MUSC 100 - Musical Terms

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MUSC 100 - Musical Terms
2013-10-08 01:23:05

Music Theory- Musical terms
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  1. music theory
    • -a perception of musical organization
    • -controls time and emotion, allows one to gain understanding of new music, allows one to appreciate and communicate effectively music
  2. time
    the sensation of present, past and future
  3. What makes time seem to have "direction"?
    the present seems to be a consequence of the past and it will affect the future.
  4. How can music events direct time? (3)
    predictable pattern, repetition of formal structures, formulaic passages
  5. Name 4 immediately perceptible properties of sound. (subjective and objective)
    • loudness --> amplitude
    • timbre --> spectrum
    • pitch --> frequency
    • length --> duration
  6. loudness
    how much a sound dominates one's sensation
  7. timbre
    the quality of a sound that indicates what is making it and how
  8. pitch
    the quantity in which sounds with the same loudness and timbre can differ
  9. musical score
    a series of instructions on how to perform a piece of music
  10. Why use musical symbols over standard language?
    They are quicker to read (once you're trained) as well as more compact.
  11. Name the 3 disadvantages to using musical symbols.
    They are relational (f - fff), non-intuitive and non-proportional.
  12. onset (attack)
    the change TO a sound FROM silence or another sound. The beginning of a process that the release ends.
  13. release
    the change FROM a sound TO silence or another sound
  14. timepoint
    a particular instant (at which a change is perceived)/ a moment in time
  15. duration (time span)
    the time that passes from an earlier timepoint to a later one. (time from onset to onset/release)
  16. interonset duration
    • the duration specifically from onset to onset (sound, not silence--> add value of note + succeeding rest)
    • does not match the notation
  17. continuity
    the temporally directed quality of the duration of a process
  18. beginning
    when a process starts
  19. end
    when a process ceases
  20. accent
    • a timepoint that draws our attention, a distinction of a timepoint compared to earlier timepoints.
    • used to support musical structure
  21. What creates accent?
    change --> the greater the change, the greater the accent?
  22. What is the role of accent?
    • to draw attention to important events/notes.
    • It divides time, calling attention to moments that are in the past while continuity directs time, reaching into the future.
  23. sustaining
    • continuing a sound.
    • a process that produces uninterrupted sound and usually unchanging loudness.
    • makes a release sound like the end of an activity that began at a past onset.
    • a way to create continuity and to make time directional. Sustaining makes the timepoint of the sound's release sound as if it is a consequence/result of the timepoint of the sound's attack
  24. rhythm
    a series of consecutive durations --> changes in sound mark durations
  25. voice
    a single line of independent melody
  26. fortississimo
    fff --> very very loud
  27. fortissimo
    ff --> very loud
  28. forte
    f --> loud
  29. mezzo forte
    mf --> somewhat loud
  30. mezzo piano
    mp --> somewhat soft
  31. piano
    p --> soft
  32. pianissimo
    pp --> very soft
  33. pianississimo
    ppp --> very very soft
  34. dynamic accent
    increase in loudness to draw attention to a timepoint
  35. sf --> >
  36. fz --> ^
  37. sfz --> ^_ (together)
  38. fp
    fortepiano - loud then suddenly soft
  39. durational accent
    • timepoint emphasized by duration of a note
    • occurs when on a note that is longer than the immediately preceding note
    • helps group notes into meters
  40. interonset durational accent
    stress at the onset of an interonset duration that is longer than the immediately preceding interonset duration
  41. dynamics
    loudness, specified by descriptions and symbols
  42. intensification
    a process of gradual INCREASE in a perceivable and easily comparable aspect of sound (louder, rise in pitch, rougher timbre)
  43. diminishment
    a process of gradual DECREASE in a perceivable and easily comparable aspect of sound (softer, fall in pitch, smoother timbre)
  44. process
    an activity that makes the present sound like it is a result of the past, and that enables the listener to anticipate a future.
  45. articulation
    • the way we perform sounds
    • the way that a sound is attacked, sustained, and released. Affects how it connects to other notes, affecting the duration, continuity and accent.
    • is different for every instrument
  46. legato
    • the release of each sound happens at the onset of the next sound; there is no silence between them
    • emphasizes continuity
  47. detached
    a sound is released just before the next onset
  48. staccato
    • the sound is half its written value, exaggerating the silence before the onset of the next sound.
    • interrupts continuity
  49. tenuto
    • the sound is sustained evenly for its entire duration. Sometimes, the onset/duration of the sound is exaggerated.
    • emphasizes and accents continuity
  50. grace notes...
    can create durational accents
  51. monophony
    music of only one voice
  52. polyphony
    music of 2 or more concurrent voices
  53. augmentation
    proportional lengthening
  54. How is the long series of sounds in a voice analogous to a single sound?
    It comes from a single voice (no harmony), giving it continuity
  55. segment
    • a rhythm/different durations in a voice which has continuity
    • a distinctive beginning and ending
  56. We can't literally bring back a past sound, but we can reproduce a previous sound's.... (4)
    timbre, pitch, loudness or duration
  57. Repeating a segment creates continuity more effectively than repeating a sound because a segment is usually more...
  58. We hear a beginning when there is a... (4)
    • substantial change from (relative) silence to sound
    • substantial change in sound (dynamics, timbre, register, tempo, etc.)
    • onset that starts a repetition
  59. We hear an ending... (4)
    • before an explicit beginning
    • at a significant change from sound to silence
    • when a motive comes to an end
    • at the last release of a rhythm
  60. implicit beginning
    happens when we recognize the ending before it (explicit ending)
  61. explicit beginning
    we recognize this beginning or if there is a significant change from silence to sound
  62. implicit ending
    happens if we recognize the beginning after it (explicit beginning)
  63. explicit ending
    happens if we recognize this ending or if there is a significant change from sound to silence.
  64. grouping structure
    the way that brief segments combine into long segments
  65. closure
    when the end of a segment is so convincing that no subsequent beginning or change is needed to articulate it
  66. Name 3 ways of creating closure
    • end the repetition
    • culmination of a process
    • formulaic- using a formula (ex: 1+1)

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