There are four basic elements: rhythm, melody, harmony and timbre.
These four elements are the materials created by composers. If people listening to music cannot have a certain understanding of the intricate rhythm, melody, harmony and timbre, they will not be able to understand the content of the music. It is almost impossible to come up with a relatively complete concept.
Rhythm and beat
Rhythm includes the two concepts of beat (metre) and speed (tempo). The former refers to the regular strong and weak alternating movement of music, that is, the combination of beat points. , the latter refers to the rate of this rhythm.
Beat is a pattern in which accents appear repeatedly at certain intervals according to the time signature, or in other words, it is a fixed cyclic sequence of strong and weak sounds. Each type of beat is composed of a unit with a fixed duration, which is called a beat (time). The duration of the beat can be quarter notes, half notes, or eighth notes. Beats are usually marked with fractions. The numerator represents the number of unit beats in each measure, and the denominator represents the note duration of the unit beat, such as 2/4, which means "there are two beats in each measure, and each beat is a quarter note." Or simply "two quarter notes per measure". The following are some common beats: Even-numbered categories, including 2/2 (two half notes per measure), 2/4, 4/4, 4/8 (four eighth notes per measure), etc., these even-numbered beats It is symmetrical and has marching characteristics; odd-numbered types, including 3/2 (three half notes per measure), 3/4, 3/8, 6/4, 6/8, 9/8, etc.; they sound It is spiny, so it is often associated with dance music. The way to mark beats on music scores, in addition to the above 2/4 and 3/4, there are also bar lines. These short vertical lines separate the notes into regular units of alternating strength and weakness. It looks very Intuitive. Usually the first beat after the bar line is a strong beat, such as 2/4, which is a common rhythm in marches. It is an alternation of one strong and one weak, while 3/4, such as a waltz, is an alternation of one strong and two weak. If there are more than three beats, there will be two different strong beats, such as 4/4, which is strong-weak, and the second strong-weak; 6/8, which is strong-weak-weak; and the second strong-weak-weak. . In fact, this is just a concept of rhythm. Music may not be like this. Apart from the free form in folk music, many composers want to break the regularity of rhythm in order to give people a sense of freshness. It flashes past and does not appear at the right beat position, but it suddenly hits hard at the weak beat position, which surprises the listener. Please listen to Stravinsky's ballet music "The Rite of Spring" composed in 1913.
This dance drama depicts the scene of primitive sacrifices by prehistoric people. Its crazy and barbaric music style has made people very angry, and even caused unprecedented theater riots in the history of music.
Tempo refers to the rate of the beat. It can be roughly divided into three main categories: slow, fast and moderate. The tempo term is usually recorded at the beginning of the score and is mostly in Italian (sometimes in the native language). Commonly used tempo markers are as follows: Slow category:
Large
Grave Very slow, solemn and slow Lento Adagio Adagio Medium tempo category:
Andante Andantino Moderato Medium plate fast categories:
Allegretto Allegro Allegro
Allgero molto Fast Allegro Vivace Lively and brisk Presto Prestissimo The most urgent Plate
Speed ??is an important part of music rhythm. It is also a three-beat rhythm. If you use fast speed, it will give people a lively and lively feeling, while if you use slow speed, you will get an elegant and leisurely effect. Usually a fast rhythm is more exciting and corresponds to our heartbeat and breathing during intense exercise, while a slow rhythm makes people calm and emotionally stable. Generally speaking, expressing excitement, excitement, joy, and lively emotions is consistent with fast speed; expressing sunny, spring-filled natural scenery is often consistent with moderate speed, while grand carols, Painful elegy and deep memories are mostly matched with slow tempo.
The characteristics of poetry and the characteristics of musical performance are stipulated and integrated in the artistic function of rhythm. The rhythm of poetry can only be emphasized in the five or seven words of Chinese poetry; they have an inevitable pause on the third and fifth words, which is "bending the waist", which is irreplaceable for rhythm. factor. British poetry has obvious stress, so even if their poems do not have final rhymes, they can still move forward based on rhythm; while French poetry relies on final rhymes to form sentences, because the stress of its language is not obvious - the same is true for Chinese The characteristic is the inconspicuousness of obliqueness, which makes the rhyme of poetry necessary. 2. Melody
Melody is the soul of music and the foundation of music. It embodies the main idea of ??music.
A writer writes a novel and narrates the plot of the novel in words. This plot is easier to remember, on the one hand because it narrates things in real life, and on the other hand because people can go back and recall the plot. . The content described by music is always relatively abstract in nature (except for some title music). The "plot" of music can only be expressed by melody. Therefore, melody in music seems to be equivalent to the status of plot in novels. Melody is the listener's guide. Therefore, the listener must be able to recognize a melody when exposed to it, and then follow its trajectory from beginning to end. This is the minimum requirement for an understanding audience.
Melody is very closely related to our daily language. The earliest music, the twists and turns of its melody, are attached to the language itself. It can be said that it is obtained by exaggerating the pitch in the language. . For example, reciting poetry means reciting verses in a more musical tone. The same is true for ancient Western hymns. Later, musical melodies that were not attached to language gradually emerged, but if you think about it carefully, these melodies of various shapes still have a deep relationship with language. For example, the melodies with twists and turns are like cordial conversations; the short and powerful melodies are very similar to language. It sounds like a command or exclamation; the descending melody is like the familiar sighing sound in our daily life, which is often used to express sad cries or heavy sighs. The narrative of music is a paradoxical one. This is important. Generally speaking, narrative is a means rather than an end for words to achieve their narrative destination. But the musical narrative is very different. Because no audience or listener will listen to music just to understand the purpose and meaning of the musical text.
What is the melody? Simply put, the continuous progression of single tones of different pitches and different durations constitutes a melody. Strictly speaking, a melody is a single-part progression of many independent tones that is combined using mode relationships and rhythmic beat relationships. . Melody organically combines all the basic elements of music (here refers to mode, pitch, rhythm, intensity, etc.) into a complete and inseparable unity. It is inconceivable that melody is separated from various other musical elements, because the performance and emotional power of melody are realized through the action and interaction of various elements of music. Melody can be divided into two types: vocal melody. Vocal melody is for human voices to sing. Generally speaking, its range is relatively narrow and its singing ability is its biggest feature. Instrumental melody is played by musical instruments. Compared with vocal melody, it has a wider range, greater changes in speed and intensity, and is rich in rhythm and technique. However, singing is also important to the performance of instrumental melody. meaning.
The ways of melody progression can be roughly divided into the following four types: 1. Progression. That is, the melody proceeds according to the scale, which can be ascending (12345) or descending (54321). 2. Jump in. Jumping three or more times during the progression of the melody is called jump (135 or 531). 3. Repeat the same sound. The same sound appears continuously (1155665, 4433221). 4. Mold advance, that is, repetition at different heights (123, 456, 654, 321). In addition, the melody can also be changed and developed through certain means, thereby expanding the scope of the melody and enriching the content of the melody.
Melody is a clue that continuously guides the listener to listen to a piece of music from beginning to end. When listening to music, you must firmly grasp this clue. Most melodies are more or less carefully designed. accompanied by some secondary material. Don't let the melody be overwhelmed by the other material that accompanies it. To separate the melody in your mind from all the surrounding material, you must be able to hear the melody.