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Chapter 3
Experiencing Music
Listening to Music
One of most pleasurable aural
experiences is music
Levels of Listening
Different levels of attentiveness
Sensuous listening – actively listening
and becoming absorbed in music
Perceptive listening – analyzing how
elements and musical structure combine
to form unified composition
Peak experience – heightened response
to music (aesthetic)
Becoming a Perceptive Listener
Perceptive listening relies on
knowledge of music
Elements used to create it
Scale – 12 major scales on which most
music is based
Intervals – combination using notes of a
scale create melody
How We Experience Music
Experiencing Music Alone
Headphones/earbuds
High volume levels can damage hearing
Choose music to match mood
Experiencing Music Together
Listening in the company of others
Audience can be made up of diverse
individuals (i.e., sporting events)
Performing Music Alone
Need to express ourselves and our feelings
People enjoy expressing themselves with
or without an audience
Solo performers become their own audience
Guitar – called most important musical
instrument of the past 50 years by
composer Libby Larsen
Native American Flute
Flute common to many cultures throughout the
world
Can be made from natural or manufactured
materials
Performing Music Together
Group expression and social
communication
More than one person needed to
create harmony and texture
Ensembles allow musicians to
function cohesively together
Monophonic, Call and Response, etc.
Performing Music Together (cont.)
Mixed Ensembles
Usually start by beginning together then
featuring soloist, duet, etc. (smaller
groups from within larger ensemble)
Those not soloing provides harmonic
and rhythmic backup
Mariachi Tradition
Music ensemble from Mexican state of
Jalisco
Two types of Mariachi styles: son
jalisciense and canción ranchera
Critiquing Music
Criteria for Evaluating Performance
Timbre – quality of tone, range, variety, appeal
of musical sounds
Expressiveness – interpretation, style, and
phrasing
Technique – performer’s skills
Presentation – choice and appropriateness of
the music, and whether the performance meets
your expectations
Impact – artist’s charisma, familiarity or
newness of what you hear, comparisons to
other performances
Critiquing Music (cont.)
The Role of the Critic
Does more than condemn or rave about
a performance
Gives arguments to support claims
Must be perceptive listeners
Also takes into account nonmusical
aspects of performance
Influence public opinion, can make or
break musicians’ careers
Colorful language – descriptive words
Musical Artistry in Schools
Teen years are when musician goes
from beginners to experts
Some may become professionals or
virtuosos
Band, Orchestra, Choir, Musical
Theatre, etc.
Vocabulary
Aural – hearingrelated
Perceptive Listening –
listening to and
appreciating a musical
work for its full range
of technical and
expressive qualities
Aesthetic –
characterized by a
heightened sensitivity
to the content, form, or
emotional impact of an
artistic work or event
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
Interval – distance in
pitch between two
tones
Vocabulary (cont.)
Texture – the way
sounds are woven
together
Ensemble –
cooperative
musical expression
Monophonic – in
unison with
everyone sounding
the same pitch or
octave at the same
time
Mariachi – a
musical group with
several violins,
trumpets, large
bass guitar, and
special five- and
six-string guitars
Virtuoso – a
performer with
brilliant, flawless
technique