M.U.S.I.C. (Material Unified Systematically In Composition)

A research Project by Sasan Rahmatian

Objectives of the Project

Music: Organized Sound/Silence

Pattern of related, changing pitches perceived as a single entity: Melody

• Shape of movement: Melodic Contour
• Pattern of change/repetition within a melody: Melodic Structure
• The derivation of one melody from another: Melodic Transformation
• Identity of pitches
  • Underlying set of possible pitches: Scale/Mode
  • Actual set of pitches
• Number of voices, and the relationship among them: Texture
• Quality of sound, determined by instrument: Timbre

Distribution of pitches over time: Rhythm

• Pattern of underlying beat: Meter (notated by the Time Signature symbol)
• Pattern of pulses: Rhythmic Pattern
• Method of deriving one rhythmic pattern from another: Rhythmic Transformation

Pitch simultaneity: Harmony

Vertically -

• 2 pitches together: (Harmonic) Interval
• 3 or more pitches together: Chord

Horizontally - ordered series of chords: Harmonic Progression

involving a confirmable change of tonic?

• Yes: Modulation
• No:
  • special type - harmonic progression ending part of a piece: Cadence

Various sections, and the relationship among them: Structure