Download Course Description - W. David

So far, we have discussed ways to talk about music:
Sound
Pitch
Dynamics
Tone Color
Rhythm
Performing Media
What is left for us to consider is:
Music Notation
Melody
Harmony
Key
Musical Texture
Form
In Review
From Brahms
to Bernstein MU-104 O&H
1

Notation is the system of writing music so
that specific rhythms and pitches can be
communicated.

We have already discussed several of these
elements in previous lectures.

We will review and expand on this
conversation.
Musical Notation
2
Musical Notation
3
Raises a
pitch by a
pitch ½ step
Cancels out the
operation of a
flat or sharp or
represents a
key modulation
Musical Notation - Pitch
Lowers
pitch by a
pitch ½ step
4
Musical Notation - Pitch
5
NAMES OF SPACES
NAMES OF LINES
Musical Notation – Pitch Names Treble Clef
6
Musical Notation- Rhythm
7
Musical Notation - Rhythm
8
Notating Meter
Three-Four Time (Triple Meter)
Top number represents
number of beats per
measure
Bottom number
represents the division of
The beat
Musical Notation
9
Musical Notation - Meter
10
Musical Notation -Clefs
11
musical score a written form of
a musical
composition;
parts for different
instruments
appear on
separate staves
on large pages
Musical Notation - Score
12
•
Melodies often consist of one or more musical
phrases, motifs, and are usually repeated
throughout a song or piece in various forms.
•
They can consist a series of steps or leaps “Mary had a little lamb” (step-wise); “Home on
the Range” (skips or leaps)
•
Melody may also be described by their melodic
motion or the pitches or the intervals between
pitches (predominantly conjunct or disjunct or
with further restrictions), pitch, range, tension and
release, continuity and coherence, cadence and
shape.
Melody
14
• Melody can best be understood
as the horizontal expression of
sound and results where there
are interacting patterns of
changing events occurring in
time either rhythmically or
harmonically expressed.
What is Melody?
15
Harmony can best be understood as the vertical expression
of the sonic event as it occurs within a continuum of time and
more specifically refers to the way chords are constructed and
how they follow each other.
A chord is a combination of three or more tones sounded at
once.
Consonance refers to a tone combination that is stable.
Dissonance refers to a tone combination that is unstable.
A Dissonance has resolution when it resolves to a
consonance.
A triad is the simplest of chords and consists of three tones.
What is Harmony?
16
Triad are made up of three components:

Root
 Third (whose interval is a major third or minor third above
the root)

Fifth (whose interval is a major or minor third above the
third, and a diminished, perfect, or augmented fifth above the
root).
The function of a given triad is determined primarily by its root
tone and the degree of the scale it corresponds to, but also by the
quality of the chord (the exact third and fifth).
There are four basic tertian triads: major, minor, diminished
and augmented. All but the augmented triad can be derived
from the Major (or diatonic) scale. Triads (and all other larger
tertian chords) are built by combining or stacking every other
tone the scale above each individual degree (or scale-tone) of the
given seven-tone scale. The four triads are built of the following
intervals:
Harmony - Triads
17
Primary triads of a diatonic key (major or minor) include the tonic,
subdominant, and dominant degree chords, otherwise symbolized: I,
IV, and V respectively.
Harmony
18
Major triads contain a major third and perfect fifth interval
Minor triads contain a minor third, and perfect fifth
Diminished triads contain a minor third, and diminished fifth
Augmented triads contain a major third, and augmented fifth
Harmony - Triads
19
A cadence (Latin cadentia, "a falling") is a particular series of
intervals or chords that ends a phrase section, or piece of
music. Cadences give phrases a distinctive ending, that can,
for example, indicate to the listener whether the piece is to be
continued or concluded.
Harmony - Cadences
20
Any instrument may
employ arpeggiation, but
the following instruments
use arpeggios most often:
•
•
•
•
In music, an arpeggio is a broken
chord where the notes are played
or sung in succession rather than
simultaneously. The word, like
many other musical terms,
originates from Italian, in which it
means "in the manner of the harp."
String instruments
Guitars
Synthesizers
Keyboards (pianos,
organs, accordions,
etc.)
Harmony – Broken Chords
21
Prelude No. 4 is one
of the most famous
pieces Chopin wrote. It
was played at his
funeral and is relatively
easy, with a slow
melody in the right
hand and repeated
block chords in the left
hand.
Frederic Chopin
Prelude in E Minor for Piano,
Op. 28,No. 4 (1839)
Harmony – Music Example
22
•
The key identifies the tonic triad the chord, major or minor,
which represents the final point of rest for a piece, or the focal
point of a section.
•
Although the key of a piece may be named in the title (e.g.
Symphony in C), or inferred from the key signature, the
establishment of key is brought about via functional harmony, a
sequence of chords leading to one or more cadences.
•
A key may be major or minor; music can be described as being
in the Dorian mode, or Phrygian, et cetera, and as such are
usually considered to be in a specific mode rather than a key.
•
When a particular key is not being described in the English
language different key naming systems may be used.
•
Although many musicians confuse key with scale - a scale is
an ordered set of notes typically used in a key, while the key is
the center of gravity, established by particular chord
progressions.
Key
23
Key Signatures – Circle of Fifths
24
Key – The Major Scale
25
Pure minor
Harmonic minor
Melodic minor
Key – Minor Scale
26
The chromatic scale is a musical
scale with twelve pitches, each a
semitone or half step apart.
The term chromatic derives from the
Greek word chroma, meaning color.
Chromatic notes are traditionally
understood as harmonically
inessential embellishments,
shadings, or inflections of diatonic
notes.
Key Chromatic Scale
27
Modulation is most commonly the act or process
of changing from one key (tonic, or tonal center) to
another. This may or may not be accompanied by a
change in key signature . Modulations articulate or
create the structure or form of many pieces, as well
as add interest. In other words, “a modulation is
like a shift in gravity.” This is not to be confused
with Key Change even though these terms are
sometimes used synonymously. A Key Change
requires a change of key. A modulation can work
by use of accidentals in temporary shifts of key.
Key Modulation
28
Tonic or Home Key is the basic key in which a
piece of music is written.
The tonic is the first note of a musical scale, and
in the tonal method of musical composition it is
extremely important. The triad formed on the
tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most
important chord. More generally, the tonic is the
pitch upon which all other pitches of a piece are
hierarchically referenced. The tonic is often
confused with the root, which is the reference
note of a chord, rather than that of the scale.
Key - Tonic
29
Monophony is the simplest of textures, consisting of
melody without accompanying harmony or in other
words, music in which all the notes are sung are in
unison is called monophonic. This can be doubled at the
octave (ex. When men and women sing the same
melody together.
Homophony is a texture in which two or more parts move
together in harmony, the relationship between them creating
chords.
Polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more
independent melodic voices
Musical Texture
30
Musical Example:
Farandole from L’Arlesienne
Suite No. 3(1879),
by George Bizet
Refer to page 64, Kamien
Musical Example: Texture
31
The term musical form refers to two related
concepts:
TYPE
◦ the type of composition (for example, a musical work
can have the form of a symphony, a concerto, or other
generic type
STRUCTURE
◦ the structure of a particular piece (for example, a piece
can be written in binary form, sonata form, as a fugue,
etc.
Musical Form
32

There is some overlap between musical form and
musical genre. The latter term is more likely to be
used when referring to particular styles of music (such
as classical music or rock music) as determined by
things such as harmonic language, typical rhythms,
types of musical instrument used, and geographical
origin.

The phrase musical form is typically used when
talking about a particular type or structure within
those genres. For example, the twelve bar blues is a
specific form often found in the genres of blues, rock
and roll and jazz music.
Musical Form vs. Musical genre
33
Techniques that create musical
form are:

Repetition

Contrast

Variation
Musical Form
34
•
•
•
•
•
Musical repetition appeals to the pleasure we get in
recognizing and remembering something.
In a play, a scene or act is rarely repeated, but in
music the repetition of melodies or extended sections
is a technique widely used for binding a composition
together.
Through repetition, a melody is engraved in the
memory.
The passage of time in music, as in life, influences
the way we react to events.
When a musical idea returns during a piece, the
effect produced is not duplication but balance and
symmetry.
Musical Form- Repetition
35
•
Forward action, motion conflict, and change of mood
all come from contrast
•
Opposition – of loud and soft, strings and woodwinds,
fast and slow, major and minor – propels and
develops musical ideas
•
Sometimes the opposing ideas will have a common
element that establishes a sense of continuity
•
At other times the contract will be complete
(Example: The contrast between Black and White is
different from the contrast between black and grey).
Musical Form- CONTRAST
36
• In the variation of a musical idea, some of its
features will be retained while others are changed.
• The melody might be reinstated with a different
accompaniment or the pitches of a melody might
stay the same while its rhythmic pattern is changed
• A whole composition can be created from a series of
variations on a single musical idea.
Musical Form - VARIATION
37
Binary form is a way of structuring a piece of
music in two related sections, both of which are
usually repeated. Binary is also a structure used
to choreograph dance.
AB
Musical Form- BINARY FORM
38
Beethoven, Contra dance,
No. 7 in E Flat Major for
Orchestra
Form:
Two Part (Binary) A A B B
Meter/Key:
Sextuple meter 2/4, Eb
major
Instrumentation:
2 clarinets, two french
horns, 1st violins, 2nd
violins, cellos, basses
Musical Example: Two part (Binary form) AB
39
The very brief contra dance in duple
meter and in E-flat major is in the twopart binary form and is outlined AA BB.
Because each part is repeated. A and
B are exactly 8 bars each.
The first violins present the melody,
while the other strings, clarinets and
French horns provide mostly a staccato
accompaniment.
Part A ends up with an incomplete
cadence, and part B ends conclusively
with a complete cadence.
Part a consists of a soft lilting melodic
phrase beginning with the repeated
rhythm short-long, short-long.
In contrast, part B begins
energetically, with a rapid
upward unaccompanied
scale that leads to three
loud repeated chords. A
quieter repetition of the
rapid upward scale
introduces a soft,
expectant sustained chord.
Part B concludes with an a
new lilting phrase also
based on the repeated
rhythm short-long, shortlong.
Musical Example: Two part (Binary form) AB
40
Ternary form is a structuring mechanism of a piece of
music. Along with several other musical forms, ternary
form can also be applied to dance choreography. Ternary
form is a three-part structure, often notated A-B-A. The
first and third parts (A) are musically identical, or very
nearly so, while the second part (B) contrasts sharply with
it.
ABA
Musical Form- TERNARY FORM
41
TCHAIKOVSKY
Dance of the Reed Pipes from
Nutcracker Suite
FORM - A B A1
TEMPO
Moderato assai (very moderate)
duple meter D Major
INSTRUMENTATION:
3 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2
clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4
French Horns, 2 trumpets, 3
trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals,
violins, violas, cellos, double basses
Musical Example of 3 part Ternary form
42
A section –
a. Low pizzicato strings, p, introduce
b.
3 flutes, staccato melody in major
pizzicato strings accompany. Melody
repeated
c. English horn melody, legato, flutes,
accompany staccato
d. 3 flutes, staccato melody, pizzicato strings,
accompany. Melody repeated. Cadence.
B section –
a. Trumpet melody in minor, brasses and
cymbals accompany
b. Strings repeat trumpet melody. Flutes
lead back to
A1 section
a.
3 flutes, staccato melody in major, strings
accompany. Melody repeated. Cadence
Musical Example of 3 part Ternary form
43