ELEMENTS OF MUSIC

MELODY, RHYTHM & HARMONY

     This is a shot at sketching out the elements of music to a casual listener who may want to know a little more about what music is made of.
     Since the basics of music is the basis of all music, we will outline the difference between ‘Western’ music and ‘Indian’ music with reference to Hindustani and Carnatic classical music.

     All music is essentially melody and rhythm. Melody is the most memorable part of a song. Rhythm is the ‘pulse’ which makes the melody interesting. By combining the two music is created. 
     Melody is nothing without a beat to discipline it, and the rhythm or beat is nothing but a pulse without a melody to make the rhythm meaningful.
     Melody can be thought of as the top of a pyramid. 

     “Melody is to music what a scent is to the senses” - Marcus Paus.
     Melodies or tunes, are the sweet and agreeable series of high and low-pitched tones that are played or sung for various durations of time that one can easily catch, hum or whistle. 

     Rhythm is the backbone that defines melody.
     To discipline the variations of time in which each note is played, the tune is divided into rhythmic pulses or beats. Music makes ‘sense’ only when melody and rhythm is combined. It’s the second element of music that makes music, music!

     Rhythm measures the movement of sound - It’s how music is systematically divided into beats, a regulated succession of strong and weak pulses that measure the motion of the tune and create symmetry through “an order of movement”.
     Rhythm is music’s pattern in time, the regular, repeated pattern of beats, meter, tempo, and speed of the beat that drives music forward.
   Indian classical music.

     “Though Hindustani and Carnatic are considered to be the two main traditions of Indian music, there is only one music in India – the music of the raga” Raghava R. Menon – The Penguin Dictionary of Indian Classical Music.
     Hindustani & Carnatic classical music use just rhythm and melody. The music of the raga is always made by a melody maker and a rhythm maker. 

     There may be accompanists on other melody instruments such as a violin or flute or harmonium or sarangi supporting the soloist (lead melody musician), but they shadow the soloist, and support the soloist by playing the melody. 

     The only other musician and instrument on stage is usually, a tanpura, which provides the drone in the key in which the raga is being played.

     The only true accompanists are the rhythm players. Percussionists. Typically, ‘tabla’ in Hindustani and ‘mrindangam’ in Carnatic! Though very often, especially in Carnatic music, more percussion instruments are used in performances.
     In Indian classical music the rhythm or beat is called Tala (pronounced taal) and the basic rhythmic structure is very complex. Tala is a rhythm cycle which consist of a number of syllables in repeated patterns on which particular beats in the meter are emphasized. 

     Because of the use of only two elements of music, and two performers, the melody maker and the rhythm maker; both the performers can be very flexible and creative in performance, so both, the melody and the rhythm player can generate intricate patterns of very creative and exciting rhythms and melodies while playing together and while improvising on a raga. In fact, one could say there is a profound and scintillating exhibition of mathematics and science in Indian classical rhythms. 
     Harmony. The foundation of Western Music.
     Harmony is, when different voices and different instruments sound different notes simultaneously, and together are pleasing to the ear - sweet toned and harmonious. Polyphony, (in music, the simultaneous combination of two or more tones or melodic lines (the term derives from the Greek word for “many sounds”). Brittanica
     In all Western music, playing notes that are melodious and sound good together is the norm. When these notes are stacked and played together, they are called chords.
    The 12-tone scale is used in both Indian and Western music. Within the 7 natural notes in the scale and the 5 extended tones of the twelve scale degrees, the simplest harmonious notes played together are the 1st, 3rd & 5th notes in a scale, that is, Sa, Ga & Pa, or, Do, Me & So, or, C, E & G in the standard scale of C on a keyboard. The first voice, Sa, or Do or C, high-pitched, the second slightly lower in tone corresponding with Pa, or So, or G, and the third slightly lower at Ga, or, Me, or E, and the fourth taking the low end of the scale. In vocal music, these pitches are called Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass.

     The idea of harmony opened up whole new vistas of musical ideas and possibilities of orchestration.

Musicians began to write music incorporating all the 3 or 4 tones at the same time; composing melodies that used four voices together, and, as they went along, began to find other harmonious combinations and blends of notes or ‘chords which inspired more musical explorations with more instruments, progressing from a keyboard playing four different harmonious notes to create a single melody, to small groups of instruments playing together, to very large groups of musicians playing a huge variety of instruments in a symphony orchestra which would include several violins, violas, cellos, double basses, piccolos, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trombones, trumpets, tubas, harp, drums, tympani, cymbals and gongs and xylophone.
     This led to sections of instruments coming in at different timings or places in the music. Different sections of diverse instruments brought in tones, textures and timbres, and different sounds and resonances, to create balance and contrast in the music.
     This disciplined and harmonious blending of notes, and the clever balancing of the sounds of various instruments which add colour and texture to a piece of music by a whole orchestra is called orchestration. 
     Classical music is all about harmony and orchestration. Classical composers pre-plan every detail of the composition. The musicians do not improvise, they play their part. The whole orchestra or ensemble plays tunefully and harmoniously what the composer has imagined and written for them to play and sing.

     Harmony in western music is a hard disciplinarian. Just as rhythm is in Indian music, because the musicians always play in coordination with other musicians in large or small ensembles and still adhere to the principles of harmony within the structure of the music.  

     The rhythms of western music are rather staid compared to Indian classical music, because the musicians always play in coordination with other musicians.
     In jazz music too, while improvisation is a major component, and compositions have spaces for singers or instrumentalists to ad lib and take improvised solos, it is still a highly coordinated endeavour for musicians to play their part within the many instruments in a band and the chordal and harmonic structure of the music.
     The discipline of harmony holds true even for a solo performance, for example a guitar soloist, or piano soloist, or even if one takes a jazz piano trio, all three musicians – piano, bass and drums have to stay in harmony with others in the group and within the structure of the understood chord changes and the fixed rhythm, to synchronize and harmonize.
     Arrangement is the unheard ingredient of western music i.e., in Afro-Cuban, blues, country, dance music, European, folk, gospel, hip hop, hymns, jazz, Latin, pop, R&B, rock, rock and roll, soul, and other forms of music.  
     The arranger custom designs rhythm and harmonic structure of a well-known tune to suit the style and voice of the singer or lead instrumentalist and the backing band according to its size and the number of instruments to bring out the best of the tune and from the musicians, while give the melody musical variety.  
    The three elements of music - Melody, the top of the pyramid. Rhythm, the backbone. Harmony, the base of a pyramid that helps support the melody and rhythm. Harmony is the foundation that gives rhythm and melody substance.