Vocabulary List/Study Guide #1Music152, Spring 2014“Throw Down Your Heart”- A film about a traveling banjo player to Africa Documentary in 2009 Bela Fleck: Music tour/recording Four locations: Uganda, Tanzania, Gambia, Mali “Reuniting the banjo with its ancestors” A village in Tanzania where slaves were brought to the coast“Touch the Sound” Took place in NYC Evelyn Glennie: Deaf percussion playerAABB Type of form Dance music from the British Isles (Irish, Scottish music)Acoustics A scientific study of sound (Musicians shape sound) Sub-branch of physics African Music traits Extremely conversational Dense textures Interlocking parts Buzzy timbres Ostinato Descending melodies1Amplitude = power/loudness of sound Term comes from acoustics Physics use this for loudness & dynamics Loudness (of vibration) Volume dynamic level Refers to the power of sound (more loudness)Belá Fleck Central figure in “Thrown Down Your Heart” Plays banjoBinary form Form with 2 parts (AABB) (A-B) form with each section normally repeatedCadence The break or pause between phrases (comma, period, breath)Call and response African music trait Conversation style music Going back and forth (sing a line, then there is a response back) Musical Question & AnswerChordophone Type of instrument—String vibrates, makes noise Ex: Guitar Colonialism Foreign control (domination) with the purpose of extracting resources; political authority from the outside Impacted several styles of music Contour Shape of melody (Ascending or Descending pattern) Determined by culture; different cultures have a different preference on contour Counterpoint Type of texture; when there are multiple voices doing things melodically different and each are all equally competing for your attentionDescending melodic contours Melody that starts high and goes down (High to low pitch)Dynamics Means loudness/power of the noise or sound Higher the dynamics the higher the powerEdward Hall Anthropologist Mid-20th century (1960’s-1970’s) Made film from roof of school house; synced everyone together Determined most of our communication is non-verbal. All human beings are part of a non-verbal patterned behaviorEgalitarian society Type of organization (music reflects how we organize ourselves) Everyone is equally involved in decision making (Opposite of stratified or hierarchical society)Electronophone (1940) Type of instrument, vibrating part is the electromagnetic field Have to plug into an amplifier Ex: Electric guitarEnsemble More than one musician working/playing together Collection of instruments (Ex: Orchestra)Ethnomusicology Field that combines the study of music (musicology) with the study of culture (anthropology) How music is linked to the rest of lifeEvelyn Glennie “Touch the sound” (film) Deaf percussionist; had a unique way of playing and listeningFixed pitch Instrument that can only play one pitch The frequency of the vibrator doesn’t change; only capable of one pitch! Ex: Piano, harp, bell, harmonica Flow Theory in Psychology; State of mind recharged emotional batteries Motivated/produced by optimal experiences (everyone has their own) All of us are after a sense of flow For musicians, music is optimal experienceForm Architectural structure of music, how it is pieced together Ex: AABB (can be contrasted with content, letters of the alphabet)Frequency Speed of vibration (how fast something vibrates) Determines pitch High/low Faster =higher pitch; slower =lower pitchGriot Figure in West African culture Historian/story teller (handed down from one generation to the next) History keeper, keeps it in song; “Throw Down Your Heart”Ground and elaboration parts 2-part texture, found in African music Repeating phrase, bass, multiple instruments created fields of repeated phrases, someone creating solo line off of this Song: MansaHeterophonic texture Simultaneous variations All voices on the same melody, but out of sync Traditional Irish musicians, drunk people singing at bar “Happy birthday”Homophonic texture Texture with harmony (everyone on a different pitch but harmonizing) Everyone is playing the same song at different pitches Choir singing hymns, South African national anthem Idiophone Rigid instrument; whole thing vibrates Ex: Marimba, bellLoudness Volume, dynamic level, amplitudeMarimba 6 person instrument (Ugandian village) Resonator is in a large pit/hole underneath instrument (amplifier) Like xylophone but with wooden keysMelodic contour Shape of melody; culturally determined ascending or descending Melody Tune A coherent succession of pitches Has to make sense; go togetherMelody and drone Type of texture; 2 voices One pitch is holding steady Polyphonic texture Drone-steady held pitch; ex: bag pipesMembranophone Type of instrument; membrane is stretched/flexible skin Skin membrane vibrates Ex: Drums Meter Aspect of rhythm; organization of pulses and beats How we count musicMonophonic texture Single voice texture (sometimes more than one) One sound, or multiple voices doing exactly the same thingOptimal Experience Produces a sense of flow, varies from person to person Ostinato Italian= short, repeating phrase Riff, repeating phrase Ground partOvertones (partial vibrations) Creates timbre The voice of an instrument is determined by partial vibrations (comes out of acoustics, physics)Participatory musicParticipatory Music Invited participation; wants you to join in Physically engagedPhrase Short complete musical idea, repeated at a lower pitch Punctuated by cadences (pause)Pitch Tone Level of pitch is determined by frequency High or lowness of sound Caused by steady frequency (Vibration @ steady frequency)Polyglot Type of human being; knows many languages African society means many tongues, flexible communications Polyphonic texture Type of texture; multiple voicesPolyrhythm Multiple rhythms and metersPresentational music Listening to music Music that is presented to you rather than you being involvedPulse The beat, sign that music is alive Underlying sense of regular or irregularResonator Things that amplifies that sound
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