Comprehensive Study Guide for Musical Elements, History, and Genres

Fundamental Musical Elements and Terminology

• Dynamics: Refers to how loud or quiet the music is.     * Example: "The dynamics are very loud throughout the whole piece."

• Rhythm: Refers to how long or short the notes are.     * Example: "The piece uses lots of short note values."

• Articulation: Refers to Whether the notes are staccato, legato, or accented.     * Example: "The notes are played with legato articulation."

• Structure: Refers to the different sections of the music.     * Example: "The pop song uses a simple verse-chorus structure."

• Melody: Refers to the arrangement of pitches within a musical line.     * Example: "The melody starts with low pitches, but later on there are some higher notes."

• Instrumentation: Refers to the instruments used and how they are played.     * Example: "There are woodwind instruments playing, with a breathy sound."

• Tempo: Refers to how fast or slow the music is.     * Example: "The tempo of the music is very slow."

• Texture: Refers to the different layers of the music.     * Example: "The texture is polyphonic, with many different layers heard simultaneously."

• Time Signature: Refers to the number and type of beats in a bar.     * Example: "The time signature is $3/4$, with $3$ crotchet beats in a bar."

• Tonality: Refers to whether a piece is major, minor, or atonal.     * Example: "This piece has a minor tonality."

• Harmony: Refers to the types of chords.     * Example: "The chords are dissonant."

Note Values and Durations

• Semibreve: Lasts for $4$ crotchet beats.

• Minim: Lasts for $2$ crotchet beats.

• Crotchet: Lasts for $1$ crotchet beat.

• Quaver: Lasts for $1/2$ of a crotchet beat.

• Semiquaver: Lasts for $1/4$ of a crotchet beat.

Dynamic and Tempo Markings

• Fortissimo: Very loud.

• Forte: Loud.

• Mezzo Forte: Fairly loud.

• Mezzo Piano: Fairly quiet.

• Piano: Quiet.

• Pianissimo: Very quiet.

• Crescendo: Getting louder.

• Diminuendo: Getting quieter.

• Allegro: Fast.

• Moderato: Moderate.

• Andante: Walking-speed.

• Adagio: Slow.

Rhythmic and Articulatory Techniques

• Dotted Rhythms: Note lengths following a $3:1$ ratio within a beat (e.g., dotted quaver - semiquaver).

• Accent: Emphasis on a particular note; a particular emphasis on a certain beat in a bar.

• Staccato: Detached.

• Legato: Smooth; "sticky" notes.

• Tennuto (Romantic Music context): Pressed notes.

Opera: History, Types, and Performance

• Definition: Opera is musical theatre sung throughout, accompanied by an orchestra.

• Historical Evolution:     * Baroque Period: The first great baroque composer was Claudio Monteverdi. Another famous composer was Handel. Many operas were about gods, kings, and ancient heroes. Orchestras were smaller.     * Classical Period: Famous classical opera composer was Mozart. Plots focused on ordinary people. Orchestras were slightly bigger than in the Baroque period.     * Romantic Period: Music was written to express emotions and was often dramatic and extreme. The orchestra was significantly bigger.

• Specific Opera Forms:     * Opera Seria: Serious opera featuring tragic plots.     * Opera Buffa: Introduced in the Classical period; comical opera.

• Key Performance Terms:     * Virtuoso: An extremely accomplished performer capable of displaying feats of skills well above average.     * Melisma: A group of notes sung to one syllable of text.

• Vocal Ranges (from Highest to Lowest):     * Soprano: (Female).     * Alto: (Female).     * Tenor: (Male).     * Bass: (Male).

• Musical Components of Opera:     * Aria: Expressive melody that reflects a point in the story. It is a solo song (solo), representing a pause in the action, and is fully accompanied.     * Recitative: A style of singing utilizing the rhythms of ordinary speech. It is mostly syllabic (one note to a syllable), does not repeat lines, features minimal accompaniment, and conveys a lot of the plot.     * Chorus: Involves lots of singers, usually accompanied by the orchestra. The chorus acts similarly to "extras" in a film.

Historical Periods of Music Operatic Description

• Baroque: Often about gods, kings, and ancient heroes (Opera Seria). Composers like Handel and Purcell wrote for small orchestras.

• Classical: Known for Opera Buffa, exploring the lives of ordinary people. Orchestras remained relatively small.

• Romantic: Explored themes such as love, death, and inner emotions through epic tales. Orchestras became very large.

• Modern: Contained shocking, violent imagery and explored current events and politics. Musical stylings could be experimental or very dissonant.

Musical Theatre Styles and Terminology

• Vaudeville: A light-hearted show consisting of many different unrelated acts.

• Operetta: A shorter show including music and some dialogue.

• Mega-musical: A large-scale musical where spectacle, staging, and special effects are as important as (or more important than) the plot, score, book, and characters. Examples: Cats, Phantom of the Opera.

• Blockbuster Musical: A musical that originated as a film. Example: The Lion King.

• Jukebox Musical: A musical based on pre-existing music. Example: Mamma Mia.

• Historical Milestones:     * Showboat ($1927$): The first show to include both black and white actors.     * Oklahoma: Featured music written specifically for that show.

• Terminology:     * Libretto: The script, including song lyrics.     * Score: The notated music.     * Cast/Ensemble: All performers in the show.     * Overture/Prologue: Opening music at the start of a show. "Overture" is music-only, but terms are often used interchangeably.     * Vamp: A repeating musical figure played underneath dialogue.     * Action Songs: Songs that move the plot forward.     * Character Songs: Songs focusing on a character's thoughts and feelings.

Folk Music and the English Revival

• General Characteristics: Written for small groups (e.g., people in a pub or around a campfire). It is an oral tradition. Many folk songs were lost as the Industrial Revolution moved families to large cities.

• Musical Qualities:     * Melodies: Nice sounding and conjunct.     * Phrase-structure: Predictable and balanced phrases with a clear sense of Question and Answer (Q&A).     * Harmony: Consonant.     * Texture: Melody and accompaniment (homophonic).

• The English Folk Music Revival: Took place in the $1950s$. This was driven by the BBC beginning to broadcast folk songs and playing them on the radio.

• Cecil Sharp: Traveled across England and rural communities searching for folk songs created by older generations. He recorded and published them in a book to ensure they were not lost to time.

Classical Music and the Classical Orchestra

• Composers: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven.

• Orchestral Composition and Changes:     * Woodwind: Clarinet was added.     * Percussion: Timpani included.     * Brass: Trumpets remained, but valves were added to allow for more notes. French Horns were a new addition.     * Strings: Remained the most prominent section, including Violin, Viola, Cello, and Double Bass (String family).

Jazz Genres and Development

• New Orleans Jazz:     * Roles of Instruments:         * Frontline (Melody): Clarinet, Trumpet, Trombone.         * Rhythm Section: Piano (chords), Banjo (chords), Double bass (bass), Drum kit (time keeper).     * Tempo: Very fast.     * Texture: Very thick (polyphonic) with many instruments playing simultaneously.

• Big Band / Swing:     * Height of popularity in the $1930s$ and $1940s$ (known as the "Golden Era").     * Ensemble Size: Large bands typically featuring $16+$ musicians.     * Musical Style: Mostly pre-arranged material with instruments interacting in families/sections. Included some improvised solo sections.

• Bebop:     * Developed in the $1940s$.     * Tempo: Extremely fast.     * Ensemble Size: Smaller ensemble with virtuosic playing.     * Dynamics/Rhythm: Heavy use of syncopation and unexpected accents.     * Harmony: Complex and very dissonant.

• Cool Jazz:     * Developed in the $1950s$ as a backlash against Bebop.     * Tone/Mood: Slower, more relaxed mood with soft, mellow timbres.     * Ensemble: Used both small and large ensembles.     * Innovation: Included classical influences, unusual jazz instruments (e.g., French horn, cello), and unconventional time signatures.

Popular Song Structure and Piano Evolution

• Song Structure Terminology:     * Bridge: A linking passage that adds contrast between verses and choruses using a different melody and chord progression.     * Outro: The final section of a song that brings it to an end.     * Instrumental: A solo section with no vocals, designed to show off an instrumentalist's skill.

• The Piano:     * Evolution: Developed from the Harpsichord to the Fortepiano to the Pianoforte.     * Differences: The pianoforte has more keys and significantly developed pedals. It is more practical and louder than the harpsichord, which was often made to "show off" in the house.     * Suitability for Romantic Music: It offered a bigger dynamic range and was much louder.     * Character Pieces: Forms include Binary ($AB$) and Ternary ($ABA$).

• Piano/Romantic Composers: Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Robert Schumann, Frédéric Chopin, Cécile Chaminade.

Romanticism and Programme Music

• Characteristics of Romantic Music: Intense expression of feelings; fantasy and imagination. Close links with art and literature (illustrating stories or poems). Explores wide ranges of pitch, dynamics, timbres, and textures with bold contrasts. Music is more chromatic and dissonant than Classical music.

• Programme Music: Music written for an orchestra that depicts a story ("programme") or an image taken from another art-form (poem, story, or picture).

• Instrumental Expansion (Romantic Orchestra):     * Woodwind: Cor anglais, Bass clarinet, Contrabassoon.     * Brass: Tuba, Bass trombone.     * Percussion: Cymbals.     * Strings: Harp.