Melody is the series of notes that carries a song through. It’s essentially the top of the song, the tune that you hum. Harmony is the sound of all the different instruments together. Rhythm is the beat and the way that the beat manifests itself across a piece of music. It’s the groove. Lyrics are lyrics. • Timbre, roughly speaking, is everything in music that doesn’t fall into the above four categories. Timbre is what made Whitney Houston sound like Whitney Houston. Timbre is what made Whitney Houston an international star. And timbre is why your cousin only sings at weddings.
