Music Flashcards
theremin
the performed regulates frequency with one hand and amplitude with another by disturbing the magnetic fields that surround the protruding bars
musique concrete
electronically generated sounds and sounds produced by live instruments recorded on tape, where they could be edited, manipulated, and mechanically recombined to form collages of sounds that are “performed” via speaker
where we the first practitioners of musique concrete at?
Paris
a single isolated music note has what 4 properties?
1) pitch
2) duration
3) volume
4) timbre
pitch
highness or lowness of a sound
“a pitch”
a sound whose highness or lowness does not change
octave
the distance between the next highest or lowest key
fundamental
loudest and strongest frequency in a note
overtones
faint presences of higher picthes in a note
famous centers for electronic music
New York City, Paris, Cologne, Rome
the highest sound wave when the string of a guitar is plucked
110 HZ
Equal temperament tuning
mathematical ratios are adjusted so that the octave is divided into 12 equal parts
chromatic scale
12 different sharp pitches in ascending order
half step
distance between any 2 consecutive pitches in a chromatic scale
flat
raised
flat
lowered
enharmonic
identical pitches with different names
in western tradition, on how many pitches in music based?
seven
scale
an arrangement, in ascending order, of the seven basic pitches from which a piece of music is constructed
what are the 4 main scales?
mayor and 3 types of minor
when writing a scale, what tone is repeated at the top as the last tone?
the first tone
leading tone
seventh scale degree
what does the seventh degree scale sound like to western ears?
begs to be resolved to the C above
in the c mayor scale and the melodies it uses, what is a C called?
anchor
anchor
point of repose and completion
tonic pitch
the name namesake key of a scale
dominant pitch is also the-
fifth scale degree
dominant pitch
function as a second gravitational center that sets the melodies in place by pulling them away from the tonic
the “x” pitch may appear in a melody more times than a “y” pitch although the “y” pitch will remain the resting point
x= dominant y= tonic
interval
distance between any two pitches
in a scale, the intervals are-
1) small
2) evenly spaced
half step
unit of measurement when describing any interval
a half tone is also called a -
semistep
harmonic
when 2 pitches occur simultaneously
melodic
when 2 pitches occur in sucession
ascending
lower pitch occurs first
descending
higher pitch occurs first
what intervals exceed an octave?
1) major and minor 9th
2) major and minor 10th
the major and minor 9th and major and mayor 10th can be though as an
octave plus an m2 (13 half-steps), m4 (14 half-steps), m3 (15 half-steps), and m6 (16 half-steps)
scale
succession of whole and half-steps
Music
Sound organized in time
What is required for music?
1) time frame
2) sound waves
3) cognitive mind
Improvisation
Composition and performance
Sound
A wave of energy
What is a wave of energy composed of?
1) amplitude 2) frequency
Amplitude
Decibel levels
Decibel levels
How loud or soft a tone is
The greater the frequency if the sound wave-
The greater the pitch
The greater the pitch, the - of the sound wave
Frequency
When the frequency is between 20 and 20,000 cycles per second, what do human ears hear?
A single, sustained tone
Why does orchestral musician tune their instruments to in the United States?
A-440
What does A-440 mean?
440 Hz.
What does Hz. mean?
Cycles per second
What does a pure sine wave at 440 Hz sound like?
An A above middle C
What are the 2 kinds of musical sounds?
1) pitched
2) non-pitched
ethnomusicologists
Modern term for people who study the music of other cultures, or those who study cultures comparably
Who organized instruments into 4 groups?
Curt Sachs and Erich van Hornbostel
What are the 4 original groups of instruments?
1) chrodophones
2) membranophpnes
3) idiophones
4) aerophones
Chrodophones
One or more strings are plucked, bowed or struck
What creates the sound in chrodophones?
The vibrating string
What are some examples of chordophones?
Violins, harps, guitars
Aerophones
Vibrating column of air
What are examples of aerophones?
Bras and wind, many varieties of horns and flutes
Membranophones
Skin or some other membrane stretched across a frame
What vibrates when a membranophone is strucked
The membrane
Idiophones
Body of the instrument itself vibrates when struck
Examples of idiophones
Bells, woodblocks, xylophones
What was the 5th instrument category?
Electrophones
Electrophones
Create sound waves using a mechanical device known as oscillator and dependent upon electricity
What are instrument family groups?
1) Strings
2) brass
3) woodwind
4) percussion
5) keyboard
Strings
String instruments usually bowed or plucked
Brass instruments
Aerophones made of metal
What makes brass instruments vibrate?
The performers buzzing lips
Woodwind instruments
Aerophones in which the column of air is moved by breath alone
Percussion instruments
Membranophones and idiophones, chords phones that are stuck rather than bowed or plucked
Ivan Susanin ‘Glory Chorus’ (epilogue)
Glinka
What part of the opera is the Glory Chorus?
Epilogue
Kamariskaya (excerpt)
Glinka
Symphony no. 2, I Allegro (excerpt)
Borodin
Boris Godinov, excerpt from Act IV (death scene)
Mussorgsky
Scheherazade, I. ‘The Sea and Simbad’s Ship’ (excerpt)
Rimsky-Korsakov
Symphony no. 6, IV. Finale (excerpt)
Tchaikovsky
Piano concerto no. 2, I. Moderator (excerpt)
Rachmaninoff
Prometheus: Poem of Fire (excerpt)
Scriabin
Petruska, part I: The Shrovertide Fair
Stravinsky
Zavod (Iron Foundry)
Mosolov
Romeo and Juliet, “Romeon and Juliet Before Parting” (excerpt)
Prokofiev
Symphony no. 7, excerpt from movement 1 (“Invasion Episode”)
Shostakovich
Octect, movement IV and V
Ustvolskaya
Concerto Grosso no. 1 II. Tocata
Schnittke
