DOCSLIB.ORG

A Large-Scale Evaluation of Acoustic and Subjective Music-Similarity Measures

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Large-Scale Evaluation of Acoustic and Subjective Music-Similarity Measures Adam Berenzweig,* BethLogan, † Daniel ALarge-Scale Evaluation P.W. Ellis,* and BrianWhitman †‡ *LabROSA of Acoustic and Columbia University NewYork, NewYork 10027 USA [email protected] Subjective Music- [email protected] †HP Labs Similarity Measures OneCambridge Center Cambridge,Massachusetts 02142– 1612 USA [email protected] ‡Music,Mind &MachineGroup MIT MediaLab Cambridge,Massachusetts 02139– 4307 USA [email protected] Avaluablegoal in the eld of MusicInformation gained.In our previous work (Ellis etal.2002), we Retrieval(MIR) is to devisean automatic measure haveexamined several sources of humanopinion of thesimilarity betweentwo musicalrecordings aboutmusic similarity, with theimpetus thathu- basedonly on ananalysisof theiraudio content. manopinion must bethe nalarbiter of music Sucha tool—aquantitative measure of similarity— similarity, becauseit is asubjectiveconcept. How- canbe usedto build classication, retrieval, brows- ever,as expected,there are as many opinions about ing,and recommendation systems. To develop musicsimilarity asthereare people to beasked, sucha measure,however, presupposes some andso thesecond question is how to unify the groundtruth, a singleunderlying similarity that various sourcesof opinion into asingleground constitutesthe desired output of themeasure. Mu- truth.As we shall see,it turnsout thatperhaps sicsimilarity is anelusiveconcept— wholly subjec- this is thewrong way to look atthings, and so we tive,multifaceted, and a moving target—but one develop theconcept of a‘‘consensustruth’ ’ rather thatmust bepursued in support of applications to thana singleground truth. provide automaticorganization of largemusic col- Finally, armedwith theseevaluation techniques, lections. weprovide anexampleof across-siteevaluation of In this article,we explore music-similarity mea- severalacoustic- and subjective-based similarity suresin severalways, motivated by different types measures.We addressseveral main researchques- of questions.We are rstmotivated by thedesire tions. Regardingthe acoustic measures, which fea- to improve automatic,acoustic-based similarity turespaces and which modeling andcomparison measures.Researchers from severalgroups have re- methods arebest? Regarding the subjective mea- centlytried manyvariations of afewbasic ideas, sures,which provides thebest single ground truth, but it remainsunclear which are best-suited for a thatis, which agrees best on averagewith theother givenapplication. Few authors perform compari- sources? sonsacross multiple techniques,and it is impossi- In theprocess of answeringthese questions, we ble to compareresults from different authors, addresssome of thelogistical difculties peculiar becausethey do not sharethe required common to our eld,such as the legal obstacles to sharing ground:a common databaseand a common evalua- musicbetween research sites. We believethis is tion method. oneof the rstand largest cross-site evaluations in Of course,to improve anymeasure, we needan MIR. Ourwork wasconducted in threeindepen- evaluationmethodology, ascientic wayof deter- dentlabs (LabROSA at Columbia, MIT, andHP mining whetherone variant is betterthan another. Labsin Cambridge),yet by carefullyspecifying our Otherwise,we are left to intuition, andnothing is evaluationmetrics, and by sharingdata in theform ComputerMusic Journal, 28:2, pp. 63 –76,Summer 2004 of derived features(which presents little threatto q 2004Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology. copyright holders),we were able to make nedis- Berenzweig,Logan, Ellis, and Whitman 63 tinctions betweenalgorithms runningat each site. out of necessityto build usefulapplications using Weseethis asapowerful paradigmthat we would currenttechniques. Before proceeding, however, it like toencourageother researchers to use. is worthwhile to examinein more detail someof Finally, anoteabout the terminology usedin this theproblems thatbeset the idea of acoherent article.To date,we have worked primarily with quantitativemeasure of musicsimilarity. popular music,and our vocabularyis thusslanted. Unlessnoted otherwise, when we refer to ‘‘artists’’ or‘‘musicians’’ wearereferring to theperformer, Individual Variation not thecomposer (which frequently arethe same anyway).Also, whenwe referto a‘‘song,’’ wemean Thatpeople have individual tastesand preferences asinglerecording of aperformanceof apieceof is centralto thevery ideaof musicand humanity. music,not anabstractcomposition, andalso not By thesame token, subjective judgments of the necessarilyvocal music. similarity betweenspeci c pairsof artistsare not This articleis organizedas follows. First weex- consistentbetween listeners and may vary with an aminethe concept of musicsimilarity andreview individual’s mood or evolveover time.In particu- prior work.We thendescribe the various algo- lar,music that holds no interestfor agivensubject rithms anddata sources used in this article.Next, veryfrequently ‘‘soundsthe same.’ ’ wedescribeour evaluationmethodologies in detail anddiscuss issues with performing amulti-site evaluation.Then we discussour experimentsand Multiple Dimensions results.Finally, wepresent conclusions and sugges- tions for futuredirections. Thequestion of thesimilarity betweentwo artists canbe answered from multiple perspectives.Music may besimilar or distinct in termsof genre,mel- Music Similarity ody, rhythm, tempo,geographical origin, instru- mentation,lyric content,historical timeframe— Theconcept of similarity hasbeen studied many virtually anyproperty thatcan be used to describe times in eldsincluding psychology,information music.Although thesedimensions arenot indepen- retrieval,and epistemology. Perhaps the most fa- dent,it is clearthat different emphaseswill result mous similarity researcheris Amos Tversky,a cog- in different artists.The fact that both PaulAnka nitive psychologist who formalized andstudied andAlanis Morissetteare from Canadamight beof similarity, perception,and categorization. Tversky paramountsigni cance to aCanadiancultural na- wasquick to notethat human judgments of simi- tionalist, althoughanother person might not nd larity do not satisfy thede nition of aEuclidean theirmusic at all similar. metric,as discussed below (Tversky1977). Healso studied thecontext-dependent nature of similarity andnoted the interplay betweensimilarity andcat- Not a Metric egorization.Other notable work includesGold- stone,Medin, and Gentner (1991) andthe music Asdiscussed in Tversky (1977) andelsewhere, sub- psychology literature—e.g., Deutsch (1999) andthe jectivesimilarity often violates thede nition of a study of melodic similarity in Cambouropoulos metric,in particularthe properties of symmetry (2001). andthe triangle inequality. For example,we might In this article,we are essentially trying to pin a saythat the 1990s LosAngeles pop musicianJason single,quantitative measure to aconceptthat fun- Falkneris similar to theBeatles, but wewould be damentallyresists such de nition. Later,we partly lesslikely to saythat the Beatles are similar to Ja- justify this approachwith theidea of aconsensus sonFalkner, because the more celebratedband truth,but in reality weare forced into thesituation servesas aprototype againstwhich to measure. 64 Computer MusicJournal Thetriangle inequality canbe violated becauseof successhas been achieved for pitch trackingof ar- themultifaceted nature of similarity: for example, bitrary polyphonic music. MichaelJackson is similar to theJackson Five, his Acousticapproaches analyze the music content Motown roots,and also to Madonna.Both arehuge directly andthus can be applied to anymusic for pop starsof the1980s, but Madonnaand the Jack- whichone has the audio. Blum etal.(1999) present son Five do not otherwisehave much in common. anindexing systembased on matchingfeatures suchas pitch,loudness, or Mel-FrequencyCepstral Coefcients (MFCCs; these are a compactrepresen- Variability andSpan tation of thefrequency spectrum, typically com- putedover short time windows).Foote (1997) has Fewartists are truly asingle‘ ‘point’’ in anyimagi- designeda musicindexing systembased on histo- nablestylistic spacebut undergochanges through- gramsof MFCC featuresderived from adiscrimina- out theircareers and may consciouslyspan tively trainedvector quantizer. Tzanetakis (2002) multiple styleswithin asinglealbum, or evena extractsa varietyof featuresrepresenting the spec- singlesong. Trying to dene a singledistance be- trum, rhythm, andchord changes and concatenates tweenany artist and widely ranging,long-lived mu- theminto asinglevector to determinesimilarity. sicianssuch as David Bowieor Sting seems Loganand Salomon (2001) andAucouturier and unlikely to yield satisfactoryresults. Pachet(2002) model songsusing local clustering of Despiteall of thesedif culties, techniques to au- MFCC features,then determine similarity by com- tomatically determinemusic similarity haveat- paringthe models. Berenzweig,Ellis, andLawrence tractedmuch attention in recentyears (Ghias et al. (2003) usea suiteof patternclassi ers to map 1995; Foote 1997; Tzanetakis2002; Loganand Salo- MFCCs into an anchorspace ,in whichprobability mon 2001; Aucouturierand Pachet 2002; Ellis etal. models are tandcompared. 2002). Similarity lies atthe core of theclassi ca- With thegrowth of theWorld Wide Web,several tion andranking algorithms neededto organizeand techniqueshave emerged that are based on public recommendmusic. Such algorithms could beused dataderived from subjectivehuman opinion (Co- in futuresystems to index vastaudio repositories, henand Fan 2000; Ellis etal.2002). Theseuse
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 10 - Pathways to Harmony, Chapter 1
    Pathways to Harmony, Chapter 1. The Keyboard and Treble Clef Chapter 2. Bass Clef In this chapter you will: 1.Write bass clefs 2. Write some low notes 3. Match low notes on the keyboard with notes on the staff 4. Write eighth notes 5. Identify notes on ledger lines 6. Identify sharps and flats on the keyboard 7.Write sharps and flats on the staff 8. Write enharmonic equivalents date: 2.1 Write bass clefs • The symbol at the beginning of the above staff, , is an F or bass clef. • The F or bass clef says that the fourth line of the staff is the F below the piano’s middle C. This clef is used to write low notes. DRAW five bass clefs. After each clef, which itself includes two dots, put another dot on the F line. © Gilbert DeBenedetti - 10 - www.gmajormusictheory.org Pathways to Harmony, Chapter 1. The Keyboard and Treble Clef 2.2 Write some low notes •The notes on the spaces of a staff with bass clef starting from the bottom space are: A, C, E and G as in All Cows Eat Grass. •The notes on the lines of a staff with bass clef starting from the bottom line are: G, B, D, F and A as in Good Boys Do Fine Always. 1. IDENTIFY the notes in the song “This Old Man.” PLAY it. 2. WRITE the notes and bass clefs for the song, “Go Tell Aunt Rhodie” Q = quarter note H = half note W = whole note © Gilbert DeBenedetti - 11 - www.gmajormusictheory.org Pathways to Harmony, Chapter 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Use of Scale Modeling for Architectural Acoustic Measurements
    Gazi University Journal of Science Part B: Art, Humanities, Design And Planning GU J Sci Part:B 1(3):49-56 (2013) Use of Scale Modeling for Architectural Acoustic Measurements Ferhat ERÖZ 1,♠ 1 Atılım University, Department of Interior Architecture & Environmental Design Received: 09.07.2013 Accepted:01.10.2013 ABSTRACT In recent years, acoustic science and hearing has become important. Acoustic design tests used in acoustic devices is crucial. Sound propagation is a complex subject, especially inside enclosed spaces. From the 19th century on, the acoustic measurements and tests were carried out using modeling techniques that are based on room acoustic measurement parameters. In this study, the effects of architectural acoustic design of modeling techniques and acoustic parameters were investigated. In this context, the relationships and comparisons between physical, scale, and computer models were examined. Key words: Acoustic Modeling Techniques, Acoustics Project Design, Acoustic Parameters, Acoustic Measurement Techniques, Cavity Resonator. 1. INTRODUCTION (1877) “Theory of Sound”, acoustics was born as a science [1]. In the 20th century, especially in the second half, sound and noise concepts gained vast importance due to both A scientific context began to take shape with the technological and social advancements. As a result of theoretical sound studies of Prof. Wallace C. Sabine, these advancements, acoustic design, which falls in the who laid the foundations of architectural acoustics, science of acoustics, and the use of methods that are between 1898 and 1905. Modern acoustics started with related to the investigation of acoustic measurements, studies that were conducted by Sabine and auditory became important. Therefore, the science of acoustics quality was related to measurable and calculable gains more and more important every day.
    [Show full text]
  • Key Relationships in Music
    LearnMusicTheory.net 3.3 Types of Key Relationships The following five types of key relationships are in order from closest relation to weakest relation. 1. Enharmonic Keys Enharmonic keys are spelled differently but sound the same, just like enharmonic notes. = C# major Db major 2. Parallel Keys Parallel keys share a tonic, but have different key signatures. One will be minor and one major. D minor is the parallel minor of D major. D major D minor 3. Relative Keys Relative keys share a key signature, but have different tonics. One will be minor and one major. Remember: Relatives "look alike" at a family reunion, and relative keys "look alike" in their signatures! E minor is the relative minor of G major. G major E minor 4. Closely-related Keys Any key will have 5 closely-related keys. A closely-related key is a key that differs from a given key by at most one sharp or flat. There are two easy ways to find closely related keys, as shown below. Given key: D major, 2 #s One less sharp: One more sharp: METHOD 1: Same key sig: Add and subtract one sharp/flat, and take the relative keys (minor/major) G major E minor B minor A major F# minor (also relative OR to D major) METHOD 2: Take all the major and minor triads in the given key (only) D major E minor F minor G major A major B minor X as tonic chords # (C# diminished for other keys. is not a key!) 5. Foreign Keys (or Distantly-related Keys) A foreign key is any key that is not enharmonic, parallel, relative, or closely-related.
    [Show full text]
  • Unicode Technical Note: Byzantine Musical Notation
    1 Unicode Technical Note: Byzantine Musical Notation Version 1.0: January 2005 Nick Nicholas; [email protected] This note documents the practice of Byzantine Musical Notation in its various forms, as an aid for implementors using its Unicode encoding. The note contains a good deal of background information on Byzantine musical theory, some of which is not readily available in English; this helps to make sense of why the notation is the way it is.1 1. Preliminaries 1.1. Kinds of Notation. Byzantine music is a cover term for the liturgical music used in the Orthodox Church within the Byzantine Empire and the Churches regarded as continuing that tradition. This music is monophonic (with drone notes),2 exclusively vocal, and almost entirely sacred: very little secular music of this kind has been preserved, although we know that court ceremonial music in Byzantium was similar to the sacred. Byzantine music is accepted to have originated in the liturgical music of the Levant, and in particular Syriac and Jewish music. The extent of continuity between ancient Greek and Byzantine music is unclear, and an issue subject to emotive responses. The same holds for the extent of continuity between Byzantine music proper and the liturgical music in contemporary use—i.e. to what extent Ottoman influences have displaced the earlier Byzantine foundation of the music. There are two kinds of Byzantine musical notation. The earlier ecphonetic (recitative) style was used to notate the recitation of lessons (readings from the Bible). It probably was introduced in the late 4th century, is attested from the 8th, and was increasingly confused until the 15th century, when it passed out of use.
    [Show full text]
  • Music Content Analysis : Key, Chord and Rhythm Tracking In
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarBank@NUS MUSIC CONTENT ANALYSIS : KEY, CHORD AND RHYTHM TRACKING IN ACOUSTIC SIGNALS ARUN SHENOY KOTA (B.Eng.(Computer Science), Mangalore University, India) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2004 Acknowledgments I am grateful to Dr. Wang Ye for extending an opportunity to pursue audio research and work on various aspects of music analysis, which has led to this dissertation. Through his ideas, support and enthusiastic supervision, he is in many ways directly responsible for much of the direction this work took. He has been the best advisor and teacher I could have wished for and it has been a joy to work with him. I would like to acknowledge Dr. Terence Sim for his support, in the role of a mentor, during my first term of graduate study and for our numerous technical and music theoretic discussions thereafter. He has also served as my thesis examiner along with Dr Mohan Kankanhalli. I greatly appreciate the valuable comments and suggestions given by them. Special thanks to Roshni for her contribution to my work through our numerous discussions and constructive arguments. She has also been a great source of practical information, as well as being happy to be the first to hear my outrage or glee at the day’s current events. There are a few special people in the audio community that I must acknowledge due to their importance in my work.
    [Show full text]
  • The Chromatic Scale
    Getting to Know Your Guitar: The Chromatic Scale Your Guitar is designed as a chromatic instrument – that is, guitar frets represent chromatic “semi- tones” or “half-steps” up and down the guitar fretboard. This enables you to play scales and chords in any key, and handle pretty much any music that comes from the musical traditions of the Western world. In this sense, the chromatic scale is more foundational than it is useful as a soloing tool. Put another way, almost all of the music you will ever play will be made interesting not by the use of the chromatic scale, but by the absence of many of the notes of the chromatic scale! All keys, chords, scales, melodies and harmonies, could be seen simply the chromatic scale minus some notes. For all the examples that follow, play up and down (both ascending and descending) the fretboard. Here is what you need to know in order to understand The Chromatic Scale: 1) The musical alphabet contains 7 letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. The notes that are represented by those 7 letters we will call the “Natural” notes 2) There are other notes in-between the 7 natural notes that we’ll call “Accidental” notes. They are formed by taking one of the natural notes and either raising its pitch up, or lowering its pitch down. When we raise a note up, we call it “Sharp” and use the symbol “#” after the note name. So, if you see D#, say “D sharp”. When we lower the note, we call it “Flat” and use the symbol “b” after the note.
    [Show full text]
  • The Consecutive-Semitone Constraint on Scalar Structure: a Link Between Impressionism and Jazz1
    The Consecutive-Semitone Constraint on Scalar Structure: A Link Between Impressionism and Jazz1 Dmitri Tymoczko The diatonic scale, considered as a subset of the twelve chromatic pitch classes, possesses some remarkable mathematical properties. It is, for example, a "deep scale," containing each of the six diatonic intervals a unique number of times; it represents a "maximally even" division of the octave into seven nearly-equal parts; it is capable of participating in a "maximally smooth" cycle of transpositions that differ only by the shift of a single pitch by a single semitone; and it has "Myhill's property," in the sense that every distinct two-note diatonic interval (e.g., a third) comes in exactly two distinct chromatic varieties (e.g., major and minor). Many theorists have used these properties to describe and even explain the role of the diatonic scale in traditional tonal music.2 Tonal music, however, is not exclusively diatonic, and the two nondiatonic minor scales possess none of the properties mentioned above. Thus, to the extent that we emphasize the mathematical uniqueness of the diatonic scale, we must downplay the musical significance of the other scales, for example by treating the melodic and harmonic minor scales merely as modifications of the natural minor. The difficulty is compounded when we consider the music of the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in which composers expanded their musical vocabularies to include new scales (for instance, the whole-tone and the octatonic) which again shared few of the diatonic scale's interesting characteristics. This suggests that many of the features *I would like to thank David Lewin, John Thow, and Robert Wason for their assistance in preparing this article.
    [Show full text]
  • Scale Models of Acoustic Scattering Problems Including Barriers and Sound Absorption
    University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering Mechanical Engineering 2018 SCALE MODELS OF ACOUSTIC SCATTERING PROBLEMS INCLUDING BARRIERS AND SOUND ABSORPTION Nan Zhang University of Kentucky, [email protected] Author ORCID Identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2707-8716 Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2018.304 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Zhang, Nan, "SCALE MODELS OF ACOUSTIC SCATTERING PROBLEMS INCLUDING BARRIERS AND SOUND ABSORPTION" (2018). Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering. 119. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/me_etds/119 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Mechanical Engineering at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known.
    [Show full text]
  • How to Prepare for the Music Fundamentals Test
    How to Prepare for the Music Fundamentals Test On your audition day, you will be given a brief written music fundamentals test. Its purpose is to determine whether or not you are ready to begin Music Theory I and Aural Skills I during your first semester at Wheaton. The test is graded pass/fail, and both accuracy and time are factored into the results. Even if you have already taken music theory or aural skills classes, the test is mandatory. To prepare for the test, memorize the following: • Note names in both treble and bass clefs. • The relationships between basic note values (i.e., whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, 8th notes, and 16th notes), as well as their equivalent rests. • The meanings of dots, ties, and beams. • The meanings of 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 (C), 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8 signatures. • All 30 major and natural minor scales in treble and bass clefs. • All 30 major and minor key signatures in treble and bass clefs. If you are unfamiliar with any of the concepts listed above, desire clarification on them, or want to practice them, you are encouraged to visit the following websites: www.musictheory.net www.teoria.com www.emusictheory.com Revised April 2012 Scale and Key Signature Memorization Guide Major Scale Natural Minor Scale Key Signature C♭ Major C♭ D♭ E♭ F♭ G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭ A♭ Minor A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ F♭ G♭ A♭ G♭ Major G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ F G♭ E♭ Minor E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ D♭ Major D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C D♭ B♭ Minor B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ A♭ Major A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G A♭ F Minor F G A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F E♭ Major E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C D E♭ C Minor C D
    [Show full text]
  • Enharmonic 1
    Tagg: Everyday Tonality II — Enharmonic 1 Enharmonic Addednum to Tagg’s online glossary 3 pp., 2018-11-11, 11:22, enharmonic.fm ENHARMONIC mus. adj. characteristic of notes having identical pitch in equal-tone tuning but which for practical reasons are ‘spelt’ differ- ently. For example, the note b4 (≈494 hz) is much more likely to be written c$4 (≈494 hz) in the key of B$ minor, but it will inevitably ap- pear as b@ in its own key of B (Fig. 1: 1-2). Similarly, the individual note pitch g, apart from being itself (Fig. 1: 3), should be spelt f! (‘F double sharp’) in a G# minor context (Fig. 1: 4). Just as it would be mad to write d e g$ g@ (5 ^6 $1 $1) for a simple 5-^6-^7-1 run-up from d to g, it’s absurd to write the same 5-^6-^7-1 run-up in G# minor (from d# to g#) as 5-&7-$1-1 or as anything other than d# e# f! g#. Fig. 1. Enharmonic spellings and misspellings 2 Tagg: Everyday Tonality II — Enharmonic Fig. 2. Enharmonic ups & downs: 12 × 12-note chromatic scales (equal-tone tuning) Enharmonics aren’t just a matter of formal correctness, even though seeing, say, d# (‘D sharp’) when it should be e$ (‘E flat’) is a bit like reading ‘I no’ instead of ‘I know’. Enharmonic spelling has more to do with clarity and practical convenience. The idea is to let the notation- ally literate musician know about the immediate tonal context and di- rection of the line being performed, not least if the line is chromatic.
    [Show full text]
  • EKU Music Theory Study Guide
    Eastern Kentucky University Department of Music EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY Serving Kentuckians Since 1906 Music Theory Study Guide for Prospective Music Students Compiled by Dr. Richard Byrd TO THE PROSPECTIVE MUSIC STUDENT: We are excited to know that you are considering Eastern Kentucky University as your choice for musical training. While preparing to enter your particular field of interest in music, whether it be in teaching, performing, composition, arranging, administration, business, instrument design, instrument repair, therapy, or in any other music-related area, every music student should have a basic understanding of music theory. With that in mind, we believe that it is to your advantage to prepare yourself before you begin your college studies. Before you begin your musical studies at EKU, you will need to take a theory diagnostic exam to help determine your placement in the theory program. The EKU music theory and composition program is one of excellence. The music theory and composition faculty are nationally recognized educators, composers, and performers. Many of our students have participlated in national conferences and composition symposiums. After completing an undergraduate music degree, many of our students attain graduate degrees at prestigious colleges and universities, while others serve as music educators, work in the music industry, and perform professionally. The Bachelor of Music Theory and Composition degree (B.M.) is designed to prepare students for career in teaching at the college and university level. This degree also prepares students to successfully enter a graduate program in music theory or composition. At EKU students will be exposed to a wide variety of compositional styles, and will have the opportunity to compose music for a variety of instrumental and vocal combinations.
    [Show full text]
  • Acoustic and Plectrum Guitar
    ACOUSTIC GUITAR DIGITAL GRADES: TECHNICAL WORK 2 / Initial 3 / Grade 1 4 / Grade 2 5 / Grade 3 6 / Grade 4 7 / Grade 5 8 / Grade 6 9 / Grade 7 10 / Grade 8 Before you begin your technical work, you must close your book and remove it from your music stand. You may use a list of the scales/arpeggios/exercises/chord sequences/cadences/chord progressions you are performing but no information other than their titles and dynamics should be written here. You must hold this list up to the camera before placing it on the music stand. It is permissible for someone in the room to verbally prompt you to play each one, but no additional information to the above should be announced. 1 Acoustic Guitar - Initial DIGITAL GRADES: TECHNICAL WORK Candidates prepare either section 1 or section 2. Choice of technical work should be indicated on the submission information form. All requirements are in Trinity’s Guitar Scales, Arpeggios & Studies from 2016: Initial-Grade 5. Further information is available in the graded syllabus. Either: 1. Scales and arpeggios set A (from memory) All requirements should be performed. i) Scales: • C major • D minor to 5th, ascending and min. tempo: mf ii) Arpeggios: descending ♩ = 60 • G major • D minor Or: 2. Scales and arpeggios set B (from memory) All requirements should be performed. i) Scales: • G major • D minor to 5th, ascending and min. tempo: mf ii) Arpeggios: descending ♩ = 60 • C major • D minor 2 Acoustic Guitar - Grade 1 DIGITAL GRADES: TECHNICAL WORK Candidates prepare either section 1 or section 2.
    [Show full text]