does, even if it is just the interaction of 2 tunes, as in counterpoint.
