STUDY GUIDE
, INTRODUCTION TO THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC
Before we begin our first historical periods, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, it will be important
that you become familiar with some of the basic elements of music. The next few readings will focus on
those basic elements. This information is vital to your understanding of the genres and styles we’ll be
studying over the course of the semester.
This section includes the following pages:
• A Historical Approach to the Elements of Music
• Melody
• Rhythm
• Meter in Music
• Yale Lecture on Rhythm and Meter
• Texture
The Elements of Music
This slideshow introduces some of the basic concepts involved in musical structure or form. This
slideshow does not get into the subject of specific large-scale forms, such as sonata allegro or theme
and variations, because we won’t encounter those structures until we study the Classical era. These
foundational concepts will set you up with the basics you need for the first portion of the semester.
A Historical Approach to the Elements of Music
While there are many different approaches to describing the building blocks of music, we often break
music down into five basic elements: melody, texture, rhythm, form, and harmony. While it’s true that
not every piece of music contains all of those elements, it is very likely that every piece of music you
have listened to recently does.
Of these five elements, there are two that almost always come first: melody and rhythm. They are not
only the two most fundamental parts of music, but they are very probably the very first components of
music experienced by human beings. It is a matter of pure speculation whether the first music involved a
melody being sung or a rhythm being tapped, but it is easy to imagine that these two experiences were
some of the earliest human musical creations.
Melody
Let’s begin our brief study of these elements with melody—not because it is more important than
rhythm but because the first music we will study in the Middle Ages will be Gregorian chant. Also known
as plainsong or plainchant, Gregorian chant is a musical genre that emphasizes the element of melody,
often to the exclusion of any other elements.
,Texture
We will continue to let history guide our survey of musical elements by moving to texture next. One of
the most significant musical developments was the medieval experiment of adding a new melodic line to
an existing Gregorian chant melody. As you’ll soon learn, this practice was called organum, and it
introduced a new texture, known as polyphony, to the sacred music of the Middle Ages that had been
dominated by the monophonic texture of plainchant.
Rhythm
As far as we can tell from the sparse historical record, Gregorian chant was sung without a regular beat.
This gives plainchant a flowing freedom that can be loosely described as having no rhythm. This is
certainly the way we most commonly hear chant performed today. However, with the arrival of
organum, it was necessary for the singers performing the two melodic lines to be able to stay together.
This made a more regular beat or pulse (rhythm) necessary.
Around the late 12th century, a particular style of organum developed in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in
Paris. This style involved holding out the notes of a Gregorian chant while a very active new melody was
sung above it. To create that activity in the upper part and to keep the two (or more) parts together,
regular rhythmic patterns of short and long notes were used. This can be thought of as the beginning of
an important component of rhythm: meter.
Form
Repetition, contrast, and variation are the basic principles of form in music. Form refers to the way in
which sections of a musical piece are organized. Form, or structure, in music becomes much more
specialized and standardized in later periods of music history. However, since we are beginning with the
music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, we will stick to general concepts of form for now. It wasn’t
until later periods that composers placed greater emphasis on form, so we will study particular
structures later in this class.
Harmony
Speaking of elements that won’t be covered until later in the class, harmony as it is most commonly
taught today is a musical element that developed in the Baroque period (1600–1750) and evolved more
and more complex constructions in the Classical and Romantic eras. Since the composers of the Middle
Ages and Renaissance did not think of their music in harmonic terms (major and minor keys, chords,
chord progressions, etc.), we will wait until later to introduce this very significant musical element.
Melody
This reading provides an introduction to the concept of melody in music and some of the specific
melodic terms we’ll encounter in our study of early music. Once we’ve completed our study of the
Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque, we’ll be introduced to some new melodic terms that developed
in the Classical era.
, Introduction
Melody is one of the most basic elements of music. On the most fundamental level, a melody consists of
a series of pitches. The relationship of those pitches—in other words, the contrast between higher and
lower pitches and/or the repetition of the same pitch—is what we recognize as a melody or tune. Of
course, in Western music, these pitches usually have definite durations, but we’ll talk more about the
role of duration and time in our discussion of the musical element rhythm. An important thing to
remember about melody is its linear or horizontal nature. Melodies are written out in horizontal lines on
the printed page, and melodies flow past our ears one note at a time like a line of cars on a street or
train. While that flow of pitches is the product of sound waves that are traveling outward from their
source in all directions, most listeners draw an unconscious connection between their experience of a
melodic series and the experience of watching objects pass by (for example, the passage of a train—
horizontal movement). This linear concept is worth remembering when we learn about harmony later.
Harmony involves groups of notes or chords played together to create “stacks” of sounds that are
pleasing to the ear. Notice the vertical concept there: “stacks” of pitches played at the same time in
harmony versus a line of pitches played one after the other in a melody. This question of horizontal and
vertical is also relevant to the element of texture, as texture is largely based on whether the music was
woven from independent melodic lines or built on successive harmonic stacks. So while melody may
seem like a very simple concept that needs little explanation, the ability to recognize the linear flow of
one or more melodies can give a listener (such as a student taking a listening exam) important clues as
to historical origins and stylistic categories to which that piece belongs.
Melodic Contour and Motion
A melody that stays on the same pitch too long is not very interesting to listen to. As a melody
progresses, the pitches usually move up or down. This movement can happen gradually or rapidly. One
can picture a line that goes up steeply when the melody suddenly jumps to a much higher note or that
goes down slowly when the melody gently falls. Such a line gives the contour or shape of the melodic
line. You can often get a good idea of the shape of this line by looking at the melody as it is written on
the staff, but you can also hear it as you listen to the music.
Arch shapes (in which the melody rises and then falls) are easy to find in many melodies.
Figure 1. Contour.
You can also describe the shape of a melody verbally. For example, you can speak of a “rising melody” or
of an “arch-shaped” phrase. Extra notes, such as trills and slides, may be added to a melodic line by
either the composer or the performer to make the melody more complex and interesting. These
additions are referred to as ornaments or embellishments.
Another set of useful terms describes how quickly a melody goes up and down. A melody that rises and
falls slowly, with only small pitch changes between one note and the next, is conjunct. One may also
speak of such a melody in terms of step-wise or scalar motion, since most of the intervals in the melody
are half or whole steps or are part of a scale.
, INTRODUCTION TO THE ELEMENTS OF MUSIC
Before we begin our first historical periods, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, it will be important
that you become familiar with some of the basic elements of music. The next few readings will focus on
those basic elements. This information is vital to your understanding of the genres and styles we’ll be
studying over the course of the semester.
This section includes the following pages:
• A Historical Approach to the Elements of Music
• Melody
• Rhythm
• Meter in Music
• Yale Lecture on Rhythm and Meter
• Texture
The Elements of Music
This slideshow introduces some of the basic concepts involved in musical structure or form. This
slideshow does not get into the subject of specific large-scale forms, such as sonata allegro or theme
and variations, because we won’t encounter those structures until we study the Classical era. These
foundational concepts will set you up with the basics you need for the first portion of the semester.
A Historical Approach to the Elements of Music
While there are many different approaches to describing the building blocks of music, we often break
music down into five basic elements: melody, texture, rhythm, form, and harmony. While it’s true that
not every piece of music contains all of those elements, it is very likely that every piece of music you
have listened to recently does.
Of these five elements, there are two that almost always come first: melody and rhythm. They are not
only the two most fundamental parts of music, but they are very probably the very first components of
music experienced by human beings. It is a matter of pure speculation whether the first music involved a
melody being sung or a rhythm being tapped, but it is easy to imagine that these two experiences were
some of the earliest human musical creations.
Melody
Let’s begin our brief study of these elements with melody—not because it is more important than
rhythm but because the first music we will study in the Middle Ages will be Gregorian chant. Also known
as plainsong or plainchant, Gregorian chant is a musical genre that emphasizes the element of melody,
often to the exclusion of any other elements.
,Texture
We will continue to let history guide our survey of musical elements by moving to texture next. One of
the most significant musical developments was the medieval experiment of adding a new melodic line to
an existing Gregorian chant melody. As you’ll soon learn, this practice was called organum, and it
introduced a new texture, known as polyphony, to the sacred music of the Middle Ages that had been
dominated by the monophonic texture of plainchant.
Rhythm
As far as we can tell from the sparse historical record, Gregorian chant was sung without a regular beat.
This gives plainchant a flowing freedom that can be loosely described as having no rhythm. This is
certainly the way we most commonly hear chant performed today. However, with the arrival of
organum, it was necessary for the singers performing the two melodic lines to be able to stay together.
This made a more regular beat or pulse (rhythm) necessary.
Around the late 12th century, a particular style of organum developed in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in
Paris. This style involved holding out the notes of a Gregorian chant while a very active new melody was
sung above it. To create that activity in the upper part and to keep the two (or more) parts together,
regular rhythmic patterns of short and long notes were used. This can be thought of as the beginning of
an important component of rhythm: meter.
Form
Repetition, contrast, and variation are the basic principles of form in music. Form refers to the way in
which sections of a musical piece are organized. Form, or structure, in music becomes much more
specialized and standardized in later periods of music history. However, since we are beginning with the
music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, we will stick to general concepts of form for now. It wasn’t
until later periods that composers placed greater emphasis on form, so we will study particular
structures later in this class.
Harmony
Speaking of elements that won’t be covered until later in the class, harmony as it is most commonly
taught today is a musical element that developed in the Baroque period (1600–1750) and evolved more
and more complex constructions in the Classical and Romantic eras. Since the composers of the Middle
Ages and Renaissance did not think of their music in harmonic terms (major and minor keys, chords,
chord progressions, etc.), we will wait until later to introduce this very significant musical element.
Melody
This reading provides an introduction to the concept of melody in music and some of the specific
melodic terms we’ll encounter in our study of early music. Once we’ve completed our study of the
Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque, we’ll be introduced to some new melodic terms that developed
in the Classical era.
, Introduction
Melody is one of the most basic elements of music. On the most fundamental level, a melody consists of
a series of pitches. The relationship of those pitches—in other words, the contrast between higher and
lower pitches and/or the repetition of the same pitch—is what we recognize as a melody or tune. Of
course, in Western music, these pitches usually have definite durations, but we’ll talk more about the
role of duration and time in our discussion of the musical element rhythm. An important thing to
remember about melody is its linear or horizontal nature. Melodies are written out in horizontal lines on
the printed page, and melodies flow past our ears one note at a time like a line of cars on a street or
train. While that flow of pitches is the product of sound waves that are traveling outward from their
source in all directions, most listeners draw an unconscious connection between their experience of a
melodic series and the experience of watching objects pass by (for example, the passage of a train—
horizontal movement). This linear concept is worth remembering when we learn about harmony later.
Harmony involves groups of notes or chords played together to create “stacks” of sounds that are
pleasing to the ear. Notice the vertical concept there: “stacks” of pitches played at the same time in
harmony versus a line of pitches played one after the other in a melody. This question of horizontal and
vertical is also relevant to the element of texture, as texture is largely based on whether the music was
woven from independent melodic lines or built on successive harmonic stacks. So while melody may
seem like a very simple concept that needs little explanation, the ability to recognize the linear flow of
one or more melodies can give a listener (such as a student taking a listening exam) important clues as
to historical origins and stylistic categories to which that piece belongs.
Melodic Contour and Motion
A melody that stays on the same pitch too long is not very interesting to listen to. As a melody
progresses, the pitches usually move up or down. This movement can happen gradually or rapidly. One
can picture a line that goes up steeply when the melody suddenly jumps to a much higher note or that
goes down slowly when the melody gently falls. Such a line gives the contour or shape of the melodic
line. You can often get a good idea of the shape of this line by looking at the melody as it is written on
the staff, but you can also hear it as you listen to the music.
Arch shapes (in which the melody rises and then falls) are easy to find in many melodies.
Figure 1. Contour.
You can also describe the shape of a melody verbally. For example, you can speak of a “rising melody” or
of an “arch-shaped” phrase. Extra notes, such as trills and slides, may be added to a melodic line by
either the composer or the performer to make the melody more complex and interesting. These
additions are referred to as ornaments or embellishments.
Another set of useful terms describes how quickly a melody goes up and down. A melody that rises and
falls slowly, with only small pitch changes between one note and the next, is conjunct. One may also
speak of such a melody in terms of step-wise or scalar motion, since most of the intervals in the melody
are half or whole steps or are part of a scale.
