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All lecture notes for VPMA93 Listening to Music
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VPMA93 Lecture 1 – Introduction to Listening and SoundTimbre
Frequency – in acoustics, the number of complete vibrations or cycles per second in a vibrating system, such
as a string or a column of air; frequency is the primary determinant of the listener’s perception of pitch
Pitch– the relative position (high or low) of a musical sound, depending on its fundamental frequency (the
number of cycles per second of the sounding object); the faster the vibrations, the higher the pitch
Tone– a sound with a definite, consistent pitch
Harmonics– a series of frequencies, all of which are integral multiples of a single frequency termed the
fundamental; the secondary tones above a fundamental pitch that, taken in sum, help form the totality of that
sound
Overtones– a secondary vibration in a sound-producing body, which contributes to the overall tone colour;
also called p
artial
Sound envelope– the combination of characteristics defining the attack, steady state, and decay of a tone
Timbre– the character or quality of a musical sound as determined by its harmonics and sound envelope
VPMA93 Lecture 2 – The timbre of instruments
Hornbostel-Sachs system of instrument classification
● Idiophone: vibrations are produced by striking either one portion of the instrument against another, or
another object against the instrument
○ Joseph Kosma, Autumn Leaves https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhWuJ1NC5FI
● Membranophone: sound is produced by vibrations of a stretched membrane that is struck or rubbed
● Chordophone: sound is produced by a vibrating string activated by striking, plucking, or bowing
○ Jean Ritchie, Shady Grove https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDUNdRm5Toc
○ Henry Cowell, The Banshee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zFZ5DQkDsE
○ François Couperin, Les Baricades Mistérieuses (1716-17)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F8aQB-HY6k
● Aerophone: sound from a vibrating column of air is activated from a blow hole, a reed, or buzzing lips
○ Richard Strauss, Don Quixote, Variation II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=iAt31-ClUZQ
● Electrophone: sound is produced or modified by electronic means
Zither – an instrument in which the strings run the length of the body
Appalachian dulcimer – a plucked zither found chiefly in the Appalachian Mountains; it is held horizontally in
the player’s lap and strummed with a quill or the thumb of the right hand; the string nearest the player is the
melody string and is stopped either with a finger or a wooden bar; the remaining stings are drones
Drone – a continuous sound on one or more fixed pitches
,Sympathetic string – a string that is not normally played upon directly but that is set in motion by the
acoustical phenomenon of resonance
Sitar – a long-necked string instrument with a wide fingerboard with movable frets, a gourd-shaped body and
resonator, 7 principal strings (4 melody and 3 drones) and 12-20 sympathetic strings
Vibrato – a wavering of pitch used to enrich and intensify the tone of a voice or instrument; it is practised in
particular by wind players, string players, and singers; it is produced in string instruments by controlled
vibration of player's finger stopping the string and in wind instruments by breath‐control
Pizzicato – the strings are plucked with the finger rather than bowed
Cowell, The Banshee (1925)
There are four types of sound in this piece made by four distinct playing techniques:
1) sweeping the flesh of the fingers across the wire-wound strings
2) rubbing along the length of the wire-wound strings with the flesh of the finger
3) plucking strings with the flesh of the finger (pizzicato) (0:51)
4) rubbing along the length of the string with the back of the fingernail (1:08)
Richard Strauss, Don Quixote, Variation II (1897) (“The victorious struggle against the army of the great
emperor Alifanfaron”)
Characters:
Don Quixote (cello)
Sancho Panza (bass clarinet, tenor tuba, viola)
0:00 Don Quixote’s theme (Sancho Panza’s theme joins in at 0:11)
0:21 Our heroes encounter a flock of sheep
0:37 The flock slowly moves and the sounds of the sheep grow louder as the Don and Sancho draw near
1:01 Don Quixote charges the sheep
1:18 Don Quixote’s theme returns triumphantly after the sheep scatter
Tonguing – the use of the tongue for articulation in the playing of wind instruments; the tongue releases the
wind stream for an initial attack and interrupts it for successive notes that are separately articulated
Flutter tonguing – the tongue is fluttered or trilled against the roof of the moth, just behind the front teeth
Edgard Varèse, Poème électronique (1957-58)
0:00 Large bell toll, buzzes, squeals
, 0:43 Rattling sounds
0:51 Blips, squawks
0:55 Three-note chromatic ascent heard three times
1:10 Drill pitches, rattling chains, “bassoon”
1:30 Blips
1:33 Three-note chromatic ascent, followed by blips and squawks
1:45 “Seagulls”
2:05 Percussion instruments, electronic sliding sounds
2:34 Large bell returns, sustained tones
Etc.
Vocal sounds begin at 3:40; “you oughtta know” at 4:25
musique concrète – music in which the composer works directly with both natural and electronically produced
sounds recorded on magnetic tape
Orchestration: the art of employing instruments in various combinations; orchestration includes the concept of
instrumentation – the study of properties and capabilities of individual instrument
VPMA93 Lecture 3 – Melody, Tonality, Harmony
Melody – a succession of pitches that form a distinctive, coherent musical unit
Aspects of Melody:
• Range – lowest frequency to highest (narrow, medium, wide)
Ex. Piano (high range)
Anon., Gaude virgo salutata: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IHgCYmH_F8 (this piece ends
at 1:39)
• Contour – the shape of the piece, direction of the piece (level, undulating, ascending, descending,
arch-shaped)
• Motion – leaps in the piece (conjunct; notes very close together, disjunct; large leap in notes)
Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg, “Over the Rainbow” (1939): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSZxmZmBfnU
• Ornamentation – decoration (unornamented, highly ornamented)
François Couperin, Les Baricades Mistérieuses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F8aQB-HY6k
word-painting – the musical illustration of the meaning of a word or a short phrase of text
(for example, setting the word ‘rising’ to a rising melodic line or the word ‘falling’ to a falling melodic line)
madrigal – the main secular vocal genre of the 16th century
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