Western Music 

  • westernization
      * occurred in many parts of the world as a result of colonization, which many considered good
      * western music emerged in a lot of countries, making the piano a default instrument to learn in many countries

  • globalization
      * led to technological advancements
      * trades, transportation, and internet
      * explore cultures easily
      * reverse influence (eg.kpop)
      * ‘soft power’: go into the hearts and minds of people, no literal killing
        * singapore- banking system
        * music
      * ‘hard power’: a nation’s ability to use economic incentives or military strength to influence other’s behaviors
        * US
        * China
        * russia

  • localization- self dependency
      * covid
      * trade war
      * ukraine

  • Baroque (1600-1750)
      * harmony: stacking diff notes together (diff layers)
      * counterpoint: subset of harmony, type of harmony where you take independent melodies and push them together
      * instruments
        * polyphony: must exist for harmony to exist, you have instrument or piece of music that can combine many songs together
        * monophony: single sound (eg. voice)
        * composers of baroque:
          * bach (period)
          * vivaldi
        * standardization of music
          * patronage
          * basso continuo: provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bass line and chord progression
            * figure base
          * the church controlled music, publication, and presentation of music
          * Stradivarius: the violin, cello, and other string instruments built by the members of the Italian family Stradivari. instrument found in auction houses
          * castrati- group of boys who were castrated before puberty

  • classical (1750-1825)
      * harpsichord: a keyboard instrument in which the string are plucked rather than hit with a hammer
      * harmony and counterpoint (complex)
      * Prominent composers in the classical period:
        * Mozart & Haydn
      * age of enlightenment
        * moral philosophy than theology
        * born free
          * free inquiry
      * Patronage
        * no longer by church
        * independent from employer

  • romantic (1820-1900)
      * period of excess
        * huge amount of training of composers
        * too much supply→increased competition
        * composers differentiated themselves by compressing melody into a bar
          * diversified compositions
        * tonal colour: composers take music and manipulate it to get diff textures
        * composers during romantic period:
          * liszt
          * wagner

  • 20th century (1910-2000)
      * visual arts influences
        * 17th century painters
        * inward reflections- atonality - break away from the tonal center
          * not able to sing the melody of the song
        * 1900-1914→ break away from conventions
      * extended technique
        * using the technique to scream
      * globalization
        * piazolla
      * other cultures
      * westernization+modernization→globalization→
      * EDM-’earworm’: repeating melody
      * other cultures have made western music their own
        * western music has become universal, it doesn’t belong to west alone