Chapter 3: Color, Texture, and Form
Dynamics:
How loud or soft the music is
• Terminology in Italian
Term
Musical Symbol
Definition
Fortissimo
ff
Very loud
Forte
f
Loud
Mezzo forte
mf
Moderately loud
Mezzo piano
mp
Moderately soft
Piano
p
Soft
Pianissimo
pp
Very soft
Color
• Color / Timbre
• Voice: Classified by range into 4 parts
– Soprano, (Mezzo soprano), Alto, Tenor, (Baritone),
Bass
Musical Instruments
• Instrument families have the same basic shape and
are made of the same materials
– Strings, woodwinds, brasses, percussion, keyboard
Strings
• Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass (Listening Guide, p. 36)
– Core of the Western symphony orchestra
– Different string playing techniques
•
•
•
•
Vibrato:
Pizzicato:
Tremolo:
Trill:
• Harp:
• Glissando:
• Arpeggio:
Woodwinds
• Flute:
• Piccolo:
• Clarinet:
• Oboe:
• English horn:
• Bassoon:
– Contrabassoon: The lowest instrument of the orchestra
• Saxophone:
• Listening Guide: pg. 37-38
Brasses
• Trumpet:
• Mute: A plug placed in the bell of the instrument to lessen the sound
•
•
•
•
Trombone:
French horn:
Tuba:
Listening Guide, pg. 38
Percussion
• Some percussion instruments are pitched
– Timpani: percussion instrument most often heard in classical
music
• Non-pitched percussion instruments:
– Snare Drum, Bass drum, Cymbals
Keyboard Instruments
• Pipe organ:
– Stop:
Keyboard Instruments
Harpsichord
• Most popular during the
Baroque Era
Piano
• Invented around 1700
The Symphony Orchestra
• Originated during the seventeenth century
• Early 18th century: 15-25 musicians
• Late 18th century: 25-80 musicians
• 19th century: around 100 musicians
• Around 1800, a conductor became necessary as
ensembles expanded and pieces became more complex
– Orchestral score:
• Listening Cue: Practice identifying instruments of the
orchestra on CourseMate Listening Exercise 3.1
Texture
• Texture:
• Vincent Van Gogh’s Branch of an Almond Tree in
Blossom (1890)
Three Primary Textures in Music
• Monophony:
• Unison:
• Homophony:
• Polyphony:
• Counterpoint:
Identifying Texture
• The “Hallelujah” chorus from The Messiah by
George Frideric Handel (pg. 45)
FORM
• Form:
• Use of statement, repetition, contrast, and variation
Five Favorite Musical Forms
• Strophic Form: AA
– Listening example: pg. 47 (“Lullaby” by Brahms”)
• Theme and Variations: A A1 A2 A3 A4
– Listening example: pg. 48 (“Variations on Twinkle
Twinkle” by Mozart)
• Binary Form: A B
– Listening example: pg. 48 (“Andante” from
The Surprise Symphony by Haydn)
• Ternary Form: A B A
– Listening example: pg. 49 (“Dance of the
Reed Pipes” from The Nutcracker by
Tchaikovsky)
• Rondo Form: ABACA or ABACABA
– Listening example: pg. 50 (“Rondeau” by Mouret)