Download Experiencing Music

Experiencing Music
Listening to Music
Experiencing Music Alone
Experiencing Music With Others
Critiquing Music
Importance of Musical Study
Quick Write
“If a man does not keep pace with his
companions, perhaps it is because he hears
a different drummer.”
-Henry David Thoreau (1817-62)
Read the quote and explain the metaphor as is
pertains to life and music.
How would you define listening?
 How would you define
casual listening?
 How would you define
perceptive listening?
Anticipation Guide
 Listening is an optical experience.
 There are three levels of listening.
 Sensuous listening is the type of listening
when the music blends into the background.
 A major scale is composed of two whole
steps, two half steps, three whole steps, and
one half step.
 An interval is the distance between two notes.
Levels of Listening
 There are three levels
of listening: Casual,
sensuous, and
perceptive.
Casual Listening
 The lowest level of
listening.
 The music blends into
the background and
becomes part of the
surrounding noise.
 Examples include being
placed on hold while
talking on the phone,
music being played
while you shop, or
music in an elevator.
Sensuous Listening
• The second level of
listening.
• In this level, you don’t
just hear the music, you
actively listen to it.
• Listening in this level
may result in an
emotional experience.
• Also called “goosebump listening”.
Perceptive Listening
 This is the highest level of
listening.
 When listening perceptively,
one pays attention to the
technical aspects of the
music.
 Within this level, the
structure and elements are
taken into account.
 Examples include performing
and studying music.
Becoming a Perceptive Listener
 Increase knowledge about the elements of
music. How does the melody move? What
timbres are place together to make unique
sounds?
 Increase knowledge about the time in
which the piece was composed. What was
happening in society during that time period?
What was the popular technique of the
period?
 What is the purpose of the piece of music?
Major Scale
 A scale is a sequence of tones arranged in rising
pitches.
 The pattern of a major scale is: whole step, whole
step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step,
half, step.
Intervals
 An interval is the distance between two tones.
 Steps to identifying intervals.
 The first note is 1.
 Count all lines and spaces between the two notes.
 Count the last note.
Interval Practice
Review Questions
Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
 List the three levels of listening from the
lowest level to the highest.
 What is the difference between sensuous
listening and perceptive listening?
 What is the sequence of tones for a major
scale?
 Explain how to count intervals.
R.A.F.T. Letter
Role: A Perceptive listener
Audience: A casual listener
Format: A letter
Topic: A persuasive letter to convert the
casual listener to a persuasive listener based
on the merits of perceptive listening within the
notes and the texts.
Quick Write
Write a paragraph explaining some situations in
which a person might listen to music alone.
In your opinion, what are the benefits of being
able to listen alone?
Your response must be at least five sentences.
Think About It
What is the most popular way for people to
experience music alone?
Benefits to Listening to Music Alone
 We can choose music to match our mood.
 We can choose music that matches our
tastes.
Dangers of Listening to Music Alone
 In using ear phones or ear buds, the volume
might be turned up too loud.
Performing Music Alone
 Performing music alone is also called solo
performance.
 Performing alone allows the musician to
express themselves and get in touch with
their inner feelings.
 Through performing music alone, the
musician is able to be their own audience.
The Guitar
 Composer Libby Larson called the electric
guitar the most important instrument of the
past 50 years.
 Guitar strings are tuned to the interval of a
perfect fourth, with the exception of the G and
B strings.
Experiencing Music with Others
 How we react to the music depends on the
type of music, how the music is being used,
and where we hear the music.
 Look at the examples in the second
paragraph on pg. 56.
Benefits of Performing Music with
Others
• Musicians enjoy working together toward a
common goal.
• A soloist cannot produce harmony, which is
the music that supports a melody and makes
it more pleasant to listen to.
•
This creates texture, the way sounds are
woven together.
Quick Write
Describe your most memorable music
experience. Were you alone or with others?
What made the experience so memorable?
Ensemble (Two Definitions)
 The word ensemble has two definitions.
 One definition for ensemble is to identify a performing
group such as an orchestra, choir, etc.
 The other definition for ensemble is for a cooperative
music expression.
Performing Music
 The very basic level of music performance is
performing a monophonic piece. This is a
piece of music with only one part. Everyone
sounds the same pitch and the same octave
at one time.
 Another type of performance is called call and
response. This involves a question and
answer patter where the a group responds to
a leader.
Mariachi
 A mariachi band is a
type of musical
ensemble.
 These groups often
include several violins,
trumpets, a large bass
guitar, and special five
and six-string guitars.
Critiquing Music
 A music critic is someone who writes about
musical events, performances, and albums.
 The role of a critic




Offer convincing arguments about a
performance.
Back up his/her claims about the performance.
Analyze what they hear and communicate
their opinions rationally and coherently.
Take into account the nonmusical aspects of
the performance.
Criteria for Evaluating a Music
Performance
 Timbre- Quality of tone, range, appropriateness, and




appeal of the musical sounds.
Expressiveness- Interpretation, style, and phrasing
Technique- Performers skills in bringing the musical
sounds to life.
Presentation- Choice and appropriateness of music,
does the performance meet expectations
Impact- Artist’s charisma, familiarity and newness of
what you hear, how does the performance compare
with similar performances``
The Language of Criticism
 Critics must use colorful language to
communicate their reactions and judgments.
 Descriptive nouns, verbs, adjectives, and
adverbs must be used.
 The purpose of this type of language is to
explain their point of view, back up their
claims, and present a fair assessment.``````
Think About It!!
Why is it important for music and the arts to be
taught in schools? What are the benefits?
Why is Music Important?
 A 2000 Georgia Tech study indicates that a
student who participates in a least one
elective music course is 4.5 times more likely
to stay in college than the general student
population.
- Dr. Denise C. Gardner, Effects of Music
Courses on Retention, Georgia Tech, 2000.
2.
 On the 1999 SAT, music students continued
to outperform their non-arts peers, scoring 61
points higher on the verbal portion and 42
points higher on the math portion of the
exam.
- Steven M. Demorest and Steven J.
Morrison, "Does Music Make you Smarter?,
Music Educators Journal, September, 2000.
 Music student demonstrate less test anxiety
and performance anxiety than students who
do not study music.
- "College-Age Musicians Emotionally
healthier than non-Musician Counterparts,"
Houston Chronicle, 1998.
 The average scores achieved by music
students on the 1999 SAT increased for every
year of musical study. This same trend was
found in SAT scores of previous years.
- Steven M. Demorest and Steven J.
Morrison, "Does Music make You Smarter?,"
Music Educators Journal, September, 2000.
 A ten-year study indicates that students who
study music achieve higher test scores,
regardless of socioeconomic background.
- Dr. James Catterall, UCLA.
 Practicing musicians demonstrate 25 percent
more brain activity than non-musicians when
listening to musical sounds.
- Exposure to Music Is Instrumental to the
Brain, University of Muenster.