Music Appreciation
Music Appreciation - Intro🎵
- What is music?
- Sounds
- Different notes
- Frequencies
- Beats
- Stories
- The Universal Language
- Rhythm:
- Placement of sounds in time.
- Pattern in time of a single group of notes.
- Beat:
- Music with a steady pulse.
- Measure:
- Beats root into these (five lines and four spaces)
- Meter:
- A way to organize music. (rhythms and a repetitive pattern of strong and weak beats)
- Duple Meter: Strong beat → Weak beat
- Triple Meter: Strong →Weak →Weak
- Quadruple: Strong →weak → weak → weak
or
Strong →Weak → Strong → Weak
- Simple Meter: Beats divided into ½ (by 2)
- Compound Meter: Beats divided by 3
Meter | Count | Grouping |
|---|---|---|
Duple simple | 1& 2&... | 2 2 |
Triple simple | 1& 2& 3&... | 2 2 2 |
Quadruple Simple | 1& 2& 3& 4&... | 2 2 2 2 |
Duple Compound | 1&a 2&a… | 3 3 |
Triple Compound | 1&a 2&a 3&a… | 3 3 3 |
Quadruple Compound | 1&a 2&a 3&a 4&a… | 3 3 3 3 |
Music Appreciation - intro🎵 (Day 2)
- Tempo:
- Tempo = time
- Speed at which the music moves
- Metronome - Electronic device used to set the tempo of music in bpm
- Terms to know for tempo:
Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
Largo | Very slow / broad |
Adagio | Slow / leisurely |
Andante | “Walking” moderate tempo |
Moderato | Moderate |
Allegro | Moderately fast / moving briskly |
Presto | Very fast |
Prestissimo | As fast as possible |
- Dynamic markings:
- The degree of loudness or softness at which the music is played (volume)
- Terms to know for dynamic markings:
Term | Meaning | Symbol |
|---|---|---|
Fortissimo | Very loud | ff |
Forte | loud | f |
Mezzo Forte | Moderately loud | mf |
Mezzo Piano | Moderately soft | mp |
Piano | soft | p |
Pianissimo | Very soft | pp |
Crescendo | Gradually gets louder | < |
Decrescendo | Gradually gets softer | > |
Sforzando | Suddenly loud | sfz |
Subito Piano | Suddenly soft | Sub. pp. |
Music Appreciation - Instrument families🎵
- Strings:
- A stretched string vibrates to make sound.
- Sustained lines, harmony, warmth
- Violin - Highest common archestral string
- Viola - Darker middle voice
- Cello - Rich lower register
- Double bass - Lowest common string
- Harp - Plucked strings
- Woodwinds:
- Air vibrates through a tube.
- Color, melody, contrast, solo voice
- Flute - Air crosses an edge
- Oboe - Double reed
- Clarinet - Single reed
- Bassoon - Double reed
- Piccolo - …
- Saxophone - …
- Brass:
- Buzzing lips start the vibration.
- Trumpet - Bright and brilliant
- French horn - Rounded & blended
- Trombone - Slide changes tune instead of buttons
- Euphonium - Smaller tuba - tenor bass
- Tuba - deep bass
- Buzzing lips start the vibration.
- Percussion:
- Something is struck, shaken, or scraped.
- Timpani - Tuned drums
- Snare drum - crisp rhythmic sound
- Bass drum - deep impact
- Cymbals - bright accents
- Xylophone & Glockenspiel - …
- Something is struck, shaken, or scraped.
- Orchestra seating:
Music Appreciation🎵
- Melody:
- A sequence of pitches that forms a recognizable musical idea
- Key ideas:
- Contour: Does it rise, fall, or steady level?
- Range: Narrow or wide?
- Rhythm: Smooth, repeated, syncopated?
- Motive: A short musical idea that returns.
- Harmony:
- Happens when different pitches sound together.
- Key ideas:
- Chord: Several notes sounding together
- Consonance: Stable/pleasant-sounding combinations
- Dissonance: Tense/unstable combinations
- Chord progressions create direction & emotion
- Texture:
- Describes how musical layers are combined.
- Key ideas:
- Monophonic: one melody alone
- Homphonic: Melody + accompaniment
- Polyphonic: Two or more independent melodies
- vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvbbbbHeterophonic: Simultaneous versions of the same melody.
- Form:
- The large-scale organization of music
- Common forms:
- Binary: AB (Ex. Mary had a little lamb)
- Ternary: ABA (Ex. twinkle little star)
- Verse-chorus: A B A B… (Ex. Driver's license)
- Rondo: ABACA or ABACABA
- Theme & Variations: A A’ A’’ A’’’ (Ex. Teenage dream)