National 3 Musical Periods and Styles
Concepts
• Musical
Musical
• A musical play which has speaking, singing
and dancing and is performed on a stage.
• In recent years the musical has seen a revival
and may now deal with very dramatic stories
and contain no dialogue. Musicals use a more
'normal' singing voice than opera.
Wicked
The Lion King
Les Miserables
We Will Rock You
Re-cap
• Let’s re-cap on other concepts at National 3
level related to Musical Periods and Styles.
Ascending
• Ascending notes rise in pitch. Notes can ascend by
leap or stepwise.
Descending
• Descending notes fall in pitch. Notes can descend
by leap or stepwise.
Ostinato
• A short musical pattern repeated many times.
St Paul's Suite
Mars
Jupiter
Night on a Bald Mountain
Unfinished Symphony
Repetition
• An exact repeat of a musical idea. See
ostinato, riff.
• There is repetition in this piece – compare the
first two lines.
Hoedown
In the Hall of the
Mountain King
Question & Answer
What did you have for
dinner last night?
I had pizza for dinner
last night.
What did you do
when you got home
from school?
I went on my
computer when I
got home from school.
What did you watch
on tv last night?
I watched Eastenders
on tv last night.
Question & Answer
Musical sentences, or phrases, use the same
structure as English sentences. The answering rhythm
must balance the ‘questioning’ (the opening) rhythm.
Question and answer rhythms are found in all pieces
of music. Many samba pieces begin with question
and answer patterns between the leader and
different people from the group.
Task
Your teacher will go round the group clapping a short
question. You must try to clap back an answer which
balances the question. There are very few ‘wrong’
answers to this.
Question and Answer
• An opening phrase which is often followed by
an 'answer'. Question and answer phrases
tend to be of equal length and similar style.
Morning Mood
My Generation
Round
• Each part sings or plays the same melody, entering one
after the other. When they reach the end they start
again, eg Frere Jacques.
Round-ish
Frere Jacques
Frere Jacques II
Frere Jacques Clarinet
Chord
• Two or more notes sounding together (play a note,
miss a note, play a note, miss a note, play a note).
Axis of Awesome (clean)
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C D
Listening to chord changes
Related concept – chord change
Follow the pattern of a 12 bar blues on the next
slide and identify on what chord your teacher
stops the music.
Lonely Avenue - Ray Charles
Ray Charles- What'd I Say
Duffy – Mercy
The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode
I/C
I/C
I/C
I/C
IV/F
IV/F
I/C
I/C
V/G
IV/F
I/C
I/C
Dischord
• A chord in which certain notes clash.
Schoenberg
A chord – pleasant sounding
(play a note, miss a note, play a note,
miss a note, play a note)
A dischord – unpleasant sounding,
clashes
The Blues
• Blues started as Black American folk music,
developing from spirituals and work songs.
• Blues music is often in 4/4 time and is mostly
patterned on a 12-bar structure (although 8
and 16 bars are also found) and
on a scale where some notes are
flattened.
Muddy Waters
Robert Johnson
Big Maybelle
B.B. King
Blues Scale
Jazz
• At first this was music created by black
Americans in the early 20th century.
• Features of the music may include
syncopation and improvisation.
Benny Goodman
2013 Compilation
Glenn Miller
Woody Herman
Duke Ellington
Jools Holland
Improvisation
• The performer makes up music during the
actual performance. They don’t have the
melody written down to help, although there
may be suggested chords as a guide.
• Improvisation is an important feature of jazz
and popular music.
Three Blind Mice
Isn't She Lovely
Riff
• A repeated phrase usually found in jazz and
popular music. Keyboard riffs
• This illustration shows the guitar riff for a song
by The Kinks called 'You Really Got Me'. Notice
the repeat marks at the start and end of the
bar.
You Really Got Me
Back in Black
I Believe in a Thing Called Love
Ice Ice Baby
Another One Bites the Dust
Hall of Fame
Rock ’n’ Roll
• 1950s American music which grew from the
combined styles of jazz, blues, gospel and
country.
Jailhouse Rock
Rock Around The Clock
Medely with Cliff Richard
Pop
• A style of popular music played by a group of
musicians.
Dancing Queen
Barbie Girl
The One That Got Away
Rock
• A style of popular music with a heavy, driving
beat. Usually features electric guitar, bass
guitar and drum kit
Use Somebody
How You Remind Me
Dream On
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Musical
• A musical play which has speaking, singing and
dancing and is performed on a stage.
• In recent years the musical has seen a revival and
may now deal with very dramatic stories and
contain no dialogue. Musicals use a more
'normal' singing voice than opera.
Wicked
The Lion King
We Will Rock You
Les Miserables
Scottish
• Music of Scotland.
Capercaillie Instruments
Folk Groups
• A group of singers and instrumentalists who
perform traditional music from a particular
country, eg Scotland and Ireland. Scottish folk
music instruments might include fiddle, whistle,
guitar, accordion and pipes (see ‘Scottish’).
Mumford and Sons
The Corrs
Latin American Music
• Dance music from South America. Percussion
instruments provide lively off-beat dance
rhythms.
Gloria Estefan
Jennifer Lopez
Mambo Italiano
Shakira