And in an age where electronics hold such a central role, a composer can choose between a synth, an electric guitar, and a cello, for example - and each instrument would lend a very specific mood to the music. Each instrument produces a different range of 'colors' - the metallic brilliance of a flute, for example, sounds a whole lot different than the warmth of a female singer, though they have similar pitch ranges.

Bach's very familiar chorales are an excellent opportunity to hear how beautifully he could use basic Western harmony.Ĥ. Do you hear just one line of melody, or are there different voices or instruments weaving in and out on using different pitches from each other? If it's the latter case: Do those lines sound close together in pitch or far apart? Do they move in the same direction as or away from each other (or some of both) - and when they come to rest, how does it sound? When three or more pitches sound together at the same time (which is called a chord), what does that sound like? Do you feel like the music is rooted in a particular universe of pitches, or more like it's floating untethered? Take a listen to the Spem in Alium, a motet written by the 16th-century Thomas Tallis for voices singing 40 different lines simultaneously, for a sublime example of what's called counterpoint - how voices move against each other. Harmony: This is what music sounds like 'vertically,' so to speak - not the melody or rhythms, which both move linearly, but the chords, or stacks of notes, that would exist if you froze any particular moment in a piece of music. But our hope is that when you're approaching a piece of music either for the first time or revisiting an old favorite, you might ask yourself a few of these questions as a way of digging into what makes music tick.ģ. Obviously, this guide isn't meant to replace a more thorough study and grounding (or, more to the point, basic music education in the schools). As fellow composer William Schuman rightly wrote in his introduction to the 1988 Copland reprint, 'The uninitiated can gauge its significance by imagining a book by Rembrandt called What to Look for in Painting.' But the more you understand how composers and musicians manipulate the fundamental four elements of music - rhythm, melody, harmony and color - is a peek behind the curtain.īefore we go any further: this little cheat sheet comes with apologies to Aaron Copland, whose short and brilliant 1939 book What to Listen for in Music remains the ur-text, and from whose wealth of ideas I am stealing shamelessly. You love the music you love, but you'll love it even more if you listen closely.Īnalysis will never trump feeling: The way a piece or a song moves us is ultimately what makes music lovers (addicts, really) come back for more. It comes down to rhythm, melody, harmony and color.

What to listen for in music copland