Art as Experience – Music – Flashcards
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monophonic
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a musical texture consisting of a single melodic line
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heterophonic
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the simultaneous playing or singing of two or more versions of melody.
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polyphonic
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a musical texture consisting of multiple lines of equal importance
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Gregorian Chant (plainchant, plainsong)
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monophonic vocal music in the medieval church, designed to project religious texts.
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syllabic
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a style of setting a text to music so that there is one note per syllable
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melismatic
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a style of setting a text to miusic so that there is more than one note per syllable
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conjunct motion
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melodic motion of pitches by step
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disjunct motion
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melodic motion of pitches by leap
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syllabic
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a style of setting a text to music so that there is one note per syllable
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vocables
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meaningless sung syllables that take the place of song lyrics
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terraced melody
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Having a melody that moves up or down through a series of stages, remaining in one general area a while before moving to the next
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sacred music
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religious music
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cadence
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a point of arrival signaling the end of a musical unit
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strophe
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a verse of poetry, or the music corresponding to that verse
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ballad
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a poem or song that tells a story
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secular music
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equally divided between purely vocal works and pieces where singers were supported by instruments
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humanism
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an earl-Renaissance intellecutal and cultureal movment that explored human interests and values through the pursuit of science, philosophy, literature, painting, sculpture, and music, particularly vocal music
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counterpoint
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A style of writing in which every voice is a melody and all voices work together; from the Latin word contrapunctum, or note-against-note
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word pointing
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making the music reflect the meaning of the words -- much favored in secular music
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imitation
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a shortened form of the term "imitative counter point": the same theme introduced by different instruments or voices in succession
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oratorio
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a work musically similar to an opera but not staged, and usually on a sacred topic
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sonata
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a type of instrument genre; literally, a work that is played, as opposed to sing ("conata")
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terraced dynamics
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Having a melody that moves up or down through a series of stages, remaining in one general area a while before moving to the next
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basso continuo
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"Continuous Bass"; a small ensemble, widely used in music of the Baroque, that plays throughout a work and provides an underlying bass ling and harmonies. It consists of 2 instruments: one that can sustain long notes, and one that can play chords.
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tonality
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a system of organizing pitches (both melodies and harmonies) around a central note, as opposed to atonality, a system with no tonal center
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oral tradition
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one passed down without the aid of written words or notated music
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monody
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new style featuring solo song with instrumental accomplaiment; focused on text and its emotional power
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concerto
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insturmental piece for soloist (or small group of soloists) and orchestra
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program music
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an instrumental work that is in some way associated with a story, event, or idea
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lieder
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A genre for voice and piano, popular from the late eighteenth century onward, particularly in Germany but in many other countries as well
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tonal
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a style of writing that establishes a central note (the tone) as a harmonic and melodic center of gravity, which in turn creates the potential for a strong sense of resolution and closure
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atonal
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a style of writing that establishes no harmonic or melodic center of gravity; without a tonic, all notes are equal weight and significance
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consonance
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The sound of notes together that our ear finds naturally right. Like dissonance, consonance is a relative concept that can change over long periods of time.
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dissonance
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The sound of notes that clash, either harmonically or melodically, and do not seem to belong together. Dissonance is a relative concept: what was dissonant in one era is later perceived as consonant
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Sprechistimme
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A style of singing halfdway between speech and lyrical song in which the singer hits precise pitches and then follows them to tail off, rather rhan sustaining them.
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aleatory
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music composed using elements of chance
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polytonality
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the juxtaposition of two conventional harmonies in a way that creates a new dissonance
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minimalism
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a short musical idea or group of ideas that is repeated and varied incrementally throughout the musical piece and is very gradually changed
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syncopation
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A type of rhythm in which the notes run against the regular pulse of the musical meter, with accents on beats other than the ones usually accented
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ragtime
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a style of music from the early twentieth century that emphasized rhythmic syncopation while continuing many of the characteristics of marches, cakewalks, two=steps, and popular songs from the late nineteenth century
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blues
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a musical genre derived from African American performance traditions that uses blue notes in its melodies and tells first-person stories of hard knocks and love gone wrong
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big band
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style of jazz popular in the 1930s and 1940s in which instruments were grouped into sections by function, with carefully constructed arrangements. Many of these arrangements featured call and response between the sections, often based on repeated, short melodic riffs.
