Creation of Music

why did no one tell me saxophones weren't brass

Instruments

Devices that create sound through the transfer of energy

Range

The highest and lowest possible notes

Range of viola

C3 to E6

Range of cello

C2 to A5

Registers

Respective parts of an instrument's range

Tessitura

A vocalist's music texture; high tessitura means more pitches in a higher register

Family system

A system of instrument classification that groups instruments by their playing method

Electrophones

Instruments that create sound through an oscillator

Theremin

An electronic instrument that adjusts electrical fields and controls the frequency and amplitude of the sound

Major electronic music centers

Paris, Rome, Cologne, and New York City

Tape music

Music that relies on looping and splicing

Sachs-Hornbostel system

A system of instrument classification by Curt Sachs and Erich von Hornbostel

Ethnomusicologists

Scholars who study music of other cultures

Chordophones

AKA string family, instruments that are plucked (harp), bowed (violin), or struck (piano), and use vibrating strings or chords to create sound

Aerophones

Blown instruments

Brass family

Metal instruments that use columns of vibrating air to create sounds

Woodwind family

Instruments that use columns of vibrating air to create sound, often with reeds

Membranophone

Instruments that use vibrating membrane to create sound

Percussion family

Struck instruments

Idiophones

Instruments that vibrate to create sound

Keyboard family

Instruments with keyboards

Instrumentation

The instruments a composer uses in a piece

Arranger

One who takes an existing piece and divides it among individual instruments or voices

Timbre

An instrument or voice's distinct sound

Musical form

The structural organization of music

Genre

Categorization of music, defined by form, instrumentation, context, technique, and more

Style

A musician's personal technique

Themes

A set of possibly varied phrases that create a coherent melody and shape the piece as a whole

Phrases

Presents unified musical ideas; sometimes appears in related pairs; often followed by a brief pause

Cadence

Musical pauses

Motives

The smallest noticeable repeating idea in a piece, possessing a clear rhythm, melody, and contour

Introduction

Precedes the piece's first main theme

Coda

Ends the composition and sounds conclusive; means "tail" in Italian

Chorus

AKA refrain; a repeating part of a piece

Repetition

Repeating the same pitches, rhythms, and harmonies; includes close approximations

Sequence

The repetition of the same motive at a different pitch

Variation

Repetition with significant alteration

Improvisation

Unscripted parts in performance; common in jazz

Ternary form

Simplest form that still has contrast, with two similar sections separated by a middle

Fugue

Centering on a single subject that is developed with harmonies, and then refers to a companion subject; relies heavily on imitation

Imitation

Repeating a melodic idea at a different pitch level

Sonata

Using three primary sections and two musical ideas, with an exposition, development, and recapitulation structure

Exposition

Introduces the first musical idea in the tonic, then modulates and transitions to a second idea that contrasts the first, then ends with a strong cadence in a new key

Development

Exploratory section often with unstable harmonies, irregular phrases, sudden changes, chromatic pitches, and frequent modulations; ends with a half cadence

Recapitulation

First musical idea that transitions to the second idea

Sopranos

C4 to C6

Mezzo-soprano

A3 to A5

Contralto

F3 to E5

Tenor

B2 to A4

Baritone

G2 to F4

Bass

E2 to E4