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For Your Edification: The Basics of Music
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Charles H. Sampson
Jan 16, 2012, 2:13:19 AM1/16/12
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My family has been using a series of books called "The Intellectual
Devotional" for several years. Each book contains a series of 365
one-page essays, one to be read each day to gain knowledge of a
particular subject.
Most of these book are on a single subject but the one we're
reading now has seven subjects, one for each day of the week. Friday's
subject is music and the 52 essays appear to be taking the reader
through classical music, starting from no knowledge of music at all.
Below is the reading for the first Friday of the year. Remember:
No knowledge.
--------------------------------------------
The Basics of Music
Music is organized sound that can be replicated through imitation or
notation. Music is distinct from noise in that the sounds of a door
creaking open or fingernails on a blackboard are irregular and
disorganized. The sound waves that map these noises are complex and
cannot be heard as identifiable pitches.
Some of the basic ways that we analyze musical sounds are:
PITCH: How high or how low a sound is to the ear. Pitch is measured
technically by the frequency of a sound wave, or how often waves repeat
themselves. In western music there are twelve unique pitches (C, C-sharp
or D-flat, D, D-sharp or E-flat, E, F, F-sharp or G-flat, G, G-sharp or
A-flat, A, A-sharp or B-flat, and B). The pitches followed by sharps or
flats are called accidentals, and they are most easily described as the
black keys on the piano keyboard. They are located musically one half
step between the two pitches on either side of them. For example,
D-sharp and E-flat have the same pitch. When referring to pitches in the
context of notated, or written music, they are called notes.
SCALE: A stepwise arrangement of pitches (for example, C, D, E, F, G, A,
B, C) that often serves as the basis for a melody, A piece, or a portion
of a piece, will often use only notes found in a particular scale.
Western music primarily uses the major scale or the minor scale, in one
form or another. To most people, the major scale, because of its
particular arrangement of pitches, has the quality of sounding "bright,"
"happy," or "positive." A minor scale, likewise, is usually described as
"dark," "sad," or "negative."
KEY: An arrangement or system of pitches, usually based on one of the
major or minor scales, that is meant to serve as a reference point and a
guiding force of a melody. The tonic of a key is often the starting and
ending point for a piece written in a particular key--so if a piece is
in E major, then the pitch E will serve as the piece's tonal center.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
1. All of these basic elements can be notated on the staff, which is a
repeating set of five parallel horizontal lines. Often it is divided
into measures to indicate metric divisions in the piece and marked at
the beginning of each staff of the page with a clef to indicate
reference points for identifying pitches.
2. When a piece strays from its basic key, this is called modulation.
Keys are indicated in written music by a key signature at the beginning
of each staff.
3. There are hundreds of scales used in the world's many different
musical cultures. In India, music played on the sitar and other
instruments chooses pitches from a collection of twenty-two
possibilities, with the distances between scale steps sometimes larger
and sometimes smaller than those used in Western music. This can make
differences between pitches extremely subtle and demands a high
virtuosity from Indian classical musicians.
--------------------------------------------
The next two essays are on melody and harmony, both equally
incomprehensibly organized. From that well-laid foundation, we then
launch into Medieval/Church Music, Instruments and Ensembles,
Renaissance Music, Baroque Period, ..., all in one page each.
Charlie
--
Nobody in this country got rich on his own. You built a factory--good.
But you moved your goods on roads we all paid for. You hired workers we
all paid to educate. So keep a big hunk of the money from your factory.
But take a hunk and pay it forward. Elizabeth Warren (paraphrased)
Devotional" for several years. Each book contains a series of 365
one-page essays, one to be read each day to gain knowledge of a
particular subject.
Most of these book are on a single subject but the one we're
reading now has seven subjects, one for each day of the week. Friday's
subject is music and the 52 essays appear to be taking the reader
through classical music, starting from no knowledge of music at all.
Below is the reading for the first Friday of the year. Remember:
No knowledge.
--------------------------------------------
The Basics of Music
Music is organized sound that can be replicated through imitation or
notation. Music is distinct from noise in that the sounds of a door
creaking open or fingernails on a blackboard are irregular and
disorganized. The sound waves that map these noises are complex and
cannot be heard as identifiable pitches.
Some of the basic ways that we analyze musical sounds are:
PITCH: How high or how low a sound is to the ear. Pitch is measured
technically by the frequency of a sound wave, or how often waves repeat
themselves. In western music there are twelve unique pitches (C, C-sharp
or D-flat, D, D-sharp or E-flat, E, F, F-sharp or G-flat, G, G-sharp or
A-flat, A, A-sharp or B-flat, and B). The pitches followed by sharps or
flats are called accidentals, and they are most easily described as the
black keys on the piano keyboard. They are located musically one half
step between the two pitches on either side of them. For example,
D-sharp and E-flat have the same pitch. When referring to pitches in the
context of notated, or written music, they are called notes.
SCALE: A stepwise arrangement of pitches (for example, C, D, E, F, G, A,
B, C) that often serves as the basis for a melody, A piece, or a portion
of a piece, will often use only notes found in a particular scale.
Western music primarily uses the major scale or the minor scale, in one
form or another. To most people, the major scale, because of its
particular arrangement of pitches, has the quality of sounding "bright,"
"happy," or "positive." A minor scale, likewise, is usually described as
"dark," "sad," or "negative."
KEY: An arrangement or system of pitches, usually based on one of the
major or minor scales, that is meant to serve as a reference point and a
guiding force of a melody. The tonic of a key is often the starting and
ending point for a piece written in a particular key--so if a piece is
in E major, then the pitch E will serve as the piece's tonal center.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
1. All of these basic elements can be notated on the staff, which is a
repeating set of five parallel horizontal lines. Often it is divided
into measures to indicate metric divisions in the piece and marked at
the beginning of each staff of the page with a clef to indicate
reference points for identifying pitches.
2. When a piece strays from its basic key, this is called modulation.
Keys are indicated in written music by a key signature at the beginning
of each staff.
3. There are hundreds of scales used in the world's many different
musical cultures. In India, music played on the sitar and other
instruments chooses pitches from a collection of twenty-two
possibilities, with the distances between scale steps sometimes larger
and sometimes smaller than those used in Western music. This can make
differences between pitches extremely subtle and demands a high
virtuosity from Indian classical musicians.
--------------------------------------------
The next two essays are on melody and harmony, both equally
incomprehensibly organized. From that well-laid foundation, we then
launch into Medieval/Church Music, Instruments and Ensembles,
Renaissance Music, Baroque Period, ..., all in one page each.
Charlie
--
Nobody in this country got rich on his own. You built a factory--good.
But you moved your goods on roads we all paid for. You hired workers we
all paid to educate. So keep a big hunk of the money from your factory.
But take a hunk and pay it forward. Elizabeth Warren (paraphrased)
David O.
Jan 16, 2012, 1:00:42 PM1/16/12
to
On Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:13:19 -0800, csam...@inetworld.net (Charles H.
Sampson) wrote:
>3. There are hundreds of scales used in the world's many different
>musical cultures. In India, music played on the sitar and other
>instruments chooses pitches from a collection of twenty-two
>possibilities, with the distances between scale steps sometimes larger
>and sometimes smaller than those used in Western music.
Isadora Duncan
Sampson) wrote:
>3. There are hundreds of scales used in the world's many different
>musical cultures. In India, music played on the sitar and other
>instruments chooses pitches from a collection of twenty-two
>possibilities, with the distances between scale steps sometimes larger
>and sometimes smaller than those used in Western music.
Worked for Telefunken
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