Lecture Note #1

History of Music:
Imagine a world without music: - no songs to sing, no recordings to listen to, no music to dance
to, no soundtracks with music for films, no music at worship services or football games. No
wonder that music has existed in every civilization throughout history and can be found
everywhere in the world, even in the remotest places!

Do people need music? Music contributes to the quality of life. Human beings need music and
all the civilizing elements that create a meaningful life.

Discussion Topics:

1. How did music ever exist? For what purpose? Communication

Musical Example: Symphony No. 5 and Fur Elise by Beethoven

2. Oral Tradition

3. Development of notation system

NEUMES

• In the 9th century (1000), musical composition started developed in Western music
system of notation called NEUME

• Early stage of this musical notation system can be found in the musical example of the
“Gregorian Chant”
  Watch the following video: Neume
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi3FfVlObSY&ab_channel=ccwatershed

Let’s create NEUME

1. Create any sentence of your choice (to communicate)

2. Now, start to add pitch into your sentence (pitch means how high how low sound is)

Your Sentence__________________________________________________________________
NEUME

“amus omnes,” from the Graduale Aboense, was scripted using square notation.
  A Neume is the basic element of Western music notation prior to the five-line staff
notation. These neumes showed particular pitches with four-line musical staff.
 Neumes do not generally indicate rhythm, duration or tempo.
 The word “neume” is from Latin word “pneuma” (breath).
 By 1300, the neumes of Gregorian chant were usually written in square notation on a
staff with four lines.

Learning to Listen
Music is probably the only course that requires listening skill.
Please listen to the nature of melodies and themes, texture of the music, nature of the
rhythm and its patterns, changes in dynamic levels, the tone qualities, and finally forms
and structures.

I know these are a lot of new musical terminologies, but please start listening to
following musical examples to further develop your interest in music.

Personal Reflection

1. What music best expresses your individual identity?

2. What role does music play in your spiritual, physical, or mental life?

3. Please write your Listening Reflection of Musical examples below.

Musical Example #1: Gregorian Chant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo-yb-UDBHA&ab_channel=Psallentes
%E2%80%94HendrikVandenAbeele

Musical Example#2: Beethoven Fur Elise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mVW8tgGY_w&ab_channel=GeorgiiCherkin

Musical Example #3: John Cage 4’33”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTEFKFiXSx4&t=333s&ab_channel=JoelHochberg
Neumes

A neume (sometimes spelled neum) is the basic element of Western and Eastern
systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation. The word
entered the English language in the Middle English forms “newme”, “nevme”, “neme” in
the fifteenth century, from the Middle French “neume,” in turn from either medieval Latin
“pneuma” or “neuma,” the former either from ancient Greek πνεῦμα pneuma (“breath”)
or νεῦμα neuma (“sign”), or else directly from Greek as a corruption or an adaptation of
the former.

The earliest neumes were inflective marks which indicated the general shape but not
necessarily the exact notes or rhythms to be sung. Later developments included the use
of heightened neumes which showed the relative pitches between neumes, and the
creation of a four-line musical staff that identified particular pitches. Neumes do not
generally indicate rhythm, but additional symbols were sometimes juxtaposed with
neumes to indicate changes in articulation, duration, or tempo. Neumatic notation was
later used in medieval music to indicate certain patterns of rhythm called rhythmic
modes, and eventually evolved into modern musical notation. Neumatic notation
remains standard in modern editions of plainchant. By the thirteenth century, the
neumes of Gregorian chant were usually written in square notation on a staff with four
lines and three spaces and a clef marker
Music Listening Analysis Guide

Usually when we listen to music, we listen passively. In other words, we just let the music soak
in slowly and we do not listen to anything in particular. That’s fine but in order for you to
constructively master the musical listening analysis skill, you will need to learn what musical
elements are, and start focusing on those when you listen to a song.

Here are some examples of elements of music

Pitch: position of a single sound in the complete range of sound. Sounds are higher or lower in
pitch according to the frequency of vibration of the sound waves producing them.
Rhythm: in music, the placement of sounds in time.
Dynamic: how quietly or loudly a piece of music should be played
Musical Structure or Form: in music, it refers to the arrangement and order of the parts or
sections of the music. The. Structure of a piece of music is a predetermined order of each
section, and how many times it is, or is not repeated.
Harmony: the sound of two or more notes heard simultaneously.
Melody: musical sounds in agreeable succession or arrangement.
Texture: Texture in music is how the tempos, melodic, and harmonic materials are combined in
a musical composition, determining the overall quality of the sound in a piece.
Timbre: the quality given to a sound by its overtone.
Tempo: the pace or speed of the music. Higher tempo means a faster song, whereas a lower
tempo means a slower song. For Example, Allegro (130 BPM, means fast) and Adagio (60 BPM
means slow)

Also, here are some suggestions as you prepare to write musical analysis.
Do not let the word MUSICAL ANALYSIS intimidate you^^
It simply means, you are writing your reflections for the music you are listening.

This is just a guideline, and you are free to use any aspect of musical analysis style you want.
Please be yourself, and enjoy listening new styles of music.

1. What was your favorite part about the song?

2. Can you find the rhythm through-out the song?
3. How is the tempo of the song?
4. How would you describe the melody or tune of the song?
5. Is harmony used in this music?