mu 3100 midterm study guide

What were Plato's four ends to music?

First, music moves our emotions. Second, it gives us pleasure. Third, it disposes us toward moral goodness, or virtue. Fourth, it disposes us toward learning.

What important events were set in motion by pope gregory collecting chants?

notating and music could be used for future learning

pipe organ

one of the earliest keyboard instruments. We know the pipe organ existed in ancient Greece in the form of the Hydraulis. However, it wasn't until the Middle Ages, around the year 800, when pipe organs started to become common in the churches of Europe. These pipe organs did not use water to move air through pipe systems, rather a bellows operated by a person would be necessary. By the 12th century, pipe organs would evolve into complex instruments capable of producing varied timbres. How the organ further developed in Germany is understood by examining the social factors of German society.

doctrine of affections

an influential theory in the 17th and 18th centuries, explained that emotion can represented, not expressed, by one or more appropriate types of musical figures or motives. At the center of this doctrine was the belief that by making use of the proper standard musical procedure or device, the composer could create a piece of music capable of producing a particular involuntary emotional response in his or her audience.

what was at the center (focus) of the doctrine of affections

an influential theory in the 17th and 18th centuries, explained that emotion can represented, not expressed, by one or more appropriate types of musical figures or motives. At the center of this doctrine was the belief that by making use of the proper standard musical procedure or device, the composer could create a piece of music capable of producing a particular involuntary emotional response in his or her audience. This theory also placed emphasis on the idea that unity of theme and movement had to be preserved, and expressive musical devices were to be executed and performed the same way every time. Some scholars point to this mentality when listeners perceive a feeling of "monotony" in works by J.S. Bach or Buxtehuda.

kithara

stringed musical instrument, related to the lyre, played by the ancient Greeks and closely associated with the god Apollo. Musicians needed great skill to play this difficult instrument, and it was usually played in self-accompaniment to a song. Performances of the kithara were usually the most popular in festivals and musical competitions. Playing of the kithara was also an important part of any young Greek male's all-round education. The instrument is composed of a wooden sound box with a tail-piece, two flexible upper arms or horns joined by a horizontal tuning bar or bridge with tuning pegs. The kithara usually has seven strings. The flexibility of the arms apparatus provides a wave-like sound, and the notes produced by the instrument are strong and deep. Played with the instrument in an upright position and resting in the lap or sometimes supported by a strap over the shoulder, two hands were used to pluck the strings simultaneously, usually with a plectrum of wood, ivory, or metal.

harmonia

the ancient Greeks concept that music was the key to understanding "the fundamental interconnectedness of all things in the universe"

How do western and non western music differ in the matters of performance and improvisation

western focused on change, non western was still on tradition and divine music

When it comes to ancient civilizations and instrumments, how did Western mindset differ from non-western?

western focused on innovation, non western was on tradition

why is so little known about early music of the christian church?

not notated and saved

what are the basic characteristics of gregorian chant?

1. It is in Latin, which had already been adopted as the language of learning by the Catholic church. 2. It does NOT have metered rhythm. This means there is no sense of meter or a beat. 3. It is designed to evoke a mood of worship and religious reflection. 4. It usually moves with stepwise motion, or small melodic intervals, and the overall range is small. 5. It is unaccompanied, so we call its texture monophonic. This helped to focus on the melody, and is symbolic of unity in the church. 6. It used a set of eight scales called church modes. These are different scales than modern scales such as Major and minor. They have Greek names.

what are stops for in the pipe organ?

An organ stop (or just stop) is a component of a pipe organ that admits pressurized air (known as wind) to a set of organ pipes. Its name comes from the fact that stops can be used selectively by the organist; each can be "on" (admitting the passage of air to certain pipes), or "off" (stopping the passage of air to certain pipes).

In general what is the difference between Pythagorean tuning and equal temperment

Equal temperament replaced earlier tuning systems that were based on acoustically pure intervals, that is, intervals that occur naturally in the overtone series. The search for satisfactory tuning systems parallels the development of the Western tonal system, with its reliance on enharmonic equivalence (for example, having the notes F♯ and G♭ sound the same) and multiple major and minor keys. In the 1500's, tuning systems based on the principles of equal temperament were experimented with by music theorists in places such as Italy and China.

Who was pythagoras?

Greek philosopher Pythagoras is considered to have discovered the overtone series, and thus he becomes a key figure in the discussion of technology in music. Born in 570 BCE, he lived before Plato, and he was also a mathematician. In addition, he was the founder of the Pythagorean brotherhood that, although religious in nature, formulated principles that influenced the thought of Plato and Aristotle and contributed to the development of mathematics and Western rational philosophy. Apart from his contributions to the understanding of the overtone series, Pythagoras is perhaps best known for the Pythagorean Theorem, a geometry theory.

What is Gregorian Chant

Gregorian chant is really just another name for plainchant, but from a specific time in history that centered around Pope Gregory the First (r.590-604).

What is a hydraulis and how does it produce sound

Its pipes stood on top of a wind chest that was connected to a conical wind reservoir. The reservoir was supplied with air by one or two pumps. For the pipes to sound evenly, the wind chest needed steady air pressure. The open bottom of the cone was set in a tall outer container half filled with water. When air pressure in the cone was low, the water level rose inside it, compressing the air and restoring the former air pressure. The player operated keys or sliders that let air into the pipes.

Musica Universalis

Music of the Spheres, an ancient philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies - the sun, moon, and planets - as a form of musica - the medieval Latin name for music. This music is not audible, but simply a mathematical concept. At the time, the sun, moon, and planets were thought to revolve around Earth in their proper spheres. The spheres were thought to be related by the whole-number ratios of pure musical intervals, creating musical harmony. So, the universe actually made a music of its own based on numbers.

How was music used in ancient Greek society

Music was included in education, part of religious and civic ceremonies. Plato and Aristotle examined the relationship which music has to the common good, and its place in education in particular.

plainchant

Plainchant is monophonic music that was practiced for centuries before the advent of harmony. It is the melodic basis of all modern music of Western-European origin.

When did plainchant emerge? What was it used for?

Plainchant, a simple monophonic sung music, emerged perhaps as early as 100 C.E. in the Christian Church

What is Musica Universalis?

Pythagoras is also frequently credited with originating the concept of Musica Universalis or Music of the Spheres, an ancient philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies - the sun, moon, and planets - as a form of musica - the medieval Latin name for music. This music is not audible, but simply a mathematical concept. At the time, the sun, moon, and planets were thought to revolve around Earth in their proper spheres. The spheres were thought to be related by the whole-number ratios of pure musical intervals, creating musical harmony. So, the universe actually made a music of its own based on numbers.

Why did Pope Gregory order plainchant be collected and codified

The act of preserving these chants for following generations to use and learn from. 2. He put into place parameters on which we can analyze specific differences and characteristics of different chants.

clavichord

The clavichord is a European stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras.

What did Plato believe were the two components of man's early education

The first part was gymnastics, or physical fitness, which was directed to a healthy body. The second aspect of education was music, which was directed to the soul for a healthy mind and spirit.

What is a monochord? How did he use this instrument

The monochord consisted of an oblong sound box, with one single string stretched over a graduated rule, called a kanon, and a moveable bridge. This bridge, similar to a bridge on a violin or guitar, would allow the division of the string length into several measurable ratios. Pythagoras discovered that by dividing a string in half, the resulting pitch was an octave higher than the original pitch. He would divide the string in half by "stopping" it at the half way point. By dividing the string at other lengths, he identified other intervals such as fourths and fifths. His inquiries developed into a complete science of determining pitches based on ratios, which led to the original developments of Greek music theory. It is these revelations that lead him to understand the overtone series.

techne

The word "technology" is derived from the Greek work "Techne", which means craft or art. It refers to art as a practice rather than a theory. The techne of a creative work is the technique used to make it. So, in essence, techne refers to the artist's abilities, or SKILL.

hertz

Today, we measure the frequency of vibrations in hertz. Since frequency is measured in cycles per second, one hertz equals one cycle per second.

Equal Temperament

Today, western music is based on a system of intervals called half steps, which make up a scale of 12 tones that we call the chromatic scale. Each half note of the chromatic scale is the same size.

polyphony

We can refer to multi-voiced music as polyphonic, or polyphony.

monophony

We can refer to single-voiced music as monophonic, or monophony.

In the case of the piano, what is the relationship between the length of a string and the frequency (or pitch) of the note it produces when vibrating?

When the length of a string is changed, it will vibrate with a different frequency. Shorter strings have higher frequency and therefore higher pitch. ... Diameter is the thickness of the string. Thick strings with large diameters vibrate slower and have lower frequencies than thin ones.

Overtone

When you hear a note played by any instrument, you are hearing the resulting sound of something vibrating (a string, a tube, vocal chords, etc) at a specific frequency. However, while your ear hears this one frequency, the note is made up of many other frequencies that are resonating, just not as loud as the fundamental note/pitch. These additional frequencies and their resulting pitches are called overtones, or harmonics

Harmonic Series

a series of frequencies that includes the fundamental frequency and integral multiples of the fundamental frequency

solfeggio

a method used to teach pitch and sight singing of Western music.

neume

a note or group of notes to be sung to a single syllable.

lyre

a stringed instrument that had as few as two strings, and was probably the most important and well-known instrument in the Greek world. It was closely related to other stringed instruments of the time: the chelys which was made from a tortoise shell, the four-stringed phorminx, and the seven-stringed kithara. In Greek mythology, all four instruments are often named interchangeably in various myths. The instrument usually had two fixed upright arms or horns and a crossbar with tuning pegs of bronze, wood, ivory, or bone. Strings of equal length but varying thickness (usually made from sheep gut) stretched between the crossbar and a fixed tailpiece and were played by strumming or plucking by hand, usually using a plectrum (pick) made of wood, ivory, or metal. Played sitting or standing, the instrument was held in the hand and sometimes supported with a carrying strap worn over the shoulder of the player. The lyre could be played alone, or accompanied by singing or reciting poetry.

Which instruments were acceptable to Plato? Which weren't?

acceptable: kithara, not accepted: aulus

melos

an ancient Greek term that refers to a tune, a melody, or a lyric poem intended for singing. In ancient Greek music theory, "Melos" meant the melodic basis of music. It also refers to the succession, or order, of musical tones that comprise a melody.

plectrum

attached to jack to play harpsichord

aulos

belongs to the wind instrument family. It consists of two circular pipes, constructed from wood or bone, or in some occurances metals such as bronze or copper. The sound is produced by blowing air past a reed found within a bulbous mouthpiece. Different sizes of mouthpieces will result in different overall pitches. Traditionally, seven holes would be cut down the pipe, and two pipes are played simultaneously. In the 3rd Century B.C., metal keys were added to allow opening and closing of holes, similar to a modern flute or clarinet. Despite its extensive use in Greek society, Plato did not think the aulos was an acceptable instrument in man's education.

How does mass production play a role, and how was it achieved, in Yamaha's early companies at the turn of the century?

by reverse engineering and figuring out how to quickly make good pianos

What other factors contributed to the success of Yamaha?

clever marketing

gregorian chant

combining of two earlier kinds of chant, Roman style and Gallican, and is the stepping stone where the development of Western music really begins to take off. The term "Western music" or "Western European music" refers to what we recognize as Classical Music and is where much of modern popular music derives from.

monochord

consisted of an oblong sound box, with one single string stretched over a graduated rule, called a kanon, and a moveable bridge. This bridge, similar to a bridge on a violin or guitar, would allow the division of the string length into several measurable ratios

In ancient Greek society, who governed all aspects of creative thought?

governed by the muses, History, Comedy, Poetry, Song, Hyms, Epic poetry, Dance, Astronomy and Politics.

what is a neume?

group of notes sung to one syllable

What is solfeggio and who invented it?

guido d areezo, Solfege is a method used to teach pitch and sight singing of Western music. In eleventh-century Italy, d'Arezzo invented a notational system that named the six pitches used in chant after the first syllable of each line of the Latin hymn "Ut queant laxis", or the "Hymn to St. John the Baptist". This resulted in the syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la. Each successive line of this hymn begins on the next scale degree, so each pitch's name was the syllable sung at that pitch in this hymn

How do we measure frequency today?

hertz

bellows

how an organ is played instead of water pipes

What is the overtone series or the harmonic series, and is this a naturally phenomenon that occurs naturally?

how any tone played or sung activates a column of mathematically related notes which vibrate sympathetically with the sounded pitch and create resonance. The overtone series refers to the multiple overtones associated with a single frequency. When you hear a particular note, you are also hearing its overtones, but a single pitch stands out to the human ear. We say the overtones are "felt" by the body, but not heard. These overtones also account for the timbre of a note, it's sound quality that may be characterized by descriptors such as "brassy", "bright", "woody", etc.

harpischord

is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism that plucks one or more strings with a small plectrum.

In the 1960s, how does reverse engineering play into yamaha's piano manufacturing?

it helped them innovate and create something new

what device did the harpsichord borrow from the pipe organ? what are they used for on the harpsichord?

jacks used for the plectrum

How have classical musicians roles differed from western to non western cultures

skilled musicians in the west

Was the arrival of the organ in europe a result of musical desires, or social desires

social desires

What important information did early music notation NOT contain? Who solved this problem by evolving the music staff system used in notating music?

staff system, solfege, guido d arezzo

what are three melodic settings of gregorian chant?

sylabic, neumatic, melismatic

reverse engineering

taking a pre existing technology and creating something new

before music notation, how was music transmitted

taught from memory to others

hydraulis

the earliest known mechanical pipe organ. It was invented in the 3rd century BC by Ctesibius of Alexandria, culminating prior attempts to apply a mechanical wind supply to a large set of panpipes. After its invention by the Greeks, the hydraulis continued to be used through antiquity in the Roman world. Its pipes stood on top of a wind chest that was connected to a conical wind reservoir. The reservoir was supplied with air by one or two pumps. For the pipes to sound evenly, the wind chest needed steady air pressure. The open bottom of the cone was set in a tall outer container half filled with water. When air pressure in the cone was low, the water level rose inside it, compressing the air and restoring the former air pressure. The player operated keys or sliders that let air into the pipes.

In classical Germany thought regarding the church organ, did the performer or the instrument have ultimate control?

the instrument had ultimate control

why was the organ seen as the most appropriate instrument for worship>?

the nobility would play it and the common people would worship

what social factors influenced the development of pipe organ technology in germany

the rich wanted to play music over the poor

why were western musical instruments adopted so quickly into Japanese culture near the turn of the 20th century?

they were able to reverse engineer the piano very quickly

why were piano tuners important to the yamaha company and pianos i japan in the 1900s?

tuners helped reveal how to make new pianos

jack

used for harpsichord