Lecture 3

Question 1

when ask about the quality of a music example, what should you provide?

Answer 1

what instruments were played in the song, for example, aerophone, drums etc

whether it is a large or small ensemble

Question 2

what is the meaning of vocal timbre?

Answer 2

whether the performer is male or female

Question 3

what is a small ensemble?

Answer 3

vocal duet or instrumental trio

Question 4

what is a large ensemble?

Answer 4

an orchestra or choir

Question 5

what does any fundamental pitch consist of?

Answer 5

fundamental series of harmonics called overtones

Question 6

what is an aerophone?

Answer 6

a wind instrument

Question 7

what is a chordophone?

Answer 7

string instrument

Question 8

what is an idiophone?

Answer 8

vibration of the instrument itself like xylophone

Question 9

what is a membranophone?

Answer 9

the vibration of a membrane

Question 10

when asked about the rhythm of a musical example, what should you provide?

Answer 10

classify whether it is metric, polyrhythm or free rhythm

Question 11

what is the rhytmic pattern of maqsum?

Answer 11

widely used rhythmic pattern in Arab

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
D T - T D - T -

Question 12

what the rhytmic pattern of masmudi saghir?

Answer 12

masmudi saghir (baladi)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
D D - T D - T -

Question 13

what the rhytmic pattern of sa’idi?

Answer 13

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
D T - D D - T -
* equivalent to a Western 4/4 rhythm

Question 14

what are takks in maqsum?

Answer 14

drumming ornaments in triplets

Question 15

what is free rhythm?

Answer 15

no sense of predictability of the rhythmic pattern

Question 16

what is polyrhythm?

Answer 16

multiple rhythmic patterns played at the same time

Question 17

what is pitch?

Answer 17

how high or low a sound is

Question 18

what do faster vibrations of sound result in?

Answer 18

a higher pitch

Question 19

what do slower vibrations of sound result in?

Answer 19

a lower pitch

Question 20

what is a halfstep?

Answer 20

the smallest interval in European art music

Question 21

what is a whole step?

Answer 21

two half steps

Question 22

what is an octave?

Answer 22

when a pitch is doubled or halved

Question 23

what are microtones smaller than? what are microtones also called?

Answer 23

tones smaller than semitones called quarter tones

Question 24

how many quarter steps is a whole step in Arab music?

Answer 24

4

Question 25

what is the tuning system?

Answer 25

the entire collection of notes used in a musical tradition

Question 26

what is the basis for most tuning systems around the world?

Answer 26

the octave

Question 27

what do listeners accustomed to one music system often perceive a different set of intervals in an unfamiliar music tradition?

Answer 27

as sounding out of tune

Question 28

what is the octave divided into in the Arab maqam?

Answer 28

24 parts

Question 29

what is a scale?

Answer 29

a set of pitches used in a particular performance

Question 30

what is a pentatonic scale? which countries is the pentatonic scale used in?

Answer 30

5 notes per octave used in East Asian and African countries

Question 31

what is a heptatonic scale? which countries is the heptatonic scale used in?

Answer 31

7 notes per octave used in Middle East, North India, and Europe

Question 32

what is range? how is range described?

Answer 32

overall amount of pitches an instrument can produce describe as being wide or narrow

Question 33

what is harmony?

Answer 33

a combination of notes to produce a chord

Question 33

when asked about the melody of a musical example, what should you provide?

Answer 33

which instrument is playing the main melody

Question 34

what is ornamentation? why does ornamentation exist?

Answer 34

embellishments added to a melody to make it sound more interesting

Question 35

what is text setting?

Answer 35

combining music and words

Question 36

what does syllabic mean?

Answer 36

each syllable of a text corresponds to one word

Question 37

what does melismatic mean?

Answer 37

several pitches are sounded for a single syllable of text

Question 38

when asked about the intensity of a music example, what should you provide?

Answer 38

describe how loud or soft the sound is

Question 38

what is cresendo?

Answer 38

gradual increase in sound

Question 39

what is decresendo?

Answer 39

a gradual decrease in sound

Question 40

when asked about the texture of a musical example, what should you provide?

Answer 40

Monophony, biphony etc

Question 41

what does biphonic mean?

Answer 41

elaborate melody with a drone

Question 41

what does monophonic mean?

Answer 41

music with a single melody line or a song sung in unison

Question 42

what does homophonic mean?

Answer 42

melody supported with different parts with different pitches but sung on the same rhythm

Question 43

what does polyphonic mean?

Answer 43

serveral melodies performed at the same time but different rhythms

Question 44

what does heterophonic mean?

Answer 44

several voices producing similar but slightly different melodies

Question 45

how many half-notes does an octave contain?

Answer 45

12 half notes