Yusef Mohammed Rem D

Music
End of Year Revision

The Baroque
Dynamics are very simple, terraced dynamics. Same mood throughout.
Harpsichord
A keyboard instrument, closely associated with the baroque period. It produces its sound by
plucking of the strings with a plectrum of quill, leather, or today plastic.
Trills
The rapid alternation of the main written note and the note above it.

Canon
A device whereby a melody is one part or voice is imitated, note for note exactly, by one or
more other voices. Imitation is a device in which one part or voice copies another.
Canon is a very highly organised type of counter point
Counter point
The weaving together of two or more melodic lines.
Yusef Mohammed Rem D

Oratorios
An oratorio is a large scale work telling a story from the bible. It uses solo singers, choir and
orchestra. It is like an opera, but the story is religious.
Oratorios were originally performed in theatres, and certain music for solo singers, a choir,
and an orchestra.
There are four types of music in oratorio:

Arias (for solo singers with orchestra)

Recitatives (a solo singer and minimal accompaniment, often just the continuo)
Music, the chorus; and, (choir)
Music for the orchestra alone

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Symphony no. 9

Beethoven was born in 1770 and died in 1827

Ode to joy
Symphony 9 is a piece of orchestra usually having 4 movements (sections). This
piece, symphony no. 9 is unusual because it uses a choir in the 4 th movement.
Israel in Egypt

The tempo of this piece is allegro

The time signature is
The rhythm is a semi-quaver rhythm
The rhythm is a quaver rhythm

Extract one:
In the extract I think that the oratorio is a recitative, the tempo is andante. The dynamics is
mezzo forte.
Yusef Mohammed Rem D

Extract two:
In extract 2 I think that the oratorio is a chorus. The tempo is allegro. The dynamics is
fortissimo.
Unison
A unison texture is the simultaneous performance of the line of music by various
instruments or voices. It may be at exactly the same pitch or in a different octave.
Homophony
A homophonic texture is one in which one voice or part is melodic and the others are
accompinamental, and chiefly chordal.
Recitative
A recitative is a form of speech-like singing, free in rhythm, and cracking in structured
melodies, it is written with a basso continuo accompaniment-figured bass-allowing the
instrumentals to flow the singers spontaneous expression in the absence of a strict beat.

Continuo
The group of instruments used to provide the bass line in a work; basso continuo is the
name of the dotted bass line with these instruments play
Da Capo
Literally to the head. An instruction to go back to the beginning of the piece
Cadenza
An improvised or written-out solo, a moment of display for the soloist or singer.

Aria
An aria is a self-contained song for solo voice, often forming part of an opera or other large
work. In the baroque period:
1. The accompanying orchestra will consist mainly of string instruments
2. It will use a da-capo from (A, B, A1); and,
Yusef Mohammed Rem D

3. There will be frequent ornamental and often a cadenza in the A 1 section

State the obvious

The tempo is allegro

The rhythm is dotted, and there is a triplet
The metre is
The key is G major
The melody contains a descending scale, it is imitated

Form
Using repetition and contrast, the organisation of musical ideas in time.
African Music

Sub- Saharan Africa

4 time (metre is 4) but feels like 12/8- we get cross-rhythms/ polyrhythms at the
same time)
Djembe- most common drum
Talking drum-changes pitch, originally conveys messages
Ululations- voice
Led by drum master
Dun-dun drum is a bass
Other instruments

Rattle
Mbira (thumb piano)
African harp
Xylophone (cords for resonance)
Kora (21 strings)
Yusef Mohammed Rem D

Vocal music

Call and response

Harmony is produced through parallel melodies-no major/ minor tonality
Often used to accompany work or activities
Call and response
Harmony-parallel melodies, not chords
African Music For Rems
Rhythm example Music Wordwide track 1 Listen/brainstorm write ideas on board
Has a metre of 4 (4 time). Often feels like (though not written) 12/8 (like blues) with
emphasis on beat 2 and 4 (poss clapped). Ostinatos. Gradual metamorphoses?
Improvised over
Several rhythm patterns played at the same time polyrhythm (as if they had
different time signatures (eg 3 against 4). Show eg p6 Ass 5
Sub-Saharan Africa. http://www.mapsofworld.com/africa/
Djembe
Master Drummer -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G6ewcEMefw&list=PLVJg0YI55TisbzxCS-
l1oLfS1aOCYnvJO&index=4
Dun-Dun drum
Often the voices are used (Ululating)
Talking Drums (hourglass drum)
Originally used to convey messages
African languages are tonal and this is copied by drums. Show youtube and
describe the altering of pitch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4oQJZ2TEVI&index=5&list=PLVJg0YI55TisbzxC
S-l1oLfS1aOCYnvJO
Instruments vary and are all very personal - Hand made insts to suit individual
tastes/style. They performers dont learn to play them but they teach them to
speak.
Other instruments:
Rattle
Thumb piano Many names but Mbira or ubo Made from a hollow box (can be a
gourd). Metal or bamboo strips are flicked with thumbs of both hands. Usually
pentatonic
Xylophone gourds used for resonators
Kora African harp like thing, 21 strings. Sit opposite it and play with forefingers.
Often to accompany singing.
Vocal Music
Songs accompany work (repetitive physical)
Call and response still used in gospel etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9fNc-
_ZsEM&index=9&list=PLVJg0YI55TisbzxCS-l1oLfS1aOCYnvJO
Yusef Mohammed Rem D

Songs to teach children (eg counting)

No fixed pitch. Based on scales/intervals which are easy to sing un-tempered often
pentatonic. Like much other folk music
South African close harmony/parallel melodies. Often wrong harmonies are formed
by these parallel melodies as they do not stick to major/minor modes.
Often dance as they sing/costumes etc.
Ladysmith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiB6vT5HT3U&list=PLVJg0YI55TisbzxCS-
l1oLfS1aOCYnvJO&index=10
Childrens choir:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMWYc3AWOeo
Used for celebrations, people dancing, joining in etc. An everyday thing not concerts
Has had a big influence on popular music worldwide because of slave trade C16. jazz,
rock, reggae, soul, gospel

Origins-bleus

Turn of the 20th century

Originates from the southern states of America-particularly New Orleans
Mix of Africa + America folk music

Blues
Key terms:

Syncopated-unexpected off the beat emphasis in the rhythm of a musical phrase

Improvisation-spontaneously creating new melodies-making it upon the pot
Call and response-2 musical phrases where the second answers the first
Yusef Mohammed Rem D

Blue notes: out of key notes which give a distinctive bleusy sound. Flattened 3 rd,
5th and 7th degrees of the scale
Swing style-distinctive features of blues and jazz music-quavers are swung in a
listing, dotted rhythm style
Walking bass-walking pattern in the bass-regular rhythm. Unusually a note on each
beat of the bar.

Instrument

Early blues-guitar, harmonica- slow sad

Later blues-electrical guitars, electric bass, drums, keyboard/piano-faster, less sad

I(c) I(c) I(c) I(c)

IV(f) IV(f) I(c) I(c)
V(g) IV(f) I(c) I(c)/V(g)

12 bar blues
A set formation for blues music using the primary triads- chords I, IV, V
2 bars long-3 sets of 4 bars-A, A1, B
Blues Background and history
The blues is the name given to a style of music created by African-Americans at the end of
the 19th century.
Blues music was originally performed by one singer accompanied by guitar or banjo.
The lyrics are raw and full of emotion, dwelling on love and loneliness. They tell of injustice
and hopelessness, and the longing for a better life. They were passed on from musician to
musician through oral tradition and often use slang and double meanings.
They have a three-line verse structure where the second line repeats the first - A A B.
Sometimes singers improvised the words.
Many blues songs feature a short instrumental break (solo) after each line a sort of call
and response.
African slaves brought their musical traditions with them when they were transported to
work in the North American colonies.
Yusef Mohammed Rem D

Work songs were sung rhythmically in time with the task being done. They used call and
response in which phrases from a lead singer were followed by the others. African music
combined with the folk music of the white European settlers to produce new styles of
music.
Most blues songs:

have four beats in a bar

are built on the 12-bar blues form
use three four-bar phrases
Use a blues scale - Blue notes are usually found on the third, fifth or seventh degree
of the scale. Guitarists can bend the notes out of tune by pushing the strings
sideways.

By the 1960s, blues guitarists such as Eric Clapton and others emulated this style. Many
more blues rock guitarists have followed. The blues has left its mark on all areas of popular
music and is the driving force behind white rock music. The 12-bar blues form the basis of R
'n' B (rhythm and blues), rock n' roll and jazz.

Scales

Tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone

Relative minors

To find the relative go to the 6th note of the major sale

Raise the seventh note

Yusef Mohammed Rem D
Yusef Mohammed Rem D

African Music For Rems

Rhythm example Music Wordwide track 1 Listen/brainstorm write ideas on board
Has a metre of 4 (4 time). Often feels like (though not written) 12/8 (like blues) with emphasis
on beat 2 and 4 (poss clapped). Ostinatos. Gradual metamorphoses? Improvised over

Several rhythm patterns played at the same time polyrhythm (as if they had different time
signatures (eg 3 against 4). Show eg p6 Ass 5

Sub-Saharan Africa. http://www.mapsofworld.com/africa/

Djembe
Master Drummer -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G6ewcEMefw&list=PLVJg0YI55TisbzxCS-
l1oLfS1aOCYnvJO&index=4
Dun-Dun drum
Often the voices are used (Ululating)

Talking Drums (hourglass drum)

Originally used to convey messages
African languages are tonal and this is copied by drums. Show youtube and describe the
altering of pitch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4oQJZ2TEVI&index=5&list=PLVJg0YI55TisbzxCS-
l1oLfS1aOCYnvJO

Instruments vary and are all very personal - Hand made insts to suit individual tastes/style.
They performers dont learn to play them but they teach them to speak.

Other instruments:
Rattle
Thumb piano Many names but Mbira or ubo Made from a hollow box (can be a gourd).
Metal or bamboo strips are flicked with thumbs of both hands. Usually pentatonic
Xylophone gourds used for resonators
Kora African harp like thing, 21 strings. Sit opposite it and play with forefingers. Often to
accompany singing.
Yusef Mohammed Rem D

Vocal Music
Songs accompany work (repetitive physical)
Call and response still used in gospel etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9fNc-_ZsEM&index=9&list=PLVJg0YI55TisbzxCS-
l1oLfS1aOCYnvJO
Songs to teach children (eg counting)
No fixed pitch. Based on scales/intervals which are easy to sing un-tempered often
pentatonic. Like much other folk music
South African close harmony/parallel melodies. Often wrong harmonies are formed by
these parallel melodies as they do not stick to major/minor modes.
Often dance as they sing/costumes etc.
Ladysmith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiB6vT5HT3U&list=PLVJg0YI55TisbzxCS-
l1oLfS1aOCYnvJO&index=10
Childrens choir:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMWYc3AWOeo

Used for celebrations, people dancing, joining in etc. An everyday thing not concerts
Has had a big influence on popular music worldwide because of slave trade C16. jazz, rock,
reggae, soul, gospel