What Are the 3 Elements of Music

Whenever I get asked to teach a workshop or a clinic, one of the topics that I like to talk
about is The 3 Elements of Music.

These are the 3 most important items that any musician needs to be successful, plus a
fourth that I add in at the end of the talk.

These items are so important, that I would argue any music that lacks one or more of these
elements is unlistenable, or at the very least ignored by the concert-going public.

So what are the 3 elements of music?

The three elements of music are rhythm, melody, and harmony.

At some point in every workshop I give, Ill stop the class and say:

OK, lets name the 3 elements of music.

At first I get blank stares, but then the students will catch on and suggest harmony,
followed by melody and finally, rhythm.

These are the three elements of music, just not in what I would consider the proper order
of importance.

These are the three elements that every musician needs to engage their audience in a
deep and meaningful way.

Think about it.

Would you want to listen to music that didnt have solid rhythm?

Would you buy a record full of unmemorable melodies?

Would you pay money to see a concert where there was no sense of harmony?

Most people would answer no to all of these questions.

So, lets ensure that youre practicing the 3 elements of music every day, starting with the
most important element, rhythm.

Element 1 - Rhythm
Why is rhythm the most important element of music? Because anybody can understand
and feel rhythm.

If you can walk in pace and have a heartbeat, you can feel a pulse and groove along to
any song.

Not everyone can sing in tune or understand harmony, but everyone gets rhythm.

Yet, when I ask students:

How do you practice rhythm?

They often answer:

Well, I dont.
This is a problem, because if you have great rhythm, you can take harmonic and melodic
chances and sound good.

But, if you dont have good time, you can play the same lines as John Coltrane and sound
awful.

Rhythm is that important.

So, how do you practice rhythm?

There are too many exercises to list here.

But, the first step is to understand that rhythm is a thing, like a scale or a chord, that can
be isolated and practiced.

One of the biggest roadblocks with music students is that they dont have command over
rhythmic groupings, yet they can play scales and arpeggios at a million miles an hour.

Its not enough to just play fast and slow, or double-time and half-time.

These are effective adjectives for certain tempos, but they arent specific enough to
matter when it comes to performing.

You need to be more specific when it comes to rhythmic control and application.

You need to play specific rhythmic durations, such as:

Whole Notes
Half Notes
Quarter Notes
Triplets
16th Notes
Quintuplets

When soloing, you need to think of which rhythms youre using, just as you think about
what scales, arpeggios, and licks to use.

The same thing for comping, dont just let your hands run the show, you need to be
specific with the rhythms you play behind any melody or soloist.

This is something that many people ignore in their practicing, isolating specific rhythms and
perfecting them.

So, the first thing you need to do, is play specific rhythms, at various tempos, and nail them
every time.

Dont aim for fast and slow.

Be able to play sixteenth notesand even whole noteswith precision.

Heres a great exercise to develop your sense of rhythmic control:

Pick a tune.

Pick a rhythm.

Set the metronome at 40 bpm.

Solo using only that rhythm until youre comfortable at that tempo.

Raise the metronome 10 clicks.

Repeat until its too fast to control.

Repeat this process with another rhythm.

Repeat while comping over the same tune with these exercises.

The important thing is to stick with one rhythm, especially at slow tempos, until you can
solo with it non-stop on a tune.

Practice different rhythms until you are absolutely confident with them, then mix them up.

For example, one bar of each, four bars of each, half a bar of one, half a bar of the other
etc.

If you have total control of these basic rhythms, then mixing them up, at any tempo, will
be a piece of cake.

Make sure to practice rhythm every day, and be aware of what rhythms youre using and
how you fit into the groove of a song at all times.

Being aware of your time and playing exact rhythms is enough to elevate your playing to
new levels, without learning any new scales, licks or chord voicings.

Everything you play sounds better with exact rhythms.

Element 2 - Melody
If everyone can feel and understand rhythm, many, if not most, people can understand
melody.

Yes, some people cant sing on key, but most can hum along with the radio or sing in the
shower.

Because of this, melody is the second most important element of music.

Its what people remember when they hear a song or walk out of a club after a concert.

Its the hook that digs into the listeners ears, and musicians that have a strong sense of
melody often have long and successful careers.

When most musicians hear the words melodic playing, they think of scales, arpeggios,
patterns and licks.

Yes, those are important tools that you use to create melodies, but they arent melodies
themselves, and this is where most players get stuck.

Youre often taught that if you learn enough scales and arpeggios, and memorize lines
from your favourite solos, that youll be able to play jazz.

But, after spending hours a day in the practice room doing for years doing just this, I can
tell you that its not going to happen.

At least not for me.

Now, Im not saying that you shouldnt learn scales, arpeggios, and licks, but theyre not
the be all and end all of playing jazz.

If you want to create melodies in your solos, then its better to check out melodic building
blocks.
The phrases, motives, and melodic devices that come back time and again when you
analyse your favourite solos.

Since I wasted a lot of time in the practice room, Ill save you that aggravation by giving
you a list ten of the most common melodic devices that you can use in your studies.

Melodic Devices
Approach Notes
Enclosures
Lower Neighbours
Upper Neighbours
Octave Displacement
1-2-3-5
5-3-2-1
3-7 Triads
3-9 Arpeggios
Passing Tones (Bebop Scales and Other Variations)

As was the case with rhythm, make sure to practice melody every day.

If these ten items are found in the solos of great players, then its essential to put in the
time to master them in your own playing.

Heres an example of how to practice these items, without just running them up and down
the neck.

Pick a tune to study.

Pick a melodic device.
Start the metronome at 40 bpm.
Improvise with only that device over the tune.
Click the metronome up 10 beats.
Repeat until the tempo is too fast.
Repeat this process with another melodic device.

By focusing on one device at a time, youre putting on musical handcuffs.

Youre purposefully handicapping yourself to internalize that specific device.

This forces you to be creative in how you use that device, since its the only improvisational
tool you have at your disposal.

Then, when you take the handcuffs off and solo, youll be pleasantly surprised at how
much more creative you feel, and how much more interesting your playing has become.
Element 3 Harmony

Youve now arrived at the third element of music, harmony.

I think its indicative of the problems that jazz education currently faces, when every
student I ask names harmony as the most important element of music.

Everyone can understand and feel rhythm, and many people enjoy and understand
melody, but few people understand harmony.

Harmony is a learned element, something that people spend years studying, and that only
fellow musicians or dedicated fans can relate to in the moment when a band is on stage.

Why then is there such a strong focus on harmony in the study of jazz and other modern
music?

Harmony is a vital tool for any improviser, in any genre, and you needs to have a deep
understanding of harmony and harmonic function in order to become a performer.

But, if its all youre studying, or if it takes up practice time at the expense of the other two
elements, is that such a good thing?

If you can play complex changes, use outside subs, and hit every chord with perfect
voice leading, does that matter if you dont have good time or cant play a memorable
melody?

This is a problem that Ive found time and again with older, more experienced, students
that come to me for advice.

They know their instruments inside and out, they can solo over any chord progression, and
they have a solid understanding of harmony.

Yet, they either drag or rush, dont lock into the groove, or just run scales through changes
and never playing anything melodic.

So, exactly how do you study harmony without ignoring rhythm and melody?

One approach that works well is to break things down to their lowest denominators and
then build things up from there.

For example:

Choose a tune to study.

Isolate the first chord in the song.
Set the metronome to 40 bpm.
Solo over this chord using one rhythm and one melodic device.
Crank the metronome up by 10 clicks and repeat until too fast.
Repeat with the second chord of the song.
Combine the first two chords and repeat.
Repeat this process with all the chords of the first phrase.
Repeat this process with all of the phrases in the song separately.
Repeat this process with the whole song.
Change the rhythmic motive and melodic device and repeat.

By breaking down the harmony into small, easy to digest chunks, you practice playing
over the chords, and you include rhythm and harmony in your playing as well.
Youre now using all three elements at the same time, ensuring that you arent ignoring
one or more elements in the woodshed.

The 4th Element of Music Emotion

Weve now come to the point in my talk when students always ask:

What about dynamics, and phrasing, and, articulation, and, other emotional elements?

My answer to that question is:

Emotion is an equally important element of music. But, you cant be emotionally

involved in the music if you dont have command of the other three elements.

Music needs to come from the heart, but you cant put your heart into a performance if
youre thinking about the chords, fumbling the melody, or losing the groove.

But, if you have command of rhythm, melody and harmony, you can inject your heart into
the music in a deeper way.

This allows your audience to connect with you as a performer, and with your music,
regardless of style or genre.

Having a command of the 3 elements of music wont guarantee that youll become a
famous guitarist, or that youll even get a call for a Friday-night gig.

But.

If you dont have a strong control of rhythm, melody, and harmony, you can guarantee
that your phone wont be ringing for gigs very often.

Hopefully Ive been able to open your minds to one or more aspects of music that are
lacking in your practice routine.