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Experiencing Music
Chapter 3
What You Will Learn
 Compare the various levels of listening to music, and explain
how perceptive listening can enhance the listener’s
appreciation
 Identify the intervals found within a major scale
 Compare the experience of Listening to music alone with
that of listening in the company of others
Vocabulary
 Aural
 Texture
 Perceptive listening
 Ensemble
 Aesthetic
 Monophonic
 Scale
 Mariachi
 Major scale
 Virtuoso
 interval
Listening to Music
 Aural:
 Hearing related
 Levels of listening
 Different levels of attentiveness impact how we listen to music
 Casual - Some music blends into the background (ambient)
 You may listen casually or tune this music out
 Sensuous listening – “goosebump” listening
 Involves an emotional reaction
 Perceptive listening:
 Listening to and appreciation a musical work for its full range of technical and
expressive properties
Perceptive listening
 Listeners analyze the structure and elements of the music
 Accentuates the expressive power of music
 The more we understand music, the more likely we are to
have a peak experience – heightened response when we listen
both sensuously and perceptively
 Aesthetic:
 Characterized by a heightened sensitivity to the content, form,
or emotional impact of an artistic work or event
Activity 1, p. 52 CD 2:7
 Listen to an excerpt from John Philip Sousa’s “Washington
Post March”
Becoming a Perceptive Listener
 When we listen perceptively we rely on our knowledge of music
 Scale
 Most music is based on some type of scale:
 A sequence of tones arranged in rising pitches
 Major scale
 A sequence of eight pitches built on the pattern of two whole steps, one half step,
three whole steps, and one half step.
 Activity 3, p. 53 CD 2:8
 “Do, Re Mi”
Intervals
 The way a melody is constructed often influences the way a
piec of music affects us
 Interval:
 Distance in pitch between two tones
 Most intervals are categorized as minor (meaning small), major
(meaning large), or perfect(meaning fourths, fifths, and octaves,
which are never major or minor)
 Activity 3, p. 54
How We Experience Music
 Listening to music at high volume levels can seriously damage
hearing
 Activity 5, p. 55 (handout)
 Experience music alone
 When alone, we choose music to match our mood
Activity 6, p. 56 CD 1:1-6
 For each of the 6 examples, answer the following questions
 Would you categorize this music as classical, traditional, or
popular?
 What sort of mood does this music create?
Where would one listen to this music?
 What is the source of sound? Is it sung? Instrumental? If so,
what instruments were used?
 What is the function of the music?
 Where might it be played
 What elements are most prominent in this music?
Experiencing music together
 How you react to music depends on the type of music and
how it is being used
 The context can dictate the audience’s reaction
 Sometimes the music is secondary to the main purpose of th
event.
Activity 7, p. 57 CD 2:12-15
 Listen to the 4 examples and answer the questions
 What is the main function of the music?
 Describe your reaction to the music. How would you react?
 What is the appropriate audience behavior?
 How would the event be different without the music.
Performing Music Alone
 Making music is like other artistic expressions
 People enjoy expressing themselves through solo
performance
 When people make music they become their own audience
Activity 8, p. 59 CD 2:16-17
 Listen to two Asian solo instrumental performances
 Categorize each instrument (idiophone, membranophone,
aerophone, etc.)
 Select four words that accurately describe the timbre of each
instrument
 Speculate in what setting each piece might be performed
Tuning a Guitar
 Some call the guitar the most important musical instrument of
the past 50 years
 The guitar has 6 strings each tuned to a specific pitch
 The thickest string produces the lowest tone
 Activity 9, p. 61
 DVD – “Tuning a Guitar”
 CD 2:14 “Hip Song”
The Native American Flute
 The flute is a common instrument to many cultures around the world
 Made from natural a manufactured materials
 During the late 19th and early 20th century, Native American flute
playing nearly became extinct
 According to legend, the flute was given to the Native American people
by the Creator for enjoyment, to ease loneliness
 Some tribe sue it for quiet moments
 Some use it for courting purposes
 A young man would sit outside the home of the woman he likes and play
the flute, if she was interested she would come sit beside him
 Today there is renewed interest
 Activity 10, p. 62 CD 2:18 “Northern Plains”
Performing Music Together
 Music often functions as a form of group expression
 A group can provide more texture The way sounds are woven together
 Ensemble
 Cooperative musical expression
 Organizing people to function together in a musically cohesive
manner requires cooperation
 Monophonic In unison with everyone sounding the same pitch or octave at the same time
Call and Response
 Question and answer
 Combines solo and choral response
 The leader must know all the lyrics while the choirs response is
simple
 Call and response is found in spirituals and gospel music
 Its influence today is heard in jazz, blues, rock, rap, folk songs, and
backup vocals
 Mixed ensembles
 Some ensembles may alternate between a featured soloist and the
group but not in call and response
Activity 11, p. 64 CD 2:19 /TRB 3-4
 “Oh Happy Day”
 How many responses did you hear in the first chorus?
 Seven responses
 Are all the responses exact repetitions of the call? If not,
where did they change
 “Oh Happy Day” is exact but changes when “washed our sins
away” is responded to with the words “Oh Happy Day”
 Does the verse use call and response?
 The verse uses call and response, but the soloist responds to the
call by the chorus, rather than the reverse as in the choruses.
Mariachi tradition
 Mariachi
 A musical group with several violins, trumpets, large
bass guitar, and special five and six-string guitars
 Bass guitar – guitarron
 Five-string guitar(short and used as rhythm guitar) vihuela
 The two most popular types of Mariachi music
 Son jalisciense – song for Jalisco
 Cancion ranchera – a country song
 “La Negra” is the most well known of the sones
jaliscienses
 Activity 13, p. 65 CD 2:20
Critiquing Music
 Acquiring criteria for evaluating music performances
 Opinions are never wrong – they are a matter of taste
 Opinion is not enough in judging a work or genre
 Every performance must be judged on its own merits
 Music critics
 Professionals who write about musical events, performances, and
albums
Criteria for critiquing music
 Timber – quality of tone, range, variety, appropriateness and
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appeal
Expressiveness – interpretation
Technique – performer’s skills
Presentation – choice and appropriateness of the music
Impact – artist’s charisma
 Activity 13, p. 67, CD 3:1-3 TRB 3-6
The role of a critic
 A responsible critic will do more than condemn or rave about a
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performance
They must be perceptive listeners
They must analyze and communicate their opinions
A good critic takes in non-musical aspect such as the conductor,
acoustics, and size and reaction of the audience.
Music Critics influence public opinion which is a big
responsibility.
Your job when reading a review is to distinguish between fact and
opinion
Activity 14, p. 67, TRB 3-7
Luciano Pavarotti 1935-2007
 One of the most famous opera singers
 Born in Modena, Italy
 As a child he sang in the local chorus with his father
 Performed in his first opera at age 26
 Numerous recordings
 Stadium crowds
 “Nessum Dorma”
 “My first, my last, my everything” with Barry White
Assignment
Activity 15, p. 68 Fact & Opinion
 Read the column from The NewYork Times (TRB 3-8).
 Underline the words or phrases that provide basic information.
 Circle the words or phrases that are clearly the reviewer’s opinions
 Is it clear that the reviewer was well informed?
 Was he able to back up the views expressed
 Did the review seem credible to you?
 How do you know?
Assignment
Cultivating the language of criticism
 Critics use colorful language to communicate their reactions and
judgments
 Fair assessments
 Activity 16, p. 68 From the Top CD 1:5
 Listen to Elena Urioste play the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Violin
Concerto. What are some adjectives you would use to describe
her performance?
 Read the 2004 review of Elena Urioste’s debut with the Cleveland
Orchestra (TRB 3-9). Identify and circle all the “color words” –
descriptive nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs – that indicate whether
the critic’s reaction was favorable or unfavorable. Use the “Critical
Words Worksheet” to list the positive and negative terms used.
How well do they match the descriptive vocabulary you used?
Musical Artistry in Schools
 Activity 17, p. 70, CD 3:4-7
 Identify difference among student musical ensembles
 Listen to two recordings of “Hodie Christus Natus Est.”
 One is sung by a junior high school choir, and the other by a high school
group
 What are some of the main differences between the performances?
 List to two recordings of “Colonel Bogey March.”
 One is performed by a junior high band and the other by a high school
band.
 Which is performed by a high school band?
 How do you know?
Assignment
Activity 18, p. 71 CD 3:8-9
 Listen to and analyze the quality of performances by two
different choirs. Then write a critique comparing the two
groups. Which choir would be more likely to receive a
higher score from a panel of judges? Why?
Assignment
Activity 19, p. 71 CD 3:10-11
 Listen to the recordings by two high school jazz bands, and answer
the following questions.
 Aside from the different timbres of vocal sounds and instrumental
sounds, which performance has the stronger jazz feel?
 Does one ensemble seem more accomplished that the other? Why?
 If you could choose, which of the recordings would you buy? Why?
Review - terms
 Mariachi
 A musical group with several violins, two trumpets, large bass guitar,
and special five and six string guitar
 Aural
 Hearing related experiences, such as listening
Review – more terms
 Texture
 The way sounds are woven together
 Aesthetic
 Heightened sensitivity to the content, form, or emotional impact of
an artistic work or event
 Interval
 The distance in pitch between two tones
Review – even more terms
 Scale
 A sequence of tones arranged in rising pitches
 Virtuoso
 A performer with a brilliant, flawless technique
 Ensemble
 Another name for a musical group
Review – misc.
 What was the most important musical instrument of the past 20
years?
 Electric guitar
 From where is mariachi style music?
 Mexico
 Who decides how much attention a listener give to the music
 The listener
 How much influence do music critics have on public opinion?
 A great deal
 How do most people play guitar?
 The left hand presses down the strings and the right hand strums
 Flute
 A melodic instrument used most widely by the Native Americans
 What is a Call and response style of music?
 A question and answer pattern in which a group responds to a
leader
 Explain the differences among casual listening, sensuous
listening, and perceptive listening.
 Casual listening means not giving the music your full attention
 Sensuous listening means being absorbed in the music and allowing
the music to move you emotionally
 Perceptive listening is listening to and appreciating a musical work
for its full range of technical and expressive qualities
 How is listening alone different from listening in the company of
others?
 Experiencing music alone allows you to choose the music to match
your mood
 Experiencing music with others depends on the type of music and
the context in which the music is performed