Music Appreciation Study Guide

Music Theory:

• Rhythm:

  • Eighth Note - ½ beat

  • Quarter Note - 1 Beat

  • Half Note - 2 Beats

  • Dotted Half Note - 3 Beats

  • Whole Note - 4 Beats

• Define:

  • Rhythm? 

    • A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.

  • Beat?

    • The pulse of music

  • Melody?

    • Melody is a linear sequence of notes the listener hears as a single entity

  • Tempo?

    • Speed of a beat

  • Harmony?

    • A harmony differs from a melody in the way that it stacks multiple notes on top of one another to create a sound.

  • Time Signature?

    • Tells you how many beats per measure

• Identify:

  • All the pitches on the staff

    • ABCDEFG

  • Measure

  • Grand Staff

  • Staff

  • Bar Line

  • Double Bar Line

  • All the notes

  • Time Signatures

    • 2/4, 3/4 , and 4/4\

Music History:

• Composers:

  • Hildegard von Bingen

    • She is a saint

    • She had visions from God

    • Had pope beef but she won the battle to create medical textbooks, music, other stuff

    • She grew up the church and was given to the church as child as was custom for the 14th kid

    • Composed with the plainchant style

    • She was a singer

  • Palestrina

    • Essentially established the rules of music for his time

    • Almost became a priest but instead married a woman who settled his debts

    • Is from Italy

    • Wrote a ton of sacred music

    • Used polyphony in his music

    • Played the organ

  • Tomas Luis de Victoria

    • He was from Spain

    • Composed music for the Spanish monarchs

    • He studied under Palestrina

    • Composed during the Spanish Inquisition

    • His mother was a converso (a Catholic convert)

    • His instrument the organ

  • Barbara Strozzi

    • Four kids and they all illegitimate 

    • Her music directly led to influence opera

    • She never married but her bf was her dad’s best friend

    • Composed 8 volumes of music

    • Composed during the Baroque era

    • Played the viola da gamba sang

  • Antonio Vivaldi

    • Was nicknamed the Red Priest

    • Composed the Four Seasons Concerto

    • Was famous in his lifetime but died relatively penniless

    • Was one of the first composers to play and compose for the violin

    • Is one of the most prominent composers of the Baroque period

• Time Periods

  • Medieval

    • Lots of torture devices

    • Catholic church was in power

    • Plague and childbirth was killing everyone

    • Monophonic music was the only kind

    • The great powers France, Spain, Italy, England

  • Renaissance

    • Means Rebirth - rebirth of science, music, art, humanism

    • Protestant reformation happened

    • Polyphonic music becomes primary method of music composition style

    • Art becomes more detailed, realistic, complex

      • DaVinci

      • Michelangelo

      • Donatello

      • Rafael

    • Secular music becomes more popular 

  • Baroque

    • Means misshapen pearl

    • Art becomes more complex, ostentatious, and “extra”

    • Kings get absolute power 

    • Architecture features more gold, stronger design, more palaces