1/28/2016 Music theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Music theory From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. It generally derives from observation of, and involves hypothetical speculation about how musicians and composers make music. The term also describes the academic study and analysis of fundamental elements of music such as pitch, rhythm, harmony, and form, and refers to descriptions, concepts, or beliefs related to music. Because of the ever­expanding conception of what constitutes music (see Definition of music), a more inclusive definition could be that music theory is the consideration of any sonic phenomena, including silence, as it relates to music. The present article is about music theory properly speaking, i.e. about theories, speculations and hypotheses made about the various aspects or music. It describes the elements of music only insofar as they give way to such theories; other informations about these elements will be found in other articles such as Aspect of music and the specific parameters of music described Pythagoras and Philolaus engaged in there. Textbooks, especially in the United States of America, theoretical investigations, in a often also include under the term "theory" elements of musical woodcut from Franchinus Gaffurius, acoustics, considerations of musical notation, techniques of Theorica musicæ (1492) (often tonal) composition (Harmony and Counterpoint), etc., which will not be dealt with as such here, but only as they were the subject of theories and hypotheses. Music theory is a subfield of musicology, which is itself a subfield within the overarching field of the arts and humanities. Etymologically, music theory is an act of contemplation of music, from the Greek θεωρία, a looking at, viewing, contemplation, speculation, theory, also a sight, a spectacle.[1] As such, it is often concerned with abstract musical aspects such as tuning and tonal systems, scales, consonance and dissonance, and rhythmic relationships, but there is also a body of theory concerning such practical aspects as the creation or the performance of music, orchestration, ornamentation, improvisation, and electronic sound production.[2] A person who researches, teaches, or writes articles about music theory is a music theorist. University study, typically to the M.A. or Ph.D level, is required to teach as a tenure­ track music theorist in an American or Canadian university. Methods of analysis include mathematics, graphic analysis, and, especially, analysis enabled by Western music notation. Comparative, descriptive, statistical, and other methods are also used. The development, preservation, and transmission of music theory may be found in oral and practical music­making traditions, musical instruments, and other artifacts. For example, ancient instruments from Mesopotamia, China,[3] and prehistoric sites around the world reveal details about the music they produced and, potentially, something of the musical theory that might have been used by their makers (see History of music and Musical instrument). In ancient and living cultures around the world, the deep and long roots of music theory are clearly visible in instruments, oral traditions, and current music making. Many cultures, at least as far back as ancient Mesopotamia and ancient China have also considered music theory in more formal ways such as written treatises and music notation. htCtps:o//enn.wtiekipnedtisa.org/wiki/Music_theory 1/29 1/28/2016 Music theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Contents 1 History 1.1 Prehistory 1.2 Antiquity 1.2.1 Mesopotamia 1.2.2 China 1.2.3 India 1.2.4 Greece 1.3 Middle Ages 1.3.1 China 1.3.2 Arabic countries 1.3.3 Europe 1.4 Modern 1.4.1 China 1.4.2 Arabic countries 1.4.3 Europe 1.4.3.1 Renaissance 1.4.3.2 Baroque 1.4.3.3 1750­1900 1.5 Contemporary 2 Fundamentals of music 2.1 Pitch 2.2 Scales and modes 2.3 Consonance and dissonance 2.4 Rhythm 2.5 Melody https://en.wikiped2ia..6orgC/whikoi/rMdusic_theory 2/29 1/28/2016 Music theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 2.6 Chord 2.7 Harmony 2.8 Timbre 2.8.1 Dynamics 2.8.2 Articulation 2.9 Texture 2.10 Form or structure 2.11 Analysis 2.12 Music perception and cognition 2.13 Expression 2.14 Genre and technique 2.15 Mathematics 2.16 Serial composition and set theory 2.17 Musical semiotics 3 Music subjects 3.1 Notation 4 Education and careers 5 See also 6 Notes 7 Sources 8 Further reading 9 External links History Prehistory Preserved prehistoric instruments, artifacts, and later, depictions of performance in artworks give insight into early music­making and as such, might implicitly reveal something of a prehistoric theory of music. See for instance Paleolithic flutes, Gǔdí, Anasazi flute. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_theory 3/29 1/28/2016 Music theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Antiquity Mesopotamia See also Music of Mesopotamia Sumerian and Akkadian tablets do include musical information of a theoretical nature, mainly lists of intervals and tunings.[4] Three tablets in particular, the first one known as the Philadelphia tablet (CBS 10996), the second one preserved in the British Museum (U. 3011), and the third one in the Berlin Museum (KAR 158), name intervals from a pentatonic or possibly a heptatonic scale. Another tablet from Ur (British Museum, U.7/80) similarly names the intervals for tuning a harp of seven strings, probably by a cycle of fifths.[5] These texts are concerned mainly with terminology and with mathematical descriptions.[6] China See also Music of China; Chinese musicology Much about Chinese music history and theory remains unclear.[7] The earliest texts about Chinese music theory are inscribed on the stone and bronze bells excavated in 1978 from the tomb of Marquis Yi (died 433 BCE) of the Zeng state. They include more than 2800 words describing theories and practices of music pitches of the time. The bells produce two intertwined pentatonic scales three tones apart, with additional pitches completing the chromatic scale.[8] Chinese theory starts from numbers, the main musical numbers being twelve, five and eight. Twelve refers to the number of pitches on which the scales can be constructed. The Lüshi chunqiu from about 239 BCE recalls the legend of Ling Lun. On order of the Yellow Emperor, Ling Lun collected twelve bamboo lengths with thick and even nodes. Blowing on one of these like a pipe, he found its sound agreeable and named it huangzhong, the "Yellow Bell." He then heard phoenixes singing. The male and female phoenix each sang six tones. Ling Lun cut his bamboo pipes to match the pitches of the phoenixes, producing twelve pitch pipes in two sets: six from the male phoenix and six from the female: these were called the lülü or later the shierlü.[9] The lülü formed the ritual scale to which many instruments were tuned. The name of the lowest sound, huangzhong also implyed 'musical correctness.' Its pitch formed a pitch standard, setting the base pitch of zithers, flutes and singers of imperial court orchestras. Straight­walled pitch pipes without finger holes were made of cast metal, their lengths specified by court regulations.[10] The resulting chromatic scale provided twelve fundamental notes for the construction of the musical scales themselves. The lülü also has a cosmological value: its notes describe the energetic frequency of the twelve months of the year, the daily rhythm of the twelve bi­hours of the Chinese clock, the twelve main acupuncture meridians, etc.[11] The two sets of tones (male and female) dividing the twelve­tone scale were generated by the "Method of Subtracting and Adding Thirds," or sanfen sunyi, which involved alternately rising a fifth and descending a fourth through the subtraction or addition of a third of the length of the preceding pitch pipe. The resulting pitches produced by adding a third (and descending a fourth) were referred to by Sima Qian in the Records of the Grand Historian (91 BCE) as pitches of "superior generation," that is, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_theory 4/29 1/28/2016 Music theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia the pitches of Ling Lun’s male phoenix; the pitches produced by subtracting a third (and ascending a fifth) were referred to as pitches of "inferior generation," that is, the pitches of Ling Lun’s female phoenix.[9] "Apart from technical and structural aspects, ancient Chinese music theory also discusses topics such as the nature and functions of music. The Yueji ("Record of music", c1st and 2nd centuries BCE), for example, manifests Confucian moral theories of understanding music in its social context. Studied and implemented by Confucian scholar­officials [...], these theories helped form a musical Confucianism that overshadowed but did not erase rival approaches. These include the assertion of Mozi (c468–c376 BCE) that music wasted human and material resources, and Laozi’s claim that the greatest music had no sounds. [...] Even the music of the qin zither, a genre closely affiliated with Confucian scholar­officials, includes many works with Daoist references, such as Tianfeng huanpei ("Heavenly Breeze and Sounds of Jade Pendants")."[12] India The Samaveda and Yajurveda (c. 1200­1000 BCE) are among the earliest testimonies of Indian music, but they contain no theory properly speaking. The Natya Shastra, written between 200 BCE to 200 CE, discusses intervals (Śrutis), scales (Grāmas), consonances and dissonances, classes of melodic structure (Mūrchanās, modes?), melodic types (Jātis), instruments, etc.[13] Greece See also Musical system of ancient Greece; List of music theorists#Antiquity Early preserved Greek writings on music theory include two types of works:[14] technical manuals describing the Greek musical system including notation, scales, consonance and dissonance, rhythm, and types of musical compositions treatises on the way in which music reveals universal patterns of order leading to the highest levels of knowledge and understanding.