MUL 1010 Midterm Study Guide

Xylophone

A percussion instrument consisting of a row of chromatically tuned wooden bars, arranged in the manner of a piano keyboard. The bars are supported by a wooden frame over resonator tubes and they are sounded by being struck with mallets. Currently, the standard xylophone has a range of three-and-a-half octaves (F3 to C7). Commercial sizes can have as few as three octaves and as many as five octaves. The xylophone sounds one octaves higher than the written note.

Role of silence in music

A performer may give extra weight to a particular passage by playing or singing more softly or more loudly; more quickly or more deliberately; with more control or more abandon; by letting a note linger; or even by using silence, among many available techniques.

Guitar

A plucked stringed instrument extremely popular today, especially among folk and rock musicians. The guitar has six strings, frets (usually 19), a shape something between pear-shaped and a figure eight, a round sound hole, and usually a flat-backed sound box.

Folk music

Folk music is a type of music that is rich in oral tradition. Understood by large segments of the population. Traditionally not notated (i.e., not committed to paper in a music score). Utilitarian in the sense that it is typically associated with extra-musical activities (e.g., lullabies, work, celebrations, national/regional identity, etc.). Passed on from generation to generation by listening, remembering, and imitating performances.

Accelerando

Gradually accelerating or getting faster. Abbreviated by accel. or accel.

Referential Listener

Sometimes music may remind people of past events, or it may bring to mind particular images, feelings, or situations. At times, these external references are so strong that the music is not really heard anymore; instead, the listener is caught up in the memories of the person, event, or feeling. Although it is undeniable that extra-musical connections or associations may be developed through listening, referential listeners tend to relate to music exclusively in that way.

Definite pitched instruments and indefinite pitched instruments

Sounds produced by non-pitched instruments are made up of such complex frequencies that it is impossible, or at the very least, relatively difficult to discern distinct pitches when they are played. Definite: the timpani, the chimes, xylophone, vibraphone, and marimba. Indefinite: the tambourine, triangle, cymbals, and castanets.

Accompaniment

The additional but subordinate music used to support a melodic line. In piano music, for example, the left hand often performs chords which serve as an accompaniment for the melody performed by the right hand. Similarly, a solo musician is often accompanied by a piano or an orchestra.

Tuba

The bass member of the modern brass family. The tuba family includes the euphonium, sousaphone, C and B flat tubas, and others. The modern orchestral tuba has valves, a conical bore and a range of D1 two octaves below the bass clef staff to G4 above middle C. The bell is very wide and the cup very deep, thus facilitating the extremely low notes so characteristic of the instrument.

Castanets

idiophones that may be further classified under the concussion group, meaning instruments in which two similar objects are clapped together to make sound. Castanets are widely used in Spanish folk music, especially to provide a rhythmic accompaniment to dancing. The dancers loop the castanet string around the thumb, leaving the rest of the fingers free to strike them against the palm of the hand. Orchestral castanets are usually mounted on a stick.

Timpani

made of hemispherical copper (or fiberglass) shells, each fitted with a head of plastic or calfskin which is held in place by a metal ring. A soft or hard padded mallet is used to play them; a pedal mechanism is attached to each timpani which changes the tension of the head, thus adjusting the pitch. The timpani sound is created by striking the membrane, or head, with mallets causing the head to vibrate. The tension of the head determines the exact pitch. A looser tension creates a lower pitch and a tighter tension creates a higher pitch.

Casual Listener

the most common type of listeners. Likes having music playing, filling the environment with sounds. Whether present as a background to drive, study, work, exercise, or hang out with friends, music is an accompaniment to the casual listener's daily activities. Sometimes the music simply mask the sounds of a noisy street. The casual listener may be conscious of the sound or merely consider it part of the environment. In any case, this type of listener views music primarily as a mood enhancer or as pleasant part of the environment.

Drum set

the most universally used. They may be found in African and South American tribal cultures as well as Eastern and Middle Eastern countries such as China, Korea, India, Egypt, and Iran. Aside from fulfilling a purely musical function, drums have played an important role in communication, rituals, and ceremonies in all these cultures.

Role of the performer, composer, and listener

the performer acts as the bridge between the composer and the listener by interpreting the composer's musical score and conveying the composer's intent and meaning during the performance. The performer adds her individual style and emotional approach to the interpretation of the printed score—musical notation—which may be written for either a solo performer or a group of musicians (referred to as a vocal or instrumental ensemble).

What factors cause a brassy timbre

three factors: the material, the flare-shaped bell, and the vibration of the player's lips on the mouthpiece.

Theme

The musical basis upon which a composition is built. Usually a theme consists of a recognizable melody or a characteristic rhythmic pattern. The theme may sometimes be called the subject.

Critical Listener

A critical listener's primary motivation is to identify what is wrong with a performance. For very scrupulous critical listeners, every detail of the performance must be perfect, including the accuracy of the notes. Such listeners may even demand perfection in live music, with anything short of perfection considered a poor performance.

Decrescendo

A directive to a performer to smoothly decrease the volume of the specific passage. This can be designated with the word decrescendo at the beginning of the passage or with the decrescendo symbol consisting of two horizontal lines that start apart at the left and come together to a point at the right. There is typically a dynamic mark at either end of the symbol indicating the desired volume before and after the decrescendo. This is often seen in its abbreviated form decresc. The symbol is often referred to as a hairpin or a wedge. This term is functionally the same as diminuendo and its abbreviations dim. and dimin.

Crescendo

A directive to a performer to smoothly increase the volume of a particular phrase or passage. This can be designated with the word crescendo at the beginning of the passage or with the crescendo symbol consisting of two horizontal lines that start together at a point at the left and spread apart to the right. There is typically a dynamic mark at either end of the symbol indicating the desired volume before and after the crescendo. This is often seen in its abbreviated form cresc. The symbol is often refered to as a hairpin or a wedge.

Ritardando

A directive to perform the indicated passage of a composition with a gradual slowing of the tempo, or to gradually delay the tempo. The abbreviation is rit or ritard.

Trumpet

A family of brass instruments with a cylindrical bore, valves, and a cup mouthpiece producing a clear, bright tone. Three valves are used to make the instrument fully chromatic. Some models have a fourth valve to adjust for inherent intonation problems of the instrument. A trigger mechanism is sometimes added to the the first or third valve tuning slide that is used to provide a way for the performer to fix the intonation problems with certain valve combinations. Sound is produced (as in most brass instruments) by the vibration of the performers lips. Three valves are used to make the instrument fully chromatic.

Parts of the piano

A modern keyboard instrument that produces sounds by hammers striking strings. These hammers are activated by keys, depressed by the performer's fingers. The piano is typically equipped with pedals that control the dampers which stop the vibration of the strings. When the pedal is pressed by the performer's foot, the dampers are lifted from the strings, and the strings are allowed to vibrate freely. The muting pedal softens the volume of the piano. The piano is an extremely popular instrument in Classical, Romantic, Post-Romantic, Modern, Jazz, Pop, Rock, and Folk music.

Harp

A plucked stringed instrument of ancient origin, the modern orchestral harp has a somewhat triangular frame with forty-seven strings, encompassing a range of C♭1 to G♯7. The harp is diatonic, but has a system of pedals which allow the key to be changed by changing the tuning of certain notes by up to two semitones. The harp has a pillar, which helps support the tension of the strings. The pillar is attached to the neck at the top, and to the soundboard at the base, which is in turn connected to the strings. The soundboard is connected at the top to the neck of the instrument, where the action plates are positioned.

Chamber choir (what it sounds like)

A small ensemble of up to about twenty-four singers who usually perform a cappella, although occasionally a chamber choir will perform with piano accompaniment.

Etude

A study or an exercise (typically a short composition) designed to train a musician technically as well as musically

French horn

A term used in the 17th through the 20th century for the horn. The name comes from the British preference for the hunting horns produced by the French instrument makers of the late 17th century. The French makers developed the round coil that the horn has today. The British made a distinction between the French horns and the German horns, and eventually, all horns went by the name of French horns in the English speaking world. Although still commonly seen on sheet music for concert bands and (especially in English speaking countries), the term French Horn has gone out of favor. In 1971 at the first general meeting of the International Horn Society, the organization officially reccomended that the instrument be referred to as the horn in the English language.

Characteristics of an English madrigal

A vocal music form that flourished in the Renaissance, originating in Italy. The madrigal is generally written for four to six voices that may or may not be accompanied. In modern performance madrigals are usually presented a cappella. Madrigals are usually set to short love poems, though the words are occasionally about death, war, etc. They were extremely popular in England and Italy, and also produced in France, Germany, and a few in Spain. The madrigal is characterized by word painting and harmonic and rhythmic contrast. In the madrigal, each line has its own tune, rather than the entire composition having a single tune with harmonic accompaniment. The musical style of the English madrigals and songs have several main features, most important of which are the intensity and intimacy of the choral writing and texts that are often full of double meanings or hidden implications. Only a small group of singers can truly perform these types of pieces where every musical line has real textual purpose.

Flute

A woodwind instrument that is held horizontally and sounded by blowing across the mouthpiece of the instrument, much like blowing into a bottle to produce a tone. It consists mainly of a cylindrical tube 66 cm. long and 2 cm in diameter. The modern flute is made of metal and is a non-transposing instrument with a range of middle C (C4) to C 7 three octaves above that. Experienced performers can extend that range even higher.

Absolutists

Absolutists believe that to understand a piece of music, one must focus solely on the relationships between the sounds of which the piece is comprised. For this group, the purpose of music lies in the interactions of the musical elements themselves, apart from any extra-musical context, including utilitarian purposes and musical connotations

How the harpsichord works

An early stringed keyboard instrument that produced tones by means of plucking strings with quills rather than by striking them with hammers, as in the modern piano. The range of the harpsichord is generally about four octaves; it was most popular in the Renaissance and Baroque eras, in the classical era it was eclipsed by the piano.

Musical elements

An essential element in all the arts, the concept of form is associated with shape, organization, structure, pattern, relationships, coherence, and placement; and ultimately, with questions of proportion and balance. In music, form refers to how sound is organized in time; it helps us understand how durations, pitches, timbres, and volume add up to a coherent whole. Bravura: Spirit; skill; requiring great dexterity and skill in execution.

When piano was developed

Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) of Florence, Italy is generally credited with the invention of the fortepiano (1709), which he called gravicembalo col piano e forte (meaning harpsichord with soft and loud). This invention was further developed by Silbermann and Johann Andreas Stein in Germany, and just a few years later, by manufacturers such as Johannes Zumpe and John Broadwood in England. Working in France, Sebastian Erard introduced several innovations to the piano mechanism in 1821 that made possible the playing of a key in quick repetition—and therefore some of the virtuoso effects commonly displayed in 19th-century piano music. Other interesting variations include the upright piano developed by John Isaac Hawkins in Philadelphia at the beginning of the 19th century, and more recently, the digital electronic piano, which combines computer, MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), and advanced acoustic technologies.

Baritone

Between the tenor and the bass, there is a male voice range that can reach into both the tenor and the bass ranges.

Musical connotation:

Leonard B. Meyer refers to the connection between music and its function as a musical connotation. This connection occurs when, over time, a piece of music becomes associated with certain events or experiences, such as the fanfare and stately march for a bride's wedding entrance. The connection continues to take place to the point that when a person hears the music, a mental reference to the event is automatically triggered. However, for the musical connotation to be effective, everyone in the social group must share that connection.

Unity

Most people like hearing sounds that they find pleasing, memorable, and familiar. Within a given composition, the feeling of familiarity—fostered by, among other things, reiterations of a music idea—lends a sense of unity to the music.

Transition

Moving from one key into another; also, a passage that takes the composition from one key into another.

Jazz music

Originated with black Americans of the early twentieth century in the urban areas of New Orleans, Chicago, and New York. Combines elements of European-American and African music with influences from plantation songs, spirituals, and river boat music. Relies heavily on syncopated rhythms and a combination of improvisation and riffs (short melodic and rhythmic patterns) for its basic structure. Gives the performer wide creative freedom even when they are playing from a score. Uses blue notes, which are notes that aren't part of the regular musical scales. Uses traditional instruments in unusual ways (for example, exploring extreme high or low ranges, or using a wide variety of mutes in brass instruments).

Bassoon

The bassoon is a double reed wind instrument with a conical bore. The bassoon is also the bass instrument of the wind section and belongs to the oboe family. The double reed is set onto a curved metal tube called the crook or the bocal. The pitch of the bassoon can be altered by adjusting the position of the bocal in its receiver. By pulling the bocal out you can lengthen the instrument which will lower the pitch slightly or by pushing it in you can shorten the instrument which will raise the pitch slightly. The bassoon rivals the oboe by the virtue of how well the instrument can produce attacks and staccato passages but the tone is less nasal. The bassoon, like the oboe, performs lyric melodies excellently. The unique sound of the bassoon makes it ideal to be used for comical or grotesque effects.

Clarinet

The clarinet is constructed of a wooden tube with a cylindrical bore and has a bell that flares slightly more than the bell on an oboe. The mouthpiece which uses a single reed is attached to the uppermost part of the instrument which normally comes in five parts, (in order top to bottom) the mouthpiece, the barrel, the upper joint, the lower joint, and the bell. The clarinet's mouthpiece is sometimes referred to as the beak. The clarinet sound is produced by the vibrations of the reed attached to the mouthpiece as the air moves across it. The hardness of the reed and the physical characteristics of the mouthpiece all are contributing factors to the quality sound produced.

Alto

The contralto, or alto for short, has the lowest range of the female voices. In the first operas, this range was used mainly to represent comic old women, and later on, ones of tragic dignity. With time, it evolved to include heroic figures as well as darker characters such as villainesses and sorceresses.

Full chorus

The full impact of a grand full chorus accompanied by an equally large orchestral force may be experienced in all its glory in the Entry Chorus from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Nabucco. This piece also gives us the opportunity to hear a group of male voices and a group of female voices that sing separately in certain sections of the piece, even though they form part of the same full chorus.

Tessitura

The general range of a composition (usually referring to vocal range) or of a particular voice of a composition. Refers not to the extremes of a range but to the part of the vocal range that is used most in a song.

Tenor

The highest of the male voices.

Dynamics

The loudness or softness of a composition. Different levels of volume.

Bass

The lowest male voice.

Timbre

The quality of a sound; that component of a tone that causes different instruments (for example a guitar and a violin) to sound different from each other while they are both playing the same note.

Soprano

The soprano is the highest female voice.

Synthesizer and how sound is produced on it

The synthesizer generates sounds electronically. To generate sound you need movement. Something has to vibrate. In the case of electronic instruments, this movement is the oscillation of electric current as it changes polarity from positive to negative. That is, it oscillates back and forth from positive to negative charges. Movement generates waves, and the timbre and volume of the sound you hear will depend on the shape of the wave, which is also called a waveform. There are two basic ways of generating sounds electronically: by synthesis and by sampling. We are concerned mainly with synthesis, which refers to creating sounds electronically from previously-generated waveforms.

Oboe

This double reed instrument has a gently tapering conical bore. There are many difficulties that performers have come across when playing the oboe. This is due to the volatile part of the oboe, the reed. The reed is inserted at the top of the instrument. The oboe is said to have the most unique "voice" out of all the woodwinds. It has a warm, reedy, almost squawking sound. The pitch of the oboe is easily "lipped" higher or lower by the player, and a well-trained oboist is able to play long passages and long notes in a single breath due to the nature of the instrument. Sensitivity of the reed makes the oboe a very taxing instrument to play. The breath control required calls for an oboist to have frequent rest periods.

Art Music

Traditionally created by trained professional musicians. Notated in music scores as a means of transmission from composer to performer. Performed by musicians and singers that have relatively clear interpretation guidelines indicated by the composer. Archived and catalogued into an established body of literature in which accepted versions of pieces change little over time.

Variety

Whereas unity satisfies the human need for sameness and familiarity, variety sustains our interest and appeals to our need for, and enjoyment of, the new, different, and unexpected.

Organ parts and how sound is produced on it

a keyboard instrument whose tone is produced by wind flowing through pipes. The organist produces sounds by pressing keys or pedals that are connected to pipes of different lengths and materials. Air passes through the pipes, producing a tone. This means that, unlike the harpsichord and the piano, the organ may sustain sounds as long as keys or pedals are depressed and air is passing through the pipes.

Perceptive Listener

combines the characteristics of the previous three types of listeners but is not limited by them. The perceptive listener: enjoys sound for sound's sake, may have associations with the music being heard, is aware of the quality of a performance but goes beyond the technical aspects to seek understanding and appreciation of the human and cultural values embodied in the music. Attends concerts regularly and listens with concentration. Uses appropriate musical vocabulary. Tries to develop an awareness of different musical styles and realizes that there are significant and valid differences among these styles.

Electronic drums

electronic drums or, less accurately, electric drums-an electric instrument uses electro-mechanical means to produce sound, and is, therefore, not strictly the same as an electronic musical instrument, which uses entirely electronic means to both create and control sound.

Trombone

family of brass instruments with a cylindrical bore and a slide rather than valves. The slide allows the performer to lengthen or shorten the length of tubing in the instrument, thus allowing the harmonic series to be altered, making the instrument fully chromatic. Sound is produced (as in most brass instruments) by the vibration of the performers lips. As the performer moves the slide out, the length of the tubing is increased which lowers the pitch being sounded. Seven pitches are possible in each harmonic of the trombone that are reflected in the seven positions of the slide.