Republic of the Philippines

Palompon Institute of Technology

Palompon, Leyte

TEACHING MUSIC IN THE

ELEMENTARY GRADES

Learning Packet 2

 
 
Prepared by:

Odessa L. Urgel
Instructor
 LEARNING PLAN
ACTIVATING STUDENTS’ SCHEMATA

You are embarking on an adventure through musical time, and this journey will be more
pleasurable if you first become familiar with some basic musical concepts. Keep in mind that
most new experiences require some initial adjustment and insight. The process is similar to
visiting a distant country for the first time: You are instantly immersed in a different culture and
surrounded by people who speak an unusual language or follow unfamiliar customs. This new
experience could be either very exciting—or quite unbearable—depending on your perspective.
If you were not prepared for this journey, your naive responses and actions might bring you
embarrassment or instill the anger of others. Worst of all, you would get very little from a
potentially rewarding experience.

In this topic, you will be introduced gradually, systematically and actively on learning the
fundamental elements of music and their related terms. Listen carefully for these aspects in
the music you hear, and—in time—you will attain a heightened understanding that will open
your ears, mind and soul to the deeper levels of musical thought. After going through this
module, you are expected to analyze the music of some selected music.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this module, you will be able to;
 Identify the rudiments/elements of music and its terms; and
 Apply musical elements in evaluating a music.

I. Activity 1
Name: ________________________________ Date Submitted: _____________
Program/Yr./Section.: _______________________
Instructions: Match column A with column B. Write only the letter of your answer.

A B

1. It is the element of music that refers to loudness and A. Dynamics

softness of sound. _______ B. Harmony
C. Pitch
D. Tempo
2. It is the quality of musical sound or voice. _____
E. Texture
F. Timbre
3. It is the highness or lowness of tone. ______

4. It refers to the speed at which music is played or sung.

 _______

5. It is the sound of two or more notes heard

simultaneously. _______

II. Analysis
Instructions: Listen to Polka sa Nayon at https://tinyurl.com/G7polka. Then, answer the
following questions.

1. Did you hear someone singing?

2. Was the speed slow?

Now, examine the musical score below and answer the simple questions after it.

3. What is the time signature of the piece?

4. What other musical markings or symbols have you noticed?

 What are the Rudiment of Music?
-the rudiments of music are the basic elements of music theory. They include
the musical notation, pitch, time, scales, key signatures, time signatures, and
intervals together with their typical uses in melody and harmony. Basically, the
rudiments of music are those elements of music theory that are normally learned,
more or less explicitly, as part of learning to play any musical instruments as distinct from the more
abstract aspects of theory that would be studied as a more academic and discipline.
Why is it important to know the different rudiments of music? It is important to know
the different rudiments of music because they include some knowledge of music theory, the ability
to read music, and several important components. Thus, learning these rudiments can provide on
with the tools to appreciate music at a deeper level and a foundation on which to develop greater
knowledge of music (www.wisegeek.com)

Rudiments/Elements of Music

1. RHYTHM
Rhythm is the element of "TIME" in music. When you tap your foot to the music, you are
"keeping the beat" or following the structural rhythmic pulse of the music. There are
several important aspects of rhythm:

• DURATION: how long a sound (or silence) lasts.

• TEMPO: the speed of the BEAT.
(Note: Tempo indications are often designated by Italian terms):
Largo = "large" or labored (slow)
Adagio = slow
Andante = steady "walking" tempo
Moderato = moderate
Allegro = fast ("happy")
Presto = very fast
<——————————SLOWER FASTER——————————>
Largo Adagio Andante Moderato Allegro Presto
Beats per minute 40-65 66-75 76-107 108-119 120-167 168-208
NOTE: These tempos are not specific—but RELATIVE to each other.

• METER: Beats organized into recognizable/recurring accent patterns. Meter can be

seen/felt through the standard patterns used by conductors.

Diagram of a Musical Measure Conductor's Pattern

STRONG weak
DUPLE meter 2
 12
STRONG weak weak
TRIPLE meter 3 1 3
a 3-pulse grouping 4 2
123
STRONG weak Medium weak
1 4
QUADRUPLE meter 4
3
a 4-pulse grouping 4 2
1 234

Other basic terms relating to Rhythm are:

Syncopation: an "off-the-beat" accent (between the counted numbers)
Ritardando: gradually SLOWING DOWN the tempo
Accelerando: gradually SPEEDING UP the tempo
Rubato: freely and expressively making subtle changes in the tempo.
(a technique commonly encountered in music of the Romantic era)

2. DYNAMICS
All musical aspects relating to the relative loudness (or quietness) of music fall under the
general element of DYNAMICS.

The terms used to describe dynamic levels are often in Italian:

pianissimo [pp] = (very quiet)

piano [p] = (quiet)
mezzo-piano [mp] = (moderately quiet)
mezzo-forte [mf ] = (moderately loud)
forte [f ] = (loud)
fortissimo [ff ] = (very loud)

<———————————— Quiet LOUD————————————>

(ppp) pp p mp mf f ff (fff)

Other basic terms relating to Dynamics are:

Crescendo: gradually getting LOUDER
Diminuendo (or decrescendo): gradually getting QUIETER
Accent: "punching" or "leaning into" a note harder to temporarily emphasize it.

accent crescendo
decrescendo (diminuendo)

3. MELODY
 Melody is the LINEAR/HORIZONTAL presentation of pitch (the word used to describe the
highness or lowness of a musical sound). Many famous musical compositions have a
memorable melody or theme.

THEME: a melody that is the basis for an extended musical work

Melodies can be derived from various scales (families of pitches) such as the traditional
major and minor scales of tonal music, to more unusual ones such as the old church
modes (of the Medieval and Renaissance periods: c. 500–1600), the chromatic scale and
the whole tone scale (both used in popular and art-music styles of the late 19th and 20th-
century periods), or unique scale systems devised in other cultures around the world.

Melodies can be described as:

• CONJUNCT (smooth; easy to sing or play)
• DISJUNCT (disjointedly ragged or jumpy; difficult to sing or play).

4. HARMONY
Harmony is the VERTICALIZATION of pitch. Often, harmony is thought of as the art of
combining pitches into chords (several notes played simultaneously as a "block"). These
chords are usually arranged into sentence-like patterns called chord progressions.

a 3-note
"CHORD" A "CHORD PROGRESSION" of 4 chords

Harmony is often described in terms of its relative HARSHNESS:

• DISSONANCE: a harsh-sounding harmonic combination
• CONSONANCE: a smooth-sounding harmonic combination

Dissonant chords produce musical "tension" which is often "released" by resolving to

consonant chords. Since we all have different opinions about consonance and dissonance,
these terms are somewhat subjective.
Other basic terms relating to Harmony are:

Modality: harmony created out of the ancient Medieval/Renaissance modes. Tonality:

harmony that focuses on a "home" key center.
Atonality: modern harmony that AVOIDS any sense of a "home" key center.

5. TONE COLOR (or TIMBRE -pronounced "TAM-BER")

 If you play a "C" on the piano and then sing that "C", you and the piano have obviously
produced the same pitch; however, your voice has a different sound quality than the piano.
Although the scientific principles of musical acoustics are beyond the scope of this course, it is
safe to say that each musical instrument or voice produces its own characteristic pattern of
“overtones,” which gives it a unique "tone color" or timbre. Composers use timbre much like
painters use colors to evoke certain effects on a canvas. For example, the upper register (portion
of the range or compass) of a clarinet produces tones that are brilliant and piercing, while its
lower register gives a rich and dark timbre. A variety of timbres can also be created by combining
instruments and/or voices.
EXAMPLE of ORCHESTRAL TONE COLORS
BRITTEN: The Young Persons' Guide to the Orchestra
See MUSIC GUIDE 1 (page 8)

6. TEXTURE
Texture refers to the number of individual musical lines (melodies) and the relationship these
lines have to one another.
Monophonic (single-note) texture:
Music with only one note sounding at a time (having no harmony or accompaniment).

Homophonic texture:
Music with two or more notes sounding at the same time, but generally featuring a
prominent melody in the upper part, supported by a less intricate harmonic accompaniment
underneath (often based on homogenous chords—BLOCKS of sound).

(MELODY)

(Chordal Accompaniment)

Polyphonic texture:
Music with two or more independent melodies sounding at the same time. The most
intricate types of polyphonic texture— canon and fugue—may introduce three, four, five or more
independent melodies simultaneously.
This manner of writing is called COUNTERPOINT.

MELODY 1
MELODY 2

MELODY 2
 MELODY 3

Imitative texture:
Imitation is a special type of polyphonic texture produced whenever a musical idea is
ECHOED from "voice" to "voice". Although imitation can be used in monophonic styles, it is more
prevalent in polyphonic art-music especially from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

7. MUSICAL FORM
The large-scale form of a musical composition can be projected via any
combination of the musical elements previously studied. Traditionally, however, musical
form in Western music has been primarily associated with the order of melodic, harmonic
and rhythmic events (or the text) in a piece. Letters (i.e., A, B, C) are used to designate
musical divisions brought about by the repetition of melodic material or the presentation of
new, contrasting material. Some of the most common musical forms are described below:
BASIC FORMS
Strophic Form: a design in VOCAL music, in which the same music is used for
several different verses (strophes) of words. [Example: "Deck the Halls" has
many verses of words sung to the same music.]
Verse 1 . . . Verse 2 . . . Verse 3 (etc.)
Through-composed a structure in which there is no repeat or return of any
large-scale musical section. [Example: Schubert's "Erlkönig".]
A B C D E...
Binary Form a two-part form in which both main sections are repeated (as
indicated in the diagram by "repeat marks"). The basic premise of this form is
CONTRAST:

repeat mark
A B
 Ternary Form a three-part form featuring a return of the initial music after a
contrasting section. Symmetry and balance are achieved through this return of
material:

A B A
8. MUSICAL STYLE
Knowing the unique style traits of particular historical eras can greatly enhance your
musical experiences by offering clues about what the composer was trying to express,
and what you should listen for when hearing a piece.
The Six Historical Style-Periods of Western Art Music:
Middle Ages (approximately 450-1450): An era dominated by Catholic sacred music,
which began as simple chant but grew in complexity in the 13 th to 15th centuries by
experiments in harmony and rhythm. Leading composers of the later Middle Ages
include Pérotin and Machaut.
Renaissance (approximately 1450-1600): A more personal style emerged in
this era with a greater focus on Humanism, and a rebirth of learning and
exploration. During this "golden age of vocal music," the leading composers
include Josquin Desprez, Palestrina, and Weelkes.
Baroque (approximately 1600-1750): This era—the last great age of aristocratic rule—
is represented by extremely ornate and elaborate approaches to the arts. This era saw
the rise of instrumental music, the invention of the modern violin family and the creation
of the first orchestras. Great composers of the late Baroque include Vivaldi, Handel and
JS Bach.
Classic (approximately 1750-1820): The music of this politically turbulent era focused
on structural unity, clarity and balance. The new expressive and dramatic approaches to
composition and performance that were developed in this era became the standards
that all "Classical" music are judged by. Great composers of the Classic era include
Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
Romantic (approximately 1820-1900): This era witnessed an explosion of flamboyance,
nationalism, the rise of "superstar" performers, and concerts aimed at middle-class
"paying" audiences. Orchestral, theatrical and soloistic music grew to spectacular
heights of personal expression. Among the leading Romantic composers are Berlioz,
Chopin, Wagner
Modern (approximately 1900-present): Since approximately 1900, art-music has been
impacted by daring experimentation and advances in musical technology, as well as
popular/non-Western influences. Leading composers of the early 20th century was
Debussy, Schoenberg and Stravinsky, while many of the most prominent composers
since 1950 have come from the US.

9. SCALES/MODE
 Succession of pitches known as a scale - begin on one pitch and end on pitch above or
below with the same letter designation (A ascending to A etc.). On piano keyboard, distance
between successive white keys is not always the same. Some adjacent white keys have black
keys between them, which are separate pitches.
Semitones - pitches with no pitch in between
Tones - Pitches with one pitch in between
Succession of tones and semitones determines mode

Tone - Whole Step Semitone - Half Step

10. ARTICULATION
-refers to the musical direction performance technique which affects the transition or continuity
on a single note or between multiple notes or sounds. There are many types of articulation,
with each having a different effect on how the note is played. Some articulation marks include
the slur, phrase mark, staccato, staccatissimo, accent, sforzando, rinforzando, and legato.
Each articulation is represented by a different symbol placed above or below the note
(depending on its position on the staff).
Another definition is that articulation refers to the way a single note, or a group of notes,
should be performed. There are different notation marks to show articulation, some of which
are only used for very specific instruments. One example of this is the sustaining pedal on a
piano.
CATEGORIES OF MUSICAL ARTICULATION

 Dynamic Change: The articulations indicate a chance in volume compared to the notes that
surround them.
 Length Change: Articulations that impact the length of a note can be used to either shorten
or lengthen the note.
 Relationship Change: Although it’s true every articulation indicates a difference compared to
the surrounding notes, some articulations impact the way a group of notes is played. One
common relationship changing articulation include slurs, which form a group of legato notes
that are linked together and played smoothly.
Activity 2
Instructions: Listen the music. Complete the table below by supplying the missing correct word
or symbol. Use the musical score of Mutya ng Pasig in answering the activity.

Time Signature 1. Triple Meter

2. Moderately Loud

3. Piano soft

Fortissimo 4.

tempo 5. Walking Pace

Mutya ng Pasig 6. Sung

Analysis
1. Describe the flow of the music according to its elements?
2. Discuss the meaning of the music?

ASSESSMENT
  Quiz questions will be answered at Google Classroom.

Summary
Rudiment of music are simply the fundamental music elements such as notes or musical
notation, the use of these notes as pitch as used in a master staff, application of rhythm or time,
note intervals, key signatures, music scales and music chords. The rudiments of music are the
definitions used in the structure of music to allow you to create then communicate that song to
others. In the classical sense they are the parts of music that used to define melody and harmony.
Furthermore, learning the basics of musical composition can provide the best overall introduction
to the rudiments of music. Learning composition involves learning music notation. One must also
learn the scales from which music is composed in order to know how sounds are combined to
make music. One must, furthermore, learn the rhythm and tempo considerations that serve to
drive the different sounds forward. Understanding all of this allows one to critically interpret music
and to understand the many diverse factors that musicians must consider when writing and
performing music.

 Suggested Readings

https://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-rudiments-of-music.htm

https://www.themusicstudio.ca/blog/2020/09/the-role-of-articulation-in-music/

https://sites.google.com/site/theheartofmusic101/dynamics-tempo-and-articulation

https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/music-and-the-child/chapter/chapter-2/

https://www.slideshare.net/charlenem88/elements-of-music-49915829

References/Resources
Lacia, G., et. al., 2018. The 21st Century. MAPEH in Action Learner’s Material. 7th ed. Manila.
Department of Education, pages 6-7.