Music 160: Lecture 1: Terminology & Definitionsc... · 3 out we have just the basic rhythm of that melody. This is different from a beat. The beat for this would probably be [piano

1

Music 160: Lecture 1: Terminology & Definitions

[Speaker: Keri McCarthy]

Slide # 1

Slide Title: WSU Online Title Slide

Title: Terminology & Definitions

Speaker: Keri McCarthy

online.wsu.edu

Audio:

[Music]

Slide # 2

Slide Title: Music

Music

Definition:

Audio:

-

Slide # 3

Slide Title: Music: Definition

Music

Definition: “the rational organization of sounds and silences as they pass through time”

Audio:

-

Slide # 4

Slide Title: Music: Description

Music

Develop a definition for yourself that can be modified as we learn about various types of

music. Many people feel that music should be “pleasing to the ear”; if this becomes part

of your definition, consider whether that “pleasing” quality must be intended by the

composer (or is the listener’s value system the only one applied). Can one use the term

“music” to describe genres he or she does not find enjoyable? Does the music have to be

organized rationally? How can we be sure of the composer’s original intent or design?

Audio:

-

2

Slide # 5

Slide Title: Rhythm

Rhythm

Rhythm:

Audio:

-

Slide # 6

Slide Title: Rhythm: Definition

Rhythm

Rhythm: “the organization of time in music.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 7

Slide Title: Rhythm: Description

Rhythm

This is a pretty useless definition, but accurate. Rhythm is the changing horizontal element of

music – the way music plays over a more steady “beat”. “Melody” is the vertical element of

music – how pitches are organized (high or low) to create a longer phrase. The temporal

organization of those pitches (how they occur over time) is “rhythm”. Often composers use

rhythmic patterns to help give consistency to or organize a phrase or group of phrases.

Audio:

-

Slide # 8

Slide Title: Rhythm: Description pt 2

Rhythm

[Video describing rhythm]

Audio:

Rhythm, the definition of rhythm is the organization of time in music. But that doesn’t have a lot

of meaning for you or for me. So I want to start this session with a little bit of listening to

Beethoven Symphony No. 5 the first movement. [music] Hopefully that is familiar to some of

you or most of you. In this Beethoven uses both a rhythm and a beat as well as a musical motive.

We hear the motive right at the opening. [piano music] And that motive definitely has an

associated rhythm with it. That rhythm would be this. [piano music] If we take the pitch element

3

out we have just the basic rhythm of that melody. This is different from a beat. The beat for this

would probably be [piano music]. A beat is a steady pulse that runs underneath the melodic line

that we are hearing. But the rhythm is the horizontal component or the metric component of that

melodic line. So the rhythm itself exists separately from what the beat implies. That we will talk

about in just a minute as we move on to beat. That is the rhythm.

Slide # 9

Slide Title: Rhythm – Beat

Rhythm

Beat:

Audio:

-

Slide # 10

Slide Title: Rhythm – Beat: Definition

Rhythm

Beat: “a consistent pulsing in the music.”

Avoid confusing this with “rhythm”. A beat is just the constant pulse.

Audio:

-

Slide # 11

Slide Title: Rhythm – Beat: Description

Rhythm

[Video describing beat]

Audio:

So the beat is a consistent pulse in the music. This is something that you are familiar with using

this term in terms of pop music in terms of techno has a really strong beat to it. I am using

Beethoven 5 as a good example of something with a beat. We will hear that the beat is not

consistent in the opening. The opening seems to exist in sort of a suspended element of time and

then suddenly we have a consistent pulse when the little motor starts. So listen for that here I’ll

illustrate it for you as it comes in. [music] Here. And you can hear that regardless of what the

melody is doing it is playing over a consistent pulse and that pulse is called the beat.

Slide # 12

Slide Title: Rhythm – Tempo

Rhythm

Tempo:

4

Audio:

-

Slide # 13

Slide Title: Rhythm – Tempo: Definition

Rhythm

Tempo: “The speed at which the beats occur.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 14

Slide Title: Rhythm – Tempo: Description

Rhythm

Tempi can be fast, moderate, or slow, and many terms used at the beginning of a piece are tempo

indications, including Andante (Walking), Lento (Gently) and Vivace (Lively).

Audio:

-

Slide # 15

Slide Title: Rhythm – Tempo: Description pt 2

Rhythm

[Video describing tempo]

Audio:

Tempo is the speed at which the beats occur. So tempo is entirely relative. Composers do use

tempo markings that tend over time to have a specific speed associated with them. Like the word

andante in Italian means walking speed. So we do have some tempo markings that imply a range

of tempi but basically when you are talking about a tempi in terms of this class you will be

saying well that movement was a slow movement, this movement was a fast movement. And you

can figure out tempo by finding a beat and then determining whether or not that pattern moves

more quickly or slowly than other associated tempos. So as an example the first movement of

Beethoven 5 once we get past the opening sounds something like this. [music] Compare that

with the second movement of the same symphony. [music] This is slightly slower. Not as slow as

possible certainly but the first movement feels fast in comparison. This movement is slower.

Those are your tempos.

Slide # 16

Slide Title: Rhythm – Ritard

5

Rhythm

Ritard:

Audio:

-

Slide # 17

Slide Title: Rhythm – Ritard: Definition

Rhythm

Ritard: “a gradual slowing down of the tempo.”

Often a piece ritards just before its end.

Audio:

-

Slide # 18

Slide Title: Rhythm – Accelerando

Rhythm

Accelerando:

Audio:

-

Slide # 19

Slide Title: Rhythm – Accelerando: Definition

Rhythm

Accelerando: “a gradual speeding up of the tempo (accelerate).”

Accelerandos can add drama to a section of music.

Audio:

-

Slide # 20

Slide Title: Rhythm – Accelerando: Description

Rhythm

[Video describing ritard and accelerando]

Audio:

When we get to the romantic period especially composers start being more interested in changing

tempos within a given piece of music. Since Beethoven was for many of us the start to the

romantic period or at least the person who hinted at what was possible with a lot of things that

6

happened in the romantic period I am going to play for you a little bit of his Sonata Pathetique

the first movement, this may sound familiar to you. It is supposed to sound improvised in that the

pianist is the only one playing. They can choose to play as quickly or as slowly as possible

meaning that recordings of this piece are really interesting to pianists because they can get a wide

range of tempi going on at the same time. So you can listen to this and listen for two terms that

we will be talking about. One is ritard, when the music seems to slow, and the other one is

accelerando, same as accelerate if that helps you remember this term, a gradual speeding up of

the tempo. Both of these add drama and a sense of maybe personal engagement with the

performer as well. Those were big features of the romantic period but are also interesting to

listen to in music from a broad range of time periods. Listen to a little bit of this and listen for

ritards, slowing down, and accelerando, speeding up. [music] Ritard there. A bit of accelerando

through that. And again you can feel the beat moving around and pulling. Beethoven writes this

intentionally the performer intends it and it can be something that adds drama to a piece as a

whole. Beethoven was good at adding drama. So a little bit of ritard and accelerando. Frederic

Chopin if you are hearing Chopin etudes on piano as well he is a huge user of the ritard and

accelerando to create interest within his piece. So those are changes in tempo: accelerando and

ritard.

Slide # 21

Slide Title: Rhythm – Meter

Rhythm

Meter:

Audio:

-

Slide # 22

Slide Title: Rhythm – Meter: Definition

Rhythm

Meter: “the gathering of beats into regular groups.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 23

Slide Title: Rhythm – Meter: Description

Rhythm

[Video describing meter]

Audio:

Meter is something that I don’t need you to understand for this class but if you can hear it might

help you to identify pieces as separate from each other or be able to identify function. Dances for

7

example tend to be in three like a waltz. Marches tend to be in two or four, kind of a more square

sense of the music. So if meter resonates with you then fantastic. Use it to identify or talk about

the pieces. I just wanted to give you a couple of examples because many times people just

haven’t had the opportunity to listen to the beats of music and then identify how they have been

grouped. So let’s go through that a couple of times. The first one I want to do is Mozart

Symphony No. 40 the first movement. This may sound familiar too. And we’ll listen for the

beats first and then try and figure out the beat pattern. Usually things happen on the strongest of

the beat pulses and I’ll show you that as we go. [music] So this is in four. One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Compare that with this clip from Haydn. This is

going to be a minuet in trio which means you might be able to imply a dance movement from

that. You might guess from that that the meter is going to be three instead of four. [music]

It is again not essential that you be able to determine how many beats are in a measure or how

the beats are grouped while you are listening. But these are things that might help you better

understand what it is you like about music. So if you can hear meter or you are already familiar

with meter then great. If not don’t worry about it. Meter is not a term that you will be asked to

define nor will we be using it necessarily unless we are talking about the difference between say

something that feels dance-like versus march-like or walking tempo versus something that feels

swung. And so that would be the only way in which really we would be talking about meter. So

don’t worry about it but if you are interested in learning more about it start listening for the beats

and trying to guess how those beat patterns are grouped in the pieces you are listening to.

Slide # 24

Slide Title: Rhythm – Meter: Description pt 2

Rhythm

Usually western music is grouped in 2, 3, 4, or 6 beats, with one strong “downbeat” for each

grouping. Meter can be useful in identifying specific pieces or types of music, so practice

listening for meter in our musical examples. Pieces in 3 tend to sound dance-like, whereas meters

in 2 or 4 can sound like a march.

Audio:

-

Slide # 25

Slide Title: Melody

Melody

Melody:

Audio:

-

Slide # 26

Slide Title: Melody: Definition

8

Melody

Melody: “a series of notes arranged in order to form a distinctive, recognizable musical

unit.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 27

Slide Title: Melody: description

Melody

A melody is the pitch and rhythmic elements that are recognizable or memorable in a given piece

of music. Pieces can have many melodies, and often a composer will develop contrasting

melodies to give variety to various sections of a work.

Audio:

-

Slide # 28

Slide Title: Melody: Description pt 2

Melody

[Video describing melody]

Audio:

So your book defines melody as a series of notes arranged in order to form a distinctive,

recognizable musical unit. Which is a fantastic definition but a little bit wordy and complicated.

What I would say is the melody is the thing that you leave still in your head after you leave a

concert performance. And not all pieces and not all concerts even have melodies that are

distinctive and definable. But if you hear something that resonates with you that you can sing

afterwards that is probably the melody that we are talking about. The melody for western music

is almost always the primary source. We are always listening for something that we can listen to.

Melodies sometimes have multiple phrases. A beginning phrase is sometimes called an

antecedent phrase. The end phrase is sometimes called a consequent like a question and an

answer. Some of the most beautiful melodies come from the classical period, the romantic

period. Twentieth century gets a little bit fragmented. And even within the romantic period some

pieces like Beethoven 5 are difficult to discern exactly what the melody is. It is not terribly

singable or melodic.

Listen to this though. This is Haydn’s Emperor string quartet. It starts with this beautiful it’s a

theme in variations on a beautiful melodic fragment that actually became the German national

anthem so if you are familiar with that you may hear Deutschland Deutschland uber alles in the

beginning of this as well. So listen for this melody being played by a string quartet. [music] So

that melody is really identifiable. The harmony or the instruments that aren’t playing the melody

are clearly just supporting that melody. They are not in any way intending to compete with it.

9

That could be something we would call counterpoint. This melody is primary and then

throughout this piece we hear a theme in variations so you will hear that melody come back in

various forms throughout the piece. But the melody is always the thing that your ear is being

drawn to. In opera, in vocal pieces, what the vocalist is singing is almost always that melodic

component and so it is easy in vocal music to hear a melody because if it is singable and

therefore the vocalist is singing it you too can remember it as being the melody. With

instrumental pieces sometimes it gets a little bit more complicated but we are always listening as

western listeners for a melody and so I think melody shouldn’t be so difficult for you to

remember. Think about it just as a musical tune.

Slide # 29

Slide Title: Melody - Motive

Melody

Motive:

Audio:

-

Slide # 30

Slide Title: Melody – Motive: Definition

Melody

Motive: “a short distinctive melodic figure.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 31

Slide Title: Melody – Motive: Description

Melody

Motives are identifiable (think of the first four notes of Beethoven Symphony No. 5), but aren’t

long or complete enough to be considered a melody. Often melodies are constructed from

sequencing shorter motives together to create a longer phrase.

Audio:

-

Slide # 32

Slide Title: Melody – Phrase

Melody

Phrase:

Audio:

10

-

Slide # 33

Slide Title: Melody – Phrase: Definition

Melody

Phrase: “a musical sentence”

Melodies can be comprised of two or more phases.

Audio:

-

Slide # 34

Slide Title: Melody – Phrase: Definition pt 2

Melody

[Video describing motive]

Audio:

A motive is a subsection usually of a melody. It is a little unit of melody that is often put together

and sequenced to make a melody more interesting or more engaging. Certain composers like

Beethoven and Haydn and Mozart to a certain extent use little motives to created longer phrases.

The word motive is not as useful as the world melody for you probably but is something that I

thought you might want to be aware of. The opening of Beethoven 5 is a classic example of what

a motive is. We hear this three note bum, bum, bum, bum, ba-ba-ba-bum. That is a motive that is

already being sequenced from one pitch level and then down a pitch level and we hear it

throughout the entire piece of music which is really interesting. It is everywhere in that first

movement in particular. So listen for it here. I mean if you raised your hand every time you heard

the motive you would be constantly waving. It is just so obvious here. What is the melody here?

It is a longer phrase consisting of these little motivic passages but frankly when we listen to

Beethoven 5 I’m not sure that after the opening a lot of it is very singable or memorable in that

sense so in this piece I think that the motive is stronger than the melody at least in the first

movement as in the opening. So go ahead and give a listen and listen to the motive being

developed here in the beginning of Beethoven 5. [music] It’s a catchy motive right? And you

hear it maybe fifteen times in the first five seconds of the piece. So he is really driving home he

really wants you to remember that motive. And he wants you to pay attention later in the piece to

how he has developed it. He is crafting a careful small little piece of something that he creates

into a much larger musical phrasing and possible various themes throughout the pieces the

motive comes back and sort of conflicts with itself. In this case we are not talking about a

singable melody or something that is memorable for being tuneful. We are talking about

something that is sort of a strategic unit that he is using to develop music memorable. A short,

distinctive melodic figure would be just fine in terms of defining what a motive is.

Slide # 35

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Pitch

11

Building Blocks of Music

Pitch:

Audio:

-

Slide # 36

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Pitch: Definition


Pitch: “The relative position (high or low) of a given sound.”

When strung together, various pitches can create a “melody”. Certain instruments play higher

pitches (piccolo) in relation to other instruments (tuba) or voice types (soprano vs. bass).

Audio:

-

Slide # 37

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Pitch: Description


[Video describing pitch]

Audio:

Pitch is a term that is useful in describing elements of the melody. A pitch is any of these keys on

the piano play a given distinctive pitch. [notes played on piano] Those are all pitches and they

all are relative high or low. So you can hear a high pitch on piccolo and a very low pitch on tuba.

Sometimes it is useful in talking about pitches you might be wanting to talk about a piece that is

electronically created and talking about whether the intervals being used are wide or small. How

close those pitches reside to each other. So consider something as simple as Are You Sleeping.

[notes played on piano] So we hear the pitch ascend and then jump back down. Ascend and then

jump back down. [notes played on piano] We are hearing that three note ascending motive

being developed and again ascending. And so [notes played on piano] a descending figure with a

little bit of a leap at the end. These are all talking about... and if you’d like me to finish out the

piece [notes played on piano]… wide interval again descending lower. So this piece uses a range

of about an octave. You don’t need to know that. The pitches ascend and descend. This is a very

singable piece so the pitches are fairly close together. The largest space that we get or the largest

interval we have [notes played on piano] is at the end there. That is a perfect fourth and not too

bad on the voice. When we get into some twentieth century music we’ll hear stuff that starts at

the top and ends at the bottom of the piano. Hardly considered singable, not considered very

tuneful. So in those pieces talking about pitch might be particularly useful for you. So that is

pitch.

Slide # 38

12

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music - Interval


Interval:

Audio:

-

Slide # 39

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Interval: Definition


Interval: “the distance between two pitches.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 40

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Interval: Description


Intervals can be wide or small (step-wise), and can help identify the time period of a given piece

of music. For example, music from the classical period tends to use small, step-wise (singable)

intervals, whereas twentieth-century music often uses large intervallic leaps to add drama.

Audio:

-

Slide # 41

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Interval: Description pt 2


[Video describing interval]

Audio:

Intervals we mostly just covered with the term pitch but I’ll cover them again a bit with another

tune Happy Birthday which seems very tuneful, is fairly singable until you realize that your

entire party has pitched it up too high for you to be able to reach the large leap in the middle of

it. Listen to that here. [notes played on piano] Stepwise, there is a leap. Here is a bigger leap.

And then here is the leap that catches everybody by surprise when you are singing it. That is an

octave and that is not a small leap for anyone’s voice so yes if you are at somebody’s birthday

party and your voice cracks in that top interval right there that is a wide interval and you

shouldn’t feel embarrassed about that. That is a large interval. Intervals are useful in talking

about styles of music. For example really beautiful lyric melodies, things written in the classical

period by people like Mozart and Haydn are always very lyric and often use a lot of stepwise

13

close together intervals. Those are the easiest on the voice, they are the easiest to sing, and a lot

of times they are the most tuneful.

And as I mentioned in the segment about pitch as we reach towards the twentieth century we

start to see these larger leaps. Composers are interested in using wider ranges. Instrument ranges

are developed. So we start to hear pieces where we have really desperate pitches being used back

and forth very large intervals. So it might be useful to say that piece starts with a very large leap,

a very large intervallic leap. I can hear that the interval there is small. If those things are helpful

for you in terms of recognizing a piece of music that is great. They may also help you recognize

a style or a time period in which the piece was written and so they can be useful for that as well.

So that is an interval.

Slide # 42

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music - Scale


Scale:

Audio:

-

Slide # 43

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Scale: Definition


Scale: “An arrangement of step-wise pitches that ascends and descends in a specific

order.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 44

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Scale: Description


Western music uses scales of 8 pitches, and are most often either in major (happy sounding) or

minor (sad). For this course it is useful to recognize major and minor scales as they can help you

identify a given piece or section of a piece.

Audio:

Slide # 45

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Scale: Description pt 2


14

[Video describing scale]

Audio:

A scale is a … actually scale means ladder. A musical scale or a musical ladder. It is a set of

pitches that are used to develop a melody. Usually the melody stays within the notes of that

particular scale. Within an octave on the piano we have twelve notes. Our normal scales, either

major or minor, use eight of those. Major is a scale that sounds happy [notes played on piano].

In comparison with minor which tends to sound a little bit deflated or sad [notes played on

piano]. And you may be able to hear things as being played either, I hope, in major or in minor.

And that may be useful for you. Especially composers in the romantic period liked to mess

around with major and minor. So you will hear something being stated at first in a major key and

then being developed in a minor. That may help you to recognize sections in terms of the music

as well. For now I don’t need you to be able to identify a given scale but it may be useful to

recognize that music is written or composed created based on scale.

The scales of western music are very different from those of other countries. In India for

example we have Raga which are different elements of scales. There instruments have far more

interesting intervals than just only twelve within an octave. Some countries have a scale that

runs forty-four within what we cover in only twelve pitches. So in those countries listening to

music becomes more interesting pitch wise. Trying to hear differentiations between those forty-

four smaller steps. For us basically what you’ll hear is it happy or is it sad. We use basically two

scales, major and minor.

So the piece that I wanted to use to show you what a scale sounds like is Are You Sleeping

because it uses mostly stepwise motion through [notes played on piano] a major scale. You can

hear that here. [notes played on piano] We talked about that wide leap at the bottom at the end

of the piece before. But this upward motion really shows represents what a scale sounds like. So

you may be able to hear motion being scalar. Often times in terms of scales we are talking about

harmony. Do you hear it as being major or minor and we will talk about that in a little bit. So

scales. Again you don’t need to be able to identify specific scales but scales may be useful in

talking about a piece of music or what you are hearing.

Slide # 46

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music - Harmony


Harmony:

Audio:

-

Slide # 47

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Harmony: Definition


15

Harmony: “The sounds that provide the accompaniment and enrichment of the melody.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 48

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Harmony: Description


Usually harmony is created using two or more simultaneous sounding pitches (often “chords”),

which provide either “consonance” or “dissonance” for the background of the melodies. Our

western ears generally appreciate music that begins with some sense of consonance or a “home

key”, then builds in dissonance or tension through the middle of the work, until the music returns

to the home key near the end of the piece, resolving the tension.

Audio:

-

Slide # 49

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Harmony: Description pt 2


[Video describing harmony]

Audio:

Harmony is defined by your book as the sounds that provide the accompaniment and enrichment

of the melody. Harmonies are usually based on the same scales that the melodies are based on

and they are interconnective. We don’t have harmony for a little while so when we start with

music history we will be talking about Gregorian chant. It is all chanted in unison. There is no

accompanying figure. In renaissance music there is so much dense polyphony that a lot of times

harmony isn’t really considered. And it is only really in the Baroque and especially in the

classical and the romantic and twentieth century that we hear harmony as being a valuable

resource for composers. We have as western listeners really started to rely on harmony as

something that is more important in western music than in many musics outside of Europe and

the United States certainly.

We talked about a scale pattern. [notes played on the piano] And harmony is based on that same

scale pattern. Major or minor. These are chords. They are three note figures in case you are

interested. Usually they run underneath a melody. So we can have predictable harmonies [notes

played on the piano] or we can have unpredictable harmonies. For all harmony in the western

sense we have grown up with this idea that we should have some sort of stasis or comfort built in

right at the start of a piece of music. And then we have some sort of tension build-up. It can

come here which we hear very badly wanting to resolve back there. It can go someplace a little

bit unexpected and where that resolution is still expected but not quite as demanded in the music.

16

In the twentieth century composers start playing with this notion and even Rickard

[Vargrament] the end of the romantic period really plays with this notion of harmony. Harmony

I think is really hardwired into what types of music you listen to as a child. So if you are used to

typical western harmony you have expectorations for how a piece is going to start, what is going

to happen in the middle in terms of creating tension. Some of those tensions are really

pleasurable because they are unexpected tensions or the music moves in a way you don’t expect

it to move. But we always want it to come back to that nice home key or that stasis at the end.

[notes played on the piano] That is something that composers later start to play with. Audience

expectations, do we have to have harmonies that are expected in order for people to appreciate or

enjoy the music. Or can we create other elements of music that are as fundamental as harmony.

Again for you harmony is probably either major or minor. There are some modal harmonies that

maybe we will talk about in relation to music from the renaissance period. Before those major

and minor were established so nicely in the Baroque period. But mostly I think that you’ll hear

major and minor and I think that is just fine. The harmony is that supporting element of music

often created by notes being played at the same time and usually in some sort of organized

pattern than you can recognize as being either contributing to a feeling of comfort or a feeling of

discomfort, dissonance, that requires some sort of return back to that consonance again. So that

is harmony in a nutshell.

Slide # 50

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Consonant


Consonant

Audio:

-

Slide # 51

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Consonant: Definition


Consonant: “pitches sounding agreeable and stable.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 52

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Consonant: Description


This concept is quite subjective, as we each have individual thresholds of comfort for consonant

and dissonant sounds. This term is good for describing sections or harmonies in music you might

describe as comfortable or stable.

Audio:

17

-

Slide # 53

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music - Dissonant


Dissonant:

Audio:

-

Slide # 54

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Dissonant: Definition


Dissonant: “pitches creating tension or instability.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 55

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Dissonant: Description


This concept is quite subjective, as we each have individual thresholds of comfort for consonant

and dissonant sounds. This term is good for describing sections or harmonies in music you might

describe as tense or unstable.

Audio:

-

Slide # 56

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Dissonant: Description pt 2


[Video describing consonant and dissonant]

Audio:

I want to talk a little bit about two terms that might be useful in describing what you are hearing

either mostly with harmony. With the way that the melody and harmony relate to each other or

the way the two pitches relate to each other. Those terms are consonance and dissonance or

consonant and dissonant. The first set are nouns, the second set is it is consonant sounding it is

dissonant sounding. Those are adjectives for the same concepts. Your definition for consonant is

pitches sounding agreeable and stable. Pitches creating tension or instability is the term for the

definition for dissonant. Really these are subjective terms because whether they create stability

18

or instability or tension or release for you is fairly subjective. So I wanted to play a couple of

pieces in which this would be readily identifiable and that I think most people would agree you

feel consonance in one and tension in the other. So let’s start with this is the opening of the 1812

Overture and it’s really lovely. I think it is fairly consonant. Even within this opening you could

make the argument that some of the harmony causes tension or sort of drives the music forward.

And so if you want to make the argument that the piece starts with consonance and then very

quickly moves into dissonance or a more dissonant quality of sound you can absolutely do that.

Let’s give a listen to the opening of the 1812. [music] Dissonance, maybe. Consonance. Mostly

though for most of you the level of tension for this would be fairly low. In comparison to

something from the early twentieth century by composer Arnold Schoenberg. Take a listen to a

little bit of his Pierrot Lunaire. [music] So in addition to them using to Schoenberg choosing

instruments that usually aren’t put together and a vocal style that kind of uses a spoken and sung

element to it. The pitches themselves create a sense of tension that seems to suspend through

most of the piece in my opinion. And so I would term this piece as being fairly dissonant and so

that might be a good way for you to consider these terms.

These are really useful terms for you to be able to use. I hear consonance, I hear dissonance. Or

that piece is very consonant to me but this piece this section is really dissonant. Whether you

enjoy having a certain amount of tension is kind of like spicy food. How much of it do you like?

You can figure that out for yourself but I think that that idea of with harmony static and then

tension and then a return back to something familiar is one important feature of music. But I also

think the consonance and dissonance, the way that the composer chooses to sculpt the level of

tension throughout the piece is going to be something for you that you will find is highly

personal and probably dictates the type of music that you choose to listen to on a regular basis.

So these terms are something that would be really useful for you to be able to use when you are

talking about or writing about the music that you listen to. So consonance and dissonance.

Slide # 57

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Tone Color/Timbre


Tone Color/Timbre:

Audio:

-

Slide # 58

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Tone Color/Timbre: Definition


Tone Color/Timbre: “the character of a musical tone as determined by its harmonics,

attack and decay.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 59

19

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Tone Color/Timbre: Description


Timbre is the characteristic sound of an instrument or voice. For example, Bob Dylan’s voice is

fairly raspy – this term describes his vocal timbre. Tone color is important in being able to

identify how an instrument sounds, and explain why you appreciate certain families of

instruments, or specific singers. Practice using adjectives to describe the tone colors in the music

you hear.

Audio:

-

Slide # 60

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Tone Color/Timbre: Description pt 2


[Video describing tone color/timbre]

Audio:

So the timbre or tone color of something is defined in your book as the character of a musical

tone as determined by its harmonics, attack and decay. Which is a terrible definition for

anything. But basically what it is is the sound quality that you are hearing. You have plenty of

experience I’m sure describing music to your friends and that is what I am asking you to be able

to do here. Sometimes with classical music it is harder or instruments you are unfamiliar with to

listen across but I just wanted to give you an idea of some adjectives you can use using some

western music and some non-western music to sort of give you ideas of how to describe

instruments. You can certainly go through it on YouTube or within our course space and listen

to music that is being played by individual instruments or a given orchestra even or a vocalist

and talk about the way you think that their voice sounds and that would be talking about tone

color or timbre. So just try to get comfortable using various terms that are maybe non-musical to

describe how something sounds. So I wanted to give you three examples here. This is an oboe,

the instrument I play. [music] Oboe is sometimes described as being nasal though I don’t think

so. Maybe when your fourth grader brings it home they are pretty nasal. I would say woody or

resonant, warm. Could use the term muted if you felt that way. I’m trying to think of terms that

describe the sound itself so I would stay away from things that were like tuneful or soulful,

musical. And try and focus instead on the sound quality of the instrument itself. Things like

woody or resonant.

Other sounds that might listen for now I’m going to play you a Thai tradition bamboo flute. It

would be a wooden flute. [music] So this sounds a lot to me more hollow, it has a lighter tone.

Some sense there it sounded a little bit muted, softer. In terms of dynamics it is softer. Airy, airy

would be another good word. There are many, many good words. There is no right or wrong

adjectives to use as long as you try to describe the sound that you are hearing. Maybe the finger

symbols would sound bright or pingy or percussive would be another way to talk about the

20

symbols going on in the background. And then let’s give a little bit of consideration to Ravi

Shankar, north Indian Hindu style musician who was pretty influential on a number of musicians

including the Beetles. [music] This is sitar. This instrument is using those multiple scales or

those scales with much smaller intervals that I was talking about when we were talking about

scales. Buzzy, certainly tell it is a string instrument. It has so much ability to slide within those

notes but that doesn’t really describe the color of the sound itself. Again I might say buzzy. A

little bit bright. Brittle, maybe twangy is another good term. Nice for country music as well if

you are listening to banjo as well.

Try and think of adjectives that are used for different types of music. As you are becoming

familiar with new instruments try and be able to describe how to differentiate their sound from

other instruments that people might be familiar with. So you already know what a trumpet

sounds. Try and describe what a tuba sounds in comparison to that. Try and sound what an

orchestra sounds like in comparison to a string quartet or wind quintet, those types of things.

Timbre is also really useful just in describing or identifying a piece of music. So you’ll probably

use words for adjectives for timbre quite a bit. And again these aren’t value judgments

necessarily. You can use them as value judgments but more comparisons across and there are no

right or wrong adjectives to describe a piece of music. This is entirely individual and feel free to

embrace really interesting adjectives to talk about the way the music itself sounds or the tone

color of an instrument sounds.

Slide # 61

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music - Dynamics


Dynamics:

Audio:

-

Slide # 62

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Dynamics: Definition


Dynamics: “the various levels of volume (loud and soft) of a musical composition.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 63

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music - Crescendo


Crescendo:

Audio:

21

-

Slide # 64

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music - Crescendo: Definition


Crescendo: “a gradual increase in the volume of sound.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 65

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music - Decrescendo


Decrescendo:

Audio:

-

Slide # 66

Slide Title: Building Blocks of Music – Decrescendo: Definition


Decrescendo: “a gradual decrease in the volume of sound.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 67

Slide Title: Musical Textures – Texture

Musical Textures

Texture:

Audio:

-

Slide # 68

Slide Title: Musical Textures – Texture: Definition

Musical Textures

Texture: “the density of the musical lines that make up a composition.”

Audio:

-

22

Slide # 69

Slide Title: Musical Textures: Definition

Musical Textures

The overlaying of multiple lines in a composition. Texture assumes that more than one line is

participating in a piece of music, and specific types of texture are used during various periods.

For example, simple unison singing is most common in the Middle Ages, but by the

Renaissance, dense polyphony is widespread.

Audio:

-

Slide # 70

Slide Title: Musical Textures – Unison

Musical Textures

Unison:

Audio:

-

Slide # 71

Slide Title: Musical Textures – Unison

Musical Textures

Unison: “a single melodic line.”

All voices/instruments singing the exact same melody (pitches and rhythms) at the same time.

Audio:

-

Slide # 72

Slide Title: Musical Textures – Unison: Description

Musical Textures

[Video describing unison texture]

Audio:

Unison texture is probably the simplest texture that we have assuming that a texture means that

there are at least two instruments or voices that are working to produce a piece of music together.

In unison both instruments or voices are saying the identical, the exact same pitches at the exact

same time. This is the earliest form of texture that we have and it extends back into the medieval

period. [music] We hear a monk initially start the chant so that they have a pitch level at which

everybody else will know where to sing together. If you listen to your CD set of Gregorian chant

23

you will notice that it is difficult to tell how many voices are singing or in some cases even that it

is more than one because they are singing so completely together. And that is an example of

unison. It is a unison texture, unison singing.

Slide # 73

Slide Title: Musical Textures – A capella

Musical Textures

A capella:

Audio:

-

Slide # 74

Slide Title: Musical Textures – A capella: Definition

Musical Textures

A capella: “adjective describing music that is sung only (no instrumental

accompaniment)”

Audio:

-

Slide # 75

Slide Title: Musical Textures – Polyphony

Musical Textures

Polyphony:

Audio:

-

Slide # 76

Slide Title: Musical Textures – Polyphony: Definition

Musical Textures

Polyphony: “a texture involving two or more simultaneously sounding independent

lines.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 77

Slide Title: Musical Textures – Polyphony: Description

Musical Textures

24

[Video describing polyphony]

Audio:

Polyphony is when we have two or more voices within a texture that are both competing for

primacy within a melodic line. So we will have two or more melodic lines going simultaneously.

It draws attention or gives something more interesting to listen to for your ear. It developed

shortly after music notation interestingly. By the time that they figured out how to notate rhythm

this polyphonic music flourished. So in the renaissance period we have a ton of really beautiful

polyphonic music. Here is an example of one from [Josken]. It starts out with a simple round or

a canon, you’ll hear that. Because that melody is entering at different intervals and then

competing with itself this is considered polyphony. [music] Unison, polyphony. Then it starts

over again. This is very simple polyphony. By the Baroque period we get into some really more

complicated polyphony and that is called counterpoint. That is when a composer intends two

different melodic segments to move at a certain rate of speed and they are taking a lot of care to

preserve harmonic components or that vertical component of the music as well and I’ll give you

an example of that as well shortly. Polyphony is any two voices who are not singing an identical

thing or competing for which ever melody is stronger. A fight to the finish. That is polyphony,

two melodic lines being played simultaneously.

Slide # 78

Slide Title: Musical Textures – Counterpoint

Musical Textures

Counterpoint:

Audio:

-

Slide # 79

Slide Title: Musical Textures – Counterpoint: Definition

Musical Textures

Counterpoint: “the harmonious opposition of two or more independent musical lines.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 80

Slide Title: Musical Textures – Counterpoint: Description

Musical Textures

We will use this term as we enter into the Baroque period. “Polyphony” involves two

independent musical lines played simultaneously. “Counterpoint” expands on this texture.

When writing counterpoint, the composer is concerned about the various consonances and

dissonances that result from these two intersecting lines, and may carefully compose each line to

25

avoid or create tension. Therefore counterpoint is a type of polyphony.

Audio:

-

Slide # 81

Slide Title: Musical Textures – Counterpoint: Description pt 2

Musical Textures

[Video describing counterpoint]

Audio:

Counterpoint and polyphony are very linked to each other. All counterpoint is polyphony. Not

all polyphony is counterpoint. This is not an important distinction for you to remember but I did

want to present it to you right at the beginning of the class so here it is. Counterpoint, as I

discussed a little bit in our polyphony definition, counterpoint is a more intentional form of

polyphony in which you are considering how those two lines rub up against or interact with each

other. You can’t think of a better person to talk about with counterpoint probably than with

Johann Sebastian Bach and particularly a form called a fugue. And so I’m going to let you listen

to a little bit of his organ fugue and you’ll hear how tightly controlled the melodic lines are

within this piece. This is considered counterpoint or contrapuntal music. So go ahead and give

this a listen. [music] So the lower voice is playing the same melody that opened. The upper

voice has a line that runs next to it that is also melodic in nature but Bach wrote that second line

to accommodate that first line that he had written that is now being played in that lower voice.

Now we have three voices all going at the same time. All melodic competing for primacy. He

had to be careful with each of these voices to make certain that the lines competed in a way that

made sense harmonically to the listeners here. And that is called counterpoint.

To me it makes no difference whether you use the term polyphony to describe this as well.

Polyphony is probably a more useful term for you or polyphonic than counterpoint or

contrapuntal music is. And so go ahead and just call things polyphony if you can hear that there

are two or more melodies going on at the same time. But if you are familiar with polyphony and

you want to take it up a notch and talk about counterpoint most composers from Bach forward,

from the Baroque period forward, are using counterpoint in some sense. There is beautiful

counterpoint in the music of Mozart, in the music of Beethoven. And in later composers too like

Arnold Schoenberg who was really interested in what it was that Bach was doing with his music

as well. So counterpoint and polyphony but this is just an example of taking polyphony to the

next step basically and composers did this from Baroque period forward.

Slide # 82

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Form

Musical Forms

Form:

26

Audio:

-

Slide # 83

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Form: Definition

Musical Forms

Form: “the purposeful organization of the composition, often perceivable by the listener.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 84

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Form: Description

Musical Forms

Form is the consideration of the large-scale elements of a piece, including the organization of a

single movement, as well as several movements comprising a piece. Listening for form may

allow you to enjoy a work more thoroughly or better pace yourself when listening to a longer

piece in a concert.

Audio:

-

Slide # 85

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Movement

Musical Forms

Movement:

Audio:

-

Slide # 86

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Movement: Definition

Musical Forms

Movement: “a large independent section of an instrumental work.”

Usually a movement is unified by a prevailing tempo, key area, etc. Genres including sonatas,

concertos, and symphonies usually involve 3-4 separate movements to create a larger cohesive

form.

Audio:

-

Slide # 87

27

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Canon

Musical Forms

Canon:

Audio:

-

Slide # 88

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Canon: Definition

Musical Forms

Canon: “a musical form in which each entering voice states the same melody as the

previous voice.”

Row, Row, Row your Boat is a form of canon.

Audio:

-

Slide # 89

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Strophic

Musical Forms

Strophic:

Audio:

-

Slide # 90

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Strophic: Definition

Musical Forms

Strophic: “a musical form in which the music is repeated for each successive verse.”

Hymn tunes and carols follow this simple form (AAAA).

Audio:

-

Slide # 91

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Theme and Variations

Musical Forms

Theme and Variations:

Audio:

-

28

Slide # 92

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Theme and Variations: Definition

Musical Forms

Theme and Variations: “a musical form with a melodic figure that is introduced and then

varied throughout the course of the piece (AA’A”, etc.).”

Listen to Mozart’s Variations on Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star from our Introduction to

Listening CD.

Audio:

-

Slide # 93

Slide Title: Musical Forms - Binary

Musical Forms

Binary:

Audio:

-

Slide # 94

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Binary: Definition

Musical Forms

Binary: “a musical form with two contrasting sections (AB).”

Audio:

-

Slide # 95

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Ternary/ABA

Musical Forms

Ternary/ABA:

Audio:

-

Slide # 96

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Ternary/ABA: Definition

Musical Forms

Ternary/ABA: “a musical form in which the opening section is contrasted with a middle

section and returns at the piece’s conclusion (ABA).”

29

Audio:

-

Slide # 97

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Rondo

Musical Forms

Rondo:

Audio:

-

Slide # 98

Slide Title: Musical Forms – Rondo: Definition

Musical Forms

Rondo: “a musical form with a recognizable melody or refrain that returns between

contrasting sections (ABACADA).”

Listen to Mozart’s Horn Concerto mvt. III for a Rondo form.

Audio:

-

Slide # 99

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Genre

Musical Genres

Genre:

Audio:

-

Slide # 100

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Genre: Definition

Musical Genres

Genre: “a type of music (Classical, Pop, Country), but also a type of music with an

identifiable style, form, ensemble, and place of performance.”

Audio:

-

Slide # 101

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Sonata

30

Musical Genres

Sonata:

Audio:

-

Slide # 102

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Sonata: Definition

Musical Genres

Sonata: “a piece for soloist and accompaniment (often piano or harpsichord). Usually in

three movements (Fast, Slow, Fast).”

Audio:

-

Slide # 103

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Concerto

Musical Genres

Concerto:

Audio:

-

Slide # 104

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Concerto: Definition

Musical Genres

Concerto: “a piece for soloist and orchestra. Usually in three movements (Fast, Slow,

Fast).”

Audio:

-

Slide # 105

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Symphony

Musical Genres

Symphony:

Audio:

-

Slide # 106

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Symphony: Definition

31

Musical Genres

Symphony: “a piece for orchestra. Usually in four movements (Fast, Slow, Dance (in

3/triple meter), Fast).”

Note: this term can also imply an ensemble- the symphony orchestra.

Audio:

-

Slide # 107

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Opera

Musical Genres

Opera:

Audio:

-

Slide # 108

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Opera: Definition

Musical Genres

Opera: “a dramatic work in which the actors sing some or all of their parts, often with

elaborate stage sets and costumes.”

Notice that there is almost no difference between “opera” and “Broadway Musical”. Style of

singing often is the deciding factor here (or composer’s intent).

Audio:

-

Slide # 109

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Style

Musical Genres

Style:

Audio:

-

Slide # 110

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Style: Definition

Musical Genres

Style: “the general sound produced by the interaction of the elements of music: rhythm,

melody, harmony, color, texture and form.”

32

Audio:

-

Slide # 111

Slide Title: Musical Genres – Style: Description

Musical Genres

We will discuss how these various elements of music interact starting in the Middle Ages and

progressing through modern styles. Understanding how each of these features functions during a

given period in history can help you identify when a piece was written, or the composer of the

piece. If you are interested in comparing and contrasting features of given style periods or

reviewing the style features of a given period, please review the Checklist of Musical Styles tab

provided on the Cengage Coursemate website.

Audio:

-

Documents

Music 160: Lecture 1: Terminology & Definitionsc... · 3 out we have just the basic rhythm of that melody. This is different from a beat. The beat for this would probably be [piano