MUSC 100 - Musical Terms

• -a perception of musical organization
• -controls time and emotion, allows one to gain understanding of new music, allows one to appreciate and communicate effectively music

the sensation of present, past and future

the present seems to be a consequence of the past and it will affect the future.

predictable pattern, repetition of formal structures, formulaic passages

• loudness --> amplitude
• timbre --> spectrum
• pitch --> frequency
• length --> duration

how much a sound dominates one's sensation

the quality of a sound that indicates what is making it and how

the quantity in which sounds with the same loudness and timbre can differ

a series of instructions on how to perform a piece of music

They are quicker to read (once you're trained) as well as more compact.

They are relational (f - fff), non-intuitive and non-proportional.

the change TO a sound FROM silence or another sound. The beginning of a process that the release ends.

the change FROM a sound TO silence or another sound

a particular instant (at which a change is perceived)/ a moment in time

the time that passes from an earlier timepoint to a later one. (time from onset to onset/release)

• the duration specifically from onset to onset (sound, not silence--> add value of note + succeeding rest)
• does not match the notation

the temporally directed quality of the duration of a process

when a process starts

when a process ceases

• a timepoint that draws our attention, a distinction of a timepoint compared to earlier timepoints.
• used to support musical structure

change --> the greater the change, the greater the accent?

• to draw attention to important events/notes.
• It divides time, calling attention to moments that are in the past while continuity directs time, reaching into the future.

• continuing a sound.
• a process that produces uninterrupted sound and usually unchanging loudness.
• makes a release sound like the end of an activity that began at a past onset.
• a way to create continuity and to make time directional. Sustaining makes the timepoint of the sound's release sound as if it is a consequence/result of the timepoint of the sound's attack

a series of consecutive durations --> changes in sound mark durations

a single line of independent melody

fff --> very very loud

ff --> very loud

f --> loud

mf --> somewhat loud

mp --> somewhat soft

p --> soft

pp --> very soft

ppp --> very very soft

increase in loudness to draw attention to a timepoint

sforzando

forzando

sforzato

fortepiano - loud then suddenly soft

• timepoint emphasized by duration of a note
• occurs when on a note that is longer than the immediately preceding note
• helps group notes into meters

stress at the onset of an interonset duration that is longer than the immediately preceding interonset duration

loudness, specified by descriptions and symbols

a process of gradual INCREASE in a perceivable and easily comparable aspect of sound (louder, rise in pitch, rougher timbre)

a process of gradual DECREASE in a perceivable and easily comparable aspect of sound (softer, fall in pitch, smoother timbre)

an activity that makes the present sound like it is a result of the past, and that enables the listener to anticipate a future.

• the way we perform sounds
• the way that a sound is attacked, sustained, and released. Affects how it connects to other notes, affecting the duration, continuity and accent.
• is different for every instrument

• the release of each sound happens at the onset of the next sound; there is no silence between them
• emphasizes continuity

a sound is released just before the next onset

• the sound is half its written value, exaggerating the silence before the onset of the next sound.
• interrupts continuity

• the sound is sustained evenly for its entire duration. Sometimes, the onset/duration of the sound is exaggerated.
• emphasizes and accents continuity

can create durational accents

music of only one voice

music of 2 or more concurrent voices

proportional lengthening

It comes from a single voice (no harmony), giving it continuity

• a rhythm/different durations in a voice which has continuity
• a distinctive beginning and ending

timbre, pitch, loudness or duration

distinctive

• substantial change from (relative) silence to sound
• substantial change in sound (dynamics, timbre, register, tempo, etc.)
• onset that starts a repetition

• before an explicit beginning
• at a significant change from sound to silence
• when a motive comes to an end
• at the last release of a rhythm

happens when we recognize the ending before it (explicit ending)

we recognize this beginning or if there is a significant change from silence to sound

happens if we recognize the beginning after it (explicit beginning)

happens if we recognize this ending or if there is a significant change from sound to silence.

the way that brief segments combine into long segments

when the end of a segment is so convincing that no subsequent beginning or change is needed to articulate it

• end the repetition
• culmination of a process
• formulaic- using a formula (ex: 1+1)