Notes played high on the neck have a different sound quality than open strings and lower frets. Notes fretted at different places on the guitar neck have different tone qualities. And where we play the string also changes the tone. How or whether we use fingernails can affect this. Or we can make the sound warm, thick, and wooly. For example, we can make the sound bright and tinny. On guitar, we can further slice timbre (aka tone color) down to the various possible tone qualities. What we recognize are the different timbres. Likewise, we recognize people’s individual voices. A tuba has a different timbre than a clarinet. In the wider world of music, timbre is the particular sound of an instrument. The official name for this is “timbre” (pronounced “tam’ bur.” The second element of music is the sound quality. Element #2: Tone, or Sound Quality (aka “Timbre”) We could also play it on the 5th fret on the second string, the 9th fret on the third string, etc. For example, a certain E could be played as the open first string. On the guitar, many pitches are found in more than one location. The position on the lines and spaces of the musical staff point to this. When we look at a piece of sheet music, the positions of the dots on the page denote the pitch. The question here is “Which note is this?” Pitch is the relative highness or lowness of a note. And when we combine them, they become larger than the sum of their parts. We appreciate it more because we are aware of more. Like the tongue of a fine chef, we learn to recognize the subtle hints and flavors. We can tease apart the threads and look at each one on its own.Īnd when we explore the separate elements, we come to hear more in music. But we can also quantify what goes into music. Music means different things to different people. As Viktor Hugo said, “ Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” Like DNA, these four ingredients combine to create infinite possibilities.Īnd when you know these four, you can find specific and immediate ways to improve your playing and pieces. What makes up music? Below, you’ll find the four elements that are the building blocks of music. It can blend into the background, or we can lose ourselves in it.

Four elements