ch. 3 ancient and medieval secular music

Question 1

how does it work? (“Three Variations on a Yang Pass”)

Answer 1

p. 58

Question 2

qin

Answer 2

• a plucked zither
• 7 silk strings

Question 3

zither

Answer 3

stringed instruments with a resonator but no neck

Question 4

meaning in the title of “Three Variations on a Yang Pass”

Answer 4

• “Yang Pass” refers to a melody associated with a poem ab a passage thru the mountains in western China
• “three variations” indicates the piece consists of 3 versions of a melody

Question 5

a harmonic

Answer 5

is produced when the sound of an overtone, rather than the fundamental, is heard

Question 6

what is the poem “Yang Pass” about

Answer 6

• written in 8th century BCE by famous Chinese poet
• ab travelers leaving China for unknown and dangerous lands beyond the Great Wall
• instrumental melody is associated with the poem’s wistful sentiment of parting with loved ones

Question 7

what does it mean to be a qin player?

Answer 7

• requires great learning and discipline
• scholars who devote their lives to learn a wide variety of disciplines to serve the state as well-educated administrators
• the player uses performance on the qin to train the mind and discipline the body

Question 8

who do qin players perform for?

Answer 8

for themselves, not for an audience

Question 9

tablature

Answer 9

a notation method that indicates how an instrument is to be played, rather than the pitches to be played

Question 10

equal-tempered scale

Answer 10

all the half steps of a twelve pitch scale are exactly the same size

Question 11

how does it work? (“Taqasim and Sama’i Bayyati Al-Arayan”)

Answer 11

p. 63

Question 12

‘ud

Answer 12

a fretless, short-necked, pear-shaped plucked lute

Question 13

taqasim

Answer 13

a nonmetrical improvisation in a particular melodic mode (maqam in arabic)

Question 14

sama’i

Answer 14

a composed instrumental form in a meter of 10 beats

Question 15

refrain

Answer 15

a melody that regularly returns during a performance

Question 16

augmented second

Answer 16

an interval one and a half steps

Question 17

what is the goal of a musician playing the ‘ud in a concert or intimate setting

Answer 17

to tell an emotional story, to take listeners on a musical journey they are already somewhat familiar with. listeners seek to enter tarab

Question 18

tarab

Answer 18

ecstatic emotional state on the part of the listener

Question 19

saltanah

Answer 19

a state of inspired ecstasy on the part of the performer

Question 20

other important Arab melodic instruments besides the ‘ud:

Answer 20

• nay: a reed flute which mimics the sound of human voice
• qanun: a plucked zither
• buzuq: a long-necked plucked lute

Question 21

chordophones

Answer 21

stringed instruments

Question 22

lutes

Answer 22

chordophones with necks and resonating body

Question 23

describe the agrarian life most Europeans until the 20th century

Answer 23

small villages, sustained themselves with small-scale agriculture on small plots of land
* poor and fragile in economic terms but rich musical life of singing, dancing, playing homemade instruments

Question 24

Bulgaria

Answer 24

• a land of Slavic-language speaking Eastern Orthodox Christians
• Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe
• absorbed many influences from the Middle East before gaining independence in 1878

Question 25

Kopanitsa

Answer 25

a dance genre in a meter of eleven (2+2+3+2+2)

Question 26

gaida

Answer 26

bagpipe

Question 27

kaval

Answer 27

end-blown, rim-blown flute

Question 28

gadulka

Answer 28

short-necked, fretless bowed lute

Question 29

tambura

Answer 29

long-necked, fretted plucked lute

Question 30

tapan

Answer 30

double-headed bass drum

Question 31

how does it work? (“Kopanitsa”)

Answer 31

p. 74

Question 32

heterophony / heterophonic texture

Answer 32

• similar to monophonic texture
• melodic instruments play together with very slight differences mainly in ornamentation

Question 33

additive meter

Answer 33

combines beats of two and three pulses that add up to meters of five, seven, eleven, and so forth

Question 34

describe the lifestyle of Bulgarians until the second half of the 20th century

Answer 34

subsistence farmers living in rural villages

Question 35

what are the gaida and kaval typically used for?

Answer 35

instruments of shepherds who entertain themselves and their hers during many hours spent in pastures outside the village

Question 36

what are the gadulka and tambura typically used for?

Answer 36

to accompany singing at wedding and other family celebrations and gatherings

Question 37

what role does gender play in Bulgarian instrumental music and society?

Answer 37

• all traditional Bulgarian musical instruments are played almost exclusively by men, while women are singers
• in traditional village culture, women spent all their time w/ domestic tasks -> hands were not free to play instruments
• men spent long hours in pastures -> had time to develop instrumental skills

Question 38

xylophones

Answer 38

instruments with multiple struck wooden keys

Question 39

membranophones

Answer 39

instruments with stretched skins or “heads”
* such as timpani, snare drum, bass drum, tambourine

Question 40

who performed “Three Variations on Yang Pass”?

Answer 40

Lin Youren (1938-2013), a highly respected scholar and teacher at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Question 41

who performed “Taqasim and Sama’i Bayyati Al-Arayan”?

Answer 41

A.J. Racy
* born into a well-educated family in Lebanon in 1943
* PhD in ethnomusicology, professor at UCLA

Question 42

when was “Kopanitsa” recorded and with what instruments?

Answer 42

• in the 1950s
• gaida, kaval, gadulka, tambura, and tapan