Unit 1

Question 1

What is a pitch?

Answer 1

A blend of a fundamental pitch and a partial

Question 2

What is the difference between a fundamental pitch and a partial?

Answer 2

A Partial, Harmonic or Overtone is a considerably fainter sound that comes from the vibration and usually accopanies the pitch. A Fundemental pitch is a projected musical sound determined by the length of the vibrating column of string or other material.

Question 3

What is a melody?

Answer 3

A succession of several pitches into a particular shape, or musically satisfying series

Question 4

How many possible melodies could be written?

Answer 4

A seemingly endless amount

Question 5

What is an interval?

Answer 5

The distance between any two pitches

Question 6

What is the difference between a half step and a whole step?

Answer 6

A semitone is the smallest interval commonly used in Western music. It occurs between the third and fourth pitches, and between the seventh and eighth.
A whole tone contains 2 half steps and occur elsewhere in the scale

Question 7

What is a scale?

Answer 7

When you isolate a basic pitch and then build an ascending series of pitches in an octave

Question 8

What are the main types of scales?

Answer 8

The main types of scles are major (12 of them) and minor (12 of them)

Question 9

What are the differences between rhythm, tempo, and meter?

Answer 9

Rythm is the succession of sound durrations
Tempo is the basic pace of music
Meter is regular beat patterns

Question 10

What are the three primary types of musical textures, and what distinguishes them?

Answer 10

Monophonic - (one voice) One musician performs a single line of music, or several musicians perform a single line of music in unison.
Polyphonic - (many voices) involves multiple sounding lines
Homophonic - (similar voices) usually in the form of cords

Question 11

What are the three types of meter, and what distinguishes them?

Answer 11

• Duple meter, with two beats per measure
• Triple meter, with three beats per measure
• Compound meter, which subdivide beats into smaller groupings of three.
• Quadruple meter,common variant of duple meter

Question 12

What is a chord, and what role does it play in harmony?

Answer 12

Combinations of three or more pitches that sound simultaneously as the counterpoint in harmony

Question 13

What role do dynamics play in music?

Answer 13

The relative loudness or softness of a pitch, they are not absolute, and can gradually change louder or softer

Question 14

What is timbre, and why is it important to our understanding of music?

Answer 14

(Tone color) The quality of sound that differentiates one instrument from another. A composer’s selection of a particular instrument can influence our perception of a piece in profound ways. In addition, blending different instruments together allows composers to explore a range of musical colors.

Question 15

What are two common ways of classifying musical instruments?

Answer 15

By Family 
- Idiophones
- Membranophones
- Aerophones
- Chordophones
- Electrophones
By Category
- Woodwind 
- Brass
- String
- Percussion

Question 16

What is your favorite instrument, and why? How would you describe its range?

Answer 16

Harp because it sounds so beautiful. It has a very wide range just like the piano.
Or the Recorder because it sounds so bad. Tt has a range of like 2 octives or 16 notes

Question 17

How do ensembles differ in classical music from jazz or rock? In what ways are they
similar?

Answer 17

Jazz ensembles generally divide into a reed section, a brass section, and a rhythm section
Rock music, on the other hand, tends to use smaller ensembles, with amplified guitars, percussion, and synthesized keyboard.

Question 18

What is form, and how does it function in different arts?

Answer 18

The overarching plan that holds a piece together. Music flows over time, and when we look at a notated score, we can see the shape of what occurs during a performance.
Painting- visual paterns and compasition
Building- blueprints

Question 19

What basic principle underlies musical form?

Answer 19

The competiting needs of unity and veriety

Question 20

Compare and contrast binary from, ternary form, and theme and variations.

Answer 20

Bianary: AB
Ternary:ABA1
Theme and variations: A1A2A3A4…

Question 21

How can the form of a piece of music emphasize its meaning? Explain using “My Shot”
as an example.

Answer 21

The refrain “I am not throwin away my shot” is a point of reference that the piece references and returns to throughout the piece. The base line forms a foundation for the song and unifies it throughout. It follows a refrain and variations that help the listener understand the drama and revolution.

Question 22

How does the context of a piece of music add to its significance?

Answer 22

Context can help us have a deeper uderstanding of the music and what its meaning is. For example we can undertand through context that Hamiltion is meant to be a metephor for ongoing revelution that started in with the founding fathers and is still going on today.