Engaging With Music

pitch

-highness or lowness of a sound

-measured relative to other pitches & to absolute standards like 440 Hz (standard orchestral A)

melody

a succession of single pitches that we hear as a recognizable whole

rhythm

-the organization of music through time

-refers generally to the element of time in music, specifically patterns of long & short notes and rests

-how beat, meter, accent, and tempo combine

meter

-repeated pattern of beats

-duple meter: beat group with multiples of 2

-triple meter: beat group with multiples of 3

tempo

speed

measure

one unit of regular metrical pattern repeated throughout the piece

harmony

-combo of notes to produce chords

-a way to understand the progression of chords through a piece

-building blocks: chords, key, major, minor, scale

chords

-2 or more notes at same time

-foundations of harmony

key

the note and mode a piece is composed around

scale

-series of pitches low to high or high to low

-typically made of 8 pitches

form

-the way musical material is organized

-combo of musical elements over time to create a complete piece of music

texture

-relationship btwn melodic and harmonic elements in a piece of music

-number of notes that occur at the same time

active listening and curiosity

-listen to many styles of music

-create an informed opinion based on musical facts

-share and defend your opinion

dynamics

-refers to volume

-how loud/soft a piece of music is

-forte (loud) & piano(quiet)

questions to ask when listening to music

-are the pitches high or low?

-what is the meter? (duple/triple) - relates to tempo/speed

-is the key major (happy) or minor (sad)?

-is the harmony intricate/complex or no?

-connect to colors, movements, textures

4 areas of engaging with music

1. mental

2. physical

3. emotional

4. spiritual

ancient music

-very few surviving pieces

-mostly reconstructed from writings

-music tied to poetry, ritual, & education

-monophonic, text-centered, small instrument forces

-know they existed in practice, but not always how they sound

monophonic

one melody, one line of text/song (basic)

why so little of ancient music survives

-oral tradition (low literacy)

-fragile notation systems (no standardization)

-music tied to specific performance context

-only fragments preserved on stone, papyrus, or manuscripts

music in Scripture

-earliest recorded music/song: Exodus 15:1-3 - The Song of Moses

-songs make up a large portion of Scripture

• 3 books dedicated to songs: Psalms, Song of Solomon, Lamentations

• other songs include: Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55, Song of Mary), Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79, Song of Zacharias), Songs of Revelation (Revelation 4:8, 11, 15:3-4)

Pythagoras

-key Greek thinker

-interval ratios, music as mathematics

Plato

-key Greek thinker

-music modes shape moral character

Aristotle

-key Greek thinker

-music for education & emotional regulation

Boethius

-key Greek/Roman thinker

-transmitted Greek ideas to medieval Europe

music as mathematics

-ratios

• octave (2:1)

• fifth (3:2)

• fourth (4:3)

-music as part of the quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy

-”harmony of the spheres”: cosmic order expressed musically

music as ethics

-modes associated w/ ethos

• dorian = balanced

• phrygian = passionate

• lydian = soft/luxurious

-music shapes the soul

lyre/kithara

-Ancient Greek instrument

-education, civic life

aulos

-Ancient Greek instrument

-drama, ritual, emotional intensity

-double reed tube

percussion

-Ancient Greek instrument

-dance, festivals

seikilos epitaph

-one of the first written recordings of music (not religious)

-live not sad cause you’re gonna die

-1-2 century AD

Delphic hymn to apollo

-ritual context

-more elaborate

plainchant

-monophonic, unaccompanied

-sung in Christian liturgy

-oral tradition —> notation

-function: prayer, scripture, ritual

liturgy overview

-mass (ordinary & proper)

-divine office (daily prayer cycle)

-chant as the musical backbone of worship

Gregorian Chant

-standardized under Charlemagne

-developed in 9th & 10th centuries

-named after Pope Gregory I

-Neumes & early notation

-modal, free rhythm

-ex: Puer natus est nobis

text settings

-syllabic: one syllable per note of melody

-neumatic: smaller group of notes for every syllable of text

-melismatic: one syllable stretched across many notes (6 or more)

Hildegard von Bingen

-C. 1098-9/17/1179

-abbess (nun), visionary, composer

-unique musical voice

-wide ranges, expressive leaps

Notre Dame school

-Paris, 12th-13th c.

-Organum: form of early polyphony based on an existing plainsong (medieval)

-rhythmic modes

-key composers: Leonin, Perotin

-started harmony

troubadours & trouveres

-poet composers from secular medieval music

-courtly love

-monophonic songs

-strophic forms

-cleat melodies, poetic rhythm, emotional expression, secular themes, old French or Occitan

Ars Nova (“new art”)

-14th century France music (medieval secular)

-mensural notation (clearer)

-rhythmic complexity

-isorhythm (individual rhythmic structures)

Guillame de Machaut

-poet-composer

-master of the Arts Nova tradition

-formes fixes (ex: intro, verse, bridge, chorus - repetition)

-medieval secular & sacred music

medieval toward the Renaissance

-smoother lines

-imitation

-text clarity