Exam 1

Chord progression

A chord progression is a series of two or more chords in a piece of music. They are typically labeled by roman numerals and are denoted by the key of the chord. A chord progression does not have a melody as the melody is given by the individual piece of music.

Clef (meaning and origins)

A clef is a notation expressed on the far left of a staff which denotes the range expressed by the staff. There are four clefs; G, alto, tenor, and bass clef. All four clefs originated from their respective medieval letters. For example, the alto clef, also known as a C clef, evolved from the medieval letter "C."

What is concertato and what did it make possible?

A concertato is when instruments from differing families play together. This was made possible by the advancements in instrumental technology in the 17th century.

The dot

A dot is notation put immediately to the right of a note that indicates a 50% increase in the duration of a note. For example, a half note (two beats) with a dot would be assigned three beats. These dots can also be used with rests and have the same function as with notes.

Flags and beams

A flag is musical notation on an eighth note or shorter, which resembles a tail on the end of the note. When many short notes are together, having many short notes consecutively in a piece will make it hard to read flags, so they are often combined into a beam, which is a solid line connecting the notes together to make the sheet music more legible.

What is a consort, when did it come into common use and why, and what types of consorts were there in the late Renaissance?

A group of musicians that plays music for members of the upper class. This came into common use in the late Renaissance/ early Baroque period because it made for louder music that people could dance to. Throughout this time the types of consorts consisted of a string quartet and a broken consort which consisted of different instruments like lutes, flutes, and strings.

Phrase (features and relation to spoken language)

A phrase is a short sample of speech that presents our ideas. They contain pauses that have meaning reflected in writing such as semicolons, commas, and periods. Phrase also occurs in music and rhythm determines the flow of the phrase.

What is a resonating chamber and what are the different types?

A place where the of the sound wave is created by converting the vibrations to be sent through the air. This effects the sound and pitch made by the wave.

Rests (function, duration, names)

A rest is a time for the musician to rest, or a time when no notes are played. The whole rest is assigned four beats, the same amount as a whole note, the half rest corresponds to the half note, etc. Half is top Whole is below Quarter is squiggly

What is a "riff?" What is a "riff tune?"

A riff is a motive that is repeated on different pitches, and a riff tune is the melody produced by this repetition of the same pattern of music.

Symphony vs string quartet - Describe each performance group, then talk about the similarities and differences of the music each of these groups produces.

A string quartet is composed of a viola, cello, and two violins. A symphony orchestra contains a body of string instruments, as well as woodwinds, brasses, and percussion instruments. Unlike string quartets, symphony orchestras contain a much wider variety of instruments and many more musicians playing the pieces. Both the string quartet and a symphony orchestra have string instruments as the main focus.

How is the symphony orchestra physically organized, and why? What are the types of instruments represented? Why is are there so many of one type but only a few of another?

A symphony orchestra is organized into sections based on the capability of the instruments and and importance of the instruments to the piece being played. The string instruments are normally the most important, so they would be located in the front of the arrangement. Woodwinds, brass, and percussion instruments are typically behind the string instruments because they are louder than the strings. The number of instruments of a certain type is based on the loudness of the individual instrument, so louder instruments like percussion instruments will be smaller in number than string instruments.

Whole tone scales--nature, origin, and use?

A whole tone scale is made up of 6 notes, each of which is separated by a whole step. These two scales are C D E F# G# A# and C# D# F G A B. They originated in 19th century Russia, and lack a strong sense of key, so that are often used to conclude music pieces.

Accent (what does it do and where is it normally found?)

An accent is put on a note indicating that it should be played a little louder than the other notes. It is typically found on the first note.

What are atonality and dodecaphony? How are they related, and why did they evolve?

Atonality is the use of chromatic harmony without any reference to the traditional major and minor scales or any normal melodic contours or chord progressions. It can be thought of as an intentional use of dissonance, which was vastly different from other music pieces being created at the time. Dodecaphony is an attempt to make atonal sounds more unified so that they can be used more effectively, also called a twelve-tone system. Dodecaphony can be thought of as an evolution of the original concept of atonality, as it was an attempt at improving atonal sounds by their creator Schoenberg.

Beat (description and possible origin

Beat is a regular pulse in a musical piece. It typically begins at a certain rate and maintains the rate throughout the song. Tempo, which has a close meaning to beat, is the Italian world for time, which is most likely where the word originated.

Cadence and half cadence

Cadence is what occurs at the end of a phrase, and the music ends on the second or last phrase and then comes to an abrupt halt. Half cadence is a pause in the middle of phrase or a piece of music but it does not end the piece.

What is centonization and is it still a current procedure?

Centonization is the oldest method of building a melody, which was done by using motives. A motive was a fragment of music with an easily identifiable note pattern and rhythm. These motives are easily modifiable, and can be extended or contracted so that they can be concatenated to create a new melody. Typically, centonization is not used as it's original use was for creating music for old Jewish and Christian chants, although it is still sometimes used in the creation of jazz and blues music.

What is a chamber orchestra? What are the types of concerti and how do they impact the orchestra?

Chamber Orchestra is a small orchestra that plays classical music and the types of concerti are solo concerti and concerto grosso. They impact the way instrumentalists perform at the orchestra by omitting certain instruments.

What is a chordophone?

Chordophones are instruments that use strings stretched between 2 points. This category includes keyboard instruments, lyres (guitars) and the harp.

Chromatic notes and enharmonic spelling (how are chromatic notes indicated in score and what is their impact upon the notes to which they are applied?)

Chromatic notes are indicated by sharp and flat notes. A sharp note, indicated by a "#", increases the pitch by a half step and a flat note, indicated by a "b" decreases the pitch by a half step. This means that a c sharp could also be the same as a d flat, so which one is used depends on the context of the music. If a chromatic note leads the melody downward in pitch, it will be indicated by a flat, and if it leads the melody upwards in pitch, it will be indicated by a sharp.

Church modes and relationship of church modes to major and minor scales

Church modes are scales of 7 notes, used as a basis for Christian chants in western Europe. There were four authentic nodes, called the Dorian, Phyrgian, Lydian, and Mixolydian. Each mode has a different feel to it, for example, the Phyrgian mode is often perceived as sounding like Spanish or even Arabian music. Two more modes, the Ionian and Aeolian, were the basis for the major and minor scales respectively.

Chord function--Consonance, Dissonance, and Resolution

Consonance describes sounds that are pleasing together and express a pleasant sense of stability. Dissonance is the opposite, it describes sounds that express tension and instability. Dissonant note progressions require a resolution to return to stability, which is just a return to a consonant note combination.

What is continuo? Who plays it and what does it do?

Continuo is a chord part of an instrument (harpsichord) and its play by the harpsichordists. The harpsichordists play all the chords in one piece.

What are the similarities and differences between the Dixieland band and the Swing or Big Band?

Difference- The dixieland band includes multiple instruments while the swing band includes one instrument of each type, different historical background. Similarities- Both uses the same instruments which are popularly used in marching bands.

How did the orchestra evolve and why throughout the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries?

During the 18th-20th centuries, the orchestra developed by adding a wider variety of instruments, creating new music pieces, and adding more musicians. Most evolution during the 18th and 19th century was due to innovations by composers such as new music and adding new instruments into their pieces. In the early 20th century, hardships due to wars caused the size of orchestras to decrease.

Harmonia-what is it and is it valid today?

Harmonia is the belief that the world can be explained by mathematical relations and numbers. Because random activity accounts for many events as has been shown by scientific investigation, harmonia is not entirely valid today, however it is still somewhat valid in that many if not most things in the world can be explained by numbers and math.

Interval

Interval is the distance between any two notes. For example, the interval between C and D is 2 notes (C-D), and the interval from A to G is 7(A B C D E F G). Interval is inclusive, meaning that you count the notes you are looking at in the interval.

What is isorhythm, its components, and its practitioners?

Isorhythm is comprised of a repeated melody, known as a color, and a repeated rhythm, known as a talea. Isorhythm stemmed from christian chants and the creativity of composers creating music to go with the chants. The most famous practitioner of Isorhythm is Guillaume Machaut, who was the leader in the composition of secular chants.

What are the basic instrument families and how do they differ one from another?

Keyboard, strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and synthesizers.

Ledger lines

Ledger lines are small lines added above or below the normal staff lines used when a note is higher or lower than can be shown on normal staff lines. This removes the need to create new clefs or have more staff lines and greatly increases the readability of sheet music.

Types of melodic motion

Melodic motion is how one note comes after another within a melody. The three types of melodic motion are step, leap, and repetition. Step is when a note scales into the next, either a note or half note away from the previous. Leap is when a note moves more than 1 step from the previous. Repetition is when the same note is played more than once consecutively.

Meter--Simple Types

Meter is a way to group notes in music. It is indicated at the beginning of a line of staff next to the clef. The simple meters, duple, triple and quadruple all use a 4 as their denominator, indicating that a quarter note is assigned one beat. The duple meter, written as 2/4, indicates that there will be two beats within every measure (the vertical lines in the staff).

Types of musical texture

Musical texture is how tempo, harmony, and melody are combined in a piece. Monophonic texture- a single distinguishable part of a piece of music that can be played on any octave but has the same tone at the same time. Heterophonic texture- a simultaneous variation of a single melodic line. Polyphonic texture- simultaneous combination of two or more distinct melodies. Homophonic texture- when all parts of a piece of music have the same rhythm.

Paraphrase and thematic transformation

Paraphrase, also known as a thematic transformation, is when a melody is changed by adding or removing a note or more when the rhythm changes. Paraphrase is very common in centonization so that the fragments being pieced together will meld well.

Pentatonic scales and blue notes

Pentatonic scales are scales containing 5 notes rather than the typical 7 in a regular scale. The major scale is missing the 4th and 7th scale notes of a natural major scale. The minor pentatonic scale is missing the 2nd and 5th notes. The major and minor pentatonic scales play a very important and defining role in American folk music of the 19th century. A blue note is borrowing the thrid note from the minor pentatonic putting it over a major key.

Which instruments cross family lines?

Piano and Harpsichord cross family lines because they are in the keyboard family but they use strings as well.

What is pitch and how is it changed?

Pitch is how high or low a sound is. Pitch is changed by how fast the vibration is happening.

What is polytonality? Who are the main practitioners?

Polytonality is the use of two different keys simultaneously. These two keys are usually partitioned to different instruments, and the keys are chosen in such a way that they share a majority of notes to keep a good sound. The main practitioner of polytonality is Igor Stravinsky, who combined the C major and C minor keys in many pieces. Although he never explicitly stated it, he was likely influenced heavily by American jazz as well as African music.

What are the primary and secondary chords and their roles? Why are I, IV, and V so important?

Primary chords are chords I (C, E, G), IV (F, A, C), and V (G, B, D), and the examples are given in the C major key. Using these three chords, all notes in the scale of a given key are used. They can be used to harmonize a melody as long as it remains in a single key.

Pythagoras--his contribution and his methods

Pythagoras realized that sound was just vibrations at a variety of pitches. He used a monochord, a string stretched across a board, and divided the strings into different lengths discovering rations between the pitches. The length of the string was directly proportional to the produced pitch.

Rhythm (define and give examples)

Rhythm is the duration of each individual event within a piece of music and the patterns that these durations create. For example, the pattern of short and long words in twinkle twinkle little star that repeats throughout the verses creates a rhythm for the song.

What is sequence?

Sequence is an evolution from isorhythm. In sequence, there are figures, or melodic fragments, that are presented multiple times starting at different pitches. A figure can be sequenced any number of times.

Sound

Sound is vibration caused by an object being set into motion by the addition of energy

Staff (origin and evolution)

Staff is 5 parallel horizontal lines in which each space and line represents a musical note.

What are Sweet and Swing?

Sweet is a type of music influenced by the European Traditions Swing is the evolution of the two-step rag arrangement to a four-beat metric pattern of blues.

What is the origin of symphony orchestra, and who were the developers?

Symphony orchestra began in the 18th century, originating from chamber and opera orchestras. Most credit in the development of symphony orchestra belongs to Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, who contributed a lot of music to the genre.

Syncopation (explain in context of regular accenting)

Syncopation is when a note that does not typically have an accent is given an accent. This typically means that a note other than the first note is given an accent.

Tempo

Tempo is the speed of a beat, which can stay consistent throughout a song or change during the middle. There are 9 common tempo indications, including largo which means very slow and broad and moderato which means at a moderate pace.

Types of text settings

Text setting is the connection between the words in a text and the notes in a melody. The types of text settings are syllabic, neumatic, and melismatic. Syllabic means one note to one syllable, neumatic means several notes to a syllable, and melismatic is when one word has multiple notes.

What is the "two-step" and what is its origin in American music?

The "two-step," originally, was a solution for marching band music where played pieces were too fast for marchers to walk in sync with the beat, so they stepped in 2/2 time instead of 4/4.

Which instruments since the 19th century would you assume to be American that actually do not have European origins?

The banjo is usually recognized as an American instrument but in reality, is considered African. The banjo was created and originally used by slaves coming from an instrument that they remembered from Africa.

What are the differences between the harp and the lyre?

The main feature that distinguished a harp from the lyre is where the resonating chamber is. The lyre's chamber is located parallel to the strings while the harp's chamber is located perpendicular to the strings.

What is the instrumentation of the rock band and what is the origin?

The rock band is typically a string band, meaning that popular woodwind and brass instruments were replaced by a guitar. It drew its origins from blues music as well as jump bands, which were stripped down versions of swing bands.

Which instruments have military origins? Why are these instruments suited to military use?

The saxophone, trombone, tuba, cymbals, snare drums, and timpani all have military origins. These instruments were suited for military use because they are loud and fairly easy to carry.

What do you think are some of the reasons behind the different sizes and combinations of instruments in the various performance ensembles? Reasons could include use, intended audience, even venue for the music. Give examples.

The venue being played at as well as the requirements of the individual music piece could affect the sizes and combinations of instruments in various performances. A venue with 1000 seats will require more instruments than a venue with 100 seats so that everyone can hear the music at an appropriate volume. Also, each individual music piece will require different instruments. Certain compositions will require a larger woodwind section, while some will require a larger string section.

Common Ratio of Note Durations

This is a notation which allows for the duration of notes to be indicated on the staff for a piece of music. For example, a whole note is assigned four beats, while a half note is assigned two, a quarter note one, etc. As you go down the scale of notes, the duration of the notes decreases by a factor of two.

What is timbre and what causes it?

Timbre describes that each sound has multiple tones at once, but we only perceive the loudest and usually lowest one. This is caused by the different chambers and sources of energy causing different timbre.

Time Signature (what is it and what does each of the numbers mean?)

Time signature is a fraction at the beginning of the staff. The top number, or numerator, determines the number of beats in each count. The bottom number, or denominator, determines the kind of note that is assigned one beat. For example, a 4 in the denominator means one beat will be assigned to a quarter note.

Differences between Eastern and Western modes and features of Eastern modes shared with American blues

Unlike eastern modes, western modes are rigid and do not use micro tones. Eastern modes do use micro tones (notes smaller than a half step). American blues often uses these microtones.

Voice range (and relationship to clefs)

Voice range is a range of pitch from low to high that an instrument can play at or a voice can sing at. Vocal range directly corresponds to the sheet music as the sheet music tells the vocalist what pitch to sing at. Clefs are also used to denote range, for example a G clef corresponds to a soprano range.

What is "voice range?"

Voice range is the range of notes a person can hit, so how high or low they can sing. Soprano, alto, tenor, bass