western music history midterm

Accidentals

is a symbol placed in front of a note that temporarily alters its pitch (raising or lowering it) outside of the established key signature. ex. sharp, flat, natural, double sharp, or double flat

Acoustics

is the scientific study of how musical sounds are generated, transmitted, and perceived across instruments, spaces, and recordings

Amplitude

refers to the height of a sound wave, which determines how loud or soft a sound is perceived. higher amplitude = taller wave and louder sound. lower amplitude = shorter wave and softer sound

Chromatic

the use of all twelve semitones (half steps) contained within a single octave. refers to using more non-diatonic notes on a keyboard (e.g., using more of the "black keys" when playing in the key of C Major)

Conjunct

a conjunct melody is when it moves through the mode or scale in stepwise motion (smooth movement by small steps, rather than large melodic leaps) for example Hildegard von Bingen’s “Hail thee, nobly born”

Consonant

"agreeable" tone combinations produced by simple mathematical string-length or frequency ratios. gives a piece of music stability, serenity. ex. Knights Templar's "Crucem Sanctam because it uses parallel organum which is polyphony built on 4th and 5th intervals

Disjunct

is a musical line that moves by leaps or skips (jumping between non-adjacent pitches in a scale or mode), rather than moving smoothly by adjacent steps.

Dissonant

dissonances are "disagreeable" combinations produced by more complex ratios. according to pythagoras the larger and more complex the numbers in an interval's ratio, the greater the perceived dissonance

Form

the overall structure, shape, or organization of a musical composition over time. three core principles: repetition, contrast, and variation

Frequency

the number of times a sound wave vibrates back and forth in one second. the higher the vibration frequency, the higher the pitch perceived by the ear

Fundamental Pitch

is the lowest, primary frequency generated by a vibrating object. It determines the actual pitch that the human ear perceives when a note is sounded

Guide of Arezza

He first assigned names to the notes of the medieval scale system. they are: Ut (or “Do”), Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, (Ti).

He derived these note names from the initial syllables of each line of the 8th-century plainchant hymn "Ut Queant Laxis"

The “Guidonian Hand” was a mnemonic device that was used to assist singers in learning
to sing at sight.

Interval

An interval is the distance or difference in pitch between two musical tones. In acoustics they’re defined mathematically by the ratio of string lengths or vibration frequencies between two pitches

Harmony

the simultaneous sounding of two or more pitches that support or complement a melody

Hertz (Hz)

is the standard unit of measurement for frequency, defined simply as cycles (or vibrations) per second (cps)

Homophonic

when a primary melody is accompanied by "vertical" chordal harmonizations in which all (or most) of the voice parts move with roughly the same rhythm as the melody and text. most church hymns are homophonic. ex. “credo” (Pope Marcellus Mass, 1562), Giovanni da Palestrina

Think of it like a lead singer backed up by a guitar or piano playing chords

Melody

melody represents the horizontal aspect of music—a coherent succession of single pitches sounded one after another over time.

Meter

meter refers to the organization of musical beats into regular, repeating patterns of accented (strong) and unaccented (weak) beats, typically grouped into measures (or bars) separated by bar lines

Monophonic

consists of a single, unaccompanied melodic line. Traditional monophonic music is sung a cappella without instrumental harmonization. does not have to be sung solo, can be sung by multiple voices in unision. ex. Hildegard von Bingen’s “Hail thee, nobly born”

Octave

the musical interval between one pitch and another with half or double its frequency (1:2), categorized as a perfect consonance

interval between two tones

Overtones

the higher-frequency resonant sounds that ring out simultaneously with the main pitch whenever a musical note is played

Pitch

Pitch refers to the relative highness or lowness of a musical sound as perceived by the human ear. in acoustics, pitch is directly determined by vibration frequency (measured in hertz [hz] or cycles per second [cps])

Polyphony

Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody. each vocal or instrumental part maintains its own independent rhythm, melodic contour, and text underlay. ex.Hucbald's "Rex Caeli Domine Maris"

Rhythm

refers to the arrangement of sound durations—long and short notes and rests—over time relative to a steady underlying beat or pulse

Scale

A scale is an ordered sequence of musical pitches arranged in ascending or descending order by frequency or pitch degree

Sine Wave

is the most basic repetitive acoustic waveform in acoustics. it consists of a single frequency, without any upper harmonics or overtones. Tones generated purely by sine waves are termed pure tones

Sound Waves

is a repeating, periodic disturbance or pressure wave propagating through a physical medium (such as air) caused by a vibrating object. As a sound wave travels, it creates alternating pressure variations relative to standard atmospheric pressure

Tempo

Tempo refers to the rate of speed at which the steady underlying beats or pulses of a musical work occur. measured objectively in beats per minute (bpm)

Timbre

is the unique acoustic characteristic of a sound thta allows a listner to distinguish between different musical instruments or voices, even when they perform the exact same pitch at the same volume leve

Tonic

is the first note, central, fundamental pitch upon which a scale or key is built. It is the note where a melody feels most stable, resolved, and at rest. Pieces of music usually start and end on the tonic to give the listener a sense of completion

Accapella

It refers to vocal music performed entirely unaccompanied by instruments. sacred plainchant/gregorian chants were designed for acappella performances for sacred worships. ex, Hildegard von Bingen — "Ave Generosa

Alfonos the Wise

("Songs of Holy Mary"): He is credited as the composer and compiler of this manuscript, which is one of the largest surviving collections of monophonic songs from the Middle Ages (containing roughly 400 songs). Every song in the Cantigas offers praise to the Virgin Mary, a prime example of medieval sacred popular song set in vernacular language.

Chant

a chant is monophonic sacred music, and can be a plainchant/gregorian chant. it is sung acappella and was developed in the early catholic church and codified under the reign of pope gregory I

Crusades

A series of European Christian military campaigns (11th–13th centuries) initiated after Western European armies captured Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade. The Crusade era spurred major cross-cultural contacts and influenced regional traditions

Refrain

is a recurring section of text and music that returns at regular intervals throughout a song or poetic form. In late medieval poetic diagrams, capital letters (such as A, B, or C) indicate the repetition of both the exact poetic text and music (a refrain), whereas lowercase letters (a, b) denote repeated music sung to new poetic text. ex. The Knights Templar antiphon "Crucem Sanctam"

Rhythm according to the text

Rather than adhering to a regular beat, the duration and flow of the musical notes are governed organically by the natural accents, syllabic stress, and prose rhythm of the Latin liturgical text

Strophes

A structural stanza or verse of poetry within a song text. Strophic form is a musical structure in which the same recurring music is repeated for each stanza or strophe of changing text

Drone

A drone is a continuous, sustained pitch (or group of pitches) that sounds continuously beneath a moving vocal or instrumental melody to provide a harmonic background. The hurdy-gurdy features dedicated drone strings

Guillaume de Machaut

a french composer whose music works dominated 14th-century european culture. Spent his later years living and working at the Gothic Cathédrale de Notre Dame de Reims, where he composed the majority of his sacred masterworks. Messe de Notre Dame (Mass of Notre Dame, 1364):

Hildegard of Bingen

A 12th-century German Benedictine abbess, renowned for receiving divine visions, which inspired her theological writings, poetry, and sacred composition. "Ave Generosa" ("Hail Thee, Nobly Born")

Mass

The Mass is the principal sacred service and central act of worship in the Roman Catholic Church. Guillaume de Machaut — Messe de Notre Dame (Mass of Notre Dame, 1364). Written for Notre Dame Cathedral in Reims, and the earliest complete polyphonic setting of the Mass Ordinary composed by a single individual

Melisma

Is the musical practice of singing multiple notes/pitches on a single syllable of text. ex "Dame, de qui toute ma joie vient"

Middle Ages

The historical era spanning from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the dawn of the Renaissance in the 15th century. sacred monophony (Gregorian chants) and secular vernacular songs (troubadours)

Leonin

Léonin was a pioneering composer working at Paris's Notre-Dame Cathedral during the Ars Antiqua period. is credited with compiling the Magnus Liber Organi ("Great Book of Organum"), a monumental collection of early sacred polyphony for the liturgical year.Organum Duplum for Christmas Day: "Viderunt Omnes finis terra" ("All the ends of the earth")

Pythagoras

String-Length Ratios & Monochord: Pythagoras discovered that physical acoustic consonances and dissonances directly correspond to numerical ratios of string lengths on a monochord

Consonance Principle: The smaller and simpler the numerical ratio expressing string lengths (or frequency ratios), the more consonant ("agreeable") the musical interval sounds to the ear

Syllabic

A syllabic text setting is a style of vocal writing where each individual syllable of text is set to exactly one musical note. Syllabic settings prioritize speech clarity, allowing long narrative texts or liturgical verses to be sung quickly and distinctly. in contrast to melismatic

Verse

A verse is a section of a song where the musical theme repeats but the poetic text changes with each occurrence

Consort

A consort is an ensemble of instrumentalists playing together, a instrumental format popular during the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. whole consort = ensemble with the same instrument family. broken consort = ensemble with different instrument families

Counter Refromation

the Roman Catholic Church's response to the Protestant Reformation. They addressed the corruption and self-reforms. They mandated that sacred church music must be dignified, prayerful, and written so that the Latin liturgical words remained completely clear and intelligible to listeners. Council of Trent was on the verge of banning all polyphonic music from Catholic worship until they heard Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's masterwork

Galliard

A quick, athletic courtly dance popular across Western Europe during the 16th and early 17th centuries. Characterized by a fast, energetic triple meter (3/4 time) with vigorous steps, hops, and leaps.

Giovanni Pieruigi da Palestrina

italian composer of the late renaissance whose style represents the golden age of modal polyphony. Council of Trent was on the verge of banning all polyphonic music from Catholic worship until they heard Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's masterwork. "Kyrie" from the Missa Papae Marcelli (Pope Marcellus Mass, 1562)

Madrigal

A madrigal is a secular, multi-voiced vocal composition set to vernacular poetry (such as Italian or English) rather than sacred Latin. Because explicit language was forbidden, madrigal texts relied heavily on clever metaphoric language, double entendres, and pastoral euphemisms to discuss romance and desire. "Moro, lasso" ("I die, alas", 1611)

Martin Luther

was the key figure of the protestant reformation who believed the roman catholic church was corrupt and was disturbing the peoples relationship with god and the biblical text. Luther radically transformed church worship by encouraging the whole congregation to sing together in their daily vernacular language. Believing that scripture and music combined to move the human soul, Luther promoted the mass printing of vernacular hymns

Motet

A motet is a Latin religious polyphonic choral composition and stands as one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance sacred music. The early motet began developing during the High Middle Ages (Ars Antiqua) out of the Notre Dame School of polyphony. Orlando de Lassus — "Musica Dei donum optimi" (1594):

Pavanne

It is a slow, dignified court processional dance that was widely popular throughout Western Europe in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Set in slow duple meter (4/4 time) and originally performed by noble dancers dressed in elaborate courtly costumes. John Dowland — Lachrimae Pavan (1596):

Renaissance

The word Renaissance means "rebirth" and designates the major historical era transitioning Europe from the Late Middle Ages into early modernity. A central intellectual movement that revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, literature, and art, shifting scholarly thought away from medieval scholasticism

William Byrd

A prominent English composer of the Tudor and Elizabethan eras. Byrd composed extensively for early Renaissance keyboard instruments, particularly the virginal and harpsichord. “Pavana Lachrymae" (ca. 1610)”

Word painting

is the musical technique of composing music that directly reflects, mirrors, or illustrates the literal meaning of the poetic words being sung. Composers used word painting to heighten the emotional expression, humor, or visual imagery of a poem

diatonic

Music confined predominantly to the notes of the prevailing seven-tone scale or mode without outside accidental alterations. The term diatonic literally means consisting of two interval types: Whole Tones (WT) and Half-Tones/Semitones (ST/H)

the greek modes

Ionian (C-C), Dorian (D-D), Phrygian (E-E), Lydian (F-F), Mixolydian (G-G), Aeolian (A-A), Locrian (B-B)

Quadrivium

The Quadrivium represented the upper four subjects of the Seven Foundational Arts and Sciences in ancient Greek philosophy and medieval European education

Trivium

The Trivium (literally "the three ways") represented the foundational lower tier of the Seven Foundational Arts and Sciences in ancient Greek philosophy and medieval European scholarship

The Benedictine Rule

a set of Christian monastic precepts written around 530 AD by Benedict of Nursia to guide communal monastics

plainchant

a body of unaccompanied, monophonic sacred music used in the liturgies of the Western Christian Church

parallel organum

is an early style of two-voiced medieval sacred music where a secondary accompanying voice moves in continuous parallel intervals of perfect 4ths or perfect 5ths relative to the principal plainchant melody. The technique developed in part due to the natural pitch limits of different singers

knights templar

Established following the First Crusade (1099) to protect Christian pilgrims traveling along dangerous routes to Jerusalem. members took monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and prayer while wearing distinctive white surcoats with a red cross. "Crucem Sanctam" / "The Holy Cross" (12th Century):

bass drone

is a continuous, unbroken low tone or set of notes held underneath a moving upper melody line. It provides a constant, stationary tonal center or harmonic foundation throughout a piece, allowing upper voices or instruments to perform melodies against a fixed pitch. hurdy gurdy and bag pipes

programmatic music

is music that explicitly seeks to convey, illustrate, or depict an "extra-musical idea." The composer designs the music to point directly toward an external story, idea, visual picture, or text. Claude Debussy — "La cathédrale engloutie" ("The Sunken Cathedral", 1910):

the lost city of Ys

An ancient Breton legend set on the coast of Brittany, France. The legend of the sunken city of Ys follows the tragic downfall of a mythical Breton kingdom torn between paganism and Christianity. "La cathédrale engloutie" ("The Sunken Cathedral", 1910) Claude Debussy

the notre dame school of polyphony

a group of composers and singers working at or near the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris from approximately 1160 to 1250 during the medieval Ars Antiqua era. They produced the earliest internationally prestigious repertory of western polyphony (music with two or more independent melodic lines). Leonin, Perotin, and Anonymous IV

illuminated manuscripts

An illuminated manuscript is a hand-written book decorated with vibrant colors, silver or gold leaf, and detailed miniature paintings that make the pages appear to shimmer or "light up". Because music was entirely acoustic and ephemeral, the development of luxury manuscripts was the only way to preserve, standardize, and physically visualize sound across generations

courtly love

was a medieval European literary and musical genre that emphasized nobility, chivalry, sacrifice, and devotion to a lady. Gave rise to European lyric poetry—first-person strophic poems (often sung) expressing personal emotions, passion, or confessional states of mind rather than a linear narrative. Guillaume IX, Duke of Aquitaine — "Pos de chantar m'es pres talenz" ("Since I feel like singing", ca. 1114)

troubadour

Troubadours and trouvères were medieval poet-composers who wrote and performed lyric poetry and courtly love songs (fin'amor) between the 11th and 14th centuries. Active in southern France (Occitania or Midi) and composed in langue d'oc (Occitan). guillaume ix, duke of aquitaine (1071–1126): recognized as the first known troubadours. "Pos de chantar m'es pres talenz" (ca. 1114)

the formes fixes

were three standardized poetic and musical structures: Virelai: Formal Pattern: Abba x 3 – A . Guillaume de Machaut — "Douce dame jolie"

Rondeau: Formal Pattern: aabC x 3 Guillaume de Machaut — "Dame, de qui toute ma joie vient"

Ballad: Formal Pattern: AB-aAab-AB . The closing AB refrain fully restates the opening text and music. Guillaume de Machaut — "Vos dous resgars douce dame m'a mort"

Absolute music

"Music for Its Own Sake": Absolute music is music created strictly for its intrinsic musical structure, form, and sound. Absolute music does NOT seek to convey or depict any "extra-musical idea"—meaning the composer does not point to any external story, narrative, poem, visual image, or text. "The Second Estampie Royal" (ca. 1255–1260):

canon

A canon is a contrapuntal compositional technique where an initial voice leads with a melodic theme, and one or more subsequent voices enter sequentially, imitating the exact same melody. "Sumer is icumen in" (13th Century):

hurdy gurdy

is a stringed musical instrument that produces sound using a hand-cranked, rosined wooden or plastic wheel that rubs against the strings. "Blood Upon the Snow" (2023)

opera

Historically, an "opera" referred to any completed artistic realization (such as a painting, play, or architectural work) . Over time—and specifically after being adopted into English in the 17th century—the term came to denote a stage work combining poetry, music, dance, and drama.

ground bass

is a short, constantly repeating bass pattern that serves as the fixed structural and harmonic foundation throughout a composition. While the bass line repeats unchanged, the upper voices or instruments perform changing melodies, textures, and contrapuntal variations over it. Johann Pachelbel — Canon in D Major (1653–1706):

lament bass

is a specialized form of Baroque ground bass (a continually repeating bass line that forms the structural and harmonic foundation of a work). It is characterized by a bass line that descends chromatically step-by-step from scale degree 1 down to scale degree 5 in a minor key. evoke deep sorrow, grieving, despair, and fatalistic heartbreak

the viol family

The viol family evolved directly from the vihuela, a 15th-century fretted plucked Spanish string instrument shaped like a guitar but tuned like a lute. The viol family retained core physical characteristics of the plucked vihuela, including a flat back, six strings, frets, and an identical tuning

the vihuela

The vihuela is a 15th-century fretted, plucked Spanish string instrument shaped like a guitar but tuned like a lute. The instrument typically featured six strings (occasionally five) along a fretted neck.

the viola da gamba

It is the lower-pitched, bass member of the viol family, held upright between the legs in a position similar to a modern cello. Six Strings & Flat Back and frets for intonation. John Dowland — "Lachrimae Antiquae" (1604),

pastoral music and poetry

Pastoralism represents a resurrection and idealization of rural, agrarian life originating in Greek and Roman Antiquity. served as a creative resistance to increasing urbanization and the societal pressures of early modern life. Centered around rural settings, idyllic love, young shepherds/suitors and maidens, livestock (milking cows, tending sheep), and mythological figure. Henry Tudor (King Henry VIII) — "Hey troly loly lo" (ca. 1520)

council of trent

when the roman catholic church met to discuss their response to protestant reformation to discuss self-reforms. led to musical refroms.

the florentine camerata

were a group of humanists, musicians, poets and intellectuals in late Renaissance Florence who gathered under the patronage of Count Giovanni de' Bardi to discuss and guide trends in the arts. advocated for a return to a simple “FLORENTINE MONODY.

florentine “monody”

a style with simple melody and accompany- ment, with suppression and rejection of the elaborate polyphony of the previous generation.or

Goliard

a group of young clerics in Medieval Europe who wrote satirical Latin poetry. They were students at the universities of France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and England, who protested against the church through song, poetry, and performance.