Music General Flashcards
How does TABH define music?
The shaped sound between silences.
Church plainsong was often called “Gregorian Chant” – why?
Gregorian Chant was merely codified monophonic plainsongs that had been passed down, changing with each generation.
What is the primary musical contribution of the U.S. to the world?
Musical stage
What is the main musical characteristic of Jazz?
Blue notes, derived from combination of African scale and Western.
Who were the two early, major Jazz composers/conductors and arrangers who brought Jazz to the classical concert hall? Who is the modern crossover in this spirit?
George Gershwin (modern crossover, born 1898) & Duke Ellington.
What are the two reasons people call the Blues, “Blues?”
Melancholy mood produced, uses the half-tones of African scale, the “blue notes”.
TABH describes several forms that folk songs took in their development, what are these forms and what are they seeking to say musically?
Commemorative song; seeks to commemorative heroic actions in battles, remember those departed, etc. (commemorative obvi).
Work song; usually reflects great hardship & state of tension between management and labor.
Accumulation song; i.e. 12 Days of X-Mas, start with one detail and add more and more. To prolong high spirits of the gathering, keep loneliness at bay.
Scoundrel song; celebrates Dionysian personality
Narrative song; tells tale
Protest songs; make statements against something of establishment
Commemorative song;
eeks to commemorative heroic actions in battles, remember those departed, etc. (commemorative obvi).
Work song
usually reflects great hardship & state of tension between management and labor.
Accumulation song
i.e. 12 Days of X-Mas, start with one detail and add more and more. To prolong high spirits of the gathering, keep loneliness at bay.
Scoundrel song
celebrates Dionysian personality
Narrative song
tells tale
Protest songs
make statements against something of establishment
Flow of music history:
- Greek Modal Music
- Medieval Church Music
- Renaissance
- Baroque
- Classical
- Romantic
- Modern
- Greek Modal Music
a. Modes – series of scales comprised of whole tones and half steps
b. Muses – nine goddesses of art & science; music derives from this term
- Medieval Church Music
a. Monophonic/plainsongs
b. Very little polyphonic, but some near end
c. Gregorian chant
- Renaissance
a. New instruments
b. Madrigals and motets, polyphonic.
c. Secular & dance music
- Baroque
a. Highly ornate music, lots of embellishment
b. Concerto, opera, canons, fugues
c. Homophonic music
- Classical
a. Clean, uncluttered, simpler
b. Homophonic, sonatas
- Romantic
a. Emotional depth to prevailing classical sound
b. New melodic styles, richer harmonies, more dissonance
c. More for themselves than classic discipline
d. Nationalism
e. Program symphony
- Modern
a. Extension of and reaction to romanticism
b. Electronic, jazz, etc.
Rhythm
Rhythm – alternation of stress and unstress in music, usually created by a percussion instrument
Scale
Scale – the orderly progression of sound-wave frequencies, from low to high
Tone
Tone – a single sound produced by a musical voice or instrument; also called a note.
