DEFINING FEATURESSome good questions

Tempo – Beat - Rhythm Is there a strong feeling of pulse? Are there regular accents, or are the accents irregular? What is the tempo of the pulse – slow or fast? Does the metre fall into duple, triple or quadruple

groupings? Does the music use syncopation? Is the pulse strict or flexible? Do different instruments or voices have different

roles? Does one instrument play a steady pulse while the others have a more complex rhythm?

Is there a small or large number of rhythms in the piece?

Is rhythmic contrast or repetition used?

Melody Does the melody move by step or leap? Does the melody have a large or small range? Is the contour of the melody smooth or angular? Is the melody in a major key or minor key, or atonal?

Chromatic, or diatonic? Are the phrases of the melody in four-bar groupings

or less usual groupings? Does the melody use sequence, repetition or

anacrusis? Are the note values even time lengths or is there a

wide range of time values and rhythms? Or syncopation?

Is there a range of dynamics in the melody?

Harmony Is the harmony triadic? Does the harmony consist mainly of

primary chords (I, IV, V)? Is the harmonic rhythm slow or fast? Is the harmony chromatic or dissonant? Is the spacing clear or dense? What instruments have harmonic function? Is the Harmony soft or loud? Is there an unexpected harmony at any

point?

Tone Colour - Timbre How many tone colours (instruments) are used? Do the tone colours contrast or blend? Describe the attack (smooth, explosive?)? Does the sound die away slowly or sustain? Are there bright, icy or round warm sounds? Are there unusual techniques that alter the tone

colour (pizzicato, pedals etc)? Acoustic or electronic? In vocal music is the sound produced from the

nose, chest or the throat? How and when does the tone colour change?

Structure Does the piece fall into sections defined by

repetition or contrast? How does the contrasting section contrast? If a section repeats is the repeat identical? Is there ostinato used as a unifying device? Are thematic ideas developed through the

piece? Identify each section. How many sections are

there? What happens in each section.

Texture - Layers How many voices or parts are there? Are the rhythms of each voice independent or

together? Pitch, are the voices parallel, or do they move

independently (counterpoint) Are the parts densely or packed or widely

spaced. How would you draw the texture? Texture is

usually translate into a visual form. Does the texture change during the piece? How

do the layers of sound vary throughout the piece?