MUSIC HU 300.

 Tone  Scale  Rhythm  Melody  Harmony  Silence Basic Elements of Music

Tone This is the basic element. It is a note or a sound made by human voices or instruments and maintains the same frequency. When we think of the word “monotone”, what does it mean? When people began experimenting with many different tones, human beings entered the realm of music as a form of expression.

Scale  Pentatonic (5 Notes)  Diatonic Scale 7-note – Western Europe – 600s AD  ADCDEFG  Chromatic Scale – 12 tone  Major Scale and Minor Scale  Minor Keys as a means of conveying negative emotions

Rhythm  The alteration between stress and unstress in music. It might be fast or slow depending on the need for the event. The book speaks about the difference between Dionysian festivals and Apollonian festivals.  We very often associate drums with rhythms. The faster the beat the more energy the musician seeks from the listener. Think of Roman Galleys in the movies. 

Melody  We think of the melody as the main focus of a piece of music. It may be sung as well as played on instruments. This sets the stage for much of the emotion of the song. Through melody we convey emotions of sadness, love, fear, anger, etc…

Harmony and Orchestra  Harmony can be viewed in general as the simultaneous production of tones. We might think of a background group of vocalists when understanding harmony. The roots of harmony actually run quite deep in the music of culture, and religious services are common examples where harmony in music was applied to augment the message.  Orchestras provided a harmony of music as the instruments blend together in a complex formation to render and idea or emotion.

FOLK MUSIC  Group identity in a form of music that comes down through local traditions.  Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson  C C Is folk a popular genre? Do you listen to folk artists?

JAZZ MUSIC  Fusion of African Rhythms and Western influences. New Orleans as one of the hot spots of Jazz.  Primarily African-American in origin and in its greatest performers  Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis   Would impact later genres of music, including Rhythm and Blues and through them, Rock and Roll.

Ragtime  Salon Style Music of the turn of the 19 th and 20 th centuries. The most prolific Ragtime Artist would have to be, without a doubt, Scott Joplin. His music is featured in the movie The Sting.  Music\Scott Joplin - Solace.mp3 Music\Scott Joplin - Solace.mp3  Music\Scott Joplin - The Easy Winners.mp3 Music\Scott Joplin - The Easy Winners.mp3

ROCK and ROLL MUSIC  We think of the era of Rock and Roll Music as being ushered in by a specific song:  Rock Around The Clock   Freer and more upbeat. We think of the way this music promoted dancing and frivolity. The messages were very simple for the most part.  Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, etc…  Later Pop Emphasized similar themes but also moved toward social messages. The Beatles are a classic example of this metamorphosis

R&B and HIP HOP MUSIC  h?v=qwn4mJuIZHo h?v=qwn4mJuIZHo  Who are some of the artists who stand out?  How do you distinguish this genre from others?

COUNTRY MUSIC  What are the features of this genre?  Who are some of the artists who stand out?

“Standard Bearers”  Standard Bearers are the individuals or groups we associate with a particular type of music  Rap – Sugar Hill Gang  Jazz – What do the standard bearers communicate about the time, place, culture, influences, and circumstances that lead to these musical expressions?