shape

The idea of giving music a shape seems to be a universal concept in the teaching and performing of music. The experience of most musicians dealing with shape derives not only from practice but also amongst an orchestra with a conductor showing visual shapes, which musicians transform into the music that they play.

Form 10 Form: The Shape of Music Form - the way music is organized and structured from beginning to end - guides composers, performers, and listeners in all musics.

As the melody progresses, the pitches may go up or down slowly or quickly. One can picture a line that goes up steeply when the melody suddenly jumps to a much higher note, or that goes down slowly when the melody gently falls. Such a line gives the contour or shape of the melodic line.

Nineteenth century American song books that used notes in different shapes to aid singers and teach singing came to be known as "shape-note hymnals" and the style of singing from these "shape-note singing." Christian hymnals using this system were among the most enduring uses of this notation.

The shape of an instrument box is cuboid.

Try playing different pieces of music and ask the children if they think it's a 'triangle' tune or a 'square' tune. Display a selection of instruments, e.g. triangle, drum, tambourine, wood block, chimes, recorder, etc. How many different shapes can children see? Can they find tiny circles on the recorder?

contour. The overall shape of a melodic line. It can move upward, downward, remain static.

Melody. We might consider melody to be the single most important element within a song. In everyday language, this is the element we call 'the tune'. In technical terms, however, the melody is a series of pitches, or notes, that are organised to form a shape or pattern.

You can also describe the shape of a melody verbally. For example, you can speak of a “rising melody” or of an “arch-shaped” phrase. Extra notes, such as trills and slides, may be added to a melodic line either by the composer or the performer to make the melody more complex and interesting.

Instead of writing music with classic oval-shaped note heads, the system uses different shapes - a triangle for “fa,” an oval for “sol” and so on - to indicate each note's pitch. This helps singers easily sight-read and learn new pieces of music.

The shape-note method of singing from written music first appeared in a book called The Easy Instructor, printed in 1801. It used four syllables for the seven notes of the scale and gave each syllable a distinctive note head: a triangle for fa, an oval for sol, a rectangle for la, and a diamond for mi.

1) Shape as musical structure: The piece of music has shape or physical demands are associated with maintaining shape. An abstract relational concept that transforms into a personal experience. 2) Shape as a tool for expressive performance: Movement leading to certain phrases or notes. Rise and fall of dynamic phrases.