Music elements are the building blocks in music. Through combining the elements ,we can create music. Tone refers to a specific music element that gives music its characteristic sound and through which we differentiate between music and noise. 

The basic elements of music are:

Duration of tone refers to the length and time of a sound. Some sounds can be long or sustained while others ae short or quick. Concepts such as beat, accent, note values, meter, rhythm, and tempo involve duration.

Pitch of tone means high or low. A MELODY is made up of high and low tones which are arranged in a linear succession. When children sing songs, it is immensely helpful if you can show the contour( the direction of  the pitch) with your hands.

Intensity of tone refers to the dynamics, in other words, how loud or soft a tone is.

Quality of tone (timbre). Every instrument has a unique sound which is characteristic of that instrument. This is called the tone quality. If you close your eyes and someone plays the piano, you immediately know it is a piano  because of its unique tone quality.

Texture refers to the thickness or thinness of sound, when you listen to your favourite song there are a lot of instruments playing at the same time, we then say the texture is thick. When you sing to yourself in your room, it is only your voice that is heard, so the texture is thin.

Types of music activities 

• Singing
•  Moving to music
•  Instrument playing
• Music listening
• Musical games
• Music and dramatization
• Composition
• Conducting
• Body percussion
• Reading music notation (iconic/Western/solfege)
• Improvisation

How do music concepts and related experiences relate to Life Skills, Mathematics and Language education?

Music education enhances attentiveness, multitasking and promotes both numeracy and literacy skills while playing on music instruments supports learners' visual-spatial development. When learners sing songs in various languages as well as their home language, they expand their vocabulary by learning new words in their mother tongue or learning a new language as well as learning about phonics. By introducing music literacy through the use of graphic and iconic notation, we afford foundation phase learners with opportunities to develop reading and literacy skills in a way that gradually introduces abstract thinking skills.