The Musical Elements provide the ingredients for all things musical, and they are an important part of the National Curriculum. At Harp Academy, we always include learning about the Musical Elements in our programme. (We also include Musical Elephants, but you’ll need to visit our Harp QI menu to find these).
Here’s an overview of all the Musical Elements. Each one has its own harmonica learning page with more information and some fun challenges to help you understand its meaning.
Timbre (or Tone)
Timbre is the sound quality, or tone, of an instrument, voice or note. Visit our dedicated Timbre page to identify our mystery voices and white noise.
Pitch
Pitch is all about the way high or low notes sound, and how to identify them. Visit our dedicated Pitch page to learn about life’s ups and downs.
Texture
Texture is all about how sounds combine to create different effects. Melodies, harmonies, double stops, octaves and chords are certain to texture breath away.
Dynamics
Dynamics are how loud or quiet music is played. Our dedicated Dynamic Duo page will help you learn some standard terms and really find your Forte.
Tempo
Tempo is how fast or slow a piece of music is played. Investigate the standard terms for different speeds on our dedicated Tempo page. It’ll put you through your paces.
Duration
Duration is how long or short a note is. Visit our dedicated Duration page to learn about the basic building blocks of music. Once you get it, you won’t Lego.
Structure
Structure is how a song is put together. Visit our dedicated Structure page learn about the intros and outros of music.
Silence
Silence is about how long to rest between notes, or how long not to play at all. Visit our Silence page to find out why less is more.