Melody, Rhythm & Harmony – The “Big 3” Of Music

Have you ever asked yourself “What is music made of?” If so, you probably came up with a list of a half-dozen different elements, maybe including lyrics, tone color, expression, dynamics, form and so on. And these are certainly parts of the big picture of music.

But there are three things without which you don’t really have music at all:

1. Melody – the tune of a song.

2. Harmony – the tonal environment, such as chords and intervals that run parallel to the melody.

3. Rhythm – the beat, or pulse of music – the pattern that often repeats throughout the song.

Oh, I realize when I sing in the shower all I have is the melody – certainly no harmony and not much rhythm. But for a complete song or piece, you almost always have all three of the elements described above – melody, rhythm & harmony.

Watch this short video as I walk you through these 3 areas of music:

You can also watch this on my YouTube Channel at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgqDjFPc9xQ

For a fuller discussion see Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music

——————————————————————-
——————————————————————-

Check out this great music theory course:
Music Theory & Harmony: Boring? No! It’s An Exciting X-Ray Into How Music Works!

——————————————————————-
——————————————————————-