What is Music? Flashcards
What is music?
Music is organized sounds a silences.
What acts as the canvas of music?
Time. Time is the canvas of music.
Sound
pitch, dynamic, tone color, and duration.
Rhythm and meter
organizations of pulses and duration.
Describe pitch.
Relative highness and lowness of sound, determined by the frequency of the vibrations. Octaves divide into 12 distinct pitches.
Dynamics
All Italian words represented by different symbols.
Tone, color, and timbre.
Characteristics and qualities of a sound, determined by what is vibrating.
Name some string instruments.
Violin, viola, cello, guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo, and harp.
Name some woodwind instruments.
Flute, piccolo, oboe, english horn, clarinet.
Name some brass instruments.
Trumpet, trombone, tuba, and baritone.
Name some percussion instruments.
Bass drum, snare drum, tympani, cymbals, chimes and marimba.
Duration
Notes are used to indicate durations of tones or pitches.
Rhythm
Patterns created by the organization of durations and accents. Occurs between pulses.
Beats
Regularly recurring units of time. They affect the flow and the feel of the music.
Meter
Organizes beats into groups called measures. Measures most commonly group 2, 3, and 4 beats.
Tempo
The rate of speed. Indicated with various tempo markings.
Melody
A succession of sounds with rhythmic and tonal organization.
What perceptions can we make about melody?
It can be perceived as the linear/horizontal dimensions of music.
What smaller units make up melodies?
They are often comprised of smaller, repetitive ideas, called motives.
Describe conjunct melody.
Melody that flows very smoothly with notes that are close together.
Describe disjunct melody.
Melody that contains leaps, and is out of order and angular.
Harmony
Two or more notes sounding simultaneously..
What moves music forward?
Harmonic progression.
Interval
Distance between two sounds (pitches).
Chord
3 or more pitches sounding simultaneously.
Together, what do chords and intervals create?
They create tension and stability. The flow from tension to stability creates a perception of forward motion through time.
Dissonance
tension in an interval or chord.
Consonance
Stability in an interval or chord.
Cadences
Harmonic motion drives towards important resting points – musical punctuation.
Tonality
An overall sense of stability with the perception that on pitch is “home,” the resting place, or the tonal center.
Key
Tonal “home.” Come in major and minor keys
Texture
The number of lines of musical activity.
Monophony
When you have one line of music.
Polyphony
two or more melodic lines of equal interest.
Homophony
a melody and an accompaniment.
Form
Container that holds all different musical materials.
