Elements of Rock Music Flashcards
– air vibrations created by a vibrating body (e.g. string, wind, or percussion instruments)
SOUND
-the relative highness and lowness of a sound; the frequency of vibrations.
Pitch
-– the recurring pulse of the music; what you tap your foot to
Beat
-how sound is placed against a recurring beat.
rhythm
-the speed of the beat
tempo
-a unit of rhythm that contains one grouping of pulses
measure (bat)
Two numbers, one on top of the other, placed at the beginning of a composition; the top number (the important one for us) represents the number of beats in each measure; the bottom number denotes what type of note receives one beat.
time signature
-the first beat of a measure
downbeat
- on the “and/&” of the beat 2. played at a fast tempo
upbeat
played with special emphasis, usually louder.
accent
-the structure/contour of successive pitches, often the ones that the words are sung to; the main musical line
melody
– 3 or more notes played simultaneously
Chord
– chord progressions; how chords function in time. / chords played at same time
harmony
-tone; the sonic characteristic/sound of an instrument or group of instruments.
Timbre
-the relative volume of sound; changes in volume.
dynamics
-instruments used (voice, guitar, drums, bass, keyboards, strings, orchestra, chorus).
instrumentation
-the environment, instrumentation, recording/editing techniques, effects, arrangement and orchestration used in the creation of a recorded piece of music.
production
-the words
lyrics
-a section of a song that contains the same music but different lyrics for each repetition - the function
of the verses is to tell the story.
verse
-a section of a song that contains the same music and the same lyrics for each repetition - the function of the chorus is to repeat the catch phrase, hook, or song title in hopes of getting the listener to sing
along.
chorus
-the organizational structure of music, or how contrasting sections (verse, chorus, A B C ..) of a song/composition are ordered and/or repeated
form
-an unchanging chord progression that repeats for each verse and chorus - only the lyrics change.
Strophic form
the underlying music/chord progression repeats in support of a series of different verses which contain the lyrics .. i.e., same music for all the verses.
Song examples: “North Country Blues”, “House of the Rising Sun”, “Evil Ways”
Simple Verse
- the underlying music/chord progression repeats in support of a series of different verses and choruses ..
i. e., same music for all the verses and choruses
Song examples: “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”, “Stand By Me”, “Radioactive”..
Simple verse-chorus:
the verses and choruses are based on different underlying music
Contrasting Verse-Chorus form
(short, repetitive, melodic phrase
riff
one-time contrast
bridge
occurs usually as the last phrase of a verse and presents the title or hook replacing the chorus
refrain
ending section
coda
-denotes the number of measures (32) and the section letters (AABA) that are repeated throughout, where each section is 8 bars in length; used extensively in Jazz, Broadway, and Pop music
with modified forms used throughout Rock.
Song examples: “Blueberry Hill”, “Great Balls of Fire”, “All I Have to Do Is Dream”
32 bar AABA
– a strongly accented snare drum stroke or handclap on beats two and four of a four-beat cycle, where the beat is typically a moderate tempo.
backbeat
a rhythm which is mainly accented off the beat or on a weak beat; funk, reggae, and many African styles are quite syncopated.
syncopation
-the subdivision of the beat into two equal parts (simple division); the majority of rock beats are in this form
straight time (8ths)
the subdivision of the beat into three equal parts (triplet/compound division) where the first two are tied together to create a steady stream of notes in a long / short pattern; the most common feel in jazz and R&B.
swing feel
-one of the most common blues and blues-rock rhythms; the cymbal rhythms are very similar to swing (and are often played on the hi-hat) but the kick plays on beats 1 & 3 and the snare plays on beats 2 & 4.
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