Unit one. The Universe of Music

P. 4. Music and Acoustic- Music. How to define music has long been the subject of debate;

philosophers, musicians, and, more recently, various social and natural scientists have argued about what constitutes music.

• The definition has varied through history, in different regions, and within societies. Definitions vary as music, like art, is a subjectively perceived phenomenon.

• The English word, ‘music’, whose first appearance in writing is set in the 13th century by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), was adapted from the French musique, in turn an adaptation of the Latin musica which was taken from the classical Greek mousikē. Referring originally to works or products of all or any of the nine Muses, it began gradually to be restricted to the arts generally covered by the modern term.

- Acoustic• This term can embrace all aspects of the science of sound and

hearing. It is the study of how sound behaves.

P. 5. Parameters or elements of music.

• - Pitch: it reflects the highness or lowness of a sound.

- Volume or intensity: it depends on the amplitude of the wave. A quiet sound has a lower amplitude and a loud sound has a higher amplitude.

• - Duration: it depends on the duration of the wave

• - Timbre: sometimes called color or tone color is the quality of a voice or instrument.