Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Music

Musical Impressionism: Sound and Sensation

Musical Impressionism was a typically French movement. It is related to Impressionist paintings, referring to open spaces with colorful, luminous, and blurred landscapes (the name Impressionism is based on Monet's painting called Impression, Sunrise). It is also associated with the symbolism of poetry that presents mystery and irrationality as something beautiful.

• The main composers were Claude Debussy, who was inspired by the exotic music of the Far East and created chromatic color atmospheres, and Maurice Ravel, often labeled as a Debussy imitator, but with an extraordinary detail and precise compositional technique that represents orchestral color.
• The sound becomes a vehicle for the internal sensations

Folk Music and Ethnomusicology

Folklore encompasses the traditional beliefs, stories, customs, and art of a community. Ethnomusicology is the study of traditional music, dance, and instruments, with Béla Bartók as one of its founders.

Examples of folk music include:

• Lullabies
• Love songs (serenades)
• Music for festivities and rituals (Christmas, Easter, funerals)
• Work songs
• Play songs
• Dance music

Musical Phrases and Repetition

A musical phrase is a meaningful segment of a melody. Repetition is common in music, such as:

• Canon: A composition with several parts repeating the same melody.
• Ostinato: A repeated accompanying pattern.

Call and response is a participatory pattern found in various African cultures, involving a leader and a group response.

Traditional

Musicians

They have a maximum play time & minimum fees for different types & length of performance.

Set times

When you plan an event/entertainment you must know that the standard play time is 40 mins before taking a break. Breaks should last no longer than 15-20mins. It also depends on the vibrancy of the preceding performance.

Cover bands

What is a dance band? Dance bands are otherwise known as variety bands/cover bands. They perform top dance hits that your wedding party guests/corporate event audience will enjoy.

Musicians & vocalists

Versatile & play everything from jazz, soul, motown, disco, R&B, blues, pop, contemporary, swing, to current dance music hits. A dance band will typically include male and female vocalists, a saxophone,... Continue reading "Musicians, Set Times, Cover Bands, and Variety Entertainment" »

Circumstances Enabling Renaissance Art and Culture

• Economic prosperity followed the end of epidemics and famines in the Middle Ages. A new social class arose that demanded culture, art, and music: wealthy merchants (the bourgeoisie) became patrons of the arts, in addition to the nobility and the clergy.
• The birth of humanism, a mindset that promoted the development of art (not only religious art as before) to cater to human needs.
• The wisdom of Antiquity was widely spread, emphasizing human concerns.
• The invention of the printing press and travels around the world (including the arrival in America) eased the expansion of new trends.

How Humanism Influenced Renaissance Music

• The diffusion of knowledge affected music as well, helped by the printing

What Does Baroque Adjective Mean?

-Meaning “regularly shaped”. At first, the word in French was used mostly to refer to pearls. Eventually, it came to describe an extravagant style of art characterized by curving lines, gilt and gelt.

Musical Instruments of Baroque:

a) What is a Luthier? The composer who cares for the timbric richness of his works and the interpreter will specialize in his instruments, which will lead to the first virtuosos.

b) Who was the most famous luthier? Amanti, Stradivari and Guarnieri.

c) Where did he come from? Stradivari made palatino quartet and kept in the royal palace in Madrid.

d) Do you know interesting anecdotes about him?

Religious Music:

a) Cantata: is a simpler form composed by texts or popular religious themes.... Continue reading "Baroque Period: Music, Art, and Society" »

1. This individual is sometimes viewed as the “father” of big band swing: Fletcher Henderson
2. The practice of pitting one section against another in alternating patterns is called: antiphonal voicing
3. Which of the following in NOT a feature of Count Basie’s solo style toward the end of his career: Long, complicated melodies in right hand
4. This Ellington sideman came to be known as the father of the jazz bass solo: Jimmy Blanton
5. This swing artist was discovered at a talent contest at Harlem’s Apollo Theater: Ella Fitzgerald
6. The famous nickname given to Billie Holiday by her close friend Lester Young was: Lady Day
7. The two most prominent alto saxophone players of the swing period were Johnny Hodges and: Benny Carter
8. Coleman Hawkins’ most famous recording

1. Pop Music

What is Pop Music?

• A genre of popular music originating in the 1950s.
• Derived from Rock and Roll.
• Often borrows from other genres like dance, urban, and rock.

Structure of Pop Music: 32-Bar AABA

• Also known as 32-bar form, American Songbook, or ballad form.
• Common in jazz standards and still found in pop music (often modified).
• Each letter (AABA) represents 4x8 (or 8 bars).
• A: Main melody; the 2nd A can be identical, similar, or a response.
• B: Middle eight or bridge, usually contrasting with A. Example: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Voices in Pop

• In Harmony: Singing different notes that harmonize.
• In Unison: All singing the same notes.
• Descant: Singing a higher part in time with the main tune.
• Call and Response: Repeating the lead vocalist or

Instruments of the Baroque Era

Classification of Instruments

• Chordophones: Violin, viola, cello, double bass (forming the central section of the orchestra).
• Baroque Guitar: Replaced the vihuela and is the predecessor of the classical guitar.
• Aerophones:
  • Flute: Conical tube with 6 holes and 1 key.
  • Oboe (France, 16th century): Conical tube with holes and 2 or 3 keys/holes.
  • Bassoon: Wooden tube with 3 or 4 keys.
  • Trumpet.
• Membranophones: Kettledrum (used in smaller venues in the orchestra).

The Baroque Orchestra

The Baroque orchestra developed significantly during this period, establishing standard sections:

• Basso Continuo: Provided the harmonic foundation, typically featuring harpsichord, harp, or organ.
• Strings (Bowed): The largest section, playing the most

1. Saint-Denis Basilica: One of France's oldest sites of Christian worship and its most famous abbey—a burial place for 43 kings and 32 queens. The Saint-Denis Basilica, whose current edifice was built sometime between the 11th and 12th centuries, served as a royal burial site from as early as the fifth century. With its sculpted tombs and flamboyant Gothic details.

Panthéon

Neoclassicism, completed 1765 AD. The Panthéon, in the heart of the Latin Quarter, dominates the 5th district. Freely inspired by the Pantheon of Rome, the Parisian Panthéon was built as a memorial. Indeed, the crypts guard the tombs of the greatest French personalities who marked their country throughout history. You will find celebrities like Rousseau, Voltaire, or