Transcript Musical instruments

Music: An Appreciation, Brief, 8th edition | Roger Kamien
PART I: ELEMENTS
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Music: vital part of human society
• Provides entertainment and emotional release; accompanies
activities
• Heard everywhere in modern life
Recorded music is a 20th-century innovation
• Internet access
• Portable audio
Live performance: special excitement
• Experience affected by emotional state of both performer and
audience
Evaluating music performances
• Background music vs. active listening
• Perceptive listening enhances enjoyment
• Knowledge of musical elements enhances perception
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SOUND: pitch, dynamics, tone color
Our world is filled with sounds
• Sounds can be pleasant or unpleasant
• Humans are able to focus on specific sounds
• We can ignore sounds that do not interest us
Sound
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Begins as a result of vibrating object
Transmitted through a medium: air
Causes our eardrums to vibrate
Impulses sent to brain for processing
MUSIC: organization of sounds in time
Four main categories of musical sounds
• pitch • dynamics • tone color • duration
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pitch: relative highness or lowness of sound
Pitch is Determined by frequency of vibration
• Fast vibration = high pitch; slow vibration = low pitch
• Generally, smaller vibrating objects = higher pitches
In music, definite pitch is a tone
• Tones, or musical pitches, have specific frequencies
frequency of a pitch is measured in cycles (vibrations) per second
* example A= 440 HZ
• Irregular vibrations create sounds of indefinite pitch
Interval: distance between 2 tones
• Octave: doubling/halving of frequency ** see examples
• Tones an octave apart seem to blend together or sound alike
Western music divides octave into 12 tones
Nonwestern music may divide into different number
Pitch Range: distance between voice or instrument’s
highest & lowest possible tones
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dynamics
Relative loudness of a sound
• Related to amplitude of vibration producing sound
• Changes in dynamics may be sudden or gradual
Accent: tone played louder than tones near it
Italian terms used to indicate dynamics
• Extremes: ppp, pppp, fff, ffff
• Crescendo: gradually louder
• Decrescendo (diminuendo):
gradually softer
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tone color (timbre)
• Quality that identifies an instrument’s sound
• Can be bright, dark, mellow, etc.
Changes in tone color create variety and contrast
Tone colors add a sense of continuity
Specific melodies with specific tone colors
Unlimited variety of tone colors
Composers frequently blend sounds of instruments to
create new tone colors
Modern electronic technique create new tone colors
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listening outlines, vocal music
guides, and properties of sound
Listening Outlines & Vocal Music Guides
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Helps focus attention on musical events as they occur
Preceded by description of the music’s main features
Listening Outline: points out notable musical sounds
Vocal Music Guide: helps the listener follow the thought, story,
or drama
*Suggestion: While listening to one passage, look
ahead to what is next
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Listen, then follow the listening outline to
this selection in CONNECT MUSIC
Note:
• Tone colors through instrumentation
• Dynamic contrasts
LISTENING
The Firebird, scene 2 (1910)
Igor Stravinsky
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Listen, then follow the listening outline to
this selection in CONNECT MUSIC
Listen for:
• Tone colors
• Repeated note melody
• Improvised solos
• Muted brass instruments
LISTENING
C-Jam Blues (1942)
Duke Ellington
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PERFORMING MEDIA:
voices and instruments
Voices: unique ability to fuse words & musical tones
• Voice range is based on physical makeup & training
• Voice classifications
Female
soprano (highest female voice)
mezzo-soprano
Alto (lowest female voice)
Male
tenor (highest male voice)
baritone
bass (lowest male voice)
• Vocal music is frequently performed with instrumental
accompaniment
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Musical instruments: any mechanism (other than voice)
that produces musical sounds
• Western instruments: 6 broad categories
string
woodwind
brass
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percussion
keyboard
electronic
Made in different sizes for range variety
Tone color may vary with the register
Provide entertainment; used for accompaniment
Instruments’ popularity rises and falls with changing musical
tastes
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string instruments
Sound produced by vibrating tight cable
shorter the string and tighter the tension, higher the pitch
(& vice versa)
Orchestral bowed instruments
• violin • viola
• cello (violoncellon)
• bass (double bass)
Common playing techniques
• pizzicato
• vibrato
• tremolo
• double stop • harmonics • mute
Some string instruments not played with bow
Guitar & harp use plectrum (small wedge; pick)
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woodwind instruments
Traditionally, woodwinds were made of wood
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In the 20th century, metal & plastic became common
The longer the tube, the lower the pitch
– Holes along instrument change the length of the tube
Main orchestral woodwinds and ranges: (know all of these!)
Woodwinds: single note instrument
Sounds produced by blowing (player’s breath)
• “whistle mouthpiece” • single reed • double reed
• saxophone: single reed instrument; common in jazz
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brass instruments
Orchestral brasses (in order of range)
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trumpet, french horn, trombone, tuba
cornet, baritone horn, & euphonium used mainly in concert and in
marching bands
Sound produced by blowing into mouthpiece
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Vibration of player’s lips produces sound
Sound exits through flared end called bell
Pitch changed in 2 ways:
― Pressure of player’s lips (together and against mouthpiece)
― Lengthening the instrument via slide or valves
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Trombone uses sliding tubes
Others use valves connected to additional tubing
Generally, the longer the tube, the lower the pitch
Tone color is altered by inserting mute into bell
Brass provides power and emphasis in music
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percussion instruments
Sound (generally) produced by striking, shaking, or rubbing the
instrument
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Instruments of definite pitch produce tones
Those of indefinite pitch produce noise-like sounds
Membranes, pieces of wood or metal vibrate
The Timpani are the only orchestral drums of definite pitch
Know these below!
Percussionists must play many instruments
Percussion traditionally emphasizes rhythm
20th-century music: greater use of percussion
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electronic instruments
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Produce or amplify sound using electronics
– Invented ~1904, significant impact only after 1950
– Modern technology blurs lines between instrument types, recording,
computer, and hybrid devices
• Tape studio: main electronic tool of 1950s..composers cut & spliced
tapes of recorded sounds to put musical sounds in a certain order
• Synthesizers came into use in 1960s to create electronic synthesis
– Huge machines first built in mid-1950s
– Analog synthesis dominated until ~1980
– Digital (FM) synthesis came to forefront in 1980s
Effects devices were integrated into digital synthesizers
– Sampling is digital recording of live sounds (1990’s)
• MIDI (1983) allowed connection of musical devices to computers
• Small computers develop in 1970s & 80s
• Modern composers connect these devices, use software, and write
new types of music
2014 © McGraw-Hill Education
Listen, then follow the listening outline to
this selection in CONNECT MUSIC
Listen for:
• Themes, variations
• Contrast
• Repetition
• Various orchestral instruments
LISTENING
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34 (1946)
Benjamin Britten
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RHYTHM
• Flow of music through time
• Particular arrangement of note lengths
BEAT
– Recurrent pulsation
– Divides music into equal units of time
METER
– Grouping of beats into regular groups
– 2s and 3s; strong and weak beats
ACCENT and SYNCOPATION
– Accent: note is emphasized
– Syncopation: emphasis placed on an unexpected note or beat
2014 © McGraw-Hill Education