MUHI Exam 1

John Cage

Set forth one of the most provocative definitions of music / known as 4’33”. it can last any duration and be performed on any instrument

Why humans make music

Music was made throughout documented history with 43,000 year old bone flutes

Aptitude

The ease and speed with which your brain processes certain kinds of information

Achievement

What an individual does with the aptitude they have

Aptitude does not produce

achievement

All sounds are characterized by the elements of

Rhythm, Pitch, Volume, articulation, and timbre

Pulse

A rhythmic pattern with sequences of regular-spaced sounds

What does the frequency of a pulse do

Determines the tempo

When pulses are organized into groups containing strong and weak beats

Meter is estbalished

Pitch

Highness or Lowness of sound

Octave Equivalence

Doubling/halving frequency gives essentially the same pitch identiy

Chromatic pitch set

System of music organization that developed in Europe uses only twelve of the possible pitches

Half-step

The interval, or distance between adjacent keys

What is the first note of the scale

Tonic scale degree

Melody

Constructed from a sequence of pitches

What can melodies have?

Various shapes and move either step or leap

Conjunct motion

melody moves mostly by steps

Disjunct

Melody moves by leaps

Melodic Range

The distance between low and high pitches in a melody

Register

Whether music sits relatively high/low

Harmony

Constructed out of groups of pitches that are sounded simultaneously

Volume

Determined by the amplitude of a soundwave

Fortissimo

Very loud

Forte

Loud

Mezzo forte

Medium loud

Mezzo piano

medium soft

Piano

soft

Pianissimo

Very soft

Crescendo

An increase in volume

Decrescendo / Diminuendo

A decrease in volume

Articulation

How a sound begins, continues, and ends

Staccato

Short/separated/punctuated on articulation

Legato

Smoothly connected on articulation

Timbre

The quality/color of a sound

Timbral vibration is possible by the existence of

The overtone series

Overtone series

A sequence of higher-pitched frequencies that are activated every time a pitch is produced

Texture

Concerns the contents of and interactions between various layers or voices in a musical work

Monophonic

One melody, performed by a soloist or in unison, with no accompaniment

Homophonic

Adding an accompaniment that is secondary to the melody

Polyphonic

Multiple indepedent melodic lines

Heterophonic

multiple instruments or voices that perform a unique version of the same melody

Form

The matter in which music unfolds over time

Repetition

When we hear the same thing twice (A,A)

Variation

When musical material returns, but with alternations (A A’)

Contrast

Produced with musical material that has not been heard before (A B)

Fixed compositions

Composer determines all of the pitches and rhythms in advance

John Williams

Composer of Star Wars; does film music, themes representing characters/ideas

Richard Wagner

Composer of The Valkyrie, Was exiled to Switzerland, wrote “The Artwork of the Future”

What did Wagner use to help tell the story, adding new instruments to increase the range of his orchestra?

Leitmotifs

What is a leitmotifs

A recurring musical theme associated with a character, object, idea, etc.

Gustav Holst

An English musician that wrote The Planets in the 1920

What is The Planets about?

Inspired by Holst’s interest in astrology and work of British astrologer Alan Leo

What is The Planets an example of?

Program music

What is Program music

A term used to identify an instrumental composition that tells a story or paints a picture

Suite

multi-movement instrumental work that doesn’t follow an established named form

Igor Stravinsky

Wrote The Rite of Spring, his ballets were capitalized on Russian culture `

Non-diegetic / underscoring

Characters in the movie cannot hear the music

Diegetic / source music

Characters can hear the music because it exist within their world

Botsford/Atwell

Wrote Black and White Rag to symbolize Ragtime in the 1890s

Ragtime

Steady left hand is paired with a syncopated right hand

Syncopation

Emphasis/music occurring between the expected beats

King Oliver

Wrote Dippermouth Blues when Dixieland jazz was developed in New Orleans

Dixieland Jazz

Early New Orleans; often called polyphonic jazz because multiple instruments have independent melodic lines simultaneously

12-bar blues

Chord progression repeating every 12 bars

Blue notes

Typically lowered 3rd, 5th, and 7th scale degrees