Music

I. Introduction.

A. What comprises music?

1. Sound.

2. Silence.

3. Beat or rhythm.

B. Music is “time made audible.”

C. The aesthetic subtext of music.

II. The Fundamental Technical Component of Music is Tone.

A. Pitch

1. The staff.

2. The chromatic scale.

a. Steps and intervals.

3. The tuning fork: pitch and ratio.

4. The major and minor scales-- how are they determined?

B. Duration

1. Notes values (whole, half, quarter, eighth).

2. Rest values (whole, half, quarter, eighth).

C. Intensity.

1. Pianissimo (very soft): pp

2. Piano (soft): p

3. Mezzo piano (moderately soft): mp

4. Mezzo forte (moderately loud): mf

5. Forte (loud): f

6. Fortissimo (very loud): ff

D. Timbre (“voice”).

III. Music History in a Nutshell.

A. Chant/plainsong (6th-7th centuries CE).

1. A cappella (Italian; lit., "church style").

2. Monophonic.

3. Spatial.

B. Renaissance Dance (16th century CE).

1. Secular (beginnings of dance as an independent discipline).

a. e.g., Jacques Moderne: "Branles de Bourgogne."

2. "Pop" music (repetitive, conducive to oral culture).

a. e.g., Orlando di Lasso: "Matona Mia Cara."

C. Baroque (1600-1750).

1. Open composition: does not “resolve” itself.

a. The canon (e.g., Pachelbel: “Canon in D”).

b. The fugue (e.g., Bach: “Art of the Fugue”).

D. Classical (1750-1830): “formal.”

1. Closed composition: resolves itself; the “coda.”

a. The Rondo (e.g., Mozart: “Rondo alla Turka”).

2. Classical influence on contemporary music.

a. Verse, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, verse, chorus, coda.

E. Romantic (1830-1900): “felt more than formed.”

1. Beethoven: “Symphony #5, 1st Movement.”

F. Symbolist/Impressionist (1890-1910): “musical haiku.”

1. Debussy: “Arabesque.”

2. Stravinsky: “The Rites of Spring.”

G. Mid 20th century composers.

1. Aleatory music (e.g., Cage: “Sonata #5”; “4:33”).

a. Prepared piano.

IV. The Subtext of Music (Text) and Culture (Context).

V. Focus on American Jazz: outline to be presented in class.

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