Intro to Music - Music 101
Why were European influences dominant in early American music? Select all answers that are true.
1) Early religious, folk, and popular song traditions derived from mainland Europe. 2)Early settlers had little exposure to Native American traditions 3)American settlers were exposed to European classical music through travel. 4)Native American music was deemed primitive, and thus unworthy, by European settlers.
Based on your understanding of oral traditions, which of the following characteristics might apply to the passing down of folk music?
Frequent changes in the texts of songs
Who composed music for orchestra, but in the "pop" style?
George Gershwin
Ethnomusicologists rely on a ______________ rather than an ethnocentric perspective to study and describe music.
Global
dance music
Is instrumental and, in the European American tradition, features the fiddle as the primary instrument
children's song
Is short, simple, and easy to remember, and serves a unique function
Which of the following is most closely related to the role of the conductor of an orchestra?
Musical interpreter
Which of the following are examples of American roots music? Select all that apply.
Ozark mountain music, African American slave songs, Zydeco
The science of sound and the physical basis of music is called
acoustics
consonance
agreeable affect produced by certain intervals
cadence
all elements come to rest, a point of repose at the end of a musical phrase
monophony
all instruments or singers playing the same melody
The texture of Bolero is thickest ______________
at the end
Bolero
composed by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Premiered (first performed) in 1928 Performed in this video by the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Christoph Eschenbach
roots music
derived from the everyday lives of people
counterpoint
multiple lines of music played at the same time
Functional Music
music created for a specific purpose, such as communication or dance
Popular Music
music enjoyed by large numbers of people
Art Music
music that is formal, sophisticated, urban, and appreciated by an educated elite. It is music derived from a cultivated tradition based largely on notated music. A certain amount of musical training is needed to create and perform art music
Brass
Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, Tuba, Euphonium
rubato
flexible tempo, music whose pace constantly speeds up and slows down
ensemble
in French - "together," in English - a group of some kind
jazz ensemble
large ensemble - sax, trumpet, trombone & rhythm sections
band (or wind ensemble)
large instrumental ensemble without the strings
orchestra
large instrumental ensemble, usually consisting of all 4 families
alto
low register female voice
bass
low register male voice
work song
Uses rhythm, pace, and spirit to make long hours of labor bearable
The musical language of America is based on
Western European musical concepts
Strings
violin, viola, cello, bass
time signature
written indication of meter
The merging of cultural traditions produces
new styles and modes of behavior
When music is transmitted from generation to generation by imitation or memory, this is referred to as
oral tradition
The rate of speed of sound waves is perceived as
pitch
All sounds have
pitch, duration, loudness, and tone quality
strophic
process where each stanza is set to the same music
revival
resurgence of an existing style
syncopation
rhythmic stress on an unstressed beat
Families of Western Instruments
strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion
Most early religious, folk, and popular songs were derived the styles of
the British Isles
atonality
the absence of a tonal center, or key
modulation
the change from one key area to another
Texture
the density of sound; the number of simultaneously sounding lines
Rhythm
the organization of time in music, creating patterns of long and short durations of sounds to achieve desired degrees of energy or intensity
meter
the pattern of stressed beats in music
Form
the shape or structure of a piece of music. Form is determined primarily by patterns of contrast and repetition.
timbre (tone color)
the sound quality of a particular instrument
Instrumentation
the sounds (instruments and/or voices) that you hear in any piece of music
tempo
the speed or pace of a piece of music
key
the tonal center, or tonality of a piece, or a part of a piece, of music
harmonize
to play together
Folk Music
usually of unknown origin and enjoyed by the general population, informal, aesthetically and musically unsophisticated music that communicates directly and obviously to large groups within a culture or subculture, such as a nation or an ethnic minority. It is usually transmitted and preserved by memory (oral tradition). Also known as traditional music
hootenanny
a folk music gathering
chorus
one complete chord progression in a jazz tune
homophony
one important melody, with accompaniment
polyphony
2 or more melodies of equal importance
Harmony
2 or more pitches sounding at the same time
chord
3 or more notes sounds simultaneously
Percussion
Drums, Cymbal/Gong, Xylophone/Marimba, Piano/Harp, Bells/Chimes
protest song
Encourages change in society and politics; emerged in the late 1800s and reached its peak in the 1960s
Which of the following is not a function of music?
Engineering
The primary factor in the development of America's cultural mainstream was the predominance of
English-speaking settlers
Cultures from the following continents are the primary sources of America's great musical diversity.
Europe, Africa, Asia
Woodwinds
Flute/piccolo, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Saxophone
lyric song
Focuses on emotion and mood, with little focus on action or drama
melisma
Many pitches sung on each syllable of text
narrative ballad
Originated in the British Isles, is often strophic in form, and tells a specific story
Music
Organized Sound organized both formally (usually some pattern of repetition of melody) and physically (consistent speeds of vibration creating pitches)
rally song
Promotes a specific cause, such as a union goal, political candidate, or patriotic event
Which of the following techniques and characteristics is least likely to apply to the blues?
Strong dance beat
Which of the following best describes the relationship between the blues and spirituals?
The blues is the secular counterpart to the spiritual.
What does it mean to improvise?
To simultaneously create, perform, and listen to music
interval
Two notes sounding at once
The composer of a folk song is often
Unknown
Downloading copyrighted music can be considered
Violation of the law
triad
a chord consisting of three pitches
ostinato
a clearly defined phrase repeated persistently
conjunct
a contour in which the intervals of a melody are close together
disjunct
a contour in which the intervals of a melody are far apart
phrase
a division of a melody equal to a clause or sentence of prose, or to one breath of singing
field recordings
a method of preserving folk music
notation
a method of preserving music in print
theme
a musical idea on which a composition is based
register
a portion of a melodic range of a voice or an instrument
pentatonic scale
a scale consisting of five tones (rather than the 7 tones we are accustomed to), common in Asian music
minor
a scale, or key, associated with a downcast or sad mood
major
a scale, or key, associated with a positive of upbeat mood
chord progression
a sequence of harmonies, such as a 12-bar blues progression
motive
a short, recurring bit of melody, used as an element of form
Melody
a succession of musical tones, usually of varying pitch and rhythm, that has identifiable shape and meaning
scale
a succession of pitches from which melodies are drawn
heterophony
one main melody, with additional independent lines around it or multiple, independent (unrelated) lines of melody
root
basic pitch
dissonance
disagreeable effect produced by certain intervals
soprano
high register female voice
tenor
high register male voice
twelve-bar blues
paired with a 3-line poetic stanza
vernacular music
the language of the majority of listeners
conductor
the leader of a large ensemble
