MUAR 211, Art of Listening Class Notes, Day 01a

A. THE SIX BASIC ELEMENTS OF MUSICAL STYLE

1. ENSEMBLE ('scoring', 'orchestration': essentially what timbres are heard in the piece?)
What instruments and/or voices are included in the ensemble?
Is the work for multiple parts? strings + keyboard? solo voice + instruments?
Is there a harpsichord? a clarinet? a tuba? an electric bass? a 'drum kit'?
What role do the various instruments play within the work’s ensemble? Are they all
equally important or are some parts more prominent than others?
Are individual instruments used only in support roles, perhaps continuously doubling the
musical lines of other instruments?
Are the various instruments used to carry the main melody or perhaps even as soloists
within the work’s texture?

Vocalist(s)?
Does the work include vocalists? If so, what voice parts are involved?
If there is a text, what is the language and content/meaning of the text? Who wrote it?
Dynamics (the relative loudness or softness at any given point in the music)
Are the dynamics rather simple, perhaps consisting only of forte and piano? How subtle
are the changes in the dynamics?

2. MELODY (the 'linear component of music', pitch & rhythms in succession that form a
characteristic whole, often the most memorable part of musical texture)
Descriptions of melodic features may concern some of the following style traits:
Is the melody conjunct or disjunct?
Is the melody lyrical (of a seemingly vocal and ‘singable’ character), or is the melody
motivically oriented (often heard as more ‘instrumental’ in character)?

Is the melody generated by sequential treatment of either a single or very few, short
rhythmic motives: for instance, the Baroque Fortspinnung melodic type?
How large is the range of the melody?
Is the melody short and memorable or long and complicated?
Is the melody ‘phrased’ into regular, even-numbered rhythmic units or is it long, drawn
out, asymmetrical?

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3. RHYTHM
Rhythm involves all aspects of projecting and organizing the pulse in music, including:
Does the work have a beat (is metered) or does it not (non-metered or ametrical)?
meter: the most important large-scale subdivision of the beat into regular (or irregular)
patterns; can be duple, triple or assymetrical (can also change during the piece)
tempo: the relative speed of the beat
patterns of accentuation (accent): What beats are stressed more than others?
Is the basic pulse (beat) continuous, or does the pulse vary during the movement?
Are the rhythmic figures widely various (lots of different rhythmic motives) or are the rhythmic
figures conservative (just a few rhythmic figures used repetitiously)?

4. HARMONIC LANGUAGE / HARMONY

A discussion of a work’s harmonic aspects can involve an analysis of:
the juxtaposition of key areas within a single piece or movement,
the juxtaposition of keys among different movements of the same work,
the identification of normative chord progressions, cadential formulas, etc.,
the general and/or specific degree of chromaticism,
the general prevalence and treatment of dissonance,
the appearance of idiomatic, harmonic style markers related to a specific composer:
for instance, Debussy’s use of pedal tones to create harmonic stasis.

5. FORM: the large-scale structure of a piece

Form in music is an important style marker at both the smallest and largest levels, including at
the level of phrases, periods, larger subsections, major parts within movement-level formal
structures, and the arrangement of movements within multi-movement works.
We will use many specific terms to discuss the large-scale forms of movements:
binary form sonata form
rounded-binary form sonatina form
ternary form monothematic sonata form
ritornello form concerto sonata form
minuet & trio form sonata-rondo form
theme & variations form

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"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" – song (genre of piece) from the film score (genre of
larger work) of The Wizard of Oz (music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, 1939)
https://youtu.be/PSZxmZmBfnU

'song form' A-A-B-A

A "Somewhere over the rainbow . . ."
A "Somewhere over the rainbow . . ."
B "Someday I'll wish upon a start . . . "
A "Somewhere over the rainbow . . . "
(coda)
tonic key (32 beats in 8 bars)
tonic key (32 beats in 8 bars)
new key (32 beats in 8 bars)
tonic key (32 beats in 8 bars)
repeat of phrase & 'closing material'

6. TEXTURE
How many individual parts (not individual players) are there in the music, and what is the
relationship between these parts?
Are any of the parts doubling one another (i.e., more than one person playing the same part)?
The texture of a piece may be described in various ways, more or less specifically. The texture
of a piece (or subsection of a piece) can be described simply by the number of individual,
discernible parts (often called ‘voices’ even when played by instruments) in the music: for
instance, two-voice texture, three-voice texture, etc.
There are also a variety of specific terms that described the relationship(s) between these parts:
monophonic texture monophony
polyphonic texture polyphony, counterpoint, contrapuntal texture
homophonic texture homophony
heterophonic texture heterophony

B. THE ORGANIZATION OF SOUND IN WESTERN MUSIC:

BASIC CONCEPTS AND VOCABULARY

1. SOUND: an audible event created by a physical vibration that is transmitted to the ear
through a medium (usually air). It is common (although, as we shall see, perhaps not necessary
or advisable) to divide all sound into NOISES and PITCHES (or music).
a. ‘Noise” might be described as a sound that contains many different frequencies at the same
time: for instance, white noise on the T.V., a car crash, a moving train, a ‘splash cymbal’, etc.
b. PITCH is a sound-producing vibration that oscillates (beats) at a definite and prescribed rate
of speed. Example: the pitch A = 440 MHz (beats per second)
Musical instruments are designed to produce focused, clear pitches through the manipulation of
lengths of pipe or string and/or through the closing and opening of holes in an instrument’s body.

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Since the early Medieval era, pitches in Western Europe have been designated using only the
first seven letters of the alphabet, in a system that repeats for each octave. (These are the letter
names of the white notes on the modern piano.)
A B C D E F G
Two other symbols are added to designate the pitches that fall between the seven listed above
(These are the black notes on the modern piano.):
 (called ‘sharp’) raises the pitch one half step (i.e., C is one half step higher than C)
 (called ‘flat’) lowers the pitch one half step (i.e., B is one half step lower than B)

 (called ‘natural’) may be added to a note that is neither sharp nor flat, simply for
clarity: i.e., the pitch C may be written simply ‘C’ or ‘C’, they mean the same thing.

2. INTERVAL: the distance in frequency between any two pitches, either upward (higher) or
downward (lower), regardless of how large or small the distance. Intervals might be described
generally as ‘large’ or ‘small’, but they can also be discussed much more specifically by a
variety of culturally-based (man-made) systems and terms.
There are specific names for intervals of specific size: for instance, a minor second (also called
a half step), a major second (also called a whole step), a major third, a perfect fourth, etc.
The designation of pitches and intervals can vary widely between various musical cultures,
although all musical cultures recognize the natural occurring phenomenon we call the octave.

3. OCTAVE: a natural phenomenon dictated by the physics of sound, and a fundamental

property of sound recognized in all musical cultures by a wide variety of names.
An octave is the interval between two pitches the frequencies of which are in a 2:1 mathematical
ratio: i.e., the higher pitch vibrates at twice (or 4x, or 8x, etc.) the speed of the lower.
Pitches that are one or more octaves apart are given the same letter name in Western music
theory.

4. EQUAL TEMPERAMENT: the man-made division of the octave into 12 equal intervals,
each of which is called a ‘half step’ or a ‘minor second’ (the smallest interval in the equal
temperament system). Instruments in Western Europe were tuned this way since about 1700.

5. MODE (later to be more commonly called a SCALE): a relatively small collection of

theoretically-defined pitches that are used in combination to create a musical work with a
specific ‘sound’ and/or function.
The pitches of a mode are carefully organized within a musical work in such a way as to
emphasize the consonance of one particular pitch, which is called the FINAL. The final is
therefore the pitch that sounds most restful, and will usually be heard at the end of the piece and
at other earlier important points of harmonic arrival (i.e., strong cadences).
The pitches of a mode define a specific network of intervals that give a piece of music it’s
‘sound’.

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6. CADENCE: a relatively, or even very important arrival, pause or ‘resting place’ in music,
often on the FINAL of the MODE if it is a ‘strong’ (conclusive) cadence.
Cadences are usually most marked by a sense of arrival or completeness, which is created
through the careful manipulation of rhythm and harmony.
Cadences occur at important ‘structural points’ within a piece of music: at the end of a phrase of
text, at the end of a purely instrumental phrase, at the end of a major section of a large work, at
the end of an entire work, etc.

C. OTHER BASIC TERMS FOR REFERRING TO MUSIC AND MUSICIANS

1. COMPOSER: the woman or man who actually created the original musical conception, often
(but not always) in a written (i.e., notated) form.
In Western classical music the composer is very often not the individual(s) who play the music:
i.e., who actually bring the musical conception into aural reality.

2. COMPOSITION (PIECE or WORK)

Any work of art may be referred to as a ‘composition’ (or ‘piece’ or ‘work’) without making
reference to the work's specific genre. These words are unspecific and therefore always correct.
However a SONG is a more or less specific category of music, and most music does not fit into
that category. Be careful how you use that term in this class!

3. GENRE: a specific category of musical composition, as defined by that composition’s

stylistic traits, taking all relevant aspects into consideration: for instance, a plainchant, an
organum, a
string quartet, a piano sonata, a symphony, an opera buffa, a rock opera, a polka Mass, etc.
A specific genre definition should provide a more or less narrow list of style traits that will be
shared by all works of the same genre and time period. Therefore, knowing the genre of a piece
of music can help you to know what to expect from the piece.
It is a fact of music history that some genres changed definition over time, so knowing the
style traits and genre of a particular work can often help you to know when it was composed.
Not all musical style traits are as important as others in determining genre, depending on the
genre and time/style period of the piece. For this reason, we will focus on different specific
aspects of musical style at different points during the semester. For instance, in the beginning
text (actual words, in various languages) and musical texture will be treated as most important.

4. SCORE: a piece of music that contains ALL of the parts in that piece. For reasons of
practicality, it is typical that each musician in a large ensemble, like an orchestra, is performing
from a piece of music containing only her part. Only the conductor would have a score.
5. PART: a piece of music that contains musical instructions for only a single instrument or
voice within an ensemble. Remember, however, that it is common for multiple players to play

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the same part (called doubling, tripling, etc.), so the number of performers and the number of
parts in a piece are often not the same.

D. MUSIC IS CULTURALLY DEFINED AND SPECIFIC

The old adage that “Music is a universal language” is, in fact, quite false. Although it is true that
all human cultures create music of one kind of another, the specific meanings, functions and
reception of that music can vary extremely between different cultural groups.
Musical experiences created within a specific culture and/or time period do not necessarily
‘translate’ into the same experience for a person from another culture and/or time period.
Understanding music—or any other artwork or other form of communication—requires ‘cultural
fluency’, an understanding of the work’s original CULTURAL CONTEXT.
Our seemingly innate or natural ability to react to music in a manner that is more or less mutually
agreeable (within our own culture)—our communal recognition of tension and relaxation, of
emotion and ‘meaning’, of form and movement in music—are all culturally defined. The
nuances of musical experience, therefore, are not transferable from one culture to another. The
only way to truly understand (or at least come closest to understanding) a music that is separated
from us by culture or time is to learn about that music’s original meaning for its original creators
and audience: its cultural context.