Musc205 Unit 1 Exam Terms

Melisma - the practice of singing multiple pitches for a single syllable of text,

Melody - a series of pitches laid out one-by-one in a distinct rhythmic profile.

Pitch -  the frequency at which a sound vibrates || The position of a single sound in the complete range of sound (Relative)

• Fast vibration translates to “high” pitches

• Slow vibrations to “low” pitches

• frequency is just a rate of vibration, there are as many pitches as there are numbers—that is, infinite 

  • Ex: sliding your finger along a violin string → Every small change in the point of contact between your finger and the string as you glide up or down would result in a slightly different pitch

Scale - a collection of pitches that sound good together, drawn from the twelve evenly spaced tones that make up an octave

Octave -  The distance between a given pitch and the one that vibrates twice as fast or slow

•  used as the central unit for organizing pitch space going back to Ancient Greece.

Major Scale - eight-note scale in a major (positive) key

Minor Scale - - eight-note scale in a minor (sharp) key

Pentatonic Scale - containing only five notes and also coming in a major and minor version

Diatonic - Melodies that stick to pitches drawn from a single scale

Chromaticism - use of pitches that lie outside of the scale they have chosen

• Pitch Class Def - The position of a single sound in the complete range of sound (relative)

• Low, High, Medium

• Lower pitches → local frye, chest voice (vibrations in your chest) 

  • louder, richer, more confident

  • We talk at this level

• Higher pitches → get more wavery and thinner (head voice)

Melody

Most prominent/important in a musical texture Consists of a series of pitches performed over time

• Words to use

  • Tension and Release

    • Tension → leading away from home

    • Release → landing at home base

  • Range 

    • How high or low a pitch is 

    • The span of all of the pitches (wide/narrow)

      • EX: Mariah Carey - High wide range

      • EX: Johnny Cash - low narrow range 

      • EX: Taylor Swift - medium(on the higher side of low) narrow range 

        • Would need to be specific when describing range

  • Scales

    • Set of musical notes; used in a lot of western music to organize and build melodies and harmonies

      • Pentatonic Scale - 5 notes || predictable → not a lot of tension

        • Tell a story instead

  • Shape

  • Melisma vs. Syllabic

  Harmony - describes multiple pitches sounding at the same time. Harmony takes many forms, and one of the most important in a pop context is its function as accompaniment to a melody

  • Class Defn: A combination of simultaneously sounding pitches; usually supports the melody

    • Consonant: pleasant, harmonious pitches

    • Dissonant: clashing, or unharmonious pitches

  Chord - a stack of notes—three or more—that are sounded together.

  • Class Defn: Two or more simultaneously sounding pitches

  •  Chords are like musical wallpaper. Hang a musical melody against a different harmonic scheme and though the melody won’t change, our perception of it will

  • Chords come in a number of variations:  major, minor, diminished, augmented, suspended—each one producing a different kind of backdrop for a melody.

  Chord Progression-  the sequence of harmonies played by Antonoff on bass and Dost on piano

  • Class Defn: Series of cords played one after the other

  Tonality-  a scale is a collection drawn from the twelve pitches in an equally divided octave, but every pitch in the scale is not equally important.

  Tonic-  In tonality, the pitch that is most important is the first one in the scale

  •  this first note of a scale represents its tonal home, the place to which the other pitches want to return.

  •  In turn, the chord built up from this tonic pitch is called the tonic chord and represents a song’s home, the harmonic center of a given song.

  Cord Quality - 

  • Major: Happy sounds (mostly) 

  • Minor: Sad sounds (sort of )

Timbre - the quality of a musical note, or how a note sounds. Use words similarly to how you would describe food to describe music. Stay away from descriptions tied to emotions

Texture  - Density or thickness of music; how many layers a song has

• Thick or Dense

• Thin or Sparse 

Drums - Drums are not usually harmony or melody

• Unpitched: Drumset → Trap set/drum kit is mostly used in popular music (they have a pitch but they don’t change or tune the pitch)

• There are Talking Drums and Timpani that have a pitch but aren't used in popular music

Countermelody - a subordinate melody accompanies a main melody less prominent than a main melody

• Usually, in popular music, there is only one melody

  • If you take out countermelody it wouldn't impact the song that much

• Contributes to the harmony

Melisma & Syllabic - Relationship between melody and lyrics

• Melismatic: many notes for one syllable

• Syllabic (more common for popular music): single note for each syllable

A Cappella - Singing with no instrumental backgrounds

Beat - Basic unit of time in music; the regular pulse that you tap your feet to)

• Steady vs. Unsteady 

• Weak vs Strong

Beat in hip hop - Instrumental track/Backing track

Tempo - Speed of the song

• Fast, slow, or moderate

• Can tell using the beat (steady pulse)

Rhythm- duration of musical notes and their organization

• Long and short note durations

• Backbeat/Upbeat  || Downbeat 

  • Note: your own experience of rhythm is almost entirely subjective 

Rhythm: Triplets -playing 3 notes in one

Triplet Flow - dividing one beat into three divisions.

• Rapping 3 syllables in one beat

• Where does triplet flow come from?

  • Originally was formulated using the beat (snare) but was taken over by rap and is now infused in how the lyrics is sung.

• What can rapping in triplet flow do?

  • It creates a catchy and faster flow style when you add triples. 

  • It keeps the song engaging by incorporating a new style and flow

Rhythm: Son clave- bap bap bap rests bap bap

Rhythm: Tresillon- bap bap bap | bap bap bap

• Originated in Cuba

• Operated as a steady beat

Syncopation- how much a musical rhythm stresses the subdivisions between each beat versus the beat itself

•  Class Defn - when rhythms are off beat (a type of rhythm)

  • Creates a tension or pull

• Low syncopation: means that the rhythm of a song adheres closely to the underlying meter.

• Notes: our bodily response to syncopation operates in a U-shape relationship. Too little syncopation, and we do not experience a strong bodily response
  

Build - generates pent-up energy

Drop - releases it, all but requiring listeners to bounce up and down in fifteen seconds of ecstatic joy

Form - describes the large-scale musical structure of a composition and the way it can be broken down into different sections

Sections -  think of a song like a short story, then each section would be a paragraph, each melody a sentence, each pitch a word. Thinking about form helps us understand the dramatic arc of a song, its emotional peaks and valleys. And just as there are well-proven ways to structure a story, there are certain song forms that pop composers reuse again and again

Bridge - provides contrast

Pop Drop - build/drop shortened to fit a pop song

Post-chorus - any section that follows a chorus. [rarely used]

Examples of Form 

• Sentimental Ballad 

  • A whole section of music you repeat with new lyrics

  • Focus on storytelling; Long passages of lyrics

  • Not necessarily a rhyme scheme 

  • Popular in folk music 

• 32- Bar Form 

  • Also known as AABA form (popular as Jazz grows)

    • A has one harmony 

    • B has another 

  • 1920s, Tin Pan Alley (NYC)

  • for m decided into 4 equal sections based on the harmony

  • “I got Rhythm”, George and Ira Gershwin

  • Music publishers on top of music publishers 

  • Copywrite laws protect lyrics and melodies but not harmonies

    • Rhythm changes → same harmony different melodies

• Verse-Chorus

  • Most common, especially since the 1960s 

  • Predicable , flexible, can be indivisualized

  • Terms 

    • Verse: tells the story 

    • Pre-chorus: energy increases, builds tension 

    • Chorus: repeated part, high energy 

    • Bridge: something new, preparing us for the return of a chorus

      • Changing up the dynamic, the melody, the instruments etc.