History Of Rock N Roll Terms – Complete Study Guide
Apollonian Right Ans - the Apollonian, following the Greek god Apollo --
god of harmony and reason -- emphasizes the objective, calm experience of
the reasoning mind, freed of the violent desires of the feeling body
Dionysian Right Ans - the Dionysian, following the Greek god Dionysus (or
Bacchus, in the Roman tradition) -- god of wine, of drunken ecstasy, of chaos
and unbridled physical pleasures -- emphasizes the subjective, passionate
experience of the emotional, erotic, sensous mind, very much rooted in the
body.
Rockism Right Ans - that rock 'n' roll, when you get down to it, amounts to
loud music played by white guys with guitars.
Common practice Right Ans - by 'common practice,' classical musicians
recognize the fact that, despite the evolution of different styles and historical
periods (baroque, classical, romantic, etc.), there was a shared vocabulary of
harmony, melody, form, texture, format, performance techniques -- a general,
complete musical language, which lasted for a very long time (very roughly,
1700 to 1920). the same thing is true in rock music: a set of musical
conditions was laid down beginning in the 50s (the 'baroque' formative period
of rock) and definitively in the 60s (the 'classical' period), involving guitars,
drums, bass, and possibly keyboards; a folk and blues grounding; a
straightforward electric amplification technology, subject to various forms of
tweaking; an emphasis on verse/chorus lyrics and, sometimes, improvisation
Beat Right Ans - the level of pulse that best expresses the heartbeat of the
musical flow. it tends to be on the faster side, like a heartbeat (vs. a walking
rhythm).
measure Right Ans - the grouping of beats into larger, clearly perceptible
units of time. since measures group beats, the measure is slower than the beat.
downbeat Right Ans - the pulse that marks first beat of each measure. the
downbeat is commonly the strongest beat of each measure.
upbeat Right Ans - any beat of the measure that is not a downbeat. (more
on this presently.)
,oral tradition Right Ans - principally learned and transmitted by ear,
written tradition Right Ans - written notation, sheet music, and the
classical
four beat feel Right Ans - four-beat time, 4/4 time, 4/4, or simply four
two beat feel Right Ans - two-beat time, 2/4 time (or 2/2), 2/4, or simply
two
swing beat Right Ans - swing rhythm (or feel, or beat; also sometimes
referred to as shuffle rhythm), because it gives a lilting or 'swinging' feel to the
beat; and it is, as you might expect, essential to the jazz style called 'swing.'
straight beat Right Ans - offbeats are equal, dividing the beat into two even
halves
backbeat Right Ans - this middle beat is usually called a backbeat, rather
than an upbeat. it provides a wonderful, vital opposition to the downbeat.
boogie or boogie woogie (rhythm style) Right Ans - boogie woogie conveys
a feeling of rhythmic power by pounding or leaning insistently on every beat
of the measure, making the music incredibly intense and exciting. boogie
rhythm is intimately connected to blues form and expression, and to dance
music.
syncopation Right Ans - meaning a musical attack that occurs on a
relatively weak beat (or offbeat) at the expense of a neighboring strong beat
which receives either no attack or else a much weaker attack that produces
the same effect as no attack.
walking rhythm or bass Right Ans - plays a note evenly on every beat of a
four-beat measure: 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 etc
timbre Right Ans - the specific, unique quality of sound made by any voice,
instrument, or combination of the two.
, pitch (fixed and variable) Right Ans - the higher or lower placement of a
note along the melodic spectrum. pianos are made in such a way that each
piano key can only strike one unvarying or fixed pitch, while the human voice
can create all kinds of variable pitch through bending and sliding, all the way
up and down its range
scale Right Ans - a generalized, implicit background framework of notes, on
which actual melodies are built
octave Right Ans - double, or halve, its rate of vibration
diatonic (major, minor, modal) Right Ans - denote the traditional scales
found in Western classical music and the traditional mainstream popular
music that emerged in relation to it. major: this diatonic scale is often said to
express strength or happiness, and is found in a great deal of music involving
affirmation, patriotism, and other strongly positive feelings. minor: this scale
is often said to express suffering or sadness, but can be used to express almost
any emotion, including grandeur, violence, or just plain good times.
chromatic Right Ans - this second basic scale type is often considered the
opposite of the diatonic. the chromatic scale is inherently dodecaphonic,
meaning that it has not seven, but rather twelve pitches: it uses all of the
seven diatonic scale notes (such as the white notes of the piano), plus five
more, commonly called sharps (meaning raised) or flats (meaning lowered)
(such as the black notes of the piano)
chromatic inflections Right Ans - added sharps or flats
Broadway harmony Right Ans - this kind of melody (or harmony, or music)
doesn't have to sound clashing or dissonant at all, because every chromatic
note is tied to a clear, familiar harmony and melodic line that is generally not
chromatic; but it does sound sophisticated, smooth, and at worst, slick in a Las
Vegas kind of way.
tonic, fifth degrees Right Ans - home note, 5th is a fundamental building
block for melody, and also for harmony, and there are good reasons for this
modal scales Right Ans - from the word mode, which is an ancient term
that is often taken to mean simply the same thing as 'scale'