Music Appreciation Final Exam

Talking Drum

A drum with two or more pitches used to communicate in tone languages

Mbira (Sansa, Kalimba)

Thumb piano with 8 - 30 tongues made of metal or bamboo over a sounding bo

Slit Drum

A hollowed out log with a long slit on top; can be large or small with many pitches

Guru

Master or teacher

Ravi Shankar

(1920 - 2012) : one of the most influential Indian musicians; once said, "Through music one can reach God."

Sitar

Most popular chordophone instrument of North India; it is a long necked lute with 19- 23 movable frets; 7 strings that are plucked and 19-30 that vibrate sympathetically

Koto

Instrument with 13 silk or nylon strings stretched over a hollow sound board about six feet long with a movable bridge

Shakuhachi

End blown bamboo flute with five holes

Motown Records

An independent record company out of Detroit in the 1960's whose founder and owner was Berry Gordy

Jackson 5

Jackie, Marlon, Tito, Jermaine and Michael: Joe and Katherine Jackson had nine children all of whom have made records

James Brown

(1933 - 2006) : known as the "Godfather of Soul", he was born in South Carolina

Aretha Franklin

(1942-2018): born in Tennessee, her father was a Baptist preacher so she began as a gospel artist

Stevie Wonder

(b.1950): born in Michigan, began playing piano at age 7 and was signed to Motown he was 12

Alicia Keys

(b.1981) : she is a classically trained pianist who studied at the Manhattan's Professional Performance Arts School

Rock (Rock and Roll)

A style of popular vocal music which developed in the 1950's; characterized by a driving beat and featuring electric guitar

Elvis Presley

(1935 - 1977): known as the King of Rock and Roll; also starred in 33 films

The Beatles

The most influential rock and roll group of the 20th century

Beatlemania

Imitation of the Beatles in music and dress

Woodstock

3 day music and arts fair held in August of 1969 having over 300,000 people in attendance

MTV

A cable television network broadcasting music videos

Michael Jackson

(b. 1958 - 2009): Known as the "King of Pop", was in the Jackson 5 at age 4; mimicking James Brown

Nirvana

Formed in 1986 and are most known for their song Smells Like Teen Spirit; set the Grunge example

Kurt Cobain

(1967 - 1994): Lead singer of Nirvana whose parents were divorced when he was 7 which influenced most of his music

Dolly Parton

(b.1946) : very influential female country singer and guitar player born in Tennessee

Willie Nelson

(b.1933) : Raised in and worked cotton fields in Texas and was surrounded by African American and Mexican American music at an early age

Bluegrass

A type of folk music that originated in the Southern US; typically played by: Banjo Guitar Mandolin Fiddle Bass

Bill Monroe

(1911-1996): "Father of Bluegrass"; played guitar and fiddle, but mastered the mandolin

Clint Black

(b.1962): Born in New Jersey; played harmonica by age 13 and guitar by age 15 and his first album went number one

Musical

Type of American theater created to entertain by combining acting, singing, dancing, sets, and costumes

Vaudeville

Variety show with songs, comedy, juggling, acrobats, and animal acts; but no plot

Leonard Bernstein

(1918-1990): Composer and pianist who wrote very demanding vocal lines similar to opera

West Side Story

Musical about gangs in New York based on the story of Romeo and Juliet where a girl from one gang falls for a guy of the opposite gang

Andrew Lloyd Webber

(b.1948): Born in England; multi-millionaire musical theater composer who wrote Phantom of the Opera and Cats

Phantom of the Opera

Like opera in demand, but musical theater in spectacle about a haunted opera house

Choreographer

Person responsible for creating and teaching the dance routines in a musical

Grease

Extremely popular Rock and Roll musical about two high school kids from different social groups who fall in love

Music was first added to film to:

1 Heighten the emotional effect
2 Drown out the noise of the movie projector

John Williams

(b.1932): an American composer, conductor and pianist who is considered one of the greatest film score composers in history

Studio Musicians

Freelance musicians hired to record film soundtracks

Danny Elfman

(b.1953): American film composer and lead singer of Oingo Boingo; partnered often with Tim Burton.

Jazz

Music rooted in improvisation having syncopated rhythms and a steady beat

Improvisation

Creation of music at the same time it is performed

Rhythm Section

Piano, bass, and drums; sometimes guitar: that lay down the beat and chords

Ragtime

Style of piano music in a march tempo where the left hand maintains the beat and the right hand plays a melody

Blues

A style of jazz having "blue" notes in the scale; vocal blues has a poetic form of a a b

New Orleans Style (Dixieland)

Jazz style in which the instruments improvise melodies at the same time with a rhythm section keeping time and chords

Scat Singing

Vocalization of a melodic line with nonsense syllables

Bessie Smith

(1894-1937):Empress of the Blues

Louis Armstrong

(1901-1971) Satchmo: Trumpet and cornet player who was born in New Orleans and learned the cornet in reform school; he played higher than anyone had before and introduced scat singing

Style

Characteristic way of using melody, rhythm, tone color, dynamics, harmony, texture and form in music

Form

Organization of musical ideas in time

Dynamics

Degrees of loudness or softness in music

Melody

Series of single tones that add up to a recognizable whole

Harmony

How chords are constructed and how they follow each other

Women's Voice Parts

Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto

Men's Voice Parts

Tenor, Baritone, Bass

Gregorian Chant

Melodies set to sacred Latin text sung without
accompaniment

Chant is named after

Pope Gregory the Great

Drone

Long, sustained tone or tones accompanying a melody

Monophonic

Single melodic line without accompaniment

Sacred

Music of the church

Secular

Music not of the church

Troubadours and Trouveres

French noblemen who were poets and musicians

Polyphonic

Performance of two or more melodic lines of relatively equal interest at the same time

Renaissance

Rebirth of human creativity

Humanism

Intellectual movement focusing on human life and its accomplishments

Printing Press

Invention of printing with movable type ; education becomes more important due to print. Previously, books had been rare due to hand copies until 1450.

Word Painting

Musical representation of specific poetic ideas: examples laughing, sighing, descending, running

A Cappella

Choral music without instrumental accompaniment

Mass

Polyphonic sacred choral composition made up of five sections

Madrigal

Composition for several voices set to a short secular poem, usually about love; often using word painting

Thomas Morley

(1557 - 1603) : English composer best known for his madrigals

Harpsichord

Shaped like a piano, but with plucked strings

Movement

Piece that sounds fairly complete and independent, but is part of a larger composition

Tutti

Italian word for all referring to the full orchestra; often contrasting with a smaller group

Fugue

Polyphonic composition based on one main theme or subject

Subject

Theme of a fugue

Answer

Second presentation of a subject

Opera

Drama that is sung to orchestral accompaniment

Librettist

Dramatist who writes the libretto

Castrati

Male singers castrated before puberty to retain a higher voice range

Johann Sebastian Bach

(1685 - 1750) : born in Germany, from a family of organists;
best known for organ works and church music

George Frideric Handel

(1685 - 1759) : born in Germany whose family was not
musical ; most famous for his Italian operas and English oratorios.

Messiah

Handel's most famous oratorio

Serenade

Instrumental composition meant for evening entertainment

Symphony

Orchestral composition, usually in four movements, lasting between
20-45 minutes, using a wide range of tone color and dynamics

Concerto

Extended composition for instrumental soloist and orchestra, usually
in 3 movements; 1 fast 2 slow 3 fast

Requiem

Mass for the dead

Ludwig Van Beethoven

( 1770 - 1827 ) : Born in Germany and from a family of musicians. Desired perfection in all his works and was crushed to grow deaf later in his life. His music was very passionate.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

( 1756 - 1791 ) : Born in Austria and was a child prodigy.
By the age of 6 was playing the violin and at age 8 wrote his first symphony.

Theme and Variations

Form in which a basic musical idea (the theme) is repeated over and over and is changed each time

Romanticism

Cultural movement that stressed emotion,
imagination, and individualism

Nationalism

Inclusion of folk songs, dances, and legends in a composition to associate it with the composer's homeland

Exoticism

Use of melodies, rhythms, or instruments that suggest foreign lands

Chromatic Harmony

Use of chords containing tones in the chromatic scale; not major or minor

Frédéric Chopin

(1810 - 1849): Composer born in Poland who wrote almost exclusively for piano

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

(1840 - 1893): Composer born in Russia who began to study music very late at age 21. His music is filled with Russian folk songs.

Antonín Dvořák

(1841 - 1904): Composer born in the Czech Republic. Taught in both Prague and New York and helped encourage American nationalism due to his interest in Native and African American melodies

Glissando

Rapid slide up or down a scale

Consonance

Tone combination that is stable and restful