Home     |      Version Française du site musiclassroom.com FR English Version of the website musiclassroom.com EN Versión Española del sitio musiclassroom.com ES 普通话 CN
Boutique musique en ligne
MShop
Webtv musique en ligne
MTv
Partitions et tablatures gratuites en téléchargement
MScores
Cours de musique en ligne
MAcademy
'

Composition and le-rythme

Relationships between le-rythme, melody and harmony

1. Introduction

 

 

le-rythme is the organization of  melody and harmony inside time. It includes different elements such as : the meter, the pulse, the tempo

 

It depends on the following parameters :

 

- The melodic motion, small, large or repeated

- The note quality

- The resolution of dissonances or melodic notes

 

 

2. le-rythme and melody

 

The notes that must resolve create a le-rythmeic strentgh and are more active. The le-rythmeic value of such notes also depends on the approaching motion :

 

 

 

The « B » leading tone is shorter than the previous « C » note because both notes are very close to each other

 

 

 

Here, the same note is longer because it is approached by a larger interval

 

A melody including repeated notes creates a strong le-rythme :

 

 

 

Natural                                                                                            Not natural

 

Often, the more a melody proceeds by short intervals and the closer are the values, and conversely :

 

 

 

Melody                                                 Avoid                                          Better

 

 

 

3. le-rythme and harmony

 

 

le-rythme also depends on harmony. When a melodic note or a dissonance is placed inside a chord, it has less le-rythmeic strength than outside a chord  :

 

 

 

 

When the note having to resolve is altered (not belonging to the chord), it creates more activity:

 

 

Altered note = D#

 

 

The le-rythmeic effect also depends on the harmonic frequency. When a melody is harmonized with 1 chord, it shows a loss of le-rythme. When the same melody is harmonized by "section" ( 1 chord per note ), the le-rythmeic strength increases.

 

 

Not dynamic                                                                      More le-rythmeic

 

 

The le-rythmeic consideration also depends on the quality of the harmonic interval. Consonances are more « passive » than dissonances (that must resolve) :

 

 

Passive 3rd & 6th  / Active dim.7th

Continue this lesson !

Comments