Music Appreciation Notes: Music An Appreciation Roger Kamien
Sound: Pitch, Dynamics, and Tone Color
• Music is organized sound in time.
• Music provides entertainment and emotional release and accompanies many
activities like dancing to religious ceremonies.
• There is no one TRUTH about what we hear and feel.
• Sound- Starts with the vibration of an object. Vibrations are then transmitted to our
ears by a-
• Medium, which is usually air.
• Our eardrums start vibrating, and Impulses, or signals, are transmitted to the brain which
are then selected, organized, and interpreted.
• Four main properties of music: Pitch, dynamics, tone color, and duration.
• Pitch- The highness or lowness of a sound. The faster the vibrations the higher the pitch,
and the slower the vibrations the lower the pitch.
• Tone- A sound that has a definite pitch. Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do.
• Interval- The distance in pitch between any two tones.
• Pitch Range- The distance between the highest and lowest tones a voice or instrument
can produce.
• Dynamics- Degrees of loudness and softness in music. (Pianissimo=pp=very soft,
piano=p=soft, mezzo piano=mp=moderately soft, mezzo forte=mf=moderately loud,
forte=f=loud, fortissimo=ff=very loud)
• Accent- When a performer emphasizes a tone by playing it more loudly then other tones.
(>=decrescendo=gradually softer, <=crescendo= gradually louder)
• Tone Color- Also known as timbre, is a way to distinguish the same tone at the same
dynamic level. (Bright, Dark, Brilliant, Mellow, and Rich)
