MUS 121 Midterm terms
blues
Tones that are lowered to give the melody a relaxed mood.
duple meter
march-like
meter
one unit of measure, slang term is "bar"
sound
produced by vibrations
rhythm
Ordered recurrent pulses, which can be regular or irregular, caused by melodic and harmonic beats, speed, duration, patterns
crescendo
Term used to indicate that notes should get louder to express happiness, excitement, or some other intense feeling, for example
decrescendo
Term used to indicate that notes should get softer; this might produce the effect of moving from tension to calmness, for example
homophony, homophonic
a musical texture in which one melody exists, most of what you hear is this
piano, pianissimo
a note played softly, the extreme of which is indicated by pianissimo. Mezzo piano is medium soft
Beethoven
fifth symphony
quadruple meter
groove, "in four"
the move from swing to bebop meant that:
improvised solos generally became flashier and more technical
Scott Joplin
known as the King of Ragtime and was trained in classical music. His father was a slave, but he went on to compose a ballet, two operas, and many piano ragtime compositions
downbeat
an accented beat, usually the first of the bar
definite pitch
instruments that play discernable tones, such as the timpani; as distinguished from indefinite pitched instruments, such as snare drums that play complex sounds with no discernable tones
Bach
...
Eric Whitacre
"Sleep" SATB choir sings this piece, homophonic, the polyphonic, then ending homophonic
lyrics
what you sing
Dave Brubeck
...
indefinite pitch
...
swing, big band
A form of jazz that uses a strong rhythm section and medium to fast tempos. these bands had 15-17 players, frontline and rhythm sections
rhythm
A musical composition cannot exist without some type of
forte, fortissimo
A note played loudly, the extreme of which is indicated by fortissimo. Mezzo forte is medium loud.
bebop
According to the information in today's lecture, if a piece of jazz music has swung eighth notes and a very fast tempo, it is likely:
definite pitch
In order to play a melody, a percussion instrument must possess:
cadence
Like the punctuation in a sentence, like a period or exclamation point, a definitive ending of a melody that indicates a resting point.
improvisation
Ragtime music is distinct from jazz music because ragtime is played without:
ragtime
Rhythms that are unexpected or cut short instead of regularly spaced beats; stressed beats that are usually not stressed. technically not a form of jazz
Charlie Parker
Saxophonist, the most notable of the bebop musicians. He had the most influence on musicians following him, who brought together all the bebop elements: rhythmic creativeness, technical virtuosity, and harmonic complexity. Cool Jazz
front line
The instruments of jazz combos that are responsible for performing the melodies.
rhythm section
The instruments of jazz combos that are responsible for the accompaniment and the beat.
tempo
The pace of a composition. A primary element that affects the difficulty and feeling of a piece of music, the speed of the beat
meter, measure
The regular pattern of stressed and unstressed beats in music is referred to as . One unit of this pattern (ex. STRESS-2-3-4) is known as a
4
The stereotypical pop song chord progression contains how many chords?
How long each sound should last
Which of the following terms relates most closely to stringed instruments?
pizzicato
Which of the following terms relates most closely to stringed instruments?
homophony
Which of the following words describes a musical texture in which a single melody predominates, along with accompaniment from other voices?
motive
a short musical fragment. is shorter, can be based on a rhythm rather than a sequence of pitches
pizzicato
a technique that musicians sometimes use by plucking the strings of an instrument with their finger
monophony, monophonic
a texture containing a single melody without any accompaniment
polyphony, polopphonic
a texture containing more than one melodic voice
fusion
attempt to combine jazz and rock, more jazz though, electric guitar, 8th notes are not swung,
why does your text refer to harmony as the "vertical" aspect of music?
because the notes in a chord are printed vertically (respective to one another) on the page of printed music
Miles Davis
blue and green
improvisation
component of jazz in which musicians spontaneously change notes or the rhythms of a melody but never change the basic structure of the melody
accompaniment
everything that is not the melody. this includes drum fills, background music, guitar riffs in the background, anything else you can hear at the same time
dynamics
refers to the softness or loudness or a sound
dixieland jazz, new orleans
started in the red light district, bands consisted of a front line that played a melody and a rhythm section that kept time and established harmony, music migrated to Chicago
triple meter
sway, "in three"
diminuendo
term used to indicate that music will get softer
melody
the horizontal collection of notes that gives music movement in time; it is often memorable and enticing to hum, a musical sequence of pitches or notes with varied duration that is oftentimes memorable
texture
the manner in which melody and harmony are intertwined within music
beat, tempo
the pulse of a piece of music is referred to as the _____. The speed of this pulse is called the ________.
beat
the pulse of the music
meter
the regular pattern of stressed and unstressed beats in the music
pitch
the relative lowness or highness of a sound, determined by vibration frequency, which is measured in cycles per second
harmony
vertical notes occurring simultaneously, the way in which the pitched elements of a melody and accomplishment interact with one another
cool jazz, west coast jazz
was a reaction against bebop, emphasis shifts to ensemble sound and more use of middle register, opposed to individual solos, less high/wailing solos
Bessie Smith
was known as the Empress of the Blues and appeared in the film St. Louis Blues. Smith improvised "Lost Your Head Blues" while filming because the director needed one more song to fill extra time.
notes that divide a single beat into two equal parts
what are straight eighth notes?