Towards a Better Understanding of Music

Music is made up of sounds that reach our ear. The sounds are because the air is being compressed and expanded in a regular pattern (with certain frequencies). If, a string vibrates 440 times a second, it creates a pitch that is usually referred to as A4 or concert A.

We can hear the synthetic version below. It sounds very boring, very robotic, very industrial, don’t you think?  That is because we are only hearing ONE frequency, artificially generated.

But that was a computer generated signal. Strings in nature don’t yield a single frequency. That is because of overtones. The overtones are created because the strings can vibrate in any multiple of the fundamental.

These multiples are other notes that sound good when played with the fundamental, because you can hear them as overtones in the original note. Together, they form chords that sound good to us, not only because we are used to them, but because there is a physical relationship between the notes.

The octave is the first overtone and exactly twice the frequency of the original note – it sounds much the same, only higher. In western music, the octave is broken down into twelve semi-tones (half notes). If the notes are tuned according to the overtones, they sound fabulous. This is called just intonation or pure intonation. In this case, the twelve notes are almost equally intervalled, but not exactly so. 

When we hear singers singing without instruments (a capella), they are often tuned to the just intonation. Perhaps that is why they sound so fabulous.

On the other hand we break the octave down into equal intervals, we get something called ‘equal temperament‘.  The chords won’t sound quite as great, but then we have an awesome advantage: music becomes relative. In other words, we can change the ‘key’ of a song on the piano or guitar without having to completely retune them. This is what a capo does on a guitar, for example.

Using equal temperament, we can move the song to another relative pitch (key) as long as we keep everything in the same relation.

This enables singers to pick any key to sing a song in. Here’s an explanation of how a singer can decide which is the relative pitch (key) that is best for his/her particular voice range.

When you hear a song, what is the music telling you? Is there a meaning that lies in the pitch, the ascending and descending notes? David Machin, in his book, Analysing Popular Music, thinks that there is.

High pitch can signify brightness, excitement, agitation or lightness. In Western culture (at least) up is associated with feeling good.

In this context low is associated with darkness and evil, obscurity, bleakness, etc.

Machin cites Cooke (1959)  suggesting that in classical music, ascending pitch is related to outwardly expressed emotions, as opposed to a descending pitch which conveys loss of energy.

Try humming a few popular songs to see whether this is a general statement.

According to Machin, the range of pitch is also important. A jump of an entire octave might convey excitement (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, Over the Rainbow, Bali Hai, When You Wish Upon a Star, Paper Moon, Alice in Wonderland, Let it Snow). Does that mean that staying in a small range means that the song is not conveying excitement?

Octave jumps in Let It Snow

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/dean-martin/let-it-snow-chords-1201859

In a regular (major) scale there are usually 7+1 notes, with the eighth note being a repetition of the first, one octave higher. These 7 are chosen from the 12  (the octave) possibilities.

Each note may have a meaning. 1,3, and 5 represent the basic chord and are physically related. Notes 2 and 4 will be construed as unstable and going somewhere safe (i.e., to 1,3, or 5). See the opposite page.

1- stable, the root, the tonic

2-something unstable, promising something new

3-stable and happy. A safe choice.

(Minor 3rd – stable, but sadly so)

4-needs to be resolved

5- stable, like the 1 note

6- generally upbeat, similar to the third

7-major seventh is slightly thoughtful, reminiscent

The phrasing of the melody is also important. How long does it last, what is the shape, is it short with a long decay, staccato or legato, etc.

The long decay might suggest slowness and relaxation, lingering of emotion. Attack notes or phrases might suggest energy, excitement, lack of ease.

Here are two songs that generate a mood of unrest, unexpectedness.

Bali Ha’i, from South Pacific. Listen from 0:42

And how about this one from Disney?

Trust in me, from Jungle Book, listen from 0:10

minor3-4-5,5b,4,minor3.