Music 100
Unit One
Dynamics- loudness or softness
Loudness- relative to amplitude and vibration
Accents- tone of loudness and/or emphasis
Pianissimo- very soft (pp)
Piano- soft (p)
Mezzo Piano- medium soft (mp)
Mezzo Forte- medium loud (mf)
Forte- loud (f)
Fortissimo- very loud (ff)
*extremes use *fff* and *ppp*
Descrendo- gradually softer (<)
Cresendo- gradually louder (>)
Tone- dynamic level with relation
Tone Colour aka Timbre (Tam-Ber) – quality of the sound (flute vs trumpet)
Tone:
-bright, dark, brilliant, mellow, rich.
- creates contrast
Voices
Women:
Soprano
Mezzo-soprano
Alto (Contralto)
Men:
Tenor
Baritone
Bass
Orchestra:
Strings
Woodwinds
Brass
Percussion
Full Orchestra (Tutti) – Everyone is performing
Form- theme and variation
Texture- combination of instruments
Female Voices:
Soprano
Mezzo Soprano
Alto(Contralto)
Male Voices:
Tenor
Baritone
Bass
SATB
Concert Master- assists the conductor, he leads strings, and tunes the orchestra.
Strings: all have 4 strings, played with a bow or plucked, strings are the largest section.
- Violin- small rests on shoulder (soprano/alto)
- Viola- larger rests on shoulder, medium (tenor)
-Violoncello- large, player sits, low (baritone)
- Double Bass- huge, player stands or sits on stool, very low (bass)
VibratoPizzicatoTremeloDouble StopMuteLegadoStaccatoMaurice ravel-> bolero
FanfareIdiomaticWoodwinds: use air to make sound, originally made out of wood, often have solo
melodies.
- Flute & piccolo- airy, predecessor of the recorder (high)
- Oboe- oboe & English horn, full rich sound, others tune to it, uses double reed, distinct
mellow sound (lower)
- Clarinet- bass clarinet & clarinet, single reed, distinct sound (low and high)
- Basson- bassoon & contrabassoon, double reed, heavy full sound (low)
- Saxaphone- woodwind & brass, not a member of the smymphony orchestra
Percussion: struck with hands or sticks
Definite Pitch:
-timpani
-glockenspiel
-xylophone
-celesta
-chimes
Indefinite Pitch:
-snare drum
-bass drum
-tambourine
-triangle
-cymbals
-gong (tam-tam)
Brass: sound is regulated by lip tension and valves or slides, funnel shaped mouth piece,
exception of saxophone.
- Trumpet- valve, brilliant sounds (high)
- French Horn- valve, held in arm, mellow sound, hard to recognize (high & low)
- Trombone- slide pushed in and out, thick sound, jazz.
- Tuba- valve, foundation of brass family. (Euphonium= tenor) (Tuba/Baritone
horn=LOW)
- Saxaphone- used in wind, jazz, & brass family, single reed.
Rhythm
Rhythm- refers to length of duratipn of individual beats, regular pulse or units of time.
Bar/Measure- a group of beats put together
Bar line- divides the group of beats in written music
Beats- pulses per bar (specific patterns)
Hierarchy of beats- strong or weak
Downbeat- the first and strongest beat of the bar
Upbeat- signals performers to get ready
Syncopating- emphasis on weak beat
4 types of beat patterns:
1) Duple meter: count 1-2, 1-2, 1-2 (jingle bells)
2) Triple meter: count 1-2-3, 1-2-3 (god save our queen, waltzes)
3) Quadruple meter: count 1-2-3-4 (twinkle, twinkle)
4) Sextuple meter: 1-2-3-4-5-6 (row row your boat)
Notating Music
Staff- 5 horizontal lines
Manuscript paper- used for writing music
Clef:
Treble Clef- high instruments
Bass Clef- low instruments
Time signature- fraction (2/4, ¾, 4/4 [or C] 6/8)
Upper number- how many notes in a bar
Lower number- length of note
Key Signatures:
Flat- b
Sharps- # # or ¾
Ties- Signal not to play
Score- printed form of notated music, finctions like a musical map, read up and down
(WW, brass, percussion, harp, strings)
Musical Notes: named after letters on a keyboard, 7-8 notes
Notes:
Whole pie=whole note
½ pie= half note
¼ pie= quarter note
1/8 pie= eight note
1/16 pie= sixteenth note
Dotted notes- 1.5 times as long
Bar lines- rest
Writing:
Begins with the melody
1) often the highest and/or most prominent tune you hear
2) combines a longer series of single notes that move up and down either step by
step (one at a time) or leap (skip)
Melodies:
Motive- short melody
Phrase- several motives
Theme- several phrases
Cadence- signals the end of a piece, closing formula (church uses amen)
Scales: 7-12 consecutive pitches on a keyboard, key signature shows which scale its in
Minor Scale- predominately sad music (use 7 pitches)
Major Scale- predominately happy music (use 7 pitches)
Chromatic- uses all 12 pitches, similair to minor (used in oriental music)
Modulating- happens if composer switches scales
Harmony:
-when different pitches are played simotanelously
-dissonant harmonies sound tense
- Consonant harmonies sound restful
Harmony’s make chords
Chords- 3 or more tones together
Basic Chord- 1st+3rd+5th notes of a scale
Tonic- 1st note of a triad
Dominant- 5th note of a triad
Texture:
- Combinations or layers of music at once
- there can be multiple textures in a single piece
3 Basic Textures:
1) Monophonic- single, unaccompanied melody
- sung or played by one person or one section
2) Homophonic- melody and accompaniment
- solo singer & instrument or section of orchestra
- texture in western classical music
3) Polyphonic- multiple sounds
- at least 2 melodic lines/parts (rounds or cannon)
- 2 or more parts overlap and result in competing melodies
Counterpoint: competing melodies create a counterpoint (result contrapuntal music)
Musical Form:
1) repetition and contrast- dynamics (loud-soft)
- tempo (fast-slow)
- mode (minor or major theme)
2) variation- at times considerably altered versions of the theme
2 Basic Forms of Music:
Binary- A B or AA BB
Ternary- A B A