The Power of Music• Music is heard all around the globe, playing a central role in the religious and social life of the world's cultures. Music profoundly influences how we feel and behave.• We perceive music when our brain processes organized vibrations in the air aselectrochemical impulses. These impulses give us pleasure and affect our emotions.• There are significant differences between classical and popular music; the two styles vary in terms of instruments used, traditions of transmission, emphasis on rhythm, complexity of composition, and audience reception.• There are many different genres, or types, of music. Genre dictates where you go to hear music performed, as well as how you dress and behave when you get there.• Music is a form of communication. Over the centuries, composers have refined a musical language, a collection of gestures that express meaning throughsound.• There are many different ways to listen to the music treated in this text. These works are available on CDs and as digital downloads, and can be easily found on YouTube. The best way to experience the splendor of classical music, however, is to attend a live concert.• You don't need to be a Mozart to enjoy classical music. Indeed, classical musicis so prevalent in popular culture that you are likely familiar with a great number of pieces already. Becoming a good listener, though, will require education, focus, and practice.Beethoven begins his symphony with a dynamic motive that serves as the basis for everything that follows. Strauss opens Also Sprach Zarathustra, a tone poem,with a dramatic musical invocation that rises to a stunning climax.Rhythm, Melody, and Harmony• Rhythm is arguably the most fundamental element of music. The basic rhythmic pulse, or beat, is usually represented by the quarter note.• Tempo is the speed at which beats progress. Composers have a wide variety of tempo markings at their disposal, from slow (lento) or very slow (grave),to fast (allegro) or very fast (presto).• Beats are organized into groups (measures), producing meter. The vast majority of the music we hear falls into either a duple or a triple pattern.• In most music the accent, or musical emphasis, falls directly on the beat, with the downbeat (the first beat in any given measure) getting the greatest emphasis of all. Sometimes composers alter this regularity with syncopation, and the unexpected bounce creates variety and excitement.• Every melodyconsists of a succession of pitches, which we identify with letter names. When an instrument produces a musical tone, it sets into motion vibrating sound waves; the faster the vibration of these waves, the higher the pitch that results.• The two pitches that make up an octave sound similar because the frequencyof vibration of the higher pitch is precisely twice that of the lower. All musical cultures, Western and non-Western make use of the octave, but they divide the intervening pitches in different ways.• We use a staff, or a grid of lines and spaces, to precisely notate the pitches that we play. The treble clef indicates notes in the upper range, while the bass clef identifies those in the lower range.• A scale is an arrangement of pitches within the octave that ascends and descends according to a fixed pattern. Western music has traditionally been based on two scales: major and minor.• Melodies revolve around a central pitch called the tonic, and we call the organization of music around this pitch tonality. Musicians identify tonality, or key, by the letter nameof the tonic note.• Compositions can modulate (change keys) in order to provide contrast, but almost all music ends back 'home” on the tonic pitch.• Melodies are made up of smaller units called phrases, which we intuitively follow when we listen to music. A symmetrical phrase structure in music creates a feeling of stability.• The term 'harmony” denotes the musical accompaniment—the sounds that support and enhance a given melody.• Chords are the building blocks of harmony. The basic chord in Western music is the triad, a group of three pitches arranged in a very specific way.• Chord progressions result when chords are arranged in a purposeful manner tocreate a sense of musical expectation and fulfillment. The end of a chord progression, called a cadence, usually consists of a dominant triad yielding to a tonic triad.• Chords that sound disagreeable and unstable are considered dissonant, while consonant chords are the opposite. Dissonance provides musical tension, while consonance produces a sense of rest and stability.A good way to begin listening for harmonic change is to focus on the bass line, because a different note in the bass often signals a change in the chord.Color, Texture, Form• Color, texture, and form refer not so much to the musical idea itself, but insteadto the way in which that musical idea is presented.• Dynamics are the various levels of volume, loud and soft, at which sounds are produced. 5 Dynamic change can occur either abruptly or gradually.• Color (or timbre) refers to the tone quality of the sound produced by a voice or instrument. 5 Different instruments produce unique colors because of the materials, shape, and size of their construction.• There are four basic voice categories: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. When many voices join together, they form a chorus.• Musical instruments are grouped into families based on the materials from which they are constructed and the way they generate sound.• While the five string instruments of the orchestra share the same general shape, they vary greatly in size, from the small violin to the large double bass.• Woodwinds are not always made of wood. The instruments of this family generate sound when air is blown through a tube or pipe, and all but the flute force air past a vibrating reed.• The brass family consists of four primary instruments: trumpet, trombone, French horn, and tuba. Brass players do not use reeds, but instead blow into their instruments through a cup-shaped mouthpiece.• Percussion instruments are resonating objects that are struck to create sound.Some percussion instruments, like the timpani and xylophone, can play specific pitches, but many others produce no recognizable pitch. 5 It is the job of the percussion section to sharpen the rhythmic contour of the music.• Keyboard instruments—including the pipe organ, harpsichord, and piano—are unique to Western