Wednesday 7/5
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Objectives:
1.Review: Texture / Song Map 2. Review Harmony 3. Harmony Cont'd 4. Familiarity vs. Contrast 5. Artistic Intentions |
Assignments:
DUE: Song Map DUE NEXT WEEK : -Before the Music Dies - |
Remember, NO CLASS TOMORROW, THURSDAY 7/6 . Take this time to work on your LIVE MUSIC ASSIGNMENT or the watch / complete the BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES ASSIGNMENT
'Before the Music Dies'
in place of class tomorrow, Thursday 7/6, you will be assigned to view the documentary , 'Before the Music Dies', and answering the assigned pitches
Below you can find a link to the documentary ' Before The Music Does ' .
This is a documentary discussing some current topics in the music industry .
Watch the documentary (we will watch some in class), and answer the questions on the sheet below.
DUE NEXT CLASS , TUESDAY JULY 11
Before the Music Dies
This is a documentary discussing some current topics in the music industry .
Watch the documentary (we will watch some in class), and answer the questions on the sheet below.
DUE NEXT CLASS , TUESDAY JULY 11
Before the Music Dies
| before_the_music_dies_-_questions.pdf |
Terms to Think about :
Timbre , Instrumentation , Texture, Harmony , Functional Harmony, Timeline of Harmony (nothing to specific here...)
TODAY's TERMS:
Function Harmony Cont'd, Repetition in Music, Scale , Chord, Chord Progression,
Timbre , Instrumentation , Texture, Harmony , Functional Harmony, Timeline of Harmony (nothing to specific here...)
TODAY's TERMS:
Function Harmony Cont'd, Repetition in Music, Scale , Chord, Chord Progression,
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?'s -What Types of things make it easier / harder to decipher a number ? -What types of things influence Volume? -What types of things influence thick vs. thin -What might influence a composer's / Artist's decision to make the texture thick vs. thin -Does you have a personal preference to Thin / Thick |
Functional Harmony
Functional Harmony - how do we know what notes sound good together?
Functional Harmony - how do we know what notes sound good together?
AND...
How did we arrive standard for what sound's Right (i.e. 'right' is the mostly the same for everyone)
There are a couple answers for this question.....
AND...
How did we arrive standard for what sound's Right (i.e. 'right' is the mostly the same for everyone)
There are a couple answers for this question.....
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All pitches are made by a frequency or sound wave
The Range of the pitch (high vs. low) is dependent on the speed of the sound wave FAST = HIGH SLOW = LOW Unit of Measurement Hertz or Hz Hertz gives us a numerical value for how many cycles per second a sound wave completes MORE CYCLES = FASTER SOUNDWAVE Tone Generator
So if we think of 2 tones together , or , 2 Frequencies / sound waves together SOME Frequencies sound better together because of how their sound waves actually line up |
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The other is simpler...
We (all of us, others before us) have been hearing the same notes put together for our whole lives , and those notes have been the same for along time before us
Pentatonic Scale
Webster Definition : Musical Scale / Mode with 5 Notes (pent)
These notes have been drilled into us for our entire lives.... Marry had a Little Lamb, Twinkle Twinkle... Alphabet...
Bobby Macferran Pentatonic Scale
The Pentatonic scale is a small example of how our ears have been trained to be partial to certain groups of notes when they are put together
(Some people say it is actually genetic - it is in our DNA that certain notes sound better together than other)
We have all been exposed to music that abides by all the same basic rules , and have trained our ears to know what
notes sound good together and what sounds bad according to those rules
When talking specifically about what notes/pitches sound good when played together, we break it down into 2 categories:
We (all of us, others before us) have been hearing the same notes put together for our whole lives , and those notes have been the same for along time before us
Pentatonic Scale
Webster Definition : Musical Scale / Mode with 5 Notes (pent)
These notes have been drilled into us for our entire lives.... Marry had a Little Lamb, Twinkle Twinkle... Alphabet...
Bobby Macferran Pentatonic Scale
The Pentatonic scale is a small example of how our ears have been trained to be partial to certain groups of notes when they are put together
(Some people say it is actually genetic - it is in our DNA that certain notes sound better together than other)
We have all been exposed to music that abides by all the same basic rules , and have trained our ears to know what
notes sound good together and what sounds bad according to those rules
When talking specifically about what notes/pitches sound good when played together, we break it down into 2 categories:
Scales and Chords
Scale
OR A group of notes played in succession that sound Good/Right together This is another concept that we take from the greeks
They called these MODES
they would choose notes only from the appropriate mode This is also something that we take from the Greeks, as even until this day we associate Major Scales/Chords with Happy and Minor Scales/Chords with Sad |
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Chords
Where scales deal with groups of notes played in succession, Chords refer to notes that are played/ sounded simultaneously
A Chord is : 3 or more notes simultaneously
Think of the timeline of Harmony - We started out with just one melody line of Gregorian chant, Then they added a Drone, then a second line of Melody, giving us 3 separate notes sounding at one time. this gives us a chord!
Many of the examples of innovation in that timeline were attempts to figure out how to successfully (in a way that sounds good) put scales with chords.
If we think of 2 components of a song : Melody and Harmony
in a Given Pop song these will be represented by a vocal melody, and a chordal instrument (such as piano or guitar)
A Chord is : 3 or more notes simultaneously
Think of the timeline of Harmony - We started out with just one melody line of Gregorian chant, Then they added a Drone, then a second line of Melody, giving us 3 separate notes sounding at one time. this gives us a chord!
Many of the examples of innovation in that timeline were attempts to figure out how to successfully (in a way that sounds good) put scales with chords.
If we think of 2 components of a song : Melody and Harmony
in a Given Pop song these will be represented by a vocal melody, and a chordal instrument (such as piano or guitar)
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Familiarity VS. Contrast
Familiarity in Harmony
Harmony is one big way artists and composers provide familiarity in music....
The reason some notes sound good together is because we are familiar with the sound .. WE are used to it and we are comfortable with how it sounds
Think of how many Major/Minor Chords the average person has heard over the course of their lifetime
(Every song you or I have ever heard contains these - wit the exception of song with non functional harmony)
When we hear major and minor chords in the song, this is not the first time we are hearing that chord. we have heard it many times before!
Therefore we are already familiar with the song ( even if it is a small aspect! )
One Important Device in Music for creating Familiarity is the Chord Progression
Chord Progression: A Series of Chords played in Specific Order
Examples:
All of Me
Hello
Both songs repeat the Chord Progression right from the start of the song
This gives us a musical home and some familiarity before the vocals come in - now that we have that home established we can focus on the melody and lyrics
Further Repitition : Both songs are actually written with the same chord progression!
(The sound a little different because they are in different ranges as adele sings higher)
So we have 2 aspects of repetition: (1) The progression repeating within the song, (2) and the progression repeating from Other Songs
This happens a lot in popular music...
Harmony is one big way artists and composers provide familiarity in music....
The reason some notes sound good together is because we are familiar with the sound .. WE are used to it and we are comfortable with how it sounds
Think of how many Major/Minor Chords the average person has heard over the course of their lifetime
(Every song you or I have ever heard contains these - wit the exception of song with non functional harmony)
When we hear major and minor chords in the song, this is not the first time we are hearing that chord. we have heard it many times before!
Therefore we are already familiar with the song ( even if it is a small aspect! )
One Important Device in Music for creating Familiarity is the Chord Progression
Chord Progression: A Series of Chords played in Specific Order
Examples:
All of Me
Hello
Both songs repeat the Chord Progression right from the start of the song
This gives us a musical home and some familiarity before the vocals come in - now that we have that home established we can focus on the melody and lyrics
Further Repitition : Both songs are actually written with the same chord progression!
(The sound a little different because they are in different ranges as adele sings higher)
So we have 2 aspects of repetition: (1) The progression repeating within the song, (2) and the progression repeating from Other Songs
This happens a lot in popular music...
