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Hello! My name is Duane Carter and on behalf of Expert Village, I am going to be talking
today about learning how to listen to and appreciate music. Opposites attract is more
than a cliche with music. Fortunately we talk about contrasts in music, it does not equate
one being good and the other being bad. Whenever a composer uses contrasting elements, it is
to enhance the music or bring out something different. This enhancement may be arrhythmic
change, a new melodic line or different harmonizations. Maybe even variations in the timbre. The most
common example of contrast in a piece of music is the bridge or middle section of a piece.
Here you will find a section of music that is either harmonically, melodically arrhythmic
different from the first section. As you become a more active listener, you will hear other
techniques employed to show contrast. The most of these is the use of counterpoint.
Counterpoint is the technique used where lines are developed that pose in contrast the original
melody.