Music Appreciation: The History of Rock

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Music Appreciation The History of Rock

• Chapter 1 Elements of Music

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Music is...

• The art of combining tones or sounds
• Organizing sound (melody, harmony, words,
  rhythms, and beat) to please the human ear.

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Listening types

• Passive listening Listening to music while
  doing other things.
• Active listening Listening to music while
  directly paying attention to it.

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Why the Study of Music is Important

• 1) Part of our daily lives (know more about
  everyday things)
• 2) Soothes and Relaxes the soul (music therapy
  philosophies)
• 3) Allows us to communicate better with our
  fellow man

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The Six Major Elements of Music

• 1) Sound
• 2) Harmony
• 3) Melody
• 4) Rhythm
• 5) Form
• 6) Text (Words)

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1) Sound

• Includes source/instrumentation, timbre (tone
  color), texture and volume

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The Four areas used to identify SOUND in Rock
Music are

• 1) Source (instrumentation)- what is being
  played, what is used to contribute to the types
  of sounds
• 2) Timbre (tone color)- think of the adjectives
  youd use to describe a voice.

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Soundcontinued.

• 3) Texture
• Monophonic- single voice or instrument
• Unison- same melody, same notes and pitch
• Homophonic- principal line with one or more
  instruments/voices as backup to that line.
• Polyphonic- several melodies occurring all at
  once in different parts or instruments.
• 4) Volume- dynamic level (soft or loud).
• Crescendo- gradually louder
• Decrescendo or diminuendo- gradually softer

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2) Harmony

• The way that sounds are combined to create a
  piece of music.
• The use of intervals (scales) and chords that add
  depth to the musical line.
• Chord progression- the combination of sounds
  (notes like F, A, C create a major chord, etc.)

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Scales- from scala in Italian, meaning ladder

• Provides the basic harmonic and melodic material
  for a given piece of music.
• A selection of pitches within the interval of an
  octave.
• Major scales (diatonic) pattern WWhWWWh in
  steps.
• Tonic- the home key, original note.
• Semitone- a half-step (ex. Bb to B, one note to
  the next on a piano) Also called chromatic.
• Whole step- two half-steps
• Enharmonic- Same note, different name, like A
  and Bb.

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Chords

• Harmony occurs when two different notes are
  played simultaneously. Three or more pitches at
  the same time produce a chord.
• The first, third and fifth notes of a scale form
  a chord. Same for the 2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.
• Tonic chord- based on the first scale degree.
• Dominant chord- based on the fifth scale degree.
• Subdominant chord- based on the fourth scale.

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Chord progressions

• Most rock progressions follow the progression of
  I, IV, V, I
• Many country songs use the same.
• Blues progressions- 12 bar blues is very common
  (in Chapter 2)
• A common, but more complex chord pattern is
  called a descending minor progression Tonic, to
  Subtonic, to Submediant, to Dominant.

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Modal progressions

• Modes are based on scales, but they start on
  different notes of the scale.
• Ionian (C-C) also called the Major scale
• Dorian (D-D)
• Phrygian (E-E)
• Lydian (F-F)
• Mixolydian (G-G)
• Aeolian (A-A) also called the minor scale
• Locrian (B-B)

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3) Melody

• A musical line that has a succession of single
  notes that have a beginning, middle and an end.
• In melodies, look for
• Range (wide or narrow)
• Motion (conjunct or disjunct)
• Shape (ascending, descending or static)

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4) Rhythm

• Relationship between music and time- the
  heartbeat of music.
• Tempo is known as the musical pace.
• Meter is the way in which pulses are organized.
  Beats are organized into measures.
• Three levels of musical time
• Background time- pulse or beat
• Middle-ground time- meter and tempo, duple,
  triple, quadruple
• Foreground time- the surface rhythm, short and
  long durations that give a melody its character.
  Syncopation- occurs when a strong beat occurs on
  a weak beat.

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5) Form

• Design and structure of a musical work. It helps
  the listener keep track of the units of music
  that are used to make a song.
• Standard form most often AABA, ABAB, or ABAC
• Strophic form Verses set to the same music, but
  the words change verse to verse. (Think about
  Blues and Folk Songs)
• Through-Composed form Follows the form of the
  text or words. There is no repetition of
  previously-heard material.

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6) Text (words)

• Convey and idea which the listener can relate to
  his or her life.
• Two things we look for in song text are
• The sentiment (emotions or feelings) and the mode
  (the way the song is presented- as a narrator,
  3rd person) of the text. The verb tense informs
  the listener as to when the action of the song
  takes place.

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Five families of musical instruments

• 1) Woodwind
• 2) Brass
• 3) Percussion (keyboards also)
• 4) Stringed
• 5) Electronic

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Musical Advancements by Technology

• 1) Recording Industry- Invention of the
  grammaphone, records, radio, tape/8 tracks, CD
  and .mp3 files
• 2) Use of synthesizers and electronics in
  performance and recording.
• 3) Computers (creating, writing, producing and
  playback)

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Scientific classifications of Musical Instruments

• 1) Idiophones- vibrating mass of material (most
  percussion instruments). Usually struck, shaken,
  plucked or rubbed.
• 2) Membranophones- sound produced by vibrating
  skin (percussion instruments)
• 3) Aerophones- movement of air causes vibrations
  
• 1. Brass- vibration of lips/air in a mouthpiece
• 2. Reed- vibration of reed by air
• 3. Flutes/Whistles- air column vibrates, splits.

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Scientific classifications of Musical Instruments
continued.

• 4) Chordophones- string vibrates to produce a
  sound
• 1) Zithers
• 2) Lutes
• 3) Lyres
• 4) Harps

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Scientific classifications of Musical Instruments
continued

• 5) Electrophones- sound is produced by electric
  means
• 1) Amplification
• 2) Generating frequencies
• 3) Differences of 2 frequencies
• 4) Digital means- assigned to a frequency (MIDI)