PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

     Each of these three elements which make up the trinity of music – melody, harmony, and rhythm – are interdependent upon each other. That is, it’s hard to conceive of one element standing alone without the others. Let’s take a simple melody, for example:

     It’s just a melody, with no chords, and no rhythmic background. And yet it does form a rhythmic pattern, however implicit:

     This pattern that was formed by this simple melody is a rhythm, implicit in the melody.

     Is there a harmonic structure? Yes, because of human memory. We hear the first note (C) and remember it. When we hear the next note (G), it is in context with the C we just heard. The same is true for the balance of the line. Out memory acts to put the newest notes in context with the notes we have heard previously. So we create a tonal center in our minds, and place each new note accordingly. If the new notes are too different, and we can’t place them in an existing tonal structure, than we strive to create a new tonal center so they can be placed. This is all done unconsciously, of course, but it illustrates the fact that our memory creates harmony out of melody by combining melody notes into various structures.

TENSION AND RELAXATION

     If you will think of any significant piece of music, I think you will find that it is based on the twin factors of tension and relaxation. For example, if you play nothing but a major chord…

     …there is no tension at all. If a pianist just played the C chord over and over again at the same rate and the same volume, people would soon get bored and leave, no matter how great the reputation of the pianist.

     But why? What’s wrong with the C chord? It seems to be a perfectly legitimate chord to play.

     The answer is, of course, that no tension has been created by his performance. It is all relaxation. And for music to interest us, there has to be some kind of a balance between tension and relaxation.

     What if our pianist were to play the same C chord, but this time, gradually get louder and louder until he came to a climax, then gradually back down. Would that hold our interest? Certainly a good deal more than the first performance, but not enough to make us stay.

     What if our pianist created a rhythm with his C chord, beating out some Latin rhythm, while at the same time alternating the dynamics between loud and soft? We would stay longer this time, because the tension has increased, and our expectations are that he will soon create even more tension.

     But he continues with the same beat, the same dynamics, so we get up to go. Just as we are ready to step out the door, the pianist changes the top note of the chord from G to G sharp and simultaneously raises the level of volume. Will we leave?

     No, because we have been challenged by that one note, G sharp, to stick around and see how the tension resolves.

     Now the pianist adds his other hand, and starts playing C chords with his left hand on the off-beats, creating a contrast to the right hand down-beats, plus the tension between the G in the left hand and the G sharp in the right hand.

     By now, he has begun to get our interest, and he hasn’t even gotten away from a C tonality.

     The purpose of this unlikely illustration is simply to demonstrate the fact that interest is created and held by a creative balance between tension and relaxation, and every resource at the pianist’s command must be employed to develop and maintain this balance.

Let’s see what other possibilities exist for the creation of tension:

Non-conformity to an established pattern.

Dissonance in terms of an established consonance.

Degree of highness or lowness (pitch) on the keyboard.

Potential for accumulated sounds with the sustain pedal.

Innovation of new forms after establishing a basic form.

Combining piano sounds with other instrument or voice sounds.

Possibility of amplification or sound distortion.

Variance in attack styles (legato to staccato.)

     Perhaps it would be possible to construct a continuum which would show the possibilities for the creation of tension as opposed to relaxation.

     We'll about that next week.