National 5 Musical Periods and Styles
Concepts
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AB
Atonal
Chorus
Cluster
Contrapuntal
Counter melody
Ground bass
Impressionism
Polyphonic
Symphony
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Aria
Binary
Classical
Coda
Contrary Motion
Cross rhythm
Homophonic
Inverted pedal
Rondo
Binary Form (AB)
• Two-part form - music in two sections: A then
B. These sections may be repeated.
Ternary Form (ABA)
National 4 re-cap
• Three-part form – Music in three sections:
section A, then B, then back to A.
Rondo (ABACADA…)
• A B A C A….. A form where the first section (A)
keeps returning, in between different sections –
B, C etc.
Coda
• A passage at the end of a piece of music which
rounds it off effectively.
Haydn - Surprise Symphony
Hall of the Mountain King
Strophic
• A song which has the same music repeated for
verses/choruses, therefore the music will be
heard repeating throughout the song.
Beach Boys - I Get Around
Schubert - Das Wadern
Elgar - In Haven
Modulation
• A change of key.
Beyonce - Love on Top
Westlife - You Raise Me Up
Carmen – Habanera
Beethoven Symphony no.5
Ground Bass
• A theme in the bass which is repeated many
times while the upper parts are varied.
Bach - Passacaglia in C minor
Pachelbel Canon in D
Purcell - When I am Laid on Earth (starts 1.30s)
Classical
• This term refers to music composed during the
period 1750 to 1810 approximately.
• This was the era of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
Mozart - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Beethoven - Für Elise
Haydn - Emperor String Quartet
Mozart - Symphony no.40
Beethoven - Symphony no.5
Mozart Violin Concerto No 5 A major
Haydn Suprise Symphony
Alberti Bass
• Broken chords played by the left hand outlining
harmonies whilst the right hand plays the melody.
• Classical composers such as Haydn and Mozart used this
technique extensively in their piano music. The chord is
played in the order: low - high - middle - high.
Mozart Sonata in C
Mozart Piano Concerto no.26
Beethoven Pathetique Sonata
C D E F G A B C
Symphony
• A large work for orchestra usually in four
movements.
• In the Classical period the movements were
normally fast, slow, minuet and trio, fast.
Beethoven Symphony no.5
Haydn Symphony 'Clock‘
Brahms Symphony no.4
Tchaikovsky Symphony no.4
Mahler Symphony no.5
Atonal
• Atonal music has no
feeling of key, major or
minor. It is very
dissonant, and it will
lack a 'nice' melody and
accompaniment. Atonal
music is a feature of
some 20th-century
music.
Schoenberg - 6 Little
Pieces for Orchestra
Atonal
Atonal II
Messian Quartet for the end of time
Berg Lyric Suite
Boulez - The Hammer Without a Master
Chromatic Scale/Tones and Semitones
Cluster
• A term used to describe a group of notes,
which clash, played together
Piano Clusters
Schoenberg - A Survivor from Warsaw
Five Orchestral Pieces
• Five Orchestral Pieces is an atonal
Expressionist piece. It was completed in 1909.
The first performance took place in London in
1912.
• Schoenberg described it as "a vivid,
uninterrupted succession of colours and
moods". Peripetie is the fourth movement.
• Peripetie can be translated as 'a sudden
change of fortune'.
Peripetie
This is the fourth movement from Schoenberg’s 5
Orchestral Pieces. It is a very intense, restless,
dramatic work which frequently shifts in
orchestration, speed and mood.
The movement opens with seven motifs (short
musical ideas) played loudly (forte), one after the
other. We are going to look at the first three of
these motifs. Each motif has its own mood and
character.
Motif A
Motif A opens the movement. It is a short fanfare played by three clarinets, a bass clarinet
and three bassoons. Notice the use of triplets and the six different pitches.
The dynamic is forte (loud) with a crescendo. Motif A is immediately followed by a short
chromatic scale played by three muted trumpets and four trombones. Trombones 1 and 2
play a glissando (a slide).
Motif B
Next comes Motif B for three flutes and piccolo, three oboes and
cor anglais, plus three clarinets in B flat and one in D (a very unusual
clarinet). Notice all the accidentals creating the dissonant chord at
the end of the motif.
Motif C
Next we hear the powerful sound of six horns playing motif C, another
angular line. Again the motif is in triplets but this time triplet quavers.
Notice the use of the dissonant interval of a 7th.
Cross Rhythms
• Term used to describe the effect of two notes being played
against three (eg in piano music it might be groups of two
quavers in the right hand and groups of triplets in the left).
• The term is also used to describe the effect that occurs when
the accents in a piece of music are different from those
suggested by the time signature (eg the division of 4/4 time
into 3+3+2 quavers).
Cross Rhythms
West Side Story – America
Debussy - Arabesque No. 1
Blue Rondo A La Turk - Dave Brubeck
Polyrhythms
Impressionism
• A term borrowed from painting in which brief musical ideas
merge and change to create a rather blurred, hazy and
vague outline. Debussy was an important composer of this
style.
• This painting by Monet is hazy and blurred – creating an
'impression' rather than showing clear lines. Impressionist
music is similar in that it doesn’t have clearly defined strong
melody lines, but aims to create atmosphere.
Impressionism
• Whole-tone scales were often a feature of this style
of music.
Debussy - La Mer
Debussy – Reverie
Ravel - Daybreak (Daphnis et Chloé)
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit
Whole Tone Scale
• A scale containing no semitones but built
entirely on whole tones. Debussy used the
whole-tone scale in some of his pieces which
were influenced by Impressionism. A wholetone scale on C is shown below.
Minimalist
• A development in the second half of the 20th
century based on simple rhythmic and melodic
figures which are constantly repeated with very
slight changes each time.
Zip Paintings
Anna’s Light
Less is more
Repetition ostinato
Small amount of
music
diatonic
Very simple
yet sounds
complicated
So What is Minimalism...apart
from a long word?!
No
dynamics/te
mpo
Building of layers
Trance like hypnotic
Lot of music
with little
changes
Looping of
different motifs
and patters
The Technological Part
• Composers can use
software like
Cubase/Gargeband to
help them compose
minimalist music.
• Its very easy to make
minimalist music on
Garageband – as you can
copy and paste tracks, so
that it is repetitive – a
very important feature of
Minimalism!
Minimalism from around the World
In Indonesian gamelan,
the pieces are very
spiritual and hypnotic –
these ideas are also
WESTEREN AFRICA –
used in minimalist
cross rhythms music.
Gamelan also uses lots
of layering of different
percussion instruments
– it is very repetitive,
and each instrument is
layered on top of each
other.
drumming
In India, the tala
(percussion) rhythm is
always repeated, or looped.
We use this a lot in
minimalist music.
Minimalism
Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians
Steve Reich - Six Marimbas
John Adams - The Chairman Dance
Philip Glass – Koyaanisqatsi
Philip Glass - Two Pages
Mike Oldfield - Tubular bells
Reverb
• An electronic effect which can give the
impression of different hall acoustics. For
example, reverb can make a piece of music
sound as if the performance is taking place in
a cathedral.
Glasvegas - Ice Cream Van
Pink Orange Red
Pink Floyd - Sorrow
Pitch Bend
• Changing the pitch of a note, for example by
pushing a guitar string upwards.
Pitch Bend Tutorial
Smoke On The Water - Guitar Solo - Slow & Close
Up
Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark
Metallica - Enter Sandman
Mamma I'm Coming Home – Ozzy
AC/DC Back in Black
Walking Bass
• A bass line (low notes) often featured in a
variety of jazz styles. It goes for a walk, up and
down a pattern of notes, and is often played
on a double bass.
Ray Charles - Mess Around
Liberace Boogie Woogie
Miles Davis Quintet – Oleo
Gospel
• Music written with religious lyrics, often in
praise or thanksgiving to God. Gospel has its
origins in African-American culture.
Sister Act 2 (Finale) Lauryn Hill - Joyful Joyful
Shackles 'Praise You' (Mary Mary) - ACM Gospel
Choir
Soweto Gospel Choir - Amazing Grace
Oh Happy Day
Celtic Rock
• A style of music that mixes Celtic folk music
and rock together
Runrig - Live in Loch Lomond - Loch Lomond
Highlander Celtic Rock Band - Bung Knee Jigs
Runrig. Mod for Rockers. Cnoc Na Feille
Fferyllt
Indian Music
• Music from India which uses instruments such
as the sitar and tabla.
Sitar: A plucked, stringed instrument from India. It's
basically an Indian guitar – easy to remember
because sitar rhymes with guitar.
Tabla: Indian drums often
used to accompany the sitar.
Other associated concepts at National 5
Homophonic (opening)
• Texture where you hear melody with accompaniment or
where all the parts play a similar rhythm at the same
time.
• See how the parts all have the same rhythm here.
Contrapuntal
• Texture in which each of two or more parts has
independent melodic interest; similar in meaning
to polyphonic.
Polyphonic
• Texture which consists of two or more melodic
lines, possibly of equal importance, which weave
independently of each other. Polyphonic is similar
in meaning to contrapuntal.
Counter melody
• A melody played against the main melody.
Carmen - En'tracte to Act III
Albinonni - Adagio in G minor
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto no.2 (mov.2 at
10minutes)
Malcolm Arnold - Scottish Dance no.3
Inverted Pedal
• A note which is held on or repeated
continuously at a high pitch. Opposite in pitch
to pedal.
Borodin In the Steppes of Central Asia
Tam o' Shanter (+ pedal)
Contrary Motion
• Two parts move in opposite directions, eg as
one part ascends the other part descends.
Philip Glass - Music in Contrary Motion
Chopin "Chanson de l'adieu" 2.00-2.10s
National 5 – Musical Periods and Styles Quiz