FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS Listening to Music SURVEY OF MUSIC FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS Listening to Music 2 Lectures

FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF MUSIC Rhythm Pitch Timbre Texture Dynamics (Form)

RHYTHM Rhythm: The organization of time in music We listen for regular beats We listen for accents among the beats to define meter and measure We listen for strength of accents to determine phrase CD Icon = Wright, Intro CD, Track #5 – Hearing Meters Rhythm – Wright 14 / Meter – Wright 16 Example from poetry = ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas 4/4 = Yes, Owner of a Lonely Heart (CD track 1) // Irregular = Yes, Changes (CD track 4)

RHYTHM Tempo governs the rhythm’s pace or speed Tempo may be steady or uneven (rubato) Syncopation is accenting weak beats rather than strong Rhythm can be dominant or subtle – implicit or explicit RUBATO = Bach Cello Suites, disk 1, track 11 SYNCOPATION = Jupiter (Media Player) at 7:39 IMPLICIT/EXPLICIT = Peter Gabriel, Mercy Street (CD track 6)

RHYTHM Time Signatures Rhythmic notation

Music’s Rhythm Code

Music’s Rhythm Code Everything lines up vertically (the TIME axis)

PITCH Pitch: The highness or lowness of a tone in music Most instruments, including the human voice, are designed to produce various pitches Pitches in rhythm are called notes A sequence of notes in music is a melody Pitch – Wright 20 / Melody – Wright 20 Tuning Fork

PITCH Two or more pitches sounding together create harmony Pitches perceived to sound good together are consonant Pitches perceived to sound bad together are dissonant Harmony = Take 6 When You Wish Upon a Star Explain ratios to help describe consonance and dissonance

PITCH: KEYS Pitches are organized in musical scales, and scales define keys In Western music we have 12 major and 12 minor keys Within each key, there are positions: some at rest and some in tension Explain how each position holds tension or rests Play Twinkle Twinkle, don’t resolve

PITCH: KEYS Positions within keys are: Tonic Supertonic Mediant Sub-Dominant Dominant Sub-Mediant, and Leading Tone What they need to know = Tonic & Dominant

PITCH: KEYS Key Signatures Modes: Ionian Dorian Phrygian Lydian Mixolydian Aeolian Locrian The names of the church modes are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian, and they match geographic or ethnic regions in ancient Greece. The philosophy writings of both Plato and Aristotle (approx 350 BCE) include large sections that describe the effect of different musical modes on mood and on character formation. For example, this quote from Aristotle's "Politics": "The musical modes differ essentially from one another, and those who hear them are differently affected by each. Some of them make men sad and grave, like the so called Mixolydian; others enfeeble the mind, like the relaxed modes; another, again, produces a moderate or settled temper, which appears to be the peculiar effect of the Dorian; and the Phrygian inspires enthusiasm." Both Plato and Aristotle believed that the modes to which a person listened molded the person's character. The modes even made the person more or less fit for certain jobs. The effect of modes on character and mood was called the 'ethos of music.'... So concepts like "Rock 'n roll can rot your mind" aren't really that new after all.

Music’s Pitch Code Clefs anchor the note locations on the staff This is how performers know what note is supposed to be produced. Explain that the Treble clef is the G Clef, circling the note G

Music’s Pitch Code Everything lines up horizontally (the PITCH axis) Review pitch and rhythm in this example

TIMBRE Timbre: The characteristics of the sound itself We often use terms from the visual arts to describe musical timbre Timbres often hold strong associations in our minds CD Icon = Wright, Intro CD, Track #10-13 – Instruments of the Orchestra Wynton Marsalis, Silent Night with Kathleen Battle Also called “tone color” Windows Media Player – Bars & Waves: Ocean Mist – to see spectrum of frequencies for Intro CD tracks 10-13 English association = Gabriel plays a trumpet (Handel) / German association = Gabriel plays a trombone (Mozart)

TIMBRE The sound of solo or section instruments is also an aspect of timbre Certain composers were so good at creating and combining tone colors, we say their “instrument” was the orchestra Play Berlioz, Beethoven, or Richard Strauss

TEXTURE Texture: The consistency of musical sounds Monophonic texture means only one line of music sounding alone Homophonic means one line leads and the others support it Multiple independent lines happening together is called polyphonic texture CD Icon #1= Wright, Intro CD, Track #20 – Hearing Musical Textures CD Icon #2= Wright, Intro CD, Track #19 – Handel: Messiah Monophonic = Chant Homophonic = Hymns Polyphonic = Rounds

FORM Form: The structure of a musical composition The primary elements of form are repetition, contrast, and variation Forms range in scale from very small to very large Contrast and Variation = Content (music) and Key (pitch level) Scale = Twinkle Twinkle to a Mahler Symphony

FORM Eight Basic Categories of Form: Strophic Binary Ternary Rondo Theme & Variations Sonata Fugue Through-composed Strophic Form = Repeated over and over (hymns and jazz tunes: Nutville) Binary Form = A / B = Contrast is in key area (art music) Ternary Form = also called “Song” form = A / B / A = B contrasts in music & key (Tchaik: Nutcracker on intro cd) Rondo Form = A / B / A / C / A / B / A (see picture on Wright, p.64) Theme & Variations = A primary theme and then some number of variations of style, key, treatment, etc. Sonata Form = Theme A (in tonic key) – Theme B (other key) / Theme A (other keys) – Theme B (tonic key) Fugue = Imitative contrapuntal form in which all voices (parts) enter sequentially in opposing keys, then develop. Through-composed = no formal constraints

DYNAMICS Dynamics: The volume or loudness of the music This may refer to contrast among sections of a piece, the mix within a piece, or the overall presentation

FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF MUSIC Rhythm Pitch Timbre Texture Dynamics (Form)