Chapter 4
How Music Works
Part II: Pitch
Pitch and Melody
Introduction
Pitch: the highness and lowness of musical tones; related to
frequency
Soundwaves: vibrations that result in musical sound; tones
with many vibrations are higher and tones with fewer
vibrations are lower
Melodic range: the distance in pitch from the lowest to
highest note
Melodic direction: the upward and/or downward movement
of the melody as it progresses
Melodic contour: the overall ‘shape’ of the melody, a product
of its range, direction, and other features
Pitch and Melody in
“Mary Had a Little Lamb”
and a Native American
Eagle Dance Song
Pitch and Melody
Comparison: "Mary Had
a Little Lamb," Eagle
Dance Song
Figure 4.1, page 46
CD ex. #1-25 (Eagle
Dance)
Names of
Pitches in
Western Music
Pitch names in Western music correspond with alphabet
letter names: A B C D E F G
There are also some pitches that fall in between the
cracks and are named with flats and sharps. The pitch
between C and D could be called C# or Db, depending
on if it is perceived to be higher than C or lower than D.
Sounds made by instruments like violins, pianos, flute,
trumpet, and xylophone can be identified with pitch
names because they have determinate pitch.
Some instruments, like shakers, cymbals, triangles, and
most drums, have indeterminate pitch. This means
that there are competing pitches in the sounds they
produce, with no clear winner.
A scale is an ascending and/or descending series of notes
of different pitch.
A chromatic scale occurs when all 12 determinate
pitches used in Western music are played in order.
Notes that have the same pitch but differ in frequency are
in different octaves.
Men and women sing in different ranges, or registers,
because female voices produce higher notes.
Insights and
Perspectives
Curing and Causing Illness
with Melody
In some cultures, melodic direction can have cultural
ramifications.
The Warao shamans of Venezuela use melodies with
descending melodies to cure illness, and ascending
melodies to cause sickness or even death.
Insights and
Perspectives
Scale versus Mode
A scale usually comprises of a sequence of “raw” pitches,
but a mode is more comprehensive and
multidimensional.
Modal rules determine what pitches can be used and
how to use those pitches. (How to ornament, moving
from pitch to pitch, which pitches to emphasize...)
Particular modes can be identified with specific
emotions, times of day, yearly seasons, or dramatic
rituals.
Insights and
Perspectives
When High is Low
and Low is High
Even the concept of low and high are culture specific.
The ’Are’are people of Malaita (Solomon Islands,
Micronesia) perceive pitch opposite of how Westerners
understand it. Their low pitches are what Westerners
would describe as high, and their high pitches are our
low pitches.
Common Scales
in Western
Music:
Major, Pentatonic, Minor,
and Blues
Some Western music uses all 12 pitches, but more often,
musical scales are used that only use select pitches.
Major
Pentatonic
Minor
Blues
The major scale is produced by playing the white keys
of the piano starting on C.
It has seven pitches per octave, and in C major, C is the
tonic (first scale degree.)
Westerners have been culturally preconditioned to
perceive this scale as “happy.”
Listen to Online Musical Illustration #3.
The pentatonic scale has only five pitches per octave.
Pentatonic scales exist in China, Indonesia, Japan,
Uganda, and elsewhere.
The Western pentatonic scale is essentially a major scale
without the fourth and seventh degrees.
Listen to Online Musical Illustration #4 and Online
Musical Illustration # 5.
There are a number of different minor scales - listen to
Online Musical Illustration #6 for an illustration of a
major scale, a harmonic minor scale, and a melodic
minor scale.
An interval is a name for the distance between two
notes of a scale - instead of a whole step between the
second and third scale degrees, minor scales use the
smaller half step. Westerners interpret this as sounding
“sad.”
Pitch and Scales
in Non-Western
Musical Systems
The Western pitch system is just one of many great
musical systems worldwide.
Indian music recognizes 22 pitches per octave, but like
Western music, builds scales upon seven ascending and
seven descending pitches.
Middle Eastern music in the Arab tradition uses 24
pitches per octave, and recognizes microtones. This
allows for great melodic ornamentation, or decoration.
The blues scale combines parts of the major, minor,
pentatonic, and traditional African scales.
A blues scale starting on the pitch C has these six
pitches: C Eb F F# G Bb. Listen to Online Musical
Illustration #8.
Listen to CD ex. #1-19 for an example. (Charles
Atkins, “A Funny Way of Asking.”)
Insights and
Perspectives
Modulation: Moving from
One Scale and Key to Another
Different scales use different tonics, or ‘home notes.’
If a piece moves from a scale with one tonic to a scale
with another tonic, it is called modulation.
For example, a piece might modulate from C Major to F
Major (Online Musical Illustration #9.)
Pitch, Chords, and Harmony
A melody is produced by a series or of notes.
A harmony is produced by a group of two or more
different pitches sounded simultaneously.
A chord that makes sense within the context of its
musical style is in harmony. Sometimes a piece can
have just one chord, like some hip hop songs, or several
can occur in a chord progression.
Chords and harmony in musics of other world cultures
and in experimental Western musics often depart from
standard Western conventions.