Download Listening To Music

An Introduction to Music as Social Experience
Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Active listening versus hearing
• Attentiveness
• Analysis
• Interpretation
Music listening
• Instrument sound quality
• Shape of melodies
• Rhythmic changes
• Patterns that repeat
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Elements of Music
1. Melody
2. Rhythm
3. Harmony
4. Timbre
5. Texture
6. Form
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
1. Melody
• Pitches (or tones) heard one after the other
• The part of a song or composition you sing along
with
• Melodic contour: tones move up or down in pitch
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Components of Melody: Intervals
• Pitch difference between two consecutive tones is an interval
• Step intervals
• Two consecutive tones close in pitch
• In scale order, such as do – re
• Leap intervals
• Two consecutive tones significantly different in pitch
• Not in scale order, such as do – sol
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Conjunct motion
• Occurs in melodies with step intervals
• Narrow range (distance between highest and lowest pitches)
• May convey calm emotion
Disjunct motion
• Occurs in melodies with leap intervals
• Wide range
• May convey anxiety or excitement
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Melodic structure
• A phrase is “a sentence in tones.”
• Each phrase has a point of arrival or cadence.
• A singer might breathe at the cadence.
• Phrases ending on the tonic harmony sound finished.
• Phrases not ending on the tonic harmony sound unfinished.
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
2. Rhythm
•
How music is organized in time
•
Patterns of sounds and silences
•
Timing of sounds: long and short, fast and slow
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Components of Rhythm:
• Beat
• Meter patterns
• Tempo
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Beat
• Most basic time unit in music
• Musical heartbeat, organizes the musical flow
• The part of the music you tap your feet or dance to
• Quantifies duration of musical sound: how long or how short
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Meter patterns
• Repeating patterns of strong and weak pulses
• Recurring strong pulse is the downbeat
• Each downbeat is followed by one or more upbeats
• Each group of one downbeat + upbeat(s) is called a measure
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Duple meter
• Recurring pattern of one downbeat + one upbeat
• Marches, most popular songs are in duple meter
Triple meter
• Recurring pattern of one downbeat + two upbeats
• Waltzes are in triple meter
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Tempo
• Speed or pace of the beat pattern
• May remain constant throughout a composition OR
• May speed up or slow down temporarily
• Ask: Does the pace of your foot-tapping change?
• Italian terms used in concert programs, such as:
Adagio (at ease)
Andante (walking tempo)
Allegro (lively)
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
3. Harmony
• Two or more different pitches heard at the same
time.
• Ex: chords strummed on a guitar or two people
singing different tones
• May be consonant (stable) or dissonant (seeks
stability or resolution)
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
4. Timbre
• Specific tone color of an individual sound
• Combination of three factors:
• Instrument size
• Instrument material (what it is made of)
• How sound is produced/style of playing
• Orchestration: intentional combination of
instruments to create a soundscape
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
5. Musical Texture
• How different musical parts fit together.
• Blend of musical layers heard at the same time.
• Four kinds of musical texture:
• Monophony
• Polyphony
• Homophony
• Heterophony
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Monophony
• A single musical line performed by one person or a group in
unison
• Without accompaniment
• Without harmony
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Polyphony
• Several independent musical lines heard at the same time.
• Simplest kind of polyphony: round or canon
• Ex: “Row, Row, Row, Your Boat” with different voices
starting at different times.
• More complex polyphony: different melodies interwoven,
may or may not start together
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Homophony
• A melody with supporting sounds, chordal accompaniment.
• In the Western tradition, most hymns, folk tunes, and popular
songs are set in a homophonic texture.
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Heterophony
• A single melody performed slightly differently by two
performers
• Ex: One performer embellishes the melody or changes the
rhythm slightly
• Uncommon in Western music
• Heard often in Native American or Middle Eastern music
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
6. Form
• Overall structure in a piece of music
• Organization of musical elements builds a cohesive
composition
• Composers use repetition, contrast and
development to create tension or relaxation
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music
Alphabet letters used to identify
• Repeated parts (A A)
• Contrasting parts (A B C)
• Development parts (A A’ A”)
Traditional Western art music forms:
Binary (two parts: AB)
Ternary (three parts: ABA)
Rondo (refrain alternates with new material: ABACA)
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 2: Listening to Music