Chapter 8– Voices and Musical Instrument Families
People produce music vocally (by singing or chanting) or by playing a musical instrument.
The Voice as Instrument
- Human voice is the most natural of all musical instruments and the most widely used.
- Each person voice has a particular quality (or character), and range.
- Vocal ranges (highest to lowest)
- Soprano: highest female voice
- Mezzo-soprano: mid female voice range
- Alto (contralto): lowest female voice
- Tenor: highest male voice
- Baritone: mid male voice range
- Bass: lowest male voice
- The human voice has served as a model for instrument builders and players who have sought to duplicate its lyric beauty, expressiveness, and ability to produce vibrato (expressive throbbing effect) on their instruments.
Musical Timbre
- Property of sound include pitch, duration, volume and timbre (tone color)
- Musical timbre (tone color) – The quality of a sound that distinguishes one voice or instrument from another.
- Timbre is influenced by size, shape, and proportions of the instrument, the material from which it is made, and the manner in which the vibration is produced.
An instrument is a mechanism that generates musical vibrations and range (the lowest to the highest tone) and dynamic range (the degree of softness or loudness beyond which the voice or instrument cannot go.)
- A specific area in the range of an instrument or voice, such as low, middle, or high, is its register.
The World of Musical Instruments
- Instrument Categories
- Aerophones – produce sound by using air
- Chordophones – produce sound from a vibrating string stretched between two points (stings may move by bowing, plucking, or striking)
- Idiophones – produce sound from the substance of the instrument itself (may be struck, shaken, scraped, or rubbed)
- Membranophones – drum-type instruments that are sounded from tightly stretched membranes (can be struck, plucked, rubbed, or even sung into)
Chapter 9 – Western Musical Instruments
String Instruments: chordophones; these four string instruments are the “heart of the orchestra”
- Violin
- Viola
- Violoncello (cello)
- Double bass (bass)
Other string instruments
- Harp
- Guitar
- Acoustic – made of wood
- Folk music, popular (pop) music, as well as classical music
- Electric – electronically amplified instrument
- Jazz, popular (pop) music, rock music
- Banjo
- Mandolin
Woodwind Instruments: Aerophones; produce sound with a column of air vibrating within a pipe that has finger holes along its length.
Embouchure (entire oral mechanism of lips, lower facial muscles, and jaw) is important when playing woodwind instruments.
Woodwind Instruments with No Reeds
- Flute
- Piccolo
Single Reed Woodwind Instruments
- Clarinet
- Bass clarinet
- Saxophone
- Soprano sax
- Alto sax
- Tenor sax
- Baritone sax
- Used occasionally in the orchestra, and more prominently in jazz band and popular (pop) music
Double Reed Woodwind Instruments
- Oboe
- English horn (Alto oboe)
- Bassoon
- Contrabassoon
Brass Instruments – Aerophones/ cup-shaped mouthpiece attached to a length of metal tubing that flares at the end into a bell.
Embouchure (entire oral mechanism of lips, lower facial muscles, and jaw) is important when playing brass instruments.
- Trumpet
- French horn
- Trombone (large trumpet)
- Tuba
Other brass instruments
- Cornet
- Bugle
- Fluegelhorn
- Euphonium
- Sousaphone
Keyboard Instruments
- Piano (pianoforte) – percussion and string instrument
- Organ - Type of wind instrument
- Harpsichord
- Clavichord
Chapter 10– Musical Ensembles
Choral Groups – choral music is sung around the world (sacred music & secular music)
- Chorus – a fairly large body of singers who perform together
- Music is usually sung in several voice parts
- Gender specific, mixed voices, children’s choir
- Choir – traditionally a smaller group often connected with a church or with the performance of sacred (religious) music
- Madrigal choir and chamber choir are smaller, specialized vocal ensembles
- Both chorus and choir have soprano, alto, tenor, and bass (SATB) voice parts.
- A capella (in the chapel) – without accompaniment
Instrumental Chamber Ensembles
- Chamber music – ensemble music for a group of two to about a dozen players, with only one player to a part – as distinct from orchestral music, in which a single instrumental part may be performed by as many as eighteen players or more
- The essential trait of chamber music is its intimacy
- Different combinations for ensembles: Duos, trios, quartets, quintet, sextet, septet, and octet
The Orchestra
Symphony Orchestra – an ensemble of strings coupled with an assortment of woodwinds, brass, and percussion instruments.
Symphony – four movement orchestral work
- Each movement has a form (structure)
- String instruments are featured as the core of the symphony orchestra.
- Instruments of the orchestra are arranged to achieve the best balance of tone.
- Most of the strings are near the front, as are the gentle woodwinds.
- The louder brass and percussion are at the back.
Concert, Jazz, and Rock Bands
Band is a generic name applied to a variety of ensembles, most of which features winds and percussion at their core.
Concert band – wind ensemble found in schools, colleges, universities
Marching band – found in schools, colleges, universities, sports events, parades. Often features remnants from its military origins, including a display of drum majors (or majorettes), flags, and rifles
Jazz bands – generally includes reed section made up of saxophones and an occasional clarinet, a brass section of trumpets and trombones, and a rhythm section of percussion, piano, double pass, and electric guitar.
Rock bands – typically feature amplified guitars, percussion, and synthesizers.
Role of the Conductor
Conductor – leader of large ensembles (such as an orchestra), concert band, or chorus
- Conductors beat time in standard metric patterns to help the performers keep the same tempo. May use a thin stick known as a baton, which is easy to see
- Conductor also interprets the music for the group.
- Decides the tempo, dynamics
- Conductors rehearse ensembles in practice sessions, helping the musicians to learn and interpret their individual parts.
Process that a musical work undergoes before you hear it:
- Composition/Work is composed (written) by the composer (person who writes music)
- During rehearsals the musicians and conductors practices/interprets the composition
- During the performance, the listener hears/enjoys the work
Chapter 11 – Style and Function of Music in Society
Musical genres (categories)
- Sacred music (religious music)
- Secular music (nonreligious music)
Aesthetic judgments varies from culture to culture
- Chinese consider a thin, tense vocal tone desirable in their operas while Italians prefer a full throated, robust sound in theirs
Music of most cultures of the world is transmitted by example or by imitation and is performed from memory
- Oral transmission – preservation of music without the aid of written notation
The Concept of Style
- Style – the characteristic way an artwork is presented; the artist’s personal manner of expression – the distinctive flavor that sets one artist apart from all others
- A style is made up of pitch, time, timbre, and expression, creating a sound that each culture recognizes as its own
- Individualized treatment of the elements of music makes one musical work sound similar to or different from another – PITCH (melody, harmony, texture); TIME (rhythm); TIMBRE (tone color); EXPRESSION (dynamics, tempo)
- Western music vs. Other cultures
- Musical Styles in History
- Musical styles (or art styles in general) change from one age to the next, and each historical period has its own stylistic characteristics. Because of this we can tell at once that a musical work (or any art) dates from the Middle Ages or the eighteenth century
- Artistic, political, economic, religious, and philosophical influences shape the work of an artist.
