Melody: Musical Line
It is the melody which is the charm of music, and it is that which is most difficult to produce. The invention of a fine melody is a work of genius".
A melody is the line, or tune, in music.
Each melody is unique in contour (how it moves up and down) and in range, or span of pitches.
An interval is the distance between any two pitches. A melody that moves in small, connected intervals is conjunct, while one that moves by leaps is disjunct.
The units that make up a melody are phrases, phrases end in resting places called cadences.
A melody may be accompanied by a secondary melody, or a countermelody.
A melody is the line, or tune, in music.
Each melody is unique in contour (how it moves up and down) and in range, or span of pitches.
An interval is the distance between any two pitches. A melody that moves in small, connected intervals is conjunct, while one that moves by leaps is disjunct.
The units that make up a melody are phrases, phrases end in resting places called cadences.
A melody may be accompanied by a secondary melody, or a countermelody.
Rhythm and Meter: Musical Time
"I got Rhythm. I got music"
Rythm is what moves music forward in time.
Meter, marked off in measures, organizes the beats (the basic units) in music
Measures often begin with a strong downbeat.
Simple meters- duple, triple, and quadruple-are the most common.
Compound meters subdivide each beat into three, rather than two, subbeats.
Rythmic, complexities occur with upbeats, offbeats, syncopation, and polyrythm.
Additive meters are used in some world musics.
Some music is nonmetric or has an obscured pulse.
Rythm is what moves music forward in time.
Meter, marked off in measures, organizes the beats (the basic units) in music
Measures often begin with a strong downbeat.
Simple meters- duple, triple, and quadruple-are the most common.
Compound meters subdivide each beat into three, rather than two, subbeats.
Rythmic, complexities occur with upbeats, offbeats, syncopation, and polyrythm.
Additive meters are used in some world musics.
Some music is nonmetric or has an obscured pulse.
Harmony: Musical Space
"We have learned to express the more delicate nuances of feeling by penetrating more deeply into the mysteries of harmony"
Harmony describes the vertical events in music, or how they sound together.
A chord is the simultaneous sounding of three or more pitches, chords are built from a particular scale, or sequence of pitches.
The most common chord in Western music is a triad, which has three notes built on alternate pitches of a scale.
Most Western music is based on major or minor scales, from which melody and harmony are derived.
The tonic is the central tone around which a melody and its harmonies are built; this principle of organization is called tonality.
Dissonance is created by an unstable, or discordant, combination of tones. Consonance occurs with a resolution of dissonance, producing a stable or restful sound.
Harmony describes the vertical events in music, or how they sound together.
A chord is the simultaneous sounding of three or more pitches, chords are built from a particular scale, or sequence of pitches.
The most common chord in Western music is a triad, which has three notes built on alternate pitches of a scale.
Most Western music is based on major or minor scales, from which melody and harmony are derived.
The tonic is the central tone around which a melody and its harmonies are built; this principle of organization is called tonality.
Dissonance is created by an unstable, or discordant, combination of tones. Consonance occurs with a resolution of dissonance, producing a stable or restful sound.
The Organization of Musical Sound
"If only the world could feel the power of harmony"
An octave is the interval spanning eight notes of the scale. In Western music, the octave is divided into twelve half steps, the smallest interval used; two half steps make a whole step.
The chromatic scale is made up of these twelve half steps, while a diatonic scale is built on patterns of seven whole and half steps that form major and minor scales.
A sharp is a symbol that raises a tone by a hald step, a flat lowers a tone by a half step.
Other scale types are used around the world, built on different numbers of pitches and sometimes using microtones, which are intervals smaller than half steps.
The tonic chord, built on the first cale tone, is the home base to which active chords, (dominant and subdominant) need to resolve.
Composers can shift the pitch level of an entire work (transposition) or change the center, or key, during a work (modulation).
An octave is the interval spanning eight notes of the scale. In Western music, the octave is divided into twelve half steps, the smallest interval used; two half steps make a whole step.
The chromatic scale is made up of these twelve half steps, while a diatonic scale is built on patterns of seven whole and half steps that form major and minor scales.
A sharp is a symbol that raises a tone by a hald step, a flat lowers a tone by a half step.
Other scale types are used around the world, built on different numbers of pitches and sometimes using microtones, which are intervals smaller than half steps.
The tonic chord, built on the first cale tone, is the home base to which active chords, (dominant and subdominant) need to resolve.
Composers can shift the pitch level of an entire work (transposition) or change the center, or key, during a work (modulation).
Musical Texture
"The composer... joins Heaven and Earth with threads of sound."
Texture refers to the interweaving of the melodic lines with harmony in music.
The simplest texture is monophony, or single voiced music without accompaniment.
Heterophony refers to multiple voices elaborating the same melody at the same time.
Polyphony describes a many voiced texture based on counterpoint one line set against another.
Homophony occurs when one melodic voice is prominent over the accompanying lines, or voices.
Imitation- when a melodic idea is presented in one voice, then restated in another- is a common unifying technique in polyphony, canons and rounds are two types of strictly imitative works.
Texture refers to the interweaving of the melodic lines with harmony in music.
The simplest texture is monophony, or single voiced music without accompaniment.
Heterophony refers to multiple voices elaborating the same melody at the same time.
Polyphony describes a many voiced texture based on counterpoint one line set against another.
Homophony occurs when one melodic voice is prominent over the accompanying lines, or voices.
Imitation- when a melodic idea is presented in one voice, then restated in another- is a common unifying technique in polyphony, canons and rounds are two types of strictly imitative works.
Musical Form
"The principal function of form is to advance our understanding. It is the organization of a piece that helps the listener to keep the idea in mind, to follow its development, its growth, its elaboration, its fate."
Form is the organizing principle, in music; its basic elements are repetition, contrast, and variation.
Strophic form, common in songs, features repeated music for each stanza of text.
Binary form (A-B) and ternary form (A-B-A) are basic structures in music.
A theme is a melodic idea in a large-scale work and can be broken into small, component fragments (motives). A sequence results when a motive is repeated at a different pitch.
Many cultures use call-and-response (or responsorial) music, a repetitive style involving a soloist and a group. Some music is created spontaneously in performance, through improvisation.
An ostinato is the repetition of a short melodic, rhytmic, or harmonic pattern.
Large-scale compositions, such as symphonies and sonatas, are divided into sections, or movements.
Form is the organizing principle, in music; its basic elements are repetition, contrast, and variation.
Strophic form, common in songs, features repeated music for each stanza of text.
Binary form (A-B) and ternary form (A-B-A) are basic structures in music.
A theme is a melodic idea in a large-scale work and can be broken into small, component fragments (motives). A sequence results when a motive is repeated at a different pitch.
Many cultures use call-and-response (or responsorial) music, a repetitive style involving a soloist and a group. Some music is created spontaneously in performance, through improvisation.
An ostinato is the repetition of a short melodic, rhytmic, or harmonic pattern.
Large-scale compositions, such as symphonies and sonatas, are divided into sections, or movements.
Musical Expression: Tempo and Dynamics
"Any composition must necessarily possess its unique tempo... A piece of mine can survive almost anything but a wrong or uncertain tempo"- Stravinsky
Tempo is the rate of speed, or pace, of the music.
We use Italian terms to describe musical tempo: some of the most common are allegro (fast), moderato (moderate), adagio (quite slow), accelerando (speeding up). and ritardando (slowing down)
Dynamics describe the volume, or how loud or soft the music is played. Italian terms for dynamics include forte (loud) and piano (soft)
Composers indicate tempo and dynamics in music as means of expression.
Tempo is the rate of speed, or pace, of the music.
We use Italian terms to describe musical tempo: some of the most common are allegro (fast), moderato (moderate), adagio (quite slow), accelerando (speeding up). and ritardando (slowing down)
Dynamics describe the volume, or how loud or soft the music is played. Italian terms for dynamics include forte (loud) and piano (soft)
Composers indicate tempo and dynamics in music as means of expression.
Voices and Musical Instrument Families
"It was my idea to make my voice work in the same way as a trombone or violin- not sounding like them but "playing" the voice like those instruments".
Properties of sound include pitch, duration, volume and timbre, or tone color.
An instrument generates vibrations and transmits them into the air.
The human voice can be categorized into various ranges, including soprano and alto for female voices, and tenor and bass for male voices.
The world instrument classification system divides into aerophones (such as flutes or horns) chordophones (such as violins, or guitars) idiophones (such as bells or cymbals) and membranophones ( drums).
Properties of sound include pitch, duration, volume and timbre, or tone color.
An instrument generates vibrations and transmits them into the air.
The human voice can be categorized into various ranges, including soprano and alto for female voices, and tenor and bass for male voices.
The world instrument classification system divides into aerophones (such as flutes or horns) chordophones (such as violins, or guitars) idiophones (such as bells or cymbals) and membranophones ( drums).
Western Musical Instruments
"In music, instruments perform the function of the colors employed in painting"
The four families of Western instruments are strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
String instruments (chordophones) are sounded by bowing and plucking
Bowed strings include violin, viola, cello, and double bass, plucked strings include harp and guitar.
Woodwind instruments (aerophones) include flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone.
Brass instruments (aerophones) include tumpet, French horn, trombone, and tuba.
Percussion instruments include (idiophones) xylophone, cymbals, triangle, and memobranophones timpani, bass drum, some instruments are pitched (chimes) while others are unpitched (tambourine)
Keyboard instruments, such as piano and organ, do not fit neatly into the Western classification system.
The four families of Western instruments are strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
String instruments (chordophones) are sounded by bowing and plucking
Bowed strings include violin, viola, cello, and double bass, plucked strings include harp and guitar.
Woodwind instruments (aerophones) include flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone.
Brass instruments (aerophones) include tumpet, French horn, trombone, and tuba.
Percussion instruments include (idiophones) xylophone, cymbals, triangle, and memobranophones timpani, bass drum, some instruments are pitched (chimes) while others are unpitched (tambourine)
Keyboard instruments, such as piano and organ, do not fit neatly into the Western classification system.
Musical Ensembles
Conductors must give unmistakable and suggestive signals to the orchestra- not choreography to the audience"
Choral groups often feature a cappella singing with no accompaniment.
Chamber music is ensemble music for small groups, with one player per part.
Standard chamber ensembles include string quartets, woodwind quintets, and brass quintets.
The modern orchestra features eighty to one hundred players.
Large ensembles generally use a conductor who beats patterns with a baton to help performers keep the same tempo.
Choral groups often feature a cappella singing with no accompaniment.
Chamber music is ensemble music for small groups, with one player per part.
Standard chamber ensembles include string quartets, woodwind quintets, and brass quintets.
The modern orchestra features eighty to one hundred players.
Large ensembles generally use a conductor who beats patterns with a baton to help performers keep the same tempo.
Style and Function of Music in Society
"A real musical culture should not be a museum culture based on music of past ages... It should be the active embodiment in sound of the life of a community- of the everyday demands of people's work and play and of their deepest spiritual needs"
Music provides different functions- for religion, work, entertainment- in societies around the world.
Most cultures have sacred music, for religious functions, and secular music, for nonreligious activities.
There are many genres, or categories, of music; some works cross over categories, borrowing elements of one style for use in another.
The medium is the specific group (e.g. orchestra, chorus) that performs a piece.
Some music is not written down, but is known through oral transmission
The distinctive features of any artwork make up its style. A musical style is created through individual treatment of the basic musical elements.
We organize styles of artworks into historical periods, each with its own characteristics
Music provides different functions- for religion, work, entertainment- in societies around the world.
Most cultures have sacred music, for religious functions, and secular music, for nonreligious activities.
There are many genres, or categories, of music; some works cross over categories, borrowing elements of one style for use in another.
The medium is the specific group (e.g. orchestra, chorus) that performs a piece.
Some music is not written down, but is known through oral transmission
The distinctive features of any artwork make up its style. A musical style is created through individual treatment of the basic musical elements.
We organize styles of artworks into historical periods, each with its own characteristics