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To grasp the idea of how music has developed and grown over time we must first have an understanding of the different influences. To better understand how music works, let’s use an analogy. If you can visualize a music composition is somewhat like a tree. It must have roots, trunk, branches and leaves. Tree of Music consists of:
Source- Seed or the Composers background
Rhythm- Pulse , the heart or the beat of the music
Form- The Trunk of the Tree , that which Carries the structure
Melody; Simplicity capturing your attention!
Harmony- Twigs, the smaller branches that fills out the melody
Tone- Tone:That which colors and enriches |
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| So obviously the source affects the kind of fruit that is produced, the forces that influence and motivate the composer to write the type of style of Music, whether it be Rock, Pop, Blues, Rap, Rhythm and Blues, Soul Jazz, Gospel or Classical.
Harmony is the relation of notes to notes and chords to chords as they are played simultaneously.
Harmonic "patterns" are established from notes and chords in successive order. Melodic intervals are those that are linear and occur in sequence, while harmonic intervals are sounded at the same time. Whether or not a harmony is pleasing is a matter of personal taste, as there are consonant and dissonant harmonies, both of which are pleasing to the ears of some and not others.
Music history tells us that the definition of harmony has evolved over a period of time as different music forms have developed. In the Middle Ages, harmony was simply a two-note combination. During the Renaissance, three-note harmony was popular with the introduction of the triad. The Romantic Era expanded chords into four-part harmonies. The only method or technique for music endings was to resolve into a tonic chord built on the 1st and 5th notes of the scale in that key. Contemporary music has broadened the meaning of harmony to accept dissonant chords that never resolve into tonics of the key. |
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