Music Appreciation:
The History of Rock
Chapter 1: Elements of Music
Music is…...
The art of combining tones or sounds
 Organizing sound (melody, harmony,
words, rhythms, and beat) to please the
human ear.
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Listening types:
Passive listening: Listening to music while
doing other things.
 Active listening: Listening to music while
directly paying attention to it.
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Why the Study of Music is
Important:
1) Part of our daily lives (know more
about everyday things)
 2) Soothes and Relaxes the soul (music
therapy philosophies)
 3) Allows us to communicate better with
our fellow man
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The Six Major Elements of Music
1)
 2)
 3)
 4)
 5)
 6)
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Sound
Harmony
Melody
Rhythm
Form
Text (Words)
1) Sound
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Includes source/instrumentation, timbre
(tone color), texture and volume
The Four areas used to identify
SOUND in Rock Music are:
1) Source (instrumentation)- what is being
played, what is used to contribute to the
types of sounds
 2) Timbre (tone color)- think of the
adjectives you’d use to describe a voice.
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Sound…continued.
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3) Texture
 Monophonic- single voice or instrument
 Unison- same melody, same notes and pitch
 Homophonic- principal line with one or more
instruments/voices as backup to that line.
 Polyphonic- several melodies occurring all at once in
different parts or instruments.
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4) Volume- dynamic level (soft or loud).
 Crescendo-
gradually louder
 Decrescendo or diminuendo- gradually softer
2) Harmony
The way that sounds are combined to
create a piece of music.
 The use of intervals (scales) and chords
that add depth to the musical line.
 Chord progression- the combination of
sounds (notes like F, A, C create a major
chord, etc.)
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Scales- from scala in Italian,
meaning “ladder”
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Provides the basic harmonic and melodic material for a
given piece of music.
A selection of pitches within the interval of an octave.
Major scales (diatonic) pattern: WWhWWWh in steps.
Tonic- the home key, original note.
Semitone- a half-step (ex. Bb to B, one note to the next
on a piano) Also called chromatic.
Whole step- two half-steps
Enharmonic- Same note, different name, like A# and Bb.
Chords
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Harmony occurs when two different notes are
played simultaneously. Three or more pitches at
the same time produce a chord.
The first, third and fifth notes of a scale form a
chord. Same for the 2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.
Tonic chord- based on the first scale degree.
Dominant chord- based on the fifth scale
degree.
Subdominant chord- based on the fourth scale.
Chord progressions
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Most rock progressions follow the progression
of: I, IV, V, I
Many country songs use the same.
Blues progressions- 12 bar blues is very
common (in Chapter 2)
A common, but more complex chord pattern is
called a descending minor progression: Tonic, to
Subtonic, to Submediant, to Dominant.
Modal progressions
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Modes are based on scales, but they start on
different notes of the scale.
Ionian (C-C) – also called the Major scale
Dorian (D-D)
Phrygian (E-E)
Lydian (F-F)
Mixolydian (G-G)
Aeolian (A-A) – also called the minor scale
Locrian (B-B)
3) Melody
A musical line that has a succession of
single notes that have a beginning, middle
and an end.
 In melodies, look for:
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 Range
(wide or narrow)
 Motion (conjunct or disjunct)
 Shape (ascending, descending or static)
4) Rhythm
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Relationship between music and time- the “heartbeat” of
music.
Tempo is known as the musical pace.
Meter is the way in which pulses are organized. Beats
are organized into measures.
Three levels of musical time:
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Background time- pulse or beat
Middle-ground time- meter and tempo, duple, triple, quadruple
Foreground time- the surface rhythm, short and long durations
that give a melody it’s character. Syncopation- occurs when a
strong beat occurs on a weak beat.
5) Form

Design and structure of a musical work. It helps
the listener keep track of the units of music that
are used to make a song.
 Standard
form: most often AABA, ABAB, or ABAC
 Strophic form: Verses set to the same music, but the
words change verse to verse. (Think about Blues and
Folk Songs)
 Through-Composed form: Follows the form of the
text or words. There is no repetition of previouslyheard material.
6) Text (words)
Convey and idea which the listener can
relate to his or her life.
 Two things we look for in song text are:
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 The
sentiment (emotions or feelings) and the
mode (the way the song is presented- as a
narrator, 3rd person) of the text. The verb
tense informs the listener as to when the
action of the song takes place.
Five families of musical
instruments:
1)
 2)
 3)
 4)
 5)
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Woodwind
Brass
Percussion (keyboards also)
Stringed
Electronic
Musical Advancements by
Technology
1) Recording Industry- Invention of the
grammaphone, records, radio, tape/8
tracks, CD and .mp3 files
 2) Use of synthesizers and electronics in
performance and recording.
 3) Computers (creating, writing, producing
and playback)
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Scientific classifications of Musical
Instruments:
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1) Idiophones- vibrating mass of material (most
percussion instruments). Usually struck,
shaken, plucked or rubbed.
2) Membranophones- sound produced by
vibrating skin (percussion instruments)
3) Aerophones- movement of air causes
vibrations
 1.
Brass- vibration of lips/air in a mouthpiece
 2. Reed- vibration of reed by air
 3. Flutes/Whistles- air column vibrates, splits.
Scientific classifications of Musical
Instruments continued….
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4) Chordophones- string vibrates to
produce a sound
 1)
Zithers
 2) Lutes
 3) Lyres
 4) Harps
Scientific classifications of Musical
Instruments continued
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5) Electrophones- sound is produced by
electric means
 1) Amplification
 2)
Generating frequencies
 3) Differences of 2 frequencies
 4) Digital means- assigned to a frequency
(MIDI)