Unit 1 Notes

Chapter 1 - Rhythm, Meter, and Tempo

Rhythm: The actual arrangement of durations in a particular melody or some other musical passage.

Beats: The basic unit of measurement of time in music. Beats serve as a stable and vigorous background for more complex and intricate rhythms that are discerned at the same time. 

Accent: Beats that receive more emphasis than others.

Meter: A strong/weak pattern that is repeated continuously

Measure/Bar: A segment of time corresponding to a specific number of beats in  which each beat is represented by a particular note value and the boundaries of the bar are indicated by vertical bar lines.

Duple Meter: Where beats are grouped into twos or in fours. 

Triple Meter: Where beats are grouped into threes. 

Simple Meter: When the main beats are divided into two. 

Compound Meter: When the main beats are divided in three. 

Syncopation: A temporary displacement of the regular metrical accent in music caused typically by stressing the weak beat. 

Tempo: The rate which the basic regular beats of a meter follow one another

Metronome: An electrical or mechanical device that ticks out beats at any desired tempo. 

Chapter 2 - Pitch, Dynamics, and Tone Color

Frequency: The rate of sound vibration.

Pitch: Quality of sound.

Amplitude: The level of strength of sound vibrations.

Dynamics: The level of sound. Like the indications for tempo, the terms for dynamics are in Italian. Examples: forte = loud, piano = soft, and mezzo = medium.

Tone Color / Timbre: The perceived sound quality of a musical note, tone or sound. 

Overtones: Musical tones that are part of a harmonic series above a fundamental note and may be heard with it. 

Pizzicato: A playing technique that involves the plucking of a stringed instrument. 

Four Different Groups of Voices:

  • Soprano 
  • Alto 
  • Tenor
  • Bass

Instrument Families Examples:

  • Strings: Violin, viola, cello, double bass, and harp. 
  • Woodwinds: Flute, piccolo, recorder, clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, English horn, bassoon, and saxophone. 
  • Brass: Trombone, trumpet, French Horn, Tuba. 

*Pitches are calibrated scientifically, and most European-style orchestras tune to a pitch with a frequency of 440 cycles. They are also given names, a pitch with a frequency of 440 cycles is called "Pitch A". 

 

Chapter 3 - Scales and Melody

Scale: A collection of pitches assembled into a specific sequence.

Interval: The distance between any two pitches.

Octave: The distance of two pitches being eight notes apart from each other. Example, a middle C and a high C. 

Melody: An organized series of pitches. 

Motive/Theme: A distinctive fragment of a melody that reoccurs later in a piece. 

Diatonic Scale:

A western scale that has seven pitches within an octave. For an example, the C major scale is a diatonic scale. 

Chromatic Scale: A scale that uses all 12 tones on the keyboard. (All white and black notes within an octave). 

Sequence: The restatement of a motif or a harmonic passage at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice. 

Climax: A distinct high point in a piece.

Cadence: A progression of chords or notes that conclude a phrase, section or piece of music. 

Whole Step: Otherwise known as a whole tone, a whole step is equivalent to two half steps, for instance, a C to a D is a whole step. 

Half Step: The distance between any two successive notes of the chromatic scale. 

Tune: A special kind of melody. A tune could be a popular christmas carol, or a folk song. 

Phrase: Smaller sections of a piece. 

 

Chapter 4 - Harmony, Texture, Tonality, Mode

Chapter 4 Notes

Harmony: The combination of different pitches to produce chords and chord progressions.

Chord: A grouping of simultaneous pitches that work well in a combination.

Consonance: A combination of notes that are in harmony with each other due to their relationship between their frequencies.

Dissonance: Lack of harmony among musical tones. (Opposite of consonance). 

Resolution: When dissonance is resolved. 

Texture: The way the various and melodic lines occuring together in music interact or blend with one another. 

Monophony: A simple texture, or an unaccompanied melody. 

Homophonic: When there is only one melody that is combined with less prominent sounds. 

Polyphony: When the melodies are felt to be independent and approximately equal interest. 

Counterpoint: The technique of writing two or more melodies that fit together. 

Imitative Polyphony: When various lines sounding together use the same or fairly similar melodies in a sequential manner. 

Non-Imitative Polyphony: When the melodies are different from one another. 

Tonality: The homing instinct that is sensed in music. 

Tonal: The arrangement of pitches of pitches or chords that work in a hierarchy of perceived relations, stability, and attractions. 

Modality: The different ways of centering and organizing the diatonic scale. 

Keys: The different positions of modes. 

Modulation: The changes of a tonic or a home pitch. 

Chapter 5 - Musical Form and Style

Form: An important concept that refers to the shape, arrangement, or organization of various elements. 

Style: The combination of qualities that make a composition distinctive. 

Accompaniment: A musical part that supports or partners a solo instrument, group, or voice. 

Elements of Form Examples:

  • Dynamics
  • Rhythm 
  • Tone color
  • Melody
  • Texture
  • Harmony

Main Musical Forms: 

  • ABA Form
  • Ground bass
  • Fugue
  • Ritornello
  • Baroque dance form
  • Sonata form
  • Minuet form
  • Rondo form
  • Double-exposition form 
  • Theme and variations

Main Musical Genres:

  • Baroque concerto
  • Concerto grosso
  • Suite
  • Oratorio
  • Church Cantata
  • Sonata
  • Symphony

Genre: A general category or kind of music.

 

*Over the centuries, musicians have been able to create long and impressive pieces because of form: symphonies, gamelan, operas, gagaku orchestra, etc. 

 

 


unit 1 Screenshots

musical elements application

Ricketts Hornpipe - Colonial America

The instrumentation for this piece sounds like it is composed up of a fiddle and guitar. The piece is in a very upbeat tempo, and it fills me with energy.

Valkaries - Wagner

This piece's instrumentation sounds like it is composed up of an entire orchestra. The dynamics for the piece are forte, and the piece sounds majestic and grandiose. 

Prelude in C - Bach

The prelude in C is Bach's first prelude in his Well-Tempered Clavier collection. The recording of the piece is played by a piano, and it is taken at a leisurely pace. The prelude makes me feel very calmed and soothed. 

Ave Maris Stella - Hymn

The hymn's pitches range doesn't go too low, the pitches stay in a moderate/high range. The changes and the cadences of the pitches reflect the key of the piece. For an example, the entire piece is in minor, but the picardy cadence in the end of the piece causes the last cord to be major. 

Stars and Stripes Forever - Sousa

This march is constructed for a concert band - some of the instruments include: piccolo, flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor baritone, trumpet, french horn, trombone, baritone, tuba, percussion, mallet percussion, and timpani. The mood is very cherry and the tempo is situated at an allegro. The dynamics change constantly throughout the piece as well, for an example, the piccolo solis are piano, while the end of the piece is fortissimo. The march has a duple meter, and the timbre changes constantly. When the entire band plays, it sounds very brassy, but when woodwind sections have solis, it can sound silky and soothing. 

In The Hall of the Mountain King - Grieg

This piece's tempo begins at around a largo tempo, and continuously gets faster throughout the piece; the same occurs with dynamics. The initial dynamics are at piano, and the piece crescendos throughout, ending at a fortissimo. 

Short Ride on a Fast Machine - Adams

The piece is constructed in a minimalistic form. Adams experiments with a lot of rhythmic dissonance. Throughout the piece, he introduces polyrhythms that disrupt the metronomic pattern that the woodblock plays. The woodwinds and brass play the biggest part for creating a brassy yet airy timbre in the piece. 

Symphony No. 40 - Mozart 

It feels like the symphony is grouped into two beats per measure. The cellos play eight eight notes per measure, which makes it easy to divide the measure into two beats. 

Symphony No. 94 - Haydn

The symphony sounds like it is grouped into three beats per measure. 

Song X - Metheny & Coleman

This was an interesting piece to listen to. The emotional response that I got from it was that I felt electrified from the insanely fast tempo, syncopations, and instrument composition. The composition consists of bass, drums, electric piano, and saxophone, and the style of the piece is fusion-jazz. The piece almost sounds polyphonic from the clashing melodies that the piano and saxophone spew at each other. 

Bolero - Ravel

The order of the instruments that have solos in Bolero are 1) flute, 2) clarinet, 3) bassoon, 4) e-flat clarinet, 5) oboe, 6) trumpet. 

Rondo Alla Turca - Mozart

This last movement of Mozart's 11th piano sonata consists of five sections. The tonality of the piece changes in specific sections, for an example, section A begins in A minor, while section C changes to A major, (arpeggiated chord accompaniment section). The form of the piece is in rondo. 

Es Primavera - Vivaldi

The motif of this movement tends to reappear right after sections when only specific instruments are playing in the concerti. For an example, the motif is reintroduced after the one minute mark when the violins and cellos are playing. I noticed that the dynamics in this piece stay at a mezzo piano, which causes it to be very tranquil and calm. However, the reinstatement of motifs and themes in the piece usually always seem to have different dynamics from each other. The instrumentation is all strings. It has violins, violas, and cellos. The tempo is taken at a very leisurely pace, and makes the mood and expression very non chant. The harmonies of all of the strings creates a rich tone. 

Two Part Invention - J.S Bach

The texture for this invention is polyphonic.