Exam 1

Question 1

Dynamics

Answer 1

• the volume of the piece

- how loud(forte) or soft(piano)

Question 2

Two Types of Intervals

Answer 2

1. Octave

2. Tritone

Question 3

Functional Harmony

Answer 3

• how we understand how elements of music work and relate to each other
• began in the baroque period

Question 4

Scale

Answer 4

• a series of specific notes in order

- basic unit to compose music (8 notes)

Question 5

Basso Ostinato

Answer 5

• start with bass and support with the melody

- hip/hop, rap, funk

Question 6

The 5 Artforms of Opera

Answer 6

1. Music(composer, musicians)
2. Drama/Theater (actors/actresses)
3. Visual art (makeup, costumes, sets etc)
4. Dance (dancers)
5. Literature (writers)

Question 7

Homophony

Answer 7

• has accompaniment, duet
• different pitches with the same rhythm and melody
  ex: singer and a guitar

Question 8

Where to begin when writing a piece of music

Answer 8

Melody-> chord-> Bass/Rhythm

Question 9

Recitative

Answer 9

• advances the plot more than the music (more spoken word, less music)
• has a light background/accompaniment

Question 10

Theme and Variation

Answer 10

• create an idea and change it without altering the fundamental idea

Question 11

Melody

Answer 11

• an idea you can create using a scale

- a musical idea

Question 12

Tritone

Answer 12

• interval that bisects the octave
• “devils interval”
• when we play simultaneously two notes that have three tones of distance between them, we are playing a tritone.

Question 13

Virtuoso

Answer 13

• someone who is musically talented beyond the normal

Question 14

Polyphony

Answer 14

• different melodies that interact with each other

- multiple

Question 15

How to create a melody?

Answer 15

1. Theme and variation

2. Repetition and Contrast

Question 16

Interval

Answer 16

• the difference between any two pitches

Question 17

Chromatic Scale

Answer 17

• all 12 notes in a series

Question 18

Aria

Answer 18

• solo section of an opera
• very technical and has light accompaniment
• opportunity for talented singers to show off their skill sets
• virtuoso (extremely talented performer)

Question 19

What are the two important music venues and how they spread music?

Answer 19

1. The Church
   - music was used for the veneration of religion
   - In the same way that the church helped society academically through literature from the bible, it helped music
   - In the past religion was the structure of all societies which caused people to have a spiritual reliance
   - People attended church and would hear the music being played to celebrate the lord
   - this inspired some people to pursue careers in music
2. Royal Courts
   - learning to play or hearing music is expensive (concerts or teacher)
   - used for both revenue and entertainment purposes
   - It gave them a chance to learn from other people and exchange musical ideas amongst different cultures
   - allowed music to be developed and flourish

Question 20

Style

Answer 20

• how people play a specific genre
• interpret that genre and make their own rendition of it
• how different writers sing the same song, but it sounds different

Question 21

Measure

Answer 21

• a unit of musical time

Question 22

Monophony

Answer 22

• the only interval you will ever hear is an octave

- rhythm, melody and pitch are the same

Question 23

Repetition and Contrast

Answer 23

• theme describes a recurring idea

- then you repeat it to make the audience comfortable and add contrast for a surprise

Question 24

Frequency

Answer 24

• in a given unit of time how many vibrations, or wavelengths occur
• also called a pitch, note, or tone
• only 12 pitches

Question 25

Key signature

Answer 25

• tells you what key to play in

- is at the beginning of a scale to alert the musician for modifiers

Question 26

Chord

Answer 26

• any group of 3 or more notes

Question 27

Time signature

Answer 27

• 4/4
• top number is how many beats per measure
• bottom number is what note gets the beat

Question 28

Tonality

Answer 28

• the sense of being in a certain key

Question 29

Octave

Answer 29

• two notes that are the same separated by how high or low it is (normally half or double its frequency)
• difference between intervals

Question 30

Basso Continuo

Answer 30

• start with the melody and the bass will support it/give context

Question 31

Rubato

Answer 31

• in your own time

- you can adjust how fast you play music based on how you feel

Question 32

Genre

Answer 32

• different categories of art

- a system of classification

Question 33

Triad

Answer 33

• play 1, 3 and 5 from a scale

- 3 notes played on top of each other

Question 34

Importance of all the artworks in opera

Answer 34

• imp bc it allows more benefits to people financially, provides more jobs in a single show
• you can also interpret each art form differently within the presence of the others