Ch 4 Org. of Musical Sounds

I. Org of musical Sounds 1. Harmony and melody are essential building block of musical composition a) Function together to construct musical system 2. Pitches named using first 7 letters of alphabet (A-G)and start over after an octave a) Def: interval spanning 8 notes of scale b) When hear any 2 notes in octave, sound “the same” 3. 1 Important variable in diff lang of music around the world is the way octave divided a) In W., it divided into 12 equal semitones or half steps (1) Def: smallest interval (2) 2 halves make a whole (3) Constituted musical lang for 400 years B. Chromatic Scale 1. Def: 12 half step that make up octave 2. Almost all of W music made up of same 12 pitches and their duplications in higher and lower octaves 3. Sharp: raises a note by half a step 4. Flat: lowers an ote a half step 5. Whole step: 2 half steps a) Ex: distance between C and D is 2 half step or a whole 1. C. Major scale: 1. In W, first note (tonic I) is home base a) Major and minor function within organization system tonality 2. Tonic: the homebase where music gravitates a) Tonality is from 1600 to 1900 3. Key: piece built around central tone 4. Major scale: a) Created by specific pattern of whoele (W) and half (H) steps (1) Ex: W-W-H-W-W-W-H b) Cn start on any pitch 5. II. D. Minor Scale 1. Def: sounds diff from major a) Lowered, flatted, third note b) Minor key pieces sound sader, darker E. Diatonic v Chromatic 1. Diatonic a) Music in major/minor key focuses on 7 notes b) Both melody and harmony are firmly rooted in the key c) Practiced by Baroque/classical eras (1) Center on tonic note and related harmonies 2. Chromatic a) Itro other notes that are foreign to scale, draw from full gamut of 12 half steps that span octave b) Explored by Roantic era composers//charge music with emotions F. Other Scale Types (1) W. music is only way to structure music b) pentatonic: 5 note scale, used in African, Asian, Native mer musics (1) Amazing Grace c) Tritonic: 3 note pattern, found in African Cultures 2. Microtones: employ intervals smaller than half step a) Not easily playable b) Sounds off key to Westerner c) Produced by inflection of pitch (1) Def: brief microtonal dip or rise from original pitch (2) Similar to “blue note” which allows host of subtle pitch changes Major-Minor System 1. Triad: 3 note chord, built on first scale step (tonic/i chord) a) Serves as a point of rest 2. Rest chord: counterposed against active chords: a) Active chords: seek to be completed/resolved in rest chord (1) The strive for resolution is dynamic force in W. music, providing a forward direction.goal 3. dominant(V) : 5th scale step (sol), forms the chief active chord a) Brings feeling of restlessness and seeks to resolve to the tonic 4. Subdominant (iv): triad built on fourth scale step III. B. Key as form building element 1. Tonic (I), Dominant (V), Subdominant (IV) are foundations of melodies and harmonic progression a) Piece’s key is prime factor for msical unity 2. Contrast between keys adds welcome variety a) Modulation: create tension bc dominant key is unstable compared with tonic (1) Tension requires resolution, so return to home key (2) Ex: go from home key (C major) to dominant (g major) (3) Home key=unity, foreign key ensures variety and contrast b) 12 major key and 12 inor keys may be compared to rooms in house (1) Modulation is corridors leading from one to another (2) Composer determined home key, then shape passage of modulation c) Transpose: make a transposition (1) Convenient with original song key is too high or low to sing or play easily (2) Begin on diff pitch, shift all other pitches a uniform distance (3) So can be sung by diff vocal ranges 3. We perceive and react to the tension and resolution provided by the movement of harmony, and we can sense how composers have used the harmonic system to give a coherent shape and meaning to their works. Musical Form 1. Form: organization principle in music a) Basic elements are repetition, contrast, variation b) The way elements of composition are combined by composer to make it understandable to listener 2. Balance needed between unity, variety symmetry, asymmetry, activity, rest a) Compared to nature: human form B. Structure and Design in Music 1. Music uses repetition and contrast (1) The familiar and the new b) Repetition: fizes the material in our minds and satisfies our need for familiar c) Contrast: stimulates interest and feeds desire for change 2. Strophic form: same melody is repeated with each stanza of text (1) Ex: Silent Night) b) Common vocal music, popular, classic c) Repetition binds the song together (1) Ex: Campbell soup painting by Andy Warhol demonstrates need for repetition 3. Variation: some aspects of music are altered by original is recognizable a) Form between repetition and contrast 4. Improvisation: pieces created spontaneously in performance (1) Typical in jazz, rock, nonW styles b) Even when created on spot, still shows balance of structural principles c) Uses repetition, contrast, and variation (1) Jazz artists use pre-established harmony, timeframe, and melodic outline but will still improvise when possible (2) In asia, improvisation is refined/classical art C. Binary and Ternary Form (left a sticky) 1. Two basic structures are widespread in art and music (1) Generally outlined with letters b) Binary form: two part (1) Based on statement and departure without a return to opening section (2) Outline: Ex: Greensleeves (a) Binary form is A-A-B-B (b) c) Ternary form: 3 part (1) Extends idea of statement and departure by bring back the first section (2) Has logical symmetry and balance of outer sections against contrasting middle (3) Gives clear cut formation that favored by architects, painters, composers (4) Outline: A-B-A (5) Ex: Simple Gifts (a) Ternary form: A-B-A (b) D. Building Blocks of form 1. Theme: melodic idea is used as a building block in the construction of a larger work a) Intro of theme and elaboration is essence of music (1) EX: topic sentence of a paragraph 2. thematic development: expansion of a theme, achieved by varying its melody, rhythm, harmony a) Most impt techniques in music and requires imagination and craft b) Too complex for short pieces where simple contrast between sections and modest expansion of material usually supply necessary continuity (1) Needed for longer pieces bc give clarity, coherence, logic 3. Techniques to making music flow a) Sequence: idea may be restated at a higher or lower pitch level b) Motive: small fragment in theme that forms a melodic rhythmic unit (1) Cells of musical growth (2) When repeated, varied, combined into new patterns, imparts the qualities of evolution and expansion c) Repetition and contrast techiques (1) Call and response: responsorial music (a) Form of repetition (b) Formal (c) Practiced by W. church music, african, Native Amer, (2) Ostinato: short musical pattern, melodic rhythmic, harmonic (a) Repeated in major section of work (b) Used by Pachelbel Canon in D (c) Technique used in blues, jazz, rock, rap (repeated harmonies) 4. Music composition is organic form where indv notes are bound together within a phrase a) Phrases within a theme , themes within a section sections within a movement (1) Def: complete, comparatlive independent division of a large scale work (2) IV.