Music Section I: Basic Elements of Music Theory

What is the broadest definition of music?

“sound organized in time”

What types of sound can be used to create music?

noises produced by any means, not just by musical instruments

What is required to create music?

a time frame, sound waves, and mind to interpret

What are common requirements to the creation of music?

a composer, human or mechanical performers, and a recording device

What are instances of composition and performance happening simultaneously?

improvisation and electronic composition

Is human intention necessary for music to exist?

To some degree, but this is not widely agreed upon by scientists and philosophers

How do different cultures experience music?

Through immensely different perspectives

What is a consequence of some cultures experiencing music as deeply connected to ritual, language, and dance?

there is no separate word for music

What consequence has globalization had on music?

it has made the boundaries between Western and non-Western music increasingly permeable

What is Western music?

the musical traditions developed in Europe in the past two millennia and their culture extensions in the Americas

What is sound?

a wave of energy

What consequences does the amplitude of a sound have on it?

how loud it is (decibel level)

What does a high amplitude mean for a sound?

the sound is louder

What does frequency affect in a sound?

the pitch of a sound

What does a greater frequency mean for a sound?

a higher pitch

What must the frequency of a sound wave be for humans to hear a single tone?

between 20 and 20,000 cycles per second

A pure sine wave occurs at

440 Hz

What note does a pure sine wave emit?

an A above middle C

Musicians in the United States tune to

A

What are the types of musical sounds?

pitched and non-pitched

What type of instrument produces the most non-pitched sounds?

percussion

Who co-developed an instrument classification system based on the way they produce sound?

Curt Sachs

When was the Sachs/Hornbostel classification developed?

late 19th century

What is an ethnomusicologist?

scholars who study the music of other cultures or multiple in a comparative manner

Who created the classification which divides instruments into four groups?

Curt Sachs and Erich von Hornbostel

What are the classifications of the Sachs/Hornbostel system?

chordophones, aerophones, membranophones, and idiophones

What is a chordophone?

an instrument with strings that are bowed, plucked, or struck, where the vibrating string creates a sound wave

What is an aerophone?

an instrument with a vibrating column of air

What is a membranophone?

an instrument with a membrane stretched across a frame, where the membrane vibrates when struck

What is an idiophone?

an instrument where the body vibrates when struck