MUS 206 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Pow Wow, Falsetto, Peyote
Music 206 Exam 1 Notes
Syllabus:
• Office hours: Mon. 10-12
• Only responds during business hours (8-5 Mon.-Fri.)
• Does round if 0.5 points short of next LETTER
• Exams are 25 points each
• No makeups besides optional final
• No extra credit
• Grade appeal no later than 1 week after exam
• Course focuses on musical traditions of the world, along with its aesthetics, musical
forms, and styles
Ethnomusicology – the study of music in culture
- Interested in both musical and contextual aspects
Key Concepts:
• Ethnomusicologists believe that people make music meaningful
• Sound is energy
• Sound is to nature as music is to culture
• Horizontal and vertical dimensions to music
• One melody does NOT mean one instrument or one person, just same pitch
Music Makers – individuals, groups, adults, etc.
- Those making music for themselves
- Those making music for others (performers)
- Study seriously or not
- “pectrus of specialists to a hua capacity
- Listeners = Consumers
Music – a process
- Not universal term (varying definitions)
- Means something different to different people
- Contingent upon culture
- The sound that is humanly patterned or organized
Culture – a people’s way of life
- Learned/transmitted over centuries
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
- Values determined by people
- Adapts to the natural/human world
- Music in this realm
Nature – what you do not have control of (DNA)
- Sound in this realm
3 Dimensions of Musical Form:
1. Repetition
2. Contrast (A B A B, etc)
3. Variation
Elements of Music:
• Sound – tone, note, pitch
• Rhythm – unfolds over time
o Triggers the cerebellum
o Beat – what sets music in motion
o Patterns – thinking of music in chunks (meter)
o Polyrhythm – simultaneous occurrence of several rhythms
• Tempo – how fast/slow music unfolds
• Timbre – quality of sound
o What gives melody its identity
• Loudness – dynamics
o The louder the sound, the higher the energy; frequency stays the same
o The lower the amplitude, the softer the sound
• Shape/Contour – how a melody ascends/descends in pitch
• Meter – organizing music into chunks of pattern
o ALL music has rhythm and meter
o Strict – metrical rhythm
o Relaxed – flexible
o Polymeter – simultaneous presence of 2 different metrical systems
• Melody – succession of pitches that unfold in a particular rhythm
• Emphasis – via decorative tones (different artists)
• Organization of sound (scales) – varies between cultures
• Harmony – simultaneous sounding of pitches/music that accompanies melodies
• Texture – interaction of sounds, melodies, melodies and chords
o 4 Kinds
▪ Monophonic – simplest; one melody
▪ Heterophonic – irregular patterns; other musical events
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Music 206 exam 1 notes: office hours: mon. Ethnomusicology the study of music in culture. Pectru(cid:373)s of (cid:862)specialists(cid:863) to a hu(cid:373)a(cid:374) capacity. The sound that is humanly patterned or organized. Nature what you do not have control of (dna) 3 dimensions of musical form: repetition, contrast (a b a b, etc, variation. Roles of music: pleasure, therapeutic, communication, functional (religion, work. Ideas: activities, repertories, material culture of music instruments; costumes. Navajo: english/navajo language, largest american-indian tribe in u. s, 27,000 square mile reservation, traditions preserved but change is welcomed, weavers, silversmiths, farmers, etc, dress in european-american style with jewelry, ranch houses one-room houses. Native american church (peyote church: navajo influenced by christianity and native american church, started in mexico, peyote, cactus with hallucinogenic power, new composers in traditional modes, music by navajos for non-navajos. Intended for listening: arlene williams and r. carlos nakai.
