Music Hum: Mid-Term Key Terms
• Sound
• Pitch (also: definite vs indefinite)
• Note
• Interval
• Melody
• Phrase
• Cadence
• Contour
• Range
• Harmony
• Chord
• Chord/Harmonic Progression
• Consonance
• Dissonance
• Major/Minor chords
• Rhythm
• Beat (or pulse)
• Tempo
• Meter
• Timbre
• Dynamics
• Articulation
• Texture (->monophonic, polyphonic,
chordal, melody+accompaniment)
• Gregorian Chant
• Organum
• Parallel/Contrary Motion
• Responsorial
• Antiphonal
• Syllabic
• Melismatic
• School of Notre-Dame
• Imitation
• Counterpoint
• Word Painting
• Motet
• Canon (i.e., round)
• Madrigal
• Mass
• Opera (and it’s relation to dramma per
musica)
• Humanism (esp. regarding music)
• Monody
• Libretto
• Prima pratica/Seconda practica
• Recitative
• Aria (esp. Da capo aria)
• Coloratura
• Orchestra
• Basso continuo
• Concerto Grosso
• Solo Concerto
• Ripieno
• Concertino
• Solo
• Ritornello Form
• Stradivari
• Sequence
• Fugue
• Subject/Counter-Subject
• Enlightenment
• Theme and Variation
• Multi-movement Work
• Sonata Form (Exposition,
Development, Recapitulation)
• Heiligenstadt Testament
• Opera Buffa
• Opera Seria
List of Composers (all have a short write-up
in the book):
• Hildegard,
• Machaut
• Josquin
• Palestrina
• Monteverdi
• Vivaldi
• J.S. Bach
• Handel
• Haydn
• Mozart
• Beethoven
Time Period:
Composers:
Musical Traits:
MEDIEVAL
(400-1450)
*Hildegard (Germ. Mystic, Abbess,
chant, 11-12c)
(also several anonymous composers
wrote plainchant)
Notre Dame School:
Léonin (Fr, Magnus liber organi, 2
voice organum based on a cantus
firmus, 12c)
*Pérotin (Fr, expanded to 3-4 voice
organum, 13c)
*Machaut (14c, first known
complete musical setting of Mass)
Chant and Organum
-Mainly Sacred, Vocal (a capella)
-non-metric
-church modes (modal)
-monophonic--->polyphonic
-hollow sounding (open 5ths,
octaves)
-parallel motion between voices
Genres:
Vocal: plainchant (chant), organum
Terms/Key concepts/
contexts:
-Chant (legend of Pope Gregory the
Great & the dove)
-Developments of early notation
(Guido of Arrezzo)
-Notre Dame polyphony (aka
organum)
-Responsorial
-Antiphonal
-Drone
-Cantus Firmus
Where Music was
happening:
CHURCH
RENAISSANCE
(1450-1600)
*Josquin (Fr-Flem, emotive,
mainly sacred, Pange Lingua
mass, 15-16c)
*Palestrina (It, the
“Michelangelo” of Ren.
Polyphony, Pope Marcellus
Mass – clear text, 16c)
*Monteverdi (It, madrigals,
early opera, transitions RenBq, 16-17c)
BAROQUE
(1600-1750)
*Vivaldi (It., violinist,
composer, priest, 4 Seasons,
17-18c)
*Bach (Germ, Protestant,
organist, music director,
composer, Brandenburg
Concertos, Well-Tempered
Clavier, Goldberg Var., 1718c)
*Handel (Germ/Eng, oratorio
– Messiah, 17-18c)
Golden Age of Polyphony
-more consonant sounding
than Medieval, harmony
sounds more filled out (adds
3rds and 6ths)
-balance, blend of voices
-Word painting
-imitation
-modal
-mainly vocal
Rise of Opera and
Instrumental Music
-Major, Minor scales
-voices + instruments
-elaborate, grand, ornate
-coloratura
-pulsating rhythms, regular
meter
-texture: generally chordal &
polyphonic (i.e. fugues)
-monody in early opera
-mel+accomp in later opera
Vocal: Mass, Motet, Madrigal,
Instr: some dance music but
didn’t see this in class …(instr.
used in secular music but not
usu. specified in the score)
-Cantus Firmus mass
-Protestant Reformation, then
Counter-Reformation
(Catholic response: protect
sacred space from
secularization, clarity of text)
-Musical styles becomes
increasingly international
-Increase in court patronage
Vocal: Cantata, Mass,
Oratorio, Opera
Instr: Concerto Grosso, Solo
Concerto, Prelude & Fugue,
CHURCH + COURT
CHURCH + COURT +
PUBLIC THEATRE
-Monody
-birth of opera
-First public opera house
(1637) in Venice
-basso continuo
-ritornello form
-fugues (subject/counter-sub.)
-strings instruments reach
tech. plateau
-harpsichord
-Da Capo Aria
CLASSICAL
(1750-1825)
Viennese School:
*Haydn (Esterhazy patrons,
jokster, father of the
Symphony & St.Qt, 18c)
*Mozart (elegant/exposed
music, prodigy, pianist,
composer, many genres,
famous Opera buffa, breaking
from patronage, 18c)
*Beethoven (transition ClassRom., independent artist,
dramatic, deaf, large scale
forms i.e. Symphony)
Rise of the Individual
-naturalness, simplicity
-symmetry & proportions
-major & minor scales
-melodic, lyrical
-mainly mel+accomp texture
-elegance, grace, refinement
-regular meter
-clear changes in dynamics
-established forms (sonata
form, rondo, theme and
variation, minuet & trio, etc.)
Vocal: opera (buffa & seria)recitatives & arias, mass
Instr: String quartets; Piano
trios; Symphony; Piano
sonatas
-Enlightenment->Reason,
Individualism
-Classicism->Proportion,
symmetry
-Early Romanticism->
personal expression
-Patronage increasingly varied
-Consolidation of modern
orchestras, and various
chamber ens.
-absolute music
COURT + (church) +
PUBLIC THEATRE &
CONCERT HALLS
Distinguishing features (for listening) according to time period:
Medieval (400-1450) – Plainchant & Organum
-open sonorities (open 5ths)
-less complete sounding harmony (hollow, pure)
-modal (church modes)
-parallel motion between voices
-hocket technique (hiccup effect: sharing 1 melody between 2 voices)
-sounds more foreign/exotic to our modern ears
Renaissance (1450-1600) – Motet, Madrigal, Mass, Early Opera
-fuller more consonant sounding than Medieval music (more 3rds and 6ths)
-modal (church modes)
-mainly a capella polyphonic music using imitation (imitative polyphony)
-often starts and ends the piece with open 5ths, but the rest uses harmonies that
use at least 3 notes at a time (more filled in)
-up to Josquin (pretty ornate); then late Palestrina (more conservative, simplify,
clear text – Counter Reformation)
Baroque (1600-1750) – Concerto Grosso, Oratorio, Opera, Mass, Fugue,
Suite
-major/minor tonality
-early Baroque=monodic solo style (early Opera – recitative); late
Baroque=polyphonic, linear/horizontal dimension
-music combining voices & instruments (vs. a capella of earlier music)
-often has a steady, chugging rhythm
-more grand, elaborate (barocco=irregular pearl – opulence)
-basso continuo
-equal temperament (tuning allowing for music to be written in any key)
-contrapuntal (i.e. fugues)
-continuous melody often with wide leaps, chromatic tones for emotional effect
-usually continuous tone color throughout a movement (1 affect for the entire
movement)
Classical (1750-1825) – Sonata, Symphony, String Quartet, Opera, Concerto
-symmetrical melodies, balanced phrases, tuneful, mainly conjunct, lyrical,
elegance, grace
-major and minor tonality; diatonic harmony (emphasis on tonic and dominant
which allows for large scale form)
-regular meter
-mainly homophonic texture (chordal, vertical dimension)
-larger forms
-continuous changing dynamics (lots of crescendo and decrescendo)
-changing tone colors between sections of the work
-emotional balance and restraint
Elements of Music:
PITCH: the highness/lowness of a sound (i.e. frequency, hz)
• note: a single pitch (smallest unit of sound)
• interval: the distance between two consecutive or simultaneous notes (1 after another or at the same time) – can be
narrow or wide.
• phrase: a subsection of a melody (i.e. an 8 measure melody can be divided into 2 phrases of 4 measures). This is
similar to the concept of a phrase in a sentence. It is a clear syntactical grouping, but is not complete on it’s own.
• melody: the musical line/tune – a coherent chain of notes grouped together in succession, with a clear beginning
and end.
***When discussing a melody, one can describe its:
a) Range: narrow, medium, wide (distance between lowest and highest pitches of a melody)
b) Contour: ascending, descending, wavelike, arch (overall shape of the melody)
c) Flow: conjunct (small connected intervals, up to ca. 3rd), disjunct (large leaping intervals, by 4ths or more)
HARMONY: the simultaneous sounding of notes in chords which are structured in progressions (this adds depth &
directionality to music while supporting the melody) *The ebb & flow of tension and release.
• chord: 3 or more notes sounding simultaneously (usually built from a particular scale), the triad (3 note
chord) is the most common chord found in Western classical music
• harmonic progression: the logical movement/relationship from one chord to the next
*Depending on the scales (pitch collections) used, the harmony of a piece can usually be described as:
a) modal (church modes - usually the case for Medieval & Renaissance music)
b) tonal (Major or Minor, used to describe most music from the Baroque through to the Romantic era)
*N.B. tonic=1st note of the scale, the “home” note, the most structurally important note in the piece;
the dominant (scale degree 5) is the second most frequented and structurally important pitch.
c) atonal (20c music, no central pitch or sense of “home” key)*no hierarchy of pitch, all pitches are
equally important
*We can also talk about consonance and dissonance (a general way of describing moments within harmony)
i. Consonance: stable, concordant, pleasant sounding (relaxed)
ii. Dissonance: unstable, discordant, “clashing” or “crunchy” sounding (tense)
-N.B. What we hear as being consonant or dissonant has changed over time. What we accept as being consonant in the 20c
is quite different from what people considered to be consonant in the Middle Ages.
RHYTH: the controlled movement of musical time
• beat: basic unit of rhythm, a regularly occurring unit of time (heart beat or pulse, what you tap your foot to)
• meter: organization of beats into a recurring pattern of strong and weak beats (how the beats are grouped)
a) **duple meter (grouped in 2s: ONE two, ONE two)…a march (The Ants go Marching 1 by 1…)
b) **triple meter (grouped in 3s ONE two three, ONE two three)…a waltz or minuet, dance-like
(oom-pa-pa)
c) **quadruple meter (grouped in 4s: ONE two Three four, ONE two Three four) *strong downbeat, with a
secondary accent on the third beat, most pop tunes=quadruple meter i.e. Imagine (Beatles)
d) compound meter (divided into multiple groups of 3: i.e. groups of 6 or 9 beats)
ONE two three Four five six, ONE two three Four five six - i.e.: Greensleeves
• syncopation: stressing a normally unstressed beat or rest, interrupting the regular flow of the rhythm
TEMPO: speed of the beat (pace of the music) – how fast or slow the music is
a) Slow (adagio, largo)
b) Medium (moderato, andante andantino)
c) Fast (allegro, presto, vivace, prestissimo)
d) Getting faster, accelerating (accelerando)
e) Getting slower (ritardando)
DYNAMICS: how loud or soft a given moment of music is (volume/intensity)
a) soft (pianissimo, piano) PP or P
b) medium (mezzo piano, mezzo forte) MP or MF
c) loud (forte, fortissimo) F or FF
d) getting louder (crescendo) < ; getting softer (decrescendo) >
TONE COLOR/TIMBRE: the quality of a musical note or sound that makes it particular/unique… descriptive adjectives
(for example: the tone color of the oboe is more nasal than the pure tone of a flute, even if they play the exact same
frequency) i.e. bright, warm, ringing, hollow, brassy, dark, delicate, thin, rich, nasal, mellow, metallic…
TEXTURE: the effect of the sound’s surface (the fabric of the music, how “thick” or “busy” it is) – can be a local
moment-by-moment description or a global overall description
a) Monophonic (1 melody, everyone plays/sings the exact same music, N.B. can be more than 1 singer, but in
unison) i.e. chant
b) Melody and accompaniment (often with chordal accompaniment); here there is a sense of hierarchy of roles:
1 main melody, with the rest playing a supporting role (foreground-background).
c) Polyphonic (2 or more simultaneous melodies), Independence of line is key idea: each line is important and in
the foreground; polyphonic textures usually makes use of imitation: where a clear melodic idea is past from
one voice to another
d) homorhythmic (everyone plays the same rhythm at the same time)
e) Chordal (like homorhythmic, except that all voices play different notes of a chord) *often found alongside as
a contrasting texture to a polyphonic passage
FORM: the organization of music over time (how it is structured architecturally) – we can describe the global structure of
a piece, or the local structure of a melody or section
a) binary form (A B or with repeats AA BB, or AB/AB) ex: Brahms Lullaby
b) rounded binary form (A / B A’) *form in 2 principal sections, in which the second section ends
with a return to material from the first ex: Deck the Halls (each verse is locally A BA’, but note that
this piece is globally strophic because we repeat the same music for every verse)
c) ternary form (A B A) (also the form of minuets: Minuet-Trio-Minuet) three distinct sections with a
contrasting middle and where the 3rd section repeats the 1st. ex: Haydn’s Symphony no.95, 3rd mvt,
Menuetto
d) through-composed (1 continuous flow of music from the start to the finish, very little discernible
repetition of material) ex: Schubert’s Erlkonig & in some madrigals
e) ritornello form (AxAyAz etc) alternating a ritornello (refrain - always the same musical material)
with episodes (often played by the soloist/s), typical form for the 1st movement of a Baroque concerto
or concerto grosso ex: Brandenburg Concerto no.5 mvt.1 by Bach or Spring from the Four Seasons
mvt.1 by Vivaldi
f) rondo form (ABACA, ABACABA etc) evolved out of ritornello form, used more in the Classical
period ex: Rondo Alla Turca, from Sonata K331 by Mozart
g) sonata form: exposition, development, recapitulation (a version of ABA’) usually used in the first
movements of symphonies and for instrumental sonatas, developed during the Classical Period. Ex:
Symphony no.40 in G minor, k.550, Mozart
h) strophic form (only vocal) (A, A1, A2, A3 etc) ex: Deck the Halls, It came upon a midnight clear
etc (songs in which the same music is used for every verse)
i) da capo aria form (only for arias-vocal) (ABA or ABA’, n.b. return of A is often ornamented) ex:
Handel’s Julius Caesar, Aria “La giustizia”
j) variation form (A, A’, A”, etc) the same theme comes back over and over again, but with each
repetition the composer varies the material gradually transforming and embellishing it ex: Bach’s
Goldberg Variations
ARTICULATION: how the notes are or are not joined together (performance technique: the sense of continuity between
notes or sounds)
-legato (smooth); staccato (detached, short, dry); pizzicato (plucked strings); accent (placing a stress/emphasis on a note)
TEXT SETTING: (for vocal music only-how many notes per syllable?)
a. Syllabic (1 note/syllable) *especially used in recitative in opera to get through the action, also commonly found in
the Credo of the mass (listing off all of the beliefs – the creed)
b. Neumatic (2-6 notes/syllable)
c. Melismatic (>6 notes/syllable)*highly ornamented, words are very stretched out, sometimes even hard to identify
Also: *Is there any word painting (illustration of the text’s meaning in the music)?
*How does the music relate to the text?
INSTRUMENTATION: (what instruments are playing? how many musicians?)
a) solo (just one person playing)
b) chamber (a small group: at least 2 people playing and up)
c) orchestral (a very large ensemble composed of various instruments…this changes in size and content
throughout music history)
*Main families of the orchestra: (see pg.52 of text book)
-STRINGS (violin, viola, cello, double bass, sometimes harp)
-WINDS (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon)
-BRASS (French horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba)
-PERCUSSION (timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, gong, marimba, vibraphone, etc)
(or how many people are singing? Can you distinguish who is singing? Is it 1 person per part or numerous people
per part?)
N.B.
GENRE vs. FORM:
o Genre=Type of piece (category)
! i.e. mystery novel (=category of novel) – i.e. madrigal (=category of polyphonic vocal work)
o vs. Form =how the composer organizes musical time structurally (which enables musical
comprehension)…how the piece is constructed (are there repetitions? Are there contrasting sections? Etc)
! I.e. Concerto=genre (a category in which a soloist or group of soloists is put in opposition vs.
the whole ensemble)
! vs. Ritornello form=form (how material is organized; somewhat like elements of plot, but often
we use repetition in music; AxAyAz…)