Basic music styles:
* Rock/Pop (many different flavors)
A genre of popular music originating in the 1950s; a blend of black rhythm-and-blues with white country-and-western; rock is a generic term for the range of styles that evolved out of rock'n'roll.
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music. Rock music also drew strongly on a number of other genres such as blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other musical sources.
Musically, rock has centred around the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with bass guitar and drums. Typically, rock is song-based music with a 4/4 beat utilizing a verse-chorus form, but the genre has become extremely diverse and common musical characteristics are difficult to define. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political in emphasis. The dominance of rock by white, male musicians has been seen as one of the key factors shaping the themes explored in rock music. Rock places a higher degree of emphasis on musicianship, live performance, and an ideology of authenticity than pop music.
Pop music (a term that originally derives from an abbreviation of "popular") is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented towards a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes. Pop music has absorbed influences from most other forms of popular music, but as a genre is particularly associated with the rock and roll and later rock style.
* R&B / Soul
A style of music developed by African Americans that combines blues and jazz, characterized by a strong backbeat and repeated variations on syncopated instrumental phrases.
Soul Music is a style of popular music developed by African Americans, combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues.
* Symphonic / classical
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. "Symphony" does not necessarily imply a specific form, though most are composed according to the sonata principle. Many symphonies are tonal works in four movements with the first in sonata form, which is often described by music theorists as the structure of a "classical" symphony, although many symphonies by the acknowledged classical masters of the form, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven do not conform to this model.
* Jazz (many flavors)
Jazz is a musical tradition and style of music that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th century American popular music. Its West African pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation, and the swung note (notes with equal written time values are performed with unequal durations).
* Blues
A style of music that evolved from southern African-American secular songs and is usually distinguished by a strong 4/4 rhythm, flatted thirds and sevenths, a 12-bar structure, and lyrics in a three-line stanza in which the second line repeats the first:
* Folk
Music originating among the common people of a nation or region and spread about or passed down orally, often with considerable variation.Contemporary music in the style of traditional folk music.
* Bluegrass
In bluegrass, as in some forms of jazz, one or more instruments each takes its turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others perform accompaniment; this is especially typified in tunes called breakdowns. This is in contrast to old-time music, in which all instruments play the melody together or one instrument carries the lead throughout while the others provide accompaniment. Breakdowns are often characterized by rapid tempos, and unusual instrumental dexterity and sometimes complex chord changes.
Bluegrass music has attracted a diverse and loyal following worldwide. Bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe characterized the genre as: "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's Methodist and Holiness and Baptist. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."
* Country
A type of 20th-century popular music based on White folk music of the southeastern US Sometimes shortened to country. A form of popular music originating in the rural southern US. It is traditionally a mixture of ballads and dance tunes played characteristically on fiddle, guitar, steel guitar, drums, and keyboard.
* Gospel
A kind of Christian music based on American folk music, marked by strong rhythms and elaborated refrains, and incorporating elements of spirituals, blues, and jazz.
* Opera
a drama set to music; consists of singing with orchestral accompaniment and an orchestral overture and interludes
Comparing and contrasting music styles:
I Want to Hold Your Hand (Classic Rock / Pop)
V's audio notes on I Want to Hold Your Hand
Text Notes:
- In the key of G
- up tempo, lively 4/4 rock beat
- happy, uncomplicated, easy to understand lyrics
- sound timbre: vocals, electric guitar, hand claps, with a beat
- Two bridge structure
- The last part of each verse concludes in a mini refrain "I want to hold your hand, I want to hold your hand"
- Bridge shifts to minor V chord (Dm7); quieter passage and nice melody change with harmony; bridge ends with louder dynamic staccato emphasis "I can't hide" 3X (CCD) and resolves back to G major
- Has both unison and harmony singing
- does not have a lead guitar break
- retards and end with dynamic chord punches on the word "hand" CCCCCC G; gives strong sense of finality
- Structure: intro / verse / verse / bridge / verse / bridge / verse / outro (intro aababa outro)
Dvorák 4th Symphony "New World" 1st Movement
1st Movement - Adagio (leisurely) - Allegro Molto (pretty quick)
V's comment: Listen for the three main themes and how they are developed and repeated throughout the first movement. Also listen to how the orchestra is used to achieve dynamics and changes in tonal color.
A video that shows the structure of the 1st Movement:
Lenard Bernstein discusses the complete symphony:
2nd Movement Largo (slow, dignified). Dvorák ’s tender tune shows how well he’d picked up American popular styles. It sounds like, but isn’t, a Negro spiritual. Much later, his tune was actually adopted as a spiritual (and given the title Goin’ Home).
3rd Movement Scherzo - molto vivace (very lively). Bright, bouncing tunes and snappy rhythms remind us of both sprightly Czech dances
4th Movement Allegro con fuoco (fast and fiery). Dvorák cuts loose in a big way, mixing stacks of great new tunes with ones we’ve already heard and leads to the climax of the coda.
Classic Rock & Classical
The Cream & Chopin
Blues and Bluegrass
Muddy Waters & Bill Monroe
Folk and Classical
Sandy Denny and William Walton (Crown Imperial March)
Classical, Jazz, R&B, and African Drumming
An example of polyphony
Jazz improvisation
Nice organ and piano accompaniment with tight horn arrangement. Strong medium tempo beat. Has gospel flavor.
Classical and Jazz
Jazz improvisation
Bluegrass and R&B
Bluegrass improvisation
Modern Pop and Modern Country
Structure of Only Exception
(Slow Tempo)
Intro (mainly acoustic guitar and electric piano)
1. Verse
2.Verse
Chorus (one line repeats 4x)
3.Verse (adds harmony and bass)
4.Verse
Chorus (with drums)
Short instrumental leads into Bridge
Vocal Bridge
Chorus repeats softer at first with only acoustic then builds to outro
Outro retads
Structure of Teardrops on My Guitar
(Slow Tempo)
Intro (with banjo and pedal steel guitar)
1. Verse (acoustic guitar and light beat song in whisper)
2. Verse (more banjo and pedal steel)
Chorus with harmony
3.Verse
Chorus
Guitar lead break
Half verse leads to chorus
Chorus
Repeat half of 1st verse sung quietly with less accompaniment and retard
Music Terms (from Wikipedia and online dictionaries):
Sonata Form
Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven developed the idea of sonata form. A movement in sonata form has three sections called: “exposition”, “development” and “recapitulation”.
In the exposition we hear all the main material: the first tune- or group of tunes - in the main key, then a contrasting tune or tunes in a related key (normally the “dominant” i.e. the key on the 5th note of the scale of the main key, or the relative minor). Or in the case of a first section in a minor key, one might frequently hear the second subject or subjects in the relative major.
In the development section the music is developed, going into several different keys. The music here feels unstable. There is a feeling of tension. The listener wants to get back to the main key.
In the recapitulation the exposition is repeated, but it changes towards the end so that it finishes in the main key. It feels as if the tension has gone and the listener feels happy.
This way of building a piece of music was used by almost every composer from the mid 18th century onwards – well into the 20th century. It gives scope for a very dramatic piece.
Texture
In music, texture is the way the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are combined in a composition (Benward & Saker 2003, 131), thus determining the overall quality of sound of a piece. Texture is often described in regards to the density, or thickness, and range, or width between lowest and highest pitches, in relative terms as well as more specifically distinguished according to the number of voices, or parts, and the relationship between these voices (see types of texture below) (Benward & Saker 2003, 131). A piece's texture may be affected by the number and character of parts playing at once, the timbre of the instruments or voices playing these parts and the harmony, tempo, and rhythms used.
The types categorized by number and relationship of parts are analyzed and determined through the labeling of primary textural elements: primary melody (PM), secondary melody (SM), parallel supporting melody (PSM), static support (SS), harmonic support (HS), rhythmic support (RS), and harmonic and rhythmic support (HRS) (Benward & Saker 2003, p.136).
More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texture_(music)
Timbre
In music, timbre ( /ˈtæmbər/ TAM-bər or /ˈtɪmbər/; French: [tɛ̃bʁ]) is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that mediate the perception of timbre include spectrum and envelope. In psychoacoustics, timbre is also called tone quality and tone color. For example, timbre is what, with a little practice, people use to distinguish the saxophone from the trumpet in a jazz group, even if both instruments are playing notes at the same pitch and loudness. Timbre has been called a "wastebasket" attribute (Dixon Ward, 1965) 55) or category (Tobias 1970, 409), or "the psychoacoustician's multidimensional wastebasket category for everything that cannot be qualified as pitch or loudness" (McAdams and Bregman, 1979).
More at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre
Polyphony, polyphonic
Music with two or more independent melodic parts sounded together; the combination of a number of separate but harmonizing melodies, as in a fugue.
Back beat
A sharp rhythmic accent on the second and fourth beats of a measure in 4/4 time, characteristic of rock music.
See: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/501914/rhythm
Poly rhythm - different rhythm patterns played together
Syncopation
A shift of accent in a passage or composition that occurs when a normally weak beat is stressed. Something, such as rhythm, that is syncopated. The displacement of the usual rhythmic accent away from a strong beat onto a weak beat; a note, beat, rhythm, etc., produced by syncopation
Improvisation
The process of spontaneously creating fresh melodies over the continuously repeating cycle of chord changes. Refer to jazz videos above by Miles Davies and McCoy Tyner.
Composition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_composition
Dynanmics
| Typical Dynamic Markings |
|---|
 |
When a composer writes a forte into a part, followed by a piano, the intent is for the music to be loud, and then suddenly quiet. If the composer wants the change from one dynamic level to another to be gradual, different markings are added. A crescendo (pronounced "cresh-EN-doe") means "gradually get louder"; a decrescendo or diminuendo means "gradually get quieter".
Tempo
Basic tempo markings
All of these markings are based on a few root words. By adding an -issimo ending the word is amplified/made louder, by adding an -ino ending the word is diminished/made softer, and by adding an -etto ending the word is endeared. The metronome marks are broad approximations. Note: Metronome markings are a guide only and depending on the time signature and the piece itself, these figures may not be appropriate in every circumstance.
Larghissimo — very, very slow (20 bpm and below)
Grave — slow and solemn (20-40 bpm)
Lento — very slow (40–60 bpm)
Largo — very slow (40–60 bpm), like lento
Larghetto — rather broadly (60–66 bpm)
Adagio — slow and stately (literally, "at ease") (66–76 bpm)
Adagietto — rather slow (70–80 bpm)
Andante — at a walking pace (76–108 bpm)
Andante Moderato — a bit faster than andante
Andantino – slightly faster than andante
Moderato — moderately (101-110 bpm)
Allegretto — moderately fast (but less so than allegro)
Allegro moderato — moderately quick (112–124 bpm)
Allegro — fast, quickly and bright (120–139 bpm)
Vivace — lively and fast (˜140 bpm) (quicker than allegro)
Vivacissimo — very fast and lively
Allegrissimo — very fast
Presto — very fast (168–200 bpm)
Prestissimo — extremely fast (more than 200bpm)
Additional Terms:
A piacere — the performer may use his own discretion with regard to tempo and rhythm; literally "at pleasure"
L'istesso tempo — at the same speed
Tempo comodo — at a comfortable (normal) speed
Tempo di... — the speed of a ... (such as Tempo di valse (speed of a waltz), Tempo di marcia (speed of a march))
Tempo giusto — at a consistent speed, at the 'right' speed, in strict tempo
Tempo semplice — simple, regular speed, plainly
Coda
Coda (Italian for "tail", plural code) is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece (or one movement thereof) to a conclusion.
Fugue
An imitative polyphonic composition in which a theme or themes are stated successively in all of the voices of the contrapuntal structure. (Music / Classical Music) a musical form consisting essentially of a theme repeated a fifth above or a fourth below the continuing first statement.
Etude
From the French word etude (to study). A piece composed for the development of a specific point of technique. A composition featuring a point of technique but performed because of its artistic merit.
Counterpoint
Melodic material that is added above or below an existing melody. The technique of combining two or more melodic lines in such a way that they establish a harmonic relationship while retaining their linear individuality.
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