LANGUAGE WE USE IN MUSIC

[revised notes 2008]

VCE Notes Page 1 The Language We Use In Music Style A music style is defined by the way in which the elements of music are treated. Works within an identifiable style should exhibit similar treatment of the elements of music. A style may encompass music of • an era/period (for example contemporary popular, bebop jazz, grunge, baroque, romantic, nationalist, impressionist, neoclassical); • a geographical area (for example Indonesian gamelan music, Australian Aboriginal music); • a composer (for example Lennon/McCartney, Arcadelt, Beethoven, Carl Vine); • a performer(s) (for example Aretha Franklin, U2, Louis Armstrong, Jimi Hendrix, Paganini).

Elements of music The elements of music, depending on the style being studied, may be analysed with reference to: • structure/form: for example, large-scale structures such as symphonies, dance suites, and operas; medium-scale structures such as twelve-bar blues, sixteen and thirty-two bar song form, verse/chorus, strophic, sonata form, binary, ternary, rondo, theme and variations, through-composed, fugue, round, canon, cantus firmus, metrical and/or harmonic cycles; small-scale structures such as motives and motivic development, phrasing, chord patterns, textural components, modulatory systems;

• instrumentation: for example, the list of instruments/sound sources used;

• tone colour: for example, the effect of the way in which the instruments/sound sources are used and the effect of techniques employed; combinations of instruments used at various stages in the work or excerpt; particular instrumental techniques employed such as muting, pizzicato, glissandi, flutter tonguing; production techniques such as reverb, chorus, distortion;

Timbre or tone color is the term for describing the difference in quality of sound that distinguishes one voice or instrument from another. There is no standardized framework for describing timbre or dynamics.

Researchers are reduced to using analogies and descriptive words. For the human voice at one end of the spectrum, a tone might be described as warm, breathy, clear, relaxed, bright, mellow, soothing, whisperlike, or clarion. Toward the other end of the spectrum, tone might be described as small singing voice with moderate resonance and volume, narrow throat, tight throat, croaky, falsettolike, strained, raspy, dark, guttural, percussive, thin, strident, nasal, or heavy vibrato.

For many musical instruments, timbre influences how a musical pitch is perceived. For drumming, open stroke and closed or damped stroke are often indicated by mnemonic phrases consisting of syllables that convey both timing and timbre. Besides descriptions used for the human voice, other descriptions for instrumental timbre can be reedy, rapid vibrations, staccato, resonant, high amount of enharmonic noise, piercing, or clunky.

VCE Notes Page 2 • texture: {see larger section below} for example, layers of sound (contrapuntal, polyphonic, chordal, homophonic, monophonic, heterophonic, pointillistic, unison); the density of sound (from light/thin to heavy/thick); tessitura (effect of pitch height on texture);

• tonality: for example, modal, diatonic (major/minor – functional), pentatonic, polytonal, whole tone, chromatic, atonal, serial;

• harmony: for example, triads, triadic extensions, cluster chords, organum, vertical pitch combinations and the interrelationship of chords (functional or non-functional), modulation, ostinato, harmonic rhythm (rate of harmonic change per bar), pitch centres;

• melody: for example, the tune, tone rows, themes, horizontal pitch patterns and the characteristics of a melody such as intervals, phrasing, tessitura, shape, motives and, where appropriate, influence of text;

• rhythm/time: for example, metre/time signature, pulse, length of notes, tempo, rhythmic motives and rhythmic devices such as syncopation, ostinato, augmentation/diminution, polymetres and cross rhythms;

• dynamics/volume;

• articulation: for example, the attack, release and decay of the sound; staccato; marcato; legato.

VCE Notes Page 3 Compositional devices Compositional devices are inextricably linked to the treatment of the elements of music and represent the means by which a music work is developed. These may be seen at the: • micro level (for example, ornamentation, inversion, augmentation, diminution, fragmentation); • medium level (for example, imitation; use of sequence; modulation; re- orchestration; re-harmonising; addition/subtraction of melodic lines, rhythmic accompaniment, instruments or layers of sound); • global level (for example, contrast; repetition; variation).

Compositional devices at the global level may occur in relation to the treatment of all the elements of music and their combination. These global compositional devices may also involve specific devices at the lower level/s. Compositional devices include contrast, repetition and variation.

Contrast May be achieved via changes to the treatment of dynamics, orchestration, melodic shapes and/or registers, rhythms, metres, harmonies, textures, articulation and/or forms. This may include such devices as modulation, re-orchestration and/or the addition or subtraction of layers of texture. Repetition Can be seen in repeating such things as entire formal sections, melodic lines or phrases, rhythms, intervals, melodic shapes, harmonic patterns, timbres, riffs, ostinati. Variation Includes any change to an established pattern when heard again. This might include such things as shifting a melodic pattern to a new starting pitch; adding ornaments; expanding or contracting intervals in a melody; retaining melodic contour but changing pitches; changing to a new key area, tempo changes (gradual or sudden), adding or removing rubato or metrical changes, using a rhythmic fi gure in different places within the bar, adding harmonic accompaniment, changing harmony, adding or subtracting melodic lines or layers of sound, re-orchestration, changing register, changing articulation and/or sound effects.

Conventions Common practices within music styles in the creation and performance of music. For example improvisation in jazz styles, figured bass in Baroque works, lead drum calls in the music of Ghana, guitar effects and distortion in rock styles, sampling and editing techniques in techno music. Performance conventions may also include expected behaviours of both performers and audience. For example the formality and silence within a concert hall setting; applause at the end of solos in many jazz styles; dramatic flair and aggression within heavy metal; the structure of a North Indian raga performance in three parts.

Context The context of any music should involve a study of influences on works and music styles, including cultural influences, social issues, practical issues, musical influences, practical and commercial considerations, and issues relating to the likely performer(s) of the work;

Some examples might be: • the geographical move of blues-based music from a southern rural context (Mississippi delta) to urban centres (Chicago) resulting in new instrumentation, stricter rhythms and expanded band arrangements;

VCE Notes Page 4 • the technological advances in the pianoforte from the 18th century through the 19th century resulting in works exploiting the instrument’s range and dynamic capabilities; • the influence of Asian music on Debussy, The Beatles, John Coltrane, or Phillip Glass; • the rise of computer-based music and sound production techniques resulting in new and sampled sound sources used in hip-hop, house and techno music; • the role of the French Revolution on social thinking and structure in Europe, and its effect on the music of the 19th century; • the beginnings of the recording industry which allowed for only three- to four-minute recordings and its effect on the structures of popular music of the time; • the cultural integration of music in the North Indian classical tradition resulting in the religious/mood/temporal qualities of the Indian raga; • the systems of patronage, commissions, dedications and contracts in different periods and their effect on music created.

Critical response In forming a critical response it is important that subjective responses and analytical information are linked together. Examples of critical response may include: • the driving, energetic feeling evoked in the Police song Synchronicity is created by the rapid, consistent regular rhythms of the hi-hat and kick drum aligned with the unison rhythm of the bass • the lush, rich and lyrical atmosphere of the final theme of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is achieved by the use of unison, legato full string orchestration.

The adjectives in these two examples – ‘driving, pulsating’ and ‘lush, rich and lyrical’ – are responses to music. The analytical information is given in the statements ‘the rapid, consistent regular rhythms of the hi-hat and kick drum aligned with the unison rhythm of the bass’ and ‘unison, legato full string orchestration’.

VCE Notes Page 5 Texture [expanded definition] Introduction

Texture is one of the basic elements of music. When you describe the texture of a piece of music, you are describing how much is going on in the music at any given moment. For example, the texture of the music might be thick or thin, or it may have many or few layers. It might be made up of rhythm only, or of a melody line with chordal accompaniment, or many interweaving melodies. Below you will find some of the formal terms musicians use to describe texture. Terms that Describe Texture

There are many informal terms that can describe the texture of a piece of music (thick, thin, bass-heavy, rhythmically complex, and so on), but the formal terms that are used to describe texture all describe the relationships of melodies and harmonies. Here are definitions and examples of the four main types of texture. For specific pieces of music that are good examples of each type of texture, please see the Activity section below. Monophonic

Monophonic music has only one melodic line, with no harmony or counterpoint. There may be rhythmic accompaniment, but only one line that has specific pitches. Monophonic music can also be called monophony. It is sometimes called monody, although the term "monody" can also refer to a particular type of solo song (with instrumental accompaniment) that was very popular in the 1600's. Examples of Monophony

• One person whistling a tune • A single bugle sounding "Taps" • A group of people all singing a song together, without harmonies or instruments • A fife and drum corp, with all the fifes playing the same melody

VCE Notes Page 6 Homophonic

Homophonic music can also be called homophony. More informally, people who are describing homophonic music may mention chords, accompaniment, harmony or harmonies. Homophony has one clearly melodic line; it's the line that naturally draws your attention. All other parts provide accompaniment or fill in the chords. In most well-written homophony, the parts that are not melody may still have a lot of melodic interest. They may follow many of the rules of well-written counterpoint, and they can sound quite different from the melody and be interesting to listen to by themselves. But when they are sung or played with the melody, it is clear that they are not independent melodic parts, either because they have the same rhythm as the melody (i.e. are not independent) or because their main purpose is to fill in the chords or harmony (i.e. they are not really melodies). Examples of Homophony

• Choral music in which the parts have mostly the same rhythms at the same time is homophonic. Most traditional Protestant hymns and most "barbershop quartet" music is in this category. • A singer accompanied by a guitar picking or strumming chords. • A small jazz combo with a bass, a piano, and a drum set providing the "rhythm" background for a trumpet improvising a solo. • A single bagpipes or accordion player playing a melody with drones or chords. Polyphonic

Polyphonic music can also be called polyphony, counterpoint, or contrapuntal music. If more than one independent melody is occurring at the same time, the music is polyphonic. (See counterpoint.) Examples of Polyphony

• Rounds, canons, and fugues are all polyphonic. (Even if there is only one melody, if different people are singing or playing it at different times, the parts sound independent.) • Much Baroque music is contrapuntal, particularly the works of J.S. Bach. • Most music for large instrumental groups such as bands or orchestras is contrapuntal at least some of the time. • Music that is mostly homophonic can become temporarily polyphonic if an independent countermelody is added. Think of a favorite pop or gospel tune that, near the end, has the soloist "ad libbing" while the back-up singers repeat the refrain.

VCE Notes Page 7 Heterophonic

A heterophonic texture is rare in Western music. In heterophony, there is only one melody, but different variations of it are being sung or played at the same time.

• There are no examples of heterophonic music that would be familiar to most Western listeners. • Some Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Native American music traditions include heterophony. Listen for traditional music (most modern-composed music, even from these cultures, has little or no heterophony) in which singers and/or instrumentalists perform the same melody at the same time, but give it different embellishments or ornaments. Texture by diagram

Figure 1

VCE Notes Page 8 Music examples/styles

Monophony

• A Bach unaccompanied cello suite • Gregorian chant

Homophony

• A classic Scott Joplin rag such as "Maple Leaf Rag" • The "graduation march" section of Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance No. 1" • The "March of the Toreadors" from Bizet's Carmen • The latest hit tune by a major pop solo vocalist

Polyphony

• Pachelbel's Canon • Anything titled "fugue" or "invention" • The final "Amen" chorus of Handel's "Messiah" • The "One Day More" chorus from the musical "Les Miserables" • The first movement of Holst's 1st Suite for Military Band

Heterophony

• There is some heterophony (with some instruments playing more ornaments than others) in "Donulmez Aksamin" and in "Urfaliyim Ezelden" – Turkish Music • Some old style blues, (Old-style blues owes more to African than to Western traditions.)

VCE Notes Page 9 Counterpoint

Counterpoint is an important element of music, but it is not one of the basic elements. Many pieces of music have rhythm, melody, harmony, color, and texture, but no real counterpoint. In fact, when describing the texture of a piece of music, two of the most important questions that need to be addressed are: is there counterpoint, and how important is it? When there is more than one independent melodic line happening at the same time in a piece of music, we say that the music is contrapuntal. The independent melodic lines are called counterpoint. The music that is made up of counterpoint can also be called polyphony, or one can say that the music is polyphonic or speak of the polyphonic texture of the music. Traditionally, vocal music is more likely to be described as polyphony and instrumental music is more likely to be described as counterpoint. But all of these terms refer to two or more independent, simultaneous melodies. "Simultaneous" means the melodies are happening at the same time. "Independent" means that at any given moment what is happening in one melody (both in the rhythms and in the pitches) is probably not the same thing that is happening in the other melody. First, some examples of music that is not counterpoint. Obviously, there is no counterpoint if there is no melody at all. If there is one melodic line accompanied only by rhythm, or drones, or only by chords, there is no counterpoint. Even if different people are singing or playing different parts, it is not necessarily considered counterpoint if the parts are not independent enough, or if one of the parts is very clearly a dominating melody. Many traditional choral pieces are a good example of this. There are four very different singing parts (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass), and each part, sung alone, can seem like its own melody, a melody that does not sound at all like the melody of the piece. But the parts have basically the same rhythms, so that the effect, when sung together, is of chords being sung. "Barbershop"-style music is another good example of this homophonic, or chordal, kind of texture, which is not considered counterpoint. Now for some familiar examples of counterpoint. One of the simplest and most familiar types of counterpoint is the round. In a round, everyone sings the same melody, but they start singing it at different times. Although everyone is singing exactly the same tune, at any particular time different people will be singing different parts of it, so the final effect is of independent parts. You may also have heard some Bach fugues or inventions; there are no better examples of counterpoint than these. Another example that may be familiar is the soloist in a pop or gospel song who, after the refrain has been repeated a few times, takes off on a countermelody or descant part while everyone else continues to sing the refrain. The melody instruments in a dixieland band are also generally playing independent parts, giving this genre its "busy" sound. In fact, when music sounds very "busy" or "complex" or when there is so much going on that it gets difficult to decide where the melody is or what part to sing along with, it is likely that you are hearing counterpoint. Although there is plenty of music that has no counterpoint, independent parts are one of the most basic ways to make music sound rich and interesting. Even if a piece of music cannot really be called "counterpoint" or "polyphony", because it clearly has one melody, the accompaniment lines may still be quite contrapuntal. Even music that most people would describe as homophony or chords, because all the lines have exactly the same rhythm, is usually written following the rules of counterpoint.

VCE Notes Page 10 Counterpoint [continued] This gives the music a much richer, more interesting texture. Next time you are listening to your favorite song or your favorite piece of music, don't hum along with the melody. Instead, listen to the bass line. Listen to the inner voices and the instrumental accompaniment parts. Chances are that you will hear some interesting lines, even little pieces of melody, that are completely different from what you usually sing along with. Some Useful Terms

• Canon - In a canon, different voices (or instruments) sing (or play) the same melody, with no changes, but at different times. The melody is usually sung at the same pitch or an octave higher or lower, but there are also canons in which the second part comes in a fourth or fifth higher or lower than the first part. • Round - In a canon, obviously every section of the canon must "fit" with the section that comes after it. (In other words, they must sound good when sung or played at the same time). A round is a special type of canon in which the last section also fits with the first section, so that the canon can be repeated over and over without stopping. Rounds are usually pretty short and always start at the same note, or the octave. • Fugue - A fugue usually has at least three independent parts, or voices. The different voices enter at different times on the same melodic theme (called the subject), so that the beginning may sound like a canon. But then the different voices develop the theme in different directions. A second melodic theme (called the countersubject) is usually introduced, and the middle of the fugue gets quite intricate, with the subject and countersubject popping in and out of various voices, sometimes in surprising ways (upside-down, for example). • Countermelody or descant - Sometimes a piece of music that is basically melody-with-accompaniment (homophonic) will include a single part that is truly independent of the melody. For example, a choral piece might be chordal for a few verses and then, to keep the music interesting and fresh, add an independent part for a flute or for the highest sopranos on the third verse. This is a countermelody, sometimes called a descant part. Gospel and pop singers often add countermelodies, sometimes improvised, and classical music also contains many, many examples of countermelodies.

VCE Notes Page 11 Examples of Contrapuntal Music

• Pachelbel's Canon • Any piece of music titled "Fugue", "Invention", "Canon", or "Round" • Dixieland jazz

Examples of: Music that is not Contrapuntal

• Most church hymns and barbershop music • Most classic ragtime (Scott Joplin's rags, for example) • Most music for an unaccompanied classical guitar, for one unaccompanied bagpipes or accordion, for an unaccompanied string, woodwind, or brass player • plainchant (Gregorian chant, for example) • Most pop music with a solo vocalist

Rounds

VCE Notes Page 12

Countermelodies

Zum Gali Gali

Some more ideas on the elements of music.

Musical texture refers to both the horizontal and vertical relationships of musical materials. Western music usually assumes some sort of harmony if

there are more than two parts. Western harmony may not exist in non-Western music, but the terms may be useful in describing horizontal relationships.

Kinds of texture Monophony Musical texture with a single melodic line. Heterophony Musical texture in which the same melody is played by all voices and instruments but with variations and omissions depending on the

particular nature of the each. Polyphony Musical texture composed of two or more voices. Parallel organum Polyphony composed of a melody and a second part that parallels it.

VCE Notes Page 13 Drone Polyphony composed of a melody supported by one or two unchanging pitches. Homophony Polyphony composed of a melody supported by chords. Independent polyphony The melodic voices move in different directions. (The term "independent polyphony" is not necessarily recognized as standard, but it is useful to illustrate a point. Some scholars restrict the term "polyphony " to mean "independent polyphony.") Imitative polyphony The melody of one voice is based on another; it imitates it. Canon (or round) All or almost all the material of the first voice is repeated by one or more following voices. Fugue A single melody is repeated at different times by different voices.

Rhythm may be irregular but is usually regular. When regular it will have an underlying beat which is referred to in terms of meter and tempo. Rhythm can be defined as "the whole feeling of movement in music, with a strong implication of both regularity and differentiation in the division of time."

Kinds of rythm Polyrhythm The simultaneous use of strikingly contrasted rhythms in different parts of the musical fabric. Proportional rhythm “Normal” rhythm. Smaller rhythmic units are simple proportions of larger units.

Speech rhythm Rhythmic system of a musical composition wherein the rhythm is determined by the rhythm of the spoken text. Free rhythm Notes of irregular length with no discernible pattern.

“The pattern of fixed temporal units, called beats, by which the timespan of a piece of music or a section thereof is measured” Indicated by time signatures (for example, 2/2, 4/4, 6/8).

Isometer The use of a repeated pulse without its organization into groups.

Mixed meter The sequential use of two or more different meters in one piece.

VCE Notes Page 14 Polymeter The simultaneous sounding of two or more different meters. Nonmetric No sense of underlying pulse in the music. Chant “General term for liturgical music similar to plainsong, that is, monophonic and in free rhythm” [from “chanting”] “The psalm tones of the Latin (Gregorian) rite are monophonic and in free rhythm. The Anglican chants are harmonized and the cadence is in strict meter”. Tempo The speed of pulses or beats, usually indicated in beats per minute (MM).

Roughly speaking, scale is a list of the frequencies (in physics terms) or pitches which occur in a musical piece or music system. The term "scale" usually also implies that certain relationships between pitches exist, e.g., that certain pitches usually follow others. If these relationships are unknown it may be more appropriate to speak of a pitch inventory and/or tonal center(s).

Kinds of scale Gapped scale Scale with less than seven notes per octave as found in our system. Not a good term because it implies that something is missing. Pentatonic scale Five-note scale. This is a legitimate term but really tells us nothing except that there are five notes. The tonal pentatonic or anhemitonic pentatonic scale is a five-note scale with no semitones. It is fairly common throughout the world and corresponds roughly to the black notes on the piano. Raga A term used in (East) Indian musicology that

includes the concept of scale but also implies much more, such as the relationship of the notes and even melodic themes. Different ragas are associated with different concepts such as fire and the time of day. Range The pitch difference between the lowest and highest notes used in a musical composition. This term is also used to describe the absolute highest and lowest notes normally sung by a certain voice (for example, tenor, soprano) or normally played on an instrument. Tonal center The pitch around which the musical piece revolves.

VCE Notes Page 15 Modulation Change of tonal center or key within a composition

Writing about Articulation

Slur & Phrase - Music, like written prose, tends to be made up of short sequences we call phrases. If we look at Swift's 'A satirical Elegy on the Death of a late Famous General' - in which each line is a single phrase.

But what of what, his friends may say, He had those honours in his day, True to his profit and his pride, He made them weep before he dy'd.

Each line expresses a single idea which is the fundamental characteristic of a phrase. Of course, the choice of phrase length is not 'set in stone'. One might 'feel' that a more natural phrase length here is the pairing of lines (1 with 2, 3 with 4). This freedom to feel poetry in various different ways occurs too in music and phrasing is a matter best left to the performer to communicate to the listener as he (or she) thinks best. In the setting of words to music, the phrasing of the words tends to find its mirror in the shaping of the musical line.

The desire of editors and composers to make their intentions clear down to the very last detail has meant that phrasing is shown through the use of large sweeping 'slur- like' lines called 'phrase marks'. Slurs, which tend to embrace a smaller number of notes, help to shape the musical line even within broader phrasing marks and performers must be able to distinguish between them. On wind instruments, all the notes under the slur except for the first, are un-tongued, the breath flowing continuously while the fingers move. On stringed instruments, the equivalent effect is achieved by using a single sweep of the bow for each slur or phrase. On keyboard instruments the notes are played legato (smoothly) and with a light touch.

The slur removes the attack from the start of each note under it except for the first so providing a contrast in strength, a dynamic variety, between the first and the later notes. If slurring is to be effective, or indeed a distinction made between different phrases, the performer must avoid playing un-slurred notes too smoothly. Pre- nineteenth century music was played in a more detached manner than we associate, say, with the repertoire of the late-Romantic. The advantages of a detached manner when playing in a large acoustically resonant building become clear. When the notes 'ring on' around the room, the harmonies overlap instead of flowing neatly one into the other. Slurring, in such surroundings, would obscure the line, and so the performer has to be able to adjust the performance to the demands made by the surroundings by ignoring slur and phrase marks that may have become redundant.

VCE Notes Page 16

Slurs are distinguishable from ties, because ties only link together notes of identical pitch (e.g. B to B) while slurs never link together notes of identical pitch.

Tenuto & Staccato

The idea that music can be 'smoothed out' using slurs can be reduced to just a single note, which if normally played in a detached manner, would now need to be held for its full written value. This mark, a small horizontal line over or below the note head, is called a tenuto mark. If the use of tenuto is extended the composer may place the word tenuto in the score rather than pedantically marking every note.

The reverse, i.e. the shortening of a note by replacing part of its time value with a period of silence, is called staccato, a sign introduced into music in the late eighteenth century. This is marked with a small dot (for staccato) or a horizontal line and dot (for mezzo staccato), or a single 'quotation mark' or 'wedge' (for staccatissimo). Staccato means no more than sustaining the note, so marked, for only half its written length, replacing the other half with a period of silence. Some players mistakenly strengthen the shorter note in the belief that staccato is used to make a note rhythmically 'stronger' when it is actually used to make it 'weaker'. Mezzo staccato means hold the note for three quarters of its time value, while staccatissimo means hold the note for one quarter of its time value.

We give a number of examples below.

Slurs & Staccato

When used under a slur, the staccato mark will have a slightly modified effect depending on the 'weight' of the note within the slur were it to have no staccato mark. If a note is slurred in pairs, the effect is to sustain the first but slightly lift the second. The staccato mark, therefore, on either or both, must be seen to modify this

VCE Notes Page 17 relationship under the slur, so that if both carry staccato marks, the first note remains slightly longer than the second but the notes are now slightly detached from each other, the slur is therefore 'broken'.

The way a staccato mark under a slur is realised will also depend on the instrument for which the instruction refers. On a piano the staccato under a slur is a portato where the individual notes sound for three-quarters of their written duration. On a string instrument the staccato mark under a slur means detach the notes on a single stroke of the bow whether upstroke or downstroke. The bow does not change direction for the duration of the slur.

If the music is from the baroque period and the piece is slow and in a French style where you might expected to play the shortest notes, say the quavers, then if some quavers have staccato marks over them and a slur above the staccato marks then those quavers are to be played evenly.

Variety of Accents

An accent serves various purposes; as

1. a stress or special emphasis on a beat to mark its position in the bar; 2. a mark in the written music indicating an accent of which there are five basic types: staccato accents, staccatissimo accents, normal accents, strong accents, and legato accents with several combinations possible; 3. the principle of regularly recurring stresses which serve to give rhythm to the music.

Pressure Percussive Accents (1-4) Accent (5)

Strong Legato Normal Staccato Staccatissimo Accent Accent Accent Marcato Tenuto

Strong Light Accents Medium Accents Accent

Accent Name Description

Staccato Accent short and separated from the following note

Staccatissimo Accent an exaggerated short duration of the note

Strong Accent generally meant for attacks at loud dynamic levels of forte or louder

VCE Notes Page 18 Normal Accent moderately sharp attack that can be used at any dynamic level from pianissimo to fortissimo

Legato Accent this can be used at any dynamic level and is a slight stress without a noticable attack and held to the full duration of the note

Combined Accents (1-8)

Strong Strong Legato Normal Normal Strong & Legato & Normal & & & & & & Staccatissimo Staccatissimo Staccatissimo Staccato Legato Staccato Staccato Legato

Strong Accents Medium Accents

Accent Name Description

Strong & very percussive and shorter duration than Staccato notated Accents

Strong & Legato very percussive while retaining full Accents duration of notation

Strong & strongest percussive attack possible with Staccatissimo an exaggerated short duration Accents

Legato & stressed and moderately short, separated Staccato from next note Accents

Legato and stressed and quite short Staccatissimo

Normal & moderately percussive and short Staccato Accents

Normal & moderately percussive with full note Legato Accents duration

Normal & moderately percussive with short note Staccatissimo duration Accents

VCE Notes Page 19

Articulation on Wind Instruments

We summarise below information about articulation and accent as applied to wind instruments.

Woodwind articulation

usually marked by a slur, the first note only will be tongued and Legato the remainder of the phrase in play under a continuous stream of breath

Soft or every note is lightly tongued, with a softer syllable (du instead of tongued tu) legato

notes played half their written length, every note started and Staccato stopped by the tongue

Double fast alternating syllables, usually tu and ku tonguing

Triple like double tonguing but alternating tu, ku and tu tonguing

Flutter tongue a vibration of the tongue, as if rolling the syllable rrrr

Articulation on Stringed Instruments

We summarise below information about articulation and accent as applied to stringed instruments.

String players will apply bowing marks to indicate where the bow is to move up or down. The "up-bow" mark looks like a V and the "down-bow" mark like a square missing its bottom side.

The modern bow-hold has the bow held between the tips of the fingers and thumb with the palm of the hand facing down towards the floor. "Up" means start at the tip. "Down" means start at the frog which is where your right hand is. On most modern stringed instruments the "down-bow" is stronger than the "up-bow", this due mainly

VCE Notes Page 20 to the greater weight or downward force the player can apply with the bow to the string with the heel (near the frog) as opposed to the tip.

However, on the viol, where the bow is held differently, effectively lying in the palm of the hand with the palm facing upwards, the "up-bow" is stronger than the "down- bow" and the bow action will be reversed.

The freedom to bow without a change in direction, for example on long sustained notes, is more limited on the cello and double-bass than on the violin or viola because cello and double-bass bows are shorter. Where many notes are played under a single bow stroke, the player will mark the part with a slur. Because the "up" and "down" strokes have different strengths, it is natural to want to use the stronger stroke for strong beats and the weaker stroke for weaker beats. On modern stringed instruments, the performer naturally plays an upbeat with an "up-bow" unless indicated otherwise. On the viol, the same upbeat would be played with a "down-bow".

String players use a number of bowing terms which we list below.

Bowing Terms Description

On-the-string Bowings

Détaché separate bows for each note. This type of bowing is used when there are no slur markings over the notes

Legato player plays smoothly according to bowings indicated by the slur marks

Martelé (Fr.); notes are played with accented Martellato (It.); force, literally “hammered”. It Marcato (It.) indicates a fast, well-articulated, heavy, separate stroke, resembling a sforzando, or pressed accent. The indication for this may be dots, accents, arrowhead accents, or marks

Louré (or Portato, bow motion is legato, but with slight piqué) separation of the notes. It is performed with several notes in one bow direction, each note receiving a gentle “push” to separate it

Staccato (each note is 1. separate bow - notes are played separated) separated and with separate bows for each note 2. slurred - consecutive notes are played separated, but with one bow

VCE Notes Page 21 direction

Off-the-string Bowings

Spiccato (or saltando) 1. deliberate - usually in slow passages, player bounces the bow in a deliberate manner to give an interesting effect 2. spontaneous - (sautillé). The speed of the passage causes the player to instinctively create a bouncing motion with the bow. Sometimes described as “an uncontrolled spiccato” 3. slurred spiccato (staccato volante, flying staccato) - similar to slurred staccato except that the bow bounces on the string to create the separation of the pitches. Instead of reversing direction for each note as in ordinary spiccato, the bow picks up a series of short notes, usually on an up-bow

Jeté (ricochet) the bouncing motion of the bow creates 2 to 6 or even more rapid notes. This is usually with a downward bow motion, but up-bows are occasionally used as well. The cello and double bass can only execute about 3 consecutive notes, maybe 4, because of the shorter bow that is used.

Writing about Harmony

Harmony.

The simultaneous sounding (i.e. combination) of notes, giving what is known as vertical music, contrasted with horizontal music (counterpoint). Composers, in much the greater proportion of their music, maintain in their minds some melody which ranks as the principal one, and which they intend the listener to recognize as such, whilst other melodies which are combined with it, or chords with which it is accompanied, rank as subsidiary. The word chord may be defined as any combination

VCE Notes Page 22 of notes simultaneously performed, and even when the main process in the composer's mind is a weaving together of melodic strands he has to keep before him this combinational element, both as regards the notes thus sounded together and the suitability of one combination to follow and precede the adjacent combination.

At different periods composers have given more attention to one or the other of the two aspects of their work:

(a) the weaving together of melodic strands and

(b) the chords thus brought into existence from point to point.

The former aspect of the result is the contrapuntal element (see counterpoint in your handout “ the language we use in music” ) and the latter the harmonic element. In less elaborate music (as, for instance, a simple song with piano accompaniment) the contrapuntal element may be unimportant or even non-existent. Counterpoint necessarily implies also harmony, but harmony does not necessarily imply counterpoint.

Over a long period the resources of harmony may be said to have widened: The following definitions concern traditional and basic harmonic procedures:

DIATONIC HARMONY: harmony which confines itself to the major or minor key in force at the moment.

CHROMATIC HARMONY: harmony which employs notes extraneous to the major or minor key in force at the moment.

OPEN HARMONY: harmony in which the notes of the chords are more or less widely spread.

CLOSE HARMONY: harmony in which the notes of the chords lie near together.

PROGRESSION: the motion of one note to another note or one chord to another chord.

TRIAD: a note with its 3rd and 5th (e.g. C-E-G).

ROOT of a chord: that note from which it originates (e.g., in the common chord C-E- G we have C as the root, to which are added the 3rd and 5th).

INVERSION of a chord: the removal of the root from the bass to an upper part.

CONCORD: a chord satisfactory in itself (or an interval that can be so described; or a note which forms a part of such an interval or chord). CONSONANCE: the same as concord.

DISCORD: a chord which is restless, requiring to be followed in a particular way if its presence is to be justified by the ear (or the note or interval responsible for producing this effect). E.g., the dominant (seventh) and diminished (seventh).

VCE Notes Page 23 DISSONANCE: the same as discord. RESOLUTION: the satisfactory following of a discordant chord (or the satisfactory following of the discordant note in such a chord).

SUSPENSION: a form of discord arising from the holding over of a note in one chord as a momentary (discordant) part of the combination which follows, it being then resolved by falling a degree to a note which forms a real part of the second chord.

DOUBLE SUSPENSION: the same as the last with 2 notes held over.

ANTICIPATION: the sounding of a note of a chord before the rest of the chord is sounded.

PASSING NOTE: a connecting note in one of the melodic parts (not forming a part of the chord which it follows or precedes).

PEDAL: the device of holding on a bass note (usually tonic or dominant) through a passage including some chords of which it does not form a part.

Among some of the contemporary ways of organising rhythms are:

Bitonality—in which two contrapuntal strands or ‘parts’ proceed in different keys.

Polytonality—in which the different contrapuntal strands, or ‘parts’, proceed in more than one key.

Atonality—in which no principle of key is observed.

Microtonality—in which scales are used having smaller intervals than the semitone.

In the 20th cent. greater freedom in the treatment of the above procedures has developed, together with a much wider application of dissonance. Chords of 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th are treated as primary chords, and there has been a return to the use of pentatonic scales, medieval modes, and the whole-tone scale. An important revolution from 1910 was the abandonment of the triad as the principal and fundamental consonance. Composers such as Bartók, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Webern widened the music spectrum of tone-colour by showing that any combination of notes could be used as a basic unresolved chord. The tritone has been used as the cause of harmonic tensions in place of tonic-dominant relationships. Another 20th-cent. harmonic feature is the ‘layering’ of sound, each layer following different principles of organization.

Since 1950 much music has been composed in which harmony has hardly any place, for example in some of the serial works of Boulez and Stockhausen. Where non- pitched sounds are used, traditional harmony no longer exists and its place is taken by overtones, densities, and other concomitants of ‘clusters’, etc

Writing about Melody

VCE Notes Page 24 Is the melody used as a compositional device? i.e. does it contain elements that are used and further developed later in the work?

Describing a melody:

The use of pitched material [ especially related to the contour of the melody ]

How does the melody move? i.e. by step or by leap or both. Is it a lyrical melody? [ a tuneful melody] Does it have leaps? Does it feature these leaps? Is it angular or jagged?

Is the melody strongly integrated within the accompaniment?

Is the melody improvised around the harmonic structure of the piece? [If so, do the phrases used remind us of the original melody. You may like to talk about the effect of this].

What is the range of the melody? Where is it placed {i.e. SATB or register}

Is it focused on just a few notes? If it is, which notes does it focus on and can you think why?

What is the melody’s role in the overall texture of the work?

Are there any changes in dynamics? If so, where are these and what reasons are there for their use?

Are there any cadence or rest points? What effect does this have and why are these so placed?

Does the melody imply any harmonies [ i.e. by arpeggiation etc ]

Are ornaments or decorations used? Where and for what purpose?

How are rhythms used? What rhythmic variations, ideas etc and to what purpose? Is there very little, or a lot of syncopation in the melody?

Has the performer/conductor used a lot of license with the rhythmic treatment of the melody? Where do the accents fall and to what affect?

Is the melodic rhythm closely shaped around the syllables of the lyrics? [If so, how are these broken up, i.e. in phrases of what length]

Use of motifs - Does the melody have short motifs, or is it supported by another instrument in this way? [does this support occur at the same time, or antiphonally i.e. employing a “call and response” idea]

VCE Notes Page 25

Writing about Rhythm

RHYTHM (in the full sense of the word) covers everything pertaining to the time aspect of music as distinct from the aspect of pitch, i.e. it includes the effects of beats, accents, measures, grouping of notes into beats, grouping of beats into measures, grouping of measures into phrases, etc. When all these factors are judiciously treated by the performer (with due regularity yet with artistic purpose—an effect of forward movement —and not mere machine-like accuracy) we feel and say that the performer possesses ‘a sense of rhythm’. There may be ‘free’ or ‘strict’ rhythm.

The human ear seems to demand the perceptible presence of a unit of time (the beator pulse); even in the ‘free rhythm’ of plainsong this can be felt, though in such music the grouping into measures is not present.

Apart from such music as that just mentioned it will be found that the beats fall into regular groups of 2s or 3s, or of combinations of these (as a group of 4 made up of 2+2, or a group of 6 made up of 3+3). Such groups or combinations of groups are indicated in our notation by the drawing of bar-lines at regular intervals, so dividing the music into measures (or ‘bars’). The measures, in their turn, can be felt to build up into larger groups, or phrases (4 measures to a phrase being a very common but not invariable combination; cf. phrase).

It is chiefly accent that defines these groupings, e.g. taking the larger groupings, a 4- beat measure is normally accentuated something like this: 1,2,3,4. Where the measures have 3 beats an accented note is followed by 2 unaccented: 1,2,3 .

An example of free rhythm may be seen in much of the choral music of the polyphonic eras of music history (madrigals, motets, etc.): these may be said (in literary terms) to be in ‘prose rhythm’, as opposed to the ‘verse rhythm’ of most tunes for marching and dancing.

VCE Notes Page 26 Just as the traditional conception of tonality dissolved at the beginning of the 20th cent., so the organization of rhythm became more elaborate, irregular, and surprising. It can be divided into 2 categories:

(1) metrical, with irregular groups of short units,

(2) non-metrical, where there is no perceptible unit of measurement and no ‘traditional’ tempo.

Metrical rhythms predominated at the start of the century, but the different uses possible are illustrated by the contrast between Schoenberg's works c.1908-15, where constantly changing tempi and freer use of changing time signatures make the rhythmic structure highly complex, and Stravinsky's of the same period, where there are similar constant changes of time signature but the irregularities are much more clearly defined.

Syncopation has also invaded all types of music Although syncopated rhythm can be found in the earliest music, in the 20th cent. it has stemmed mainly from jazz.

Non-metrical rhythm can be discerned in Wagner and its possibilities were outlined by Busoni, who wrote of the tense silence between movements. being in itself music and more ‘elastic’ than sound. Messiaen in the late 1930s developed ‘ametrical’ rhythm and described in a treatise (1944) that the techniques he used were ‘augmented or diminished rhythms’, ‘retrograde’ rhythms, and ‘polyrhythm’. From 1940 composers such as Babbitt, Boulez, and Messiaen himself developed these tendencies, though some find the results ‘static’ rather than conveying the sense of impetus which is the function of rhythm. Further revolutionary attitudes to rhythm have developed since the 1950s, with the increasing use of indeterminacy.

Composers such as Cage, Stockhausen, Carter, and Xenakis have written works which leave the choice of duration and tempo to the performer. With the introduction of electronic and scientific techniques into composition, there seems no limit to the expansion and intricacy of rhythmic procedures in music.

In the “Expressiveness” of rhythm, we can use such words as rubato, allargando, accelerando, strict metrical approaches, showing when and where these occur, and drawing conclusions about their use reinforces the “Meaning” [i.e. what does the use of these symbolize] and/or expression.

VCE Notes Page 27

From the VCAA Study Design accredited from 2006 to 2009

APPENDIX This appendix of music terminology is provided as a guide for teachers in preparing courses across the four units of VCE Music styles. Throughout the study, reference is made to terminology included in this appendix. The terms have particular application in each unit according to the music selected for study. The examples are included to provide a broad and flexible understanding for the study. The intention is to encompass all styles of music rather than focusing on a particular tradition of music and/or music analysis. A music style is defined by the way in which the elements of music are treated. Works within an identifiable style should exhibit similar treatment of the elements of music. A style may encompass music of: • an era/period (for example, contemporary popular, bebop jazz, grunge, baroque, romantic, nationalist, impressionist, neoclassical); • a geographical area (for example, Indonesian gamelan music, Australian Aboriginal music); • a composer (for example, Lennon/McCartney, Arcadelt, Beethoven, Carl Vine); • a performer/s (for example, Aretha Franklin, U2, Louis Armstrong, Jimi Hendrix, Paganini). Elements of music The elements of music, depending on the style being studied, may be analysed with reference to: • structure/form; for example, large-scale structures such as symphonies, dance suites, and operas; medium-scale structures such as twelve-bar blues, sixteen and thirty-two bar song form, verse/ chorus, strophic, sonata form, binary, ternary, rondo, theme and variations, through-composed, fugue, round, canon, cantus firmus, metrical and/or harmonic cycles; small-scale structures such as motives and motivic development, phrasing, chord patterns, textural components, modulatory systems; • instrumentation; for example, the list of instruments/sound sources used; • tone colour; for example, the effect of the way in which the instruments/sound sources are used and the effect of techniques employed; combinations of instruments used at various stages in the work or excerpt; particular instrumental techniques employed such as muting, pizzicato, glissandi, flutter tonguing; production techniques such as reverb, chorus, distortion; • texture; for example, layers of sound (contrapuntal, polyphonic, chordal, homophonic, monophonic, heterophonic, pointillistic, unison); the density of sound (from light/thin to heavy/thick); tessitura (effect of pitch height on texture); • tonality; for example, modal, diatonic (major/minor – functional), pentatonic, polytonal, whole tone, chromatic, atonal, serial;

VCE Notes Page 28 • harmony; for example, triads, triadic extensions, cluster chords, organum, vertical pitch combinations and the interrelationship of chords (functional or non-functional), modulation, ostinato, harmonic rhythm (rate of harmonic change per bar), pitch centres; • melody; for example, the tune, tone rows, themes, horizontal pitch patterns and the characteristics of a melody such as intervals, phrasing, tessitura, shape, motives and, where appropriate, influence of text; • rhythm/time; for example, metre/time signature, pulse, length of notes, tempo, rhythmic motives and rhythmic devices such as syncopation, ostinato, augmentation/diminution, polymetres and cross rhythms; • dynamics/volume; • articulation; for example, the attack, release and decay of the sound; staccato; marcato; legato.

Compositional devices Compositional devices are inextricably linked to the treatment of the elements of music and represent the means by which a music work is developed. These may be seen at the: • micro level (for example, ornamentation, inversion, augmentation, diminution, fragmentation); • medium level (for example, imitation; use of sequence; modulation; re- orchestration; re-harmonising; addition/subtraction of melodic lines, rhythmic accompaniment, instruments or layers of sound); • global level (for example, contrast; repetition; variation). Compositional devices at the global level may occur in relation to the treatment of all the elements of music and their combination. These global compositional devices may also involve specific devices at the lower level/s. Compositional devices include contrast, repetition and variation. Contrast May be achieved via changes to the treatment of dynamics, orchestration, melodic shapes and/or registers, rhythms, metres, harmonies, textures, articulation and/or forms. This may include such devices as modulation, re-orchestration and/or the addition or subtraction of layers of texture. Repetition Can be seen in repeating such things as entire formal sections, melodic lines or phrases, rhythms, intervals, melodic shapes, harmonic patterns, timbres, riffs, ostinati. Variation Includes any change to an established pattern when heard again. This might include such things as shifting a melodic pattern to a new starting pitch; adding ornaments; expanding or contracting intervals in a melody; retaining melodic contour but changing pitches; changing to a new key area, tempo changes (gradual or sudden), adding or removing rubato or metrical changes, using a rhythmic figure in different places within the bar, adding harmonic accompaniment, changing harmony, adding or subtracting melodic lines or layers of sound, re-orchestration, changing register, changing articulation and/or sound effects. Conventions Common practices within music styles in the creation and performance of music. For example, improvisation in jazz styles, figured bass in Baroque works, lead drum calls in the music of Ghana, guitar effects and distortion in rock styles, sampling and editing techniques in techno music. Performance conventions may also include expected behaviours of both performers and audience; for example, the formality and silence within a concert hall setting; applause at the end of solos in many jazz styles; dramatic fl air and aggression within heavy metal; the structure of a North Indian raga performance in three parts.

VCE Notes Page 29 Context The context of any music should involve a study of influences on works and music styles, including cultural influences, social issues, practical issues, musical influences, practical and commercial considerations, and issues relating to the likely performer/s of the work; Some examples might be: • the geographical move of blues-based music from a southern rural context (Mississippi delta) to urban centres (Chicago) resulting in new instrumentation, stricter rhythms and expanded band arrangements; • the technological advances in the pianoforte from the eighteenth century through the nineteenth century, resulting in works exploiting the instrument’s range and dynamic capabilities; • the influence of Asian music on Debussy, The Beatles, John Coltrane, or Phillip Glass; the rise of computer-based music and sound production techniques resulting in new and sampled sound sources used in hip-hop, house and techno music; • the role of the French Revolution on social thinking and structure in Europe, and its effect on the music of the nineteenth century; • the beginnings of the recording industry which allowed for only three- to four- minute recordings and its effect on the structures of popular music of the time; • the cultural integration of music in the North Indian classical tradition resulting in the religious/ mood/temporal qualities of the Indian raga; • the systems of patronage, commissions, dedications and contracts in different periods and their effect on music created. Critical response Critical responses link a subjective response/s to music justifi ed by objective, analytical information evident in the music. Examples of critical response may include: • the driving, energetic feeling evoked in the Police song ‘Synchronicity’ is created by the rapid, consistent regular rhythms of the hi-hat and kick drum aligned with the unison rhythm of the bass; • the lush, rich and lyrical atmosphere of the fi nal theme of Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ is achieved by the use of unison, legato full string orchestration. The adjectives in these two examples – ‘driving, pulsating’ and ‘lush, rich and lyrical’ – are subjective responses to music. The analytical information is given in the statements ‘the rapid, consistent regular rhythms of the hi-hat and kick drum aligned with the unison rhythm of the bass’ and ‘unison, legato full string orchestration’.

REFERENCES

Some references used in compilation of the document:

http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/musical_forms.html http://cnx.org/content/col10218/latest/

VCE Notes Page 30 http://www.classicalarchives.com VCAA Music Study design

VCE Notes Page 31