Pitch .....................................................................................................
Pitchrefers to the particular note that is being sounded. Differences in pitch
are caused by differences in frequency, or how many times a second a string
vibrates back and forth, for example. In the U.S., 440 hertz(vibrations per
second) equals the note we call A. There are other A’s as well, of course. The
A that is an octave lower is 220 hertz, an octave higher is 880 hertz, two
octaves higher is 1760 hertz, and so on. Pitches are indicated by the notes’
position on the staff.Duration ...............................................................................................
Durationis the length of the note, or how long its sound lasts. A half note has
a longer duration than a quarter note. The duration of a note can be affected
by the acoustics of a room. If the room has a lot of reverberation, it will
increase the duration of the notes. They will hang in the air awhile after the
musician has stopped playing them.Intensity ...............................................................................................
Changes in intensityare indicated in music with dynamic markings such as
pp, mf, f, and so on. Intensity is not always the same as loudness or volume.
Something can be sung or played with intensity and not necessarily be loud,
though the two concepts are connected.Timbre..................................................................................................
Pronounced “tamber,” timbreis the harmonic content, or tone color, of the
musical tone. It is caused by the combinations of overtonesthat naturally
sound along with the fundamentalpitch that was written for the instrumental-
ist to play. These combinations of overtones — also known as harmonicsor
partials— provide the “fingerprint” of each different instrument. The reason
a flute sounds different from an oboe, even though both are playing the same
pitch, is because each of these instruments has a different mixture of over-
tones, or harmonic content, inherent in its sound.Really, the difference between an “Ah” vowel sound and an “Ooh” vowel sound
is nothing more than a difference in harmonic content or timbre (all else being
equal, of course). Most instruments have a timbral palette that includes many
shades of tone color. Part of the study of playing an instrument is learning to
control and draw from this palette. The voice has the most intuitively con-
trolled variety of all the instruments in the timbre department.204 Part IV: Orchestration and Arrangement