3. Pitch

In our explorations so far, we have been working with a particular note or phrase, and varying the Timbre and/or Dynamics to see what effect it has on the musical expression, and emotions suggested. If we were to change the note pitches or durations, we would be playing different music each time rather than just changing the expression of that music… right?

In fact, things are not so clear-cut! In the second part of this chapter we’ll see how there’s actually more of a spectrum between interpreting a given piece of music and improvising (or writing) your own musical creation, and we’ll begin to explore that now, as we see how in fact Pitch and Rhythm both allow for endless expressive choices, even while playing the notes “correctly, as written”.

As with timbre, the expressive possibilities for Pitch vary across instruments. Some instruments allow for smooth gradual variations in pitch, for example singing, slide guitar or pedal steel guitar, wind instruments through embouchure, electronic keyboards through a pitch wheel, fretless bass or non-fretted string instruments such as violin or cello. Others, such as piano, can only move in fixed intervals, typically half steps, but can still achieve similar effects.

Here are some examples of how a musician might bring their own expression to the music they play through Pitch changes, even while playing the same notes each time * If you’ve read Chapter 8: Relative Pitch, we’re talking about playing the given Pitch Classes while varying the exact pitches. . Note that the terminology overlaps somewhat (e.g. slides vs. bends) and can also sometimes be seen as a form of articulation (e.g. ornaments as a way to change the start or end of notes).

• Vibrato: Varying a note’s pitch up and down repeatedly, typically in a steady fluctuating way. This is a key characteristic of the operatic singing style, but is used by singers in many genres, as well as guitarists, wind and brass players. It can be done prominently on certain notes for effect, or consistently across all notes as part of the overall style (which could be considered part of the Timbre).
• Slides: Playing a pitch above or below the target note either before or after it and smoothly gliding to or from the target note’s pitch. There is also the glissando, where you move through individual notes rather than smoothly varying the pitch.
• Bends: Similar to slides but typically just a half step or two, and often used to describe moving from one note in the phrase to the next by a smooth slide rather than playing each target pitch directly.
• Ornaments: Playing a distinct note or two before, during or after the target note. These include trills (alternating back-and-forth with another note, usually a half or whole step away), mordents (a single visit to another note, usually a half or whole step away), and turns (alternating to a note above, back to the target note, then a note below, and back to the target note—or vice-versa, going below then above).
• Detuning: Playing or singing certain notes (or even the whole piece) slightly “off key”, where all target pitches are above or below the “correct” pitches. In most contexts this would be seen and heard as a “mistake” which detracted from the musical experience for the listener, but used judiciously on certain notes it can be highly effective by creating tension or contrast. Particular styles (e.g. early punk rock vocals, Spanish/Latin champeta music) also use it throughout, to create a very distinctive overall sound.

Typically certain styles and genres will have conventions about which alterations to Pitch are expected or considered appropriate to the style. For example blues music is often heavy on slides and bends, while these would be out of place in most Western classical music (unless marked explicitly as a glissando). Vibrato, as mentioned, is a requirement for operatic singing, and an expected part of classical violin. Singing “out of tune” or “off key” was a defining part of the punk rock sound but would generally be unacceptable in modern orchestral cinematic music. Some genres even have their own whole set of embellishments, such as the Klezmer tradition where particular Pitch bends and flourishes are used to make melodies sound more emotive and more evocatively mimic the human singing voice with instruments such as clarinet.

As is explored more in Chapter 16: Songwriting, music is a dance of setting and then defying expectations, and so while it’s valuable to know what’s “normal” or “acceptable” in a particular style, ultimately it’s up to your aesthetic judgement as a musician to decide, from all the options available to you, which will convey the emotion and create the musical effect you desire.

To put that another way, if your Head knows a range of options, and your Hands are able to produce them, then your Hearing and Heart can let you make the expressive choices you wish to, in any musical situation.

Exploring the Pitch of a Note

Using your primary instrument, and then any other instruments you have access to, as well as your singing voice, let’s try exploring the Pitch possibilities of a single note.

If you’re unsure which of the techniques can be done on your instrument, or how to produce them, you may wish to consult a teacher or perform an online search (e.g. search for “trumpet vibrato”, or “harmonica bends”)

Using Pitch to Shape a Phrase

Now that you’ve familiarised yourself with the expressive Pitch possibilities of a single note, let’s see what it opens up for us when playing a whole phrase.

If you’ve been going through the exercises in order, you may well find yourself instinctively starting to make Timbre and Dynamics choices to shape the phrase too. We’ll work on this explicitly in “Bringing It All Together” below, but feel free to follow your Hearing and Heart and include variations in those dimensions which you feel complement the Pitch choices you are experimenting with.