Mid-Term Study Guide

Mid-term Study Guide Chapters 1 – 7 According to your text, the musical element that makes the widest and most direct appeal is the melody. Musical sounds are represented by symbols called notes. The resting place at the end of a phrase is called a cadence. The distance between the highest and lowest tones of a melody is called the range. Music is propelled forward in time by rhythm. The basic unit of rhythm that divides time into equal segments is called the beat. The first accented beat of a measure is called a downbeat. A combination of three or more tones that constitutes a single block of harmony is called a chord. An interval of eight notes is called an octave. The first note of the scale is called the tonic. In Western music, the octave is divided into twelve equal intervals. Music based on the seven tones of a major or minor scale is called diatonic. When a melody is combined with an ornamented version of itself, often heard in jazz, the resulting texture is known as heterophony. A composition with strict imitation throughout is called a canon. A simple and more familiar type of canon is called a round. Form is the quality of a work of art which refers to its structure and shape. The rate of speed at which a piece of music is played is its tempo. The degree of loudness or softness, or volume, at which music is played is called dynamics. Tempo markings are generally given in Italian. 1 Chapters 8 – 11 Rhymed units in poetry are called strophes. The term timbre refers to the color of a tone. The standard ranges of the human voice, from highest to lowest, are soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Instruments that produce sound from a vibrating string are called chordophones. The instruments of the Western orchestra are categorized in four groups: strings, brass, percussion, and woodwinds. The guitar is NOT a member of the bowed string family. The soprano brass instrument sometimes described as possessing a brilliant timbre is the trumpet. The bass instrument in the brass family is the tuba. Timpani are members of the percussion family of instruments. A fairly large body of singers who perform together is called a chorus. Approximately two-thirds of a symphony orchestra consists of strings. Genre is a general term that suggests something of the overall character of a work as well as its function. The preservation of music without the help of written notation is called oral transmission. Musical style is best described as the characteristic manner of presentation of the work. Chapters 20 - 27 The approximate dates of the Baroque Period are 1600 – 1750. The primary tonality used during the Baroque period was major-minor. The canticle of Mary is generally known as the Magnificant. A drama that is sung is called an opera. The greatest native English composer of the Baroque was Henry Purcell. 2 The following statements describe the Baroque chorale – Chorales were intended to be sung by the congregation. Chorale texts are in German. Chorales generally have simple and memorable melodies. NOT – The congregation sang chorales in four-part harmony. Johann Sebastian Bach was most famous in his day as a performer on the organ. George Frederic Handel was considered a master of the oratorio. The stories for oratorios are generally drawn from the Bible. Handel’s Messiah is an oratorio. Later in life, Handel turned his efforts from the opera to the oratorio. In seventeenth-century New England, the Puritan practice of singing that is based on call and response was called lining-out. Baroque composers applied the concept of the suite to solo instrument music, keyboard music, and orchestral music. The typical solo concerto has three movements. The solo instrument in Spring, from The Four Seasons is the violin. The harpsichord, the organ, and the clavichord were important keyboard instruments during the Baroque Era, NOT the piano. The harpsichord is a keyboard instrument whose strings are plucked by quills. Chapters 28 - 35 In musical compositions, a theme is a musical idea that is used as a building block. Music for a small ensemble of two to about ten players with one player to a part is called chamber music. The string quartet consists of two violins, viola, and cello. The Classical symphony had its roots in the opera overture. The typical Classical orchestra consisted of thirty to forty players. In the Classical orchestra, the string section served as the ensemble’s nucleus. 3 The great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart rebelled against the patronage system and struggled to achieve financial independence. Eine kleine Nachtmusik is German for “A Little Night Music.” The first movement of a Classical concerto is in sonata-allegro form with a double exposition. The most popular solo instrument in the Classical concerto was the piano. Ludwig van Beethoven’s temperament could best be described as explosive and independent. Beethoven supported himself through teaching music lessons, publishing his music, and giving public concerts. Beethoven’s own instrument, for which he wrote numerous concertos and sonatas, was the piano. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 has four movements. During the Classical Era, the prevalent form of opera, which contained many recitatives and arias designed to display virtuosity, was called opera seria. A musical setting of the Mass for the Dead is called a Requiem. Mozart’s Requiem was his last work, incomplete at his death. 4 .

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