Basics of Musical Construction

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Basics of Musical Construction

• FAR101, Monday, February 16, 2009
• Prof. Geoffrey Dean

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But firstminiquiz time!

• For each example (nos. 1 through 5), ID
• a) the family of instruments
• b) the featured instrument from that family.
• a) b)
• a) b)
• a) b)
• a) b)
• a) b)

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Basics of MUSICAL FORM LEVELS of organization

• Tone and interval
• Motive (motif)
• Phrase
• Period question and answer analysis with
  lowercase letters
• Section

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Basics of MUSICAL FORMPRINCIPLES of organization

• Unity and variety stability vs. change
• Repetition
• Contrast
• Variation

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Lets put it like this

• UNITY
• Repetition
• Rhythmic motive

• VARIETY
• Variation
• Something changes, other things stay the same
• Contrast
• New section, theme, or quick juxtapositions
  (loud-soft, strings-winds, etc.)

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STROPHIC FORM

• Repetitive form
• Same music (A) for each strophe (stanza, verse)
• Possible chorus at the end of each strophe
• A A
• A

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From Robert Schumann (1810-1856)Dichterliebe,
Op. 48 Im wunderschonen Monat Mai

• Im wunderschönen Monat Mai,Als alle Knospen
  sprangen,Da ist in meinem HerzenDie Liebe
  aufgegangen. Im wunderschönen Monat Mai,Als
  alle Vögel sangen,Da hab ich ihr gestandenMein
  Sehnen und Verlangen. lyrics by Heinrich Heine
  
• (1797-1856)

• In the lovely month of May,When all the buds
  were blooming,Then in my heartDid love well
  up.
• In the lovely month of May,When all the birds
  were singing,Then did I to her confessMy
  longing and desire.

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Morning has Brokenas sung byCat Stevens (now
Yusuf Islam)

• Morning has broken, like the first morning
• Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
• Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
• Praise for the springing fresh from the word
• Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
• Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
• Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
• Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
• Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
• Born of the one light, Eden saw play
• Praise with elation, praise every morning
• God's recreation of the new day
• lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon

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ADDITIVE FORM

• BINARY A B (section analysis with uppercase
  letters)
• Return form (rounded binary)
• TERNARY A B A (full return to A section)
• Compound return forms

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Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinenfrom
Schumann Op. 48 (lyrics by Heine)

• Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen,Wie tief
  verwundet mein Herz,Sie würden mit mir
  weinen,Zu heilen meinen Schmerz.Und wüßten's
  die Nachtigallen,Wie ich so traurig und
  krank,Sie ließen fröhlich erschallenErquickenden
  Gesang.Und wüßten sie mein Wehe,Die goldenen
  Sternelein,Sie kämen aus ihrer Höhe,Und
  sprächen Trost mir ein.Sie alle können's nicht
  wissen,Nur eine kennt meinen SchmerzSie hat ja
  selbst zerrissen,Zerrissen mir das Herz.

• If the flowers, the small ones, knew How
  deeply wounded is my heart, They would weep
  with me, To heal my pain.
• And if the nightingales knew, How sad and
  sick am I, They would let forth merrily A
  refreshing song. And if they knew my woe,
  The little golden stars, They would come down
  from their heights, And speak their consolation
  to me. But none of them could know, Only one
  knows my pain She has even torn, Torn my
  heart in two.

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Binary formulas

• A A B B
• A B
• A A A B

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Yesterdayas sung by The Beatles
Yesterday, All my troubles seemed so far away,
Now it looks as though they're here to stay,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be,
There's a shadow hanging over me, Oh, yesterday
came suddenly.
Why she Had to go I don't know, she wouldn't
say. I said, Something wrong, now I long for
yesterday.
Yesterday, Love was such an easy game to
play,Now I need a place to hide away, Oh, I
believe in yesterday.
Lyrics by Paul McCartney
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Yesterdayas sung by The Beatles
Yesterday, All my troubles seemed so far away,
Now it looks as though they're here to stay,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
A

Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be,
There's a shadow hanging over me, Oh, yesterday
came suddenly.
A
Why she Had to go I don't know, she wouldn't
say. I said, Something wrong, now I long for
yesterday.
B
Yesterday, Love was such an easy game to
play,Now I need a place to hide away, Oh, I
believe in yesterday.
A
Lyrics by Paul McCartney
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Ternary formulas

• A B A
• A A B A
• A A B A

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W. A. Mozart Minuet and Trio from Eine Kleine
Nachtmusik, K. 525
1st half a
A
2nd half b
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1st half c
B
2nd half d
Menuetto da capo
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Da capo to the head (back to the beginning)
A
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COMPOUND TERNARY FORMas in a Minuet and Trio

• A B A
• ab cd a b
• Minuet Trio Minuet da capo

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• GOT
• MIDTERMS
• ?
• Time to team up with MOZART!

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The Mozart Effect
is a theory that listening to Mozart's music can
enhance intellect. The term was first coined by
Alfred A. Tomatis who used Mozart's music as the
listening stimulus in his work attempting to cure
a variety of disorders. The approach has been
popularized in a book by Don Campbell, who
trademarked the term, and is based on an
experiment published in Nature suggesting that
listening to Mozart boosted students' IQ by 8 to
9 points. As a result, The Governor of Georgia,
Zell Miller proposed a budget to provide every
child born in Georgia with a CD of classical
music.
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_effect
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Music as an aid to Study

• During a lecture on study I was asked about
  listening to music as an aid to study.  I prefer
  silence, because subconsciously the attention
  tends to switch backwards and forwards between
  study and music. The competing signals interfere
  with concentration. On the other hand, sometimes
  music can help for instance, in a noisy
  environment it can act as white noise, helping
  to mask an even greater distraction caused by
  other interference. Such music needs to be
  carefully selected, so radio is not a suitable
  source of music it too, can be distracting.
• Dr John Diamond M.D found that certain
  musical rhythms are very physically and
  mentally disruptive. He specifically singled out
  Rock and Rap, and other music with an interrupted
  beat. He pointed out that the uneven pulse of the
  music was out of sync with the bodys pulse, and
  leads to increased weakness, increased stress,
  and restlessness. Even blocking the ears does not
  help, because our bodies also pick up and respond
  to the beat. He found that students' results
  improved considerably when they stopped listening
  to Rock while studying.  
• On the other hand, it has been found that
  listening to some forms of music Baroque for
  instance, such as selections from composers like
  Mozart can be beneficial in the classroom or
  study. Their rhythms are more in harmony with the
  bodys rhythm. Select the andante-type movements,
  and use them only as quiet background music.

http//www.memoryskills.com.au/page20six.htm