Music appreciation

Music Music Fundamentals

Classifying music

•  Folk – music for everyday use •  non-commercial •  no training/talent required

•  Popular – an industry •  most commercial – main goal is to sell the music •  some talent required •  Is still meaningful

•  Fine art – art for art’s sake •  somewhat commercial •  Requires the most training

Instrument Classification System

•  Organized according to how the instrument produces sound

•  Sound is produced by vibrations, so we are looking at what is causing those vibrations on any given instrument

Categories of Instruments

•  Aerophones - vibrating column of air •  Examples = flute, clarinet, trumpet, bagpipes

•  Chordophones - vibrating string •  Examples = violin, guitar, harp, piano

•  Membranophones - vibrating membrane or head •  Examples = drums

•  Idiophones - vibration of instrument itself •  Examples = cymbals, xylophone, thumb piano

Ideas about instruments

�  Tools – used to accomplish a task (making music)

�  Spiritual associations �  E.g. Harp = angelic �  E.g. Flutes as spirit voices in Pacific Islands �  E.g. Drums as voice of Buddha in Japan

�  Cultural status �  Could be restricted to certain classes �  Could be restricted to certain genders

�  Aesthetic value �  Visual appeal could be as important as sound

Elements of Music

•  The fundamental building blocks of music

1. Melody: a series of notes that makes sense

�  AKA the tune, the part you sing along with

�  Based on scales or similar systems; this is basically a musical alphabet

�  Decoration/embellishments/ornaments �  In many cultures, people are expected to add their own touch to melodies.

�  Conjunct vs. Disjunct �  In conjunct melodies, the notes are close together. Think of the song “Silent

Night.” �  In disjunct melodies, the notes are spread out. Think of “The Star-Spangled

Banner.” �  Which one a culture prefers is often related to the sound of the language that they

speak

2. Rhythm

•  a time-relation between sounds

•  Usually fairly simple in Western music

•  Many non-Western cultures have more complicated rhythmic systems

Metered Rhythm

•  Metered - a regular recurring pattern of strong and weak beats •  Means the beats are organized into patterns •  If you can feel a beat, or tap your foot, or dance

to music, it is probably metered. This is more common, because music is used for dance in many parts of the world.

Duple Meter

•  In duple meter, the beats are organized into groups of 2 or 4 beats, usually with an emphasis on beat 1. While listening to the following example, try clapping or tapping out the beat. Then, see if you can count ONE-two, ONE-two with the beat.

•  https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=M5bcpjUjLpU

Triple Meter

•  In triple meter, the beats are organized into groups of 3 beats, again emphasizing beat 1.

•  In the following example, try to find the beat. Then, see if you can count ONE-two-three, ONE- two-three (it’s fast).

•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpSq69IiFaU

Other Meters

•  Triple and duple meter are most common in most cultures.

•  It is possible to have meters based on other groupings. This is especially popular in eastern Europe and the Middle East. Often times, people still think of them as groups of 2 and 3 (e.g. a meter based on 5 beats may be thought of as 2+3)

•  Some cultures will play multiple meters at the same time. This is called polyrhythm, and is especially popular in West Africa.

Unmetered

•  Unmetered - no discernible pattern •  This is less common but not unheard of. If the

music sounds “random,” and you cannot find a beat, it may be unmetered.

•  Unmetered music still has rhythm –it’s just not organized into clear patterns.

•  This Japanese shakuhachi (flute) example demonstrates unmetered rhythm:

•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li4jHg7CbGc

Rhythm = Time

•  Rhythm corresponds to the way a group of people perceive time in general.

•  Linear time = the way most Westerners perceive time. Everything has a beginning and an end, and there are goals along the way that you are moving towards or away from.

•  Cyclical time = the way some other people perceive time. Life is a cycle, and everything eventually comes back. Cultures that believe in reincarnation would be a good example.

•  These perceptions of time are reflected in rhythm.

3. Texture

•  The way all of the parts in a group relate to each other.

•  If you have a singer, a pianist, and a guitar player, how do they relate? Are they doing the same thing, or is one person accompanying the other? The next four slides describe the main four types of textures.

Monophonic texture

•  Monophonic – single unaccompanied line

•  Does not include any harmony or accompaniment.

•  Usually just one person playing or singing a single part.

•  Can be more than one person, but everyone has to be doing exactly the same thing.

•  Listen to this example of traditional Irish singing:

•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8paj2hQHIo

Homophonic texture

•  Dominant melody with accompaniment

•  Most common in Western popular music

•  One part is more important than all of the rest.

•  Remember that harmony is a type of accompaniment, so a choir singing in 4-part harmony would be an example of this texture, even if there are no instruments.

•  Here’s an example:

•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ9zLGXbyEY

Heterophonic texture

•  Two or more musicians playing the same melody different ways at the same time

•  Not common in Western music, but very common almost everywhere else.

•  In most cultures, it is expected that musicians will add their own “flair” to melodies that they play and sing. Since no two people will do this the same way, this texture will result.

•  This Chinese group is a good example:

•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TcVJViSksY

Polyphonic texture

•  More than one different melody at the same time

•  A complex texture often found in classical music

•  A round is also a version of this texture, where everyone is singing something different, but equally important, at the same time

•  In this example, each singer has a different, but equally important part.

•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQo_LirQY-k

Still confused?

•  This video might help – it has a few more examples. You only need to watch this if you don’t understand the textures yet. Don’t worry about the “biphonic” texture in the video – we won’t encounter it.

•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J2R20X16Jc

4. Form - structural arrangement of a piece

•  Refers to how music is organized

•  Usually consists of large sections of repetition and contrast, but can sometimes consist of little bits of music put together like a puzzle

•  Most common example: verse/chorus form, where a couple of verses are sung, then a chorus, then more verses

•  When studying music, we often outline form in letters. AABB means that you have two sections, each one repeated once.

Some questions to ask about form:

•  What is the organizing factor? •  Often based on melodies (e.g. the verse is one

melody, the chorus is another) •  Can also be based on tempo (eg. Slow-fast-slow)

or other factors

•  What can we learn about people through form? •  Form tells us a lot about how people think

because it is the overall organizing factor of music.

5. Timbre

�  Quality of sound

�  Highly subjective

�  Different cultures have different ideas about how things should sound

�  Timbre is an important part of aesthetics, which you read about in the “Thinking Musically” chapter.

Why do timbres differ?

�  Voices and instruments naturally have different sounds. This is why a “C” played on the flute sounds different from a “C” played on the piano.

�  Timbre can also be deliberately manipulated to suit an individual or cultural taste. Think of how you would imitate a country singer vs. how you would imitate a heavy metal singer.