Timbre: The Color of Music Timbre is one of the fundamental elements of music and depends on the method of sound production, instrument construction, playing technique, and aesthetics. It can be referred to as color in music since sounds of the same pitch played by different instruments are distinguished by their coloration. Speaking about this music element, it is possible to describe timbre in such words as “dark”, “light”, “soft”, “rough”, “metallic”, “smooth”, “velvety”, etc. (Hast, Cowdery, & Scott, 2010, p. 140). This difference in timbres of various instruments stems from the acoustic difference in the overtone series: the individual timbre of instruments depends on the particular overtone structure generated by them. Emphasis on particular partial tones in different instrument timbres is placed by the instrument shape, material, and size. In addition to purely physical factors forming timbre variations, the difference in timbre is by large predefined by cultural norms and standards. The same instrument may sound differently played by different performers in various cultural contexts. Being the most personal element in music, timbre reflects the “tradition, technique, structure, individual expertise and sensitivity” (Stubbs, as cited in Hast et al., 2010, p. 141). The timbre characteristics of certain culture’s musical aesthetics find their material realization in the instruments, the range of which depends on the available natural materials and skills of instrument-makers. A basic classification of all the diversity of timbres is grounded on the categories of sound production which can be string, wind, percussion, and electronic. Accordingly, instruments are divided into chordophones, aerophones, membranophones and idiophones, and electrophones in Sachs–Hornbostel system mostly used nowadays. Different musical cultures feature various musical instruments in each of the four categories and attach different meanings to the instrument timbres depending on the cultural context. Texture Like silk or woolen cloth is woven from threads, so is music made up of certain melodic parts that interlace with each other in various structures. The notion of musical texture refers to the way music is organized in a combination of one or more parts sounding simultaneously or alternately. It also refers to the ways those parts relate to each other in an equivalent or subordinate manner. Since musical texture consists of musical parts, the key notions connected to musical texture are those of timbre and melody. Depending on the number of parts and the kind of sound they result in, one can speak of the textural density: rhythm, tempo, and dynamics are the decisive factors for the latter. The most universal way of describing musical texture is by classifying it into four basic categories. Monophony is one-part music devoid of any supporting accompaniment. Due to its simplicity, it is most common in mass religious practices. Heterophony refers to one melody simultaneously performed in different ways by several musicians. Traditional Irish dance music is a good example of this kind of texture. Polyphony emerges when two or more different melodies are played simultaneously. The important feature of this kind of texture is that each part is equal in its importance for the overall piece. Homophony includes multiple parts of which one is dominant and the rest are subordinate, accompanying the main melody. This is the most widespread kind of texture in Euro-American classical and popular music. All of the four aforementioned types of texture can be illustrated by precise examples. However, there exists a big quantity of works that do not fall exactly into one given category. Therefore, when analyzing musical pieces it is advisable to consider the dominant, prevailing texture as the main one (Swain, as cited in Hast et al., 2010, p. 188). Such a flexible approach facilitates understanding of the complex phenomenon of musical texture. Harmony Harmony is a powerful instrument of social influence since producing harmonious combinations of several musical parts promotes the ideals of cooperation, accordance, and consonance. Harmony is a vertical combination of two or more simultaneously sounding pitches, and therefore it is inseparable from the notion of musical texture (Hast et al., 2010, p. 194). In different textures, the focus of harmony varies but in any case, it concerns individual intervals that occur at every given moment as a result of simultaneous tone combinations. The two major classes of intervals are consonants and dissonance: the former sound agreeable to the ear, while the latter may provoke the feeling of restlessness and demand a resolution to a consonant. The distinction between consonances and dissonances is based on the overtone series. The lowest ratios in the series form intervals that sound consonant (octaves, fifth, fourth, and thirds); the lowest ratios form dissonants (seconds, seventh, and tritones). The views on harmony differ throughout the ages and cultures, with the most comprehensive analytical system formed in Western musicology. The basic harmonic practice is considered to be the drone, one or more pitch that is repeated unchanged throughout the piece and provides a background to any melodic formations. In the Middle Ages, the rudiments of harmony appeared by doubling the melody in fifths and fourths in a so-called organum and by creating three-note chords of fifths and thirds, the so-called triads. In the Renaissance, four-voice harmony was established with the emphasis on the triad and the subordination of dissonance to consonance. Baroque witnessed such harmonic innovation as the seventh-chords which used the dissonant interval of the seventh as an expressive device. At this time the first concepts of tonality appeared, further developed to the notion of the key with all the triads organized around the tonic. Form: The Shape of Music Music refers to the group of arts that unfold in time: this progression of a musical piece from beginning to end refers to musical form. The way such musical elements as rhythm, melody, dynamics, texture, and timbre are organized in time and held together comprises the form of a musical piece (Hast et al., 2010, p. 216). The form may be considered at multiple levels of music, from a short melodic phrase to the whole construction of symphon