MUSIC IN SOCIETY

music -

Sounds in time

Three primary elements:

Melody, Rhythm and Harmony

Acoustics -

The science of sound

sound -

movement of soundwaves or pressure waves

Sound waves -

Rapid movements back and forth of a vibrating medium (gas, Liquid, and solid)

Pitch -

note or tone

Definite pitch -

a tone that is composed of an organized sound wave

Indefinite pitch -

a pitch that consists of less organized waves

Frequency -

repetitions of a wave pattern over time. Measured in Hertz or Cycles Per Second (CPS)

fundamental pitch -

the lowest frequency of the sound

overtones or partials -

additional definite pitches

Interval -

The distance between two notes

Melody -

sequence of single pitches

Range -

distance from highest to lowest note

Direction -

Ascending (increasing in size)

Motion Conjunct-

Mostly steps and narrow intervals.

Motion Disjunct-

Many skips and leaps, wide intervals

Dynamic -

Volume of a sound

Timbre -

the quality of sound or the tone color or tone quality

Staves -

has 5 lines and 4 spaces

Sound -

Written through notes and rests.

Beat -

Basic unit of rhythm

Rhythm -

organized by meters or time signatures. Help predict the number of beats in measures or bars.

Measures -

separated by bar lines

Syncopation -

a variety of rhythms that are in some way unexpected which make part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat

Polyrhythms -

The simultaneous use of several rhythmic patterns or meters

Harmony -

the simultaneous combination of pitches

Consonance -

Harmony sounds natural and stable.

dissonance -

Harmonies that create tension

Chord -

a combination of three or more pitches

Triads -

The most basic chords and are composed of 3 notes. Can be written in different positions known as inversions. (rearrangement)

Guido of Arezzo -

developed the staff notation system

Key -

Harmonic piece of music created from a scale

Key signature

sharps or flats of a key

Scales - use flats and sharps

Use of flats and sharps

Flats lower a pitch by a half step and sharps raise a pitch by a half step.

Major keys -

happy, upbeat and cheerful

Minor Keys -

sad and mysterious

tempo -

How slow or fast a piece of music is played

Largo/Adagio -

Very slow and slow

Andante -

walking pace

Moderato -

moderate pace

Allegro -

fast tempo

Presto -

very fast

Accelerando -

becoming faster

Ritardando -

becoming slower

dynamics -

Loudness or softness of music

Fortissimo -

Very loud

Forte - med

Loud

Mezzo Forte -

medium loud

mezzo-piano -

medium soft

piano -

soft

Pianissimo -

very soft

Texture -

layers of musical sound

Monophonic -

single-line, or melody without accompaniment

polyphonic -

two or more independent lines

Musical form: -

organization of musical elements in time

Binary Form -

two-part structure

ternary form -

Three-part structure

Variation Form -

Combination of repetition and contrast