Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2011
MUSIC
YE
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EDITION K,
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CRAM KIT
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MUSIC
AU TH OR
Music of the Jonathan Spatola-Knoll
Great
Depression E DI TOR
Sophy Lee
A L PAC A- I N -C H IE F
Daniel Berdichevsky
® the World
Scholar’s Cup ®
BY EDITED BY
JONATHAN SPATOLA-KNOLL SOPHY LEE
WHITMAN COLLEGE HARVARD UNIVERSITY
OLYMPIA HIGH SCHOOL PEARLAND HIGH SCHOOL
© 2010 DEMIDEC
DemiDec, The World Scholar’s Cup, Power Guide, and Cram Kit are registered trademarks of the DemiDec Corporation.
Academic Decathlon and USAD are registered trademarks of the United States Academic Decathlon Association.
DemiDec is not affiliated with the United States Academic Decathlon.
Music Cram Kit | 2
SUMMARY
The first section deals with music fundamentals. Unlike
past years, all music theory questions will come from
Classical
the official resource guide rather than independent Music
Music
study. While preparing for this part of the test, prioritize 20%
Theory
terms and concepts over topics related to reading music. 24%
MUSIC THEORY
Physics and Classification
PHYSICS OF SOUND CLASSIFICATION OF INSTRUMENTS
WESTERN MUSIC
The western musical tradition began around 2,000 FAMILY CLASSIFICATION EXAMPLES
years ago. In 1750, equal temperament tuning became
standard, dividing octaves into 12 equal parts. At about Violin, viola,
String Chordophone
the same time, theorists codified common practice cello, bass
tonality, which has since remained the most common
Flute, oboe,
means of organizing pitches.
clarinet,
Woodwind Aerophone
saxophone,
bassoon
HISTORY OF PITCH AND OCTAVES
Xylophone,
Percussion Idiophone cymbals, wood
block, marimba
Snare drum,
Percussion Membranophone
timpani
The new
pitch is an Trumpet,
octave Brass Aerophone trombone,
A musician higher and
cuts the French horn
the
length of frequency of
the string in Keyboard Various Piano, organ
An open the
half soundwave
string
vibrates at doubles to
440 Hz
A 440, or QUICK QUIZ
440 waves
per second QUESTIONS
PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS
TWO WAYS TO PERFORM ELECTRONIC MUSIC
1. Hang out with your buddies and jam on your handy •A stretched membrane vibrates to
theremin or another electrophone! Membrano- produce sound
2. Record some sounds, manipulate the tape, and brag phones
about your new musique concrète composition at
parties!
•The body of the instrument itself vibrates
Idiophones
Music Cram Kit | 4
MUSIC THEORY
Pitch and Scales
MAJOR AND MINOR SCALES
LOWERED
RAISED SCALE
MINOR SCALE SCALE
DEGREES
DEGREES
Natural 3, 6, 7 N/A
Harmonic 3, 6 7
6, 7
Melodic 3
(ascending)
CONJUNCT DISJUNCT
MUSIC THEORY
Rhythm (Page 1 of 3)
NOTATION
Music Cram Kit | 6
MUSIC THEORY
Rhythm (Page 2 of 3)
TEMPO
ANSWERS
GET YOUR RHYTHM FUNKIES GOING! 1. half
Syncopation: tap your feet to those grooves, which 2. downbeat
punch on weak beats or between beats! 3. pickup, or anacrusis
Polyrhythm: pick yourself off the dance floor after 4. six
literally falling for those conflicting rhythmic
patterns!
Music Cram Kit | 7
MUSIC THEORY
Rhythm (Page 3 of 3)
MEASURES ANDTERMS EXAMPLES
EXAMPLES
TRIPLE METER
DUPLE METER
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MUSIC THEORY
Harmony (Page 1 of 3)
TRIADS KEYS
KEY FACTS
A set of accidentals (sharps or flats) called the key
Chords-
signature establishes a work’s key
3 or more
simiultaneous The key establishes the music’s scale
notes Each of the 12 key signatures can indicate a major
or a minor scale
The circle of fifths describes the relationship
between all 12 major and all 12 minor keys
Triads- “Diatonic” describes music which sticks with the
3 Notes seven notes in a key
Chromatic music uses notes outside of the key
TRIAD-ITION
1 Major 3rd + 1 Minor 3rd = 1 Major Triad
1 Minor 3rd + 1 Major 3rd = 1 Minor Triad
1 Minor 3rd + 1 Minor 3rd = 1 Diminished Triad
1 Major 3rd + 1 Major 3rd = 1 Augmented Triad
DISSONANCE CONSONANCE
Begs for resolution Sense of rest
Provides aural
Leads to Consonance
resolution
MUSIC THEORY
Harmony (Page 2 of 3)
DIATONIC TRIADS NEW HARMONIES
CHORD PROGRESSIONS
A bass line reinforces a chord progression
DID YOU KNOW? Composers commonly change the bass notes, or
invert chords in the progression
Predominant harmonies like the subdominant (IV) and
the supertonic (ii) lead to dominant chords These changes improve voice leading, or ease of
singing
More complex progressions chromatically alter
TRIADS’ CASES AND SYMBOLS notes of chords, creating modal mixture
SYMBOL OR CASE MEANING Some progressions modulate, or change key
Composers most easily modulate along the circle of
Uppercase Major fifths
Lowercase Minor
MUSIC THEORY
Harmony (Page 3 of 3)
BEYOND COMMON PRACTICE BEYOND COMMON PRACTICE
MUSIC THEORY
Other Aspects of Sound and Music
TEXTURE, INSTRUMENTATION AND DYNAMICS ARTICULATION, ORNAMENTATION, AND DYNAMICS
ANSWERS
1. crescendo; cresc.
2. diminuendo; decrescendo; dim.
Dynamic markings tell musicians how loudly, forte, 3. V, 90
or softly, piano, to play 4. V, 90
Early in the instrument’s history, musicians called
the piano the pianoforte because of its ability to
play varied dynamics
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MUSIC THEORY
Musical Form (Page 1 of 2)
ELEMENTS OF FORM ARTICULATION, ORNAMENTATION, AND DYNAMICS
MUSIC THEORY
Musical Form (Page 2 of 2)
CONTRAST AND FUGUE SONATA FORM
MUSICAL CONTRAST
Ternary, or ABA form contains a contrasting middle
section
Rondo form contrasts material with a returning A
section
Common diagrams include ABACABA or ABACA
32-BAR FORM
Many popular song choruses use a 4-part 32-bar
form
Each part lasts for eight measures
The contrasting B section is sometimes called the
bridge
A A B A
FUGUES
WORK SONGS
Instruments African-American workers sang work songs on the fields
The vocalist
comment A call-and- or in railroad yards. The steady tempos mirrored the
sings for less
upon the response rhythm of their work.
than four
lyrics with effect results
measures Work songs significantly exploited the idea of
fills
alternating forces. Sometimes a leader called out lyrics.
Sometimes two groups of workers alternated lines.
Additionally, the strong rhythms and theoretically
endless qualities of work songs resemble the blues.
NEW NOTES
Musicians “flatten,” “bend,” or “shade” the third, fifth, or
seventh scale degrees to create blue notes. These notes DID YOU KNOW?
often lie in between the 12 chromatic pitches of Western 9 Many states banned slaves from playing drums.
tuning systems. Instead, many slaves practiced body percussion,
Blues pianists cannot play blue notes at the exact pitch. or patting.
Instead, they play crushed notes by pressing down two
adjacent keys simultaneously.
FIELD HOLLERS
Individual slaves sometimes broke out into
AN IMPROVISED PRACTICE improvised performances called field hollers
Scores cannot account for all aspects of a blues These slaves expressed their moods and concerns
performance Musicians simply sang whatever rhythms,
Notation cannot reproduce blue notes at the melodies, or words which popped into their heads
exact pitch Although highly embellished, motives often
Many traditional blues musicians often recurred in the melodies
improvise fills, growls, slides, or other inflections
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MA RAINEY
BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON
Ma Rainey had experience singing in minstrel shows Blind Lemon Jefferson came fromTexas. Much like
Charlie Patton, Jefferson sang a repertoire outside
Over 100 recordings from the 1920s demonstrate of the blues and recorded for Paramount Records.
her emotional, earthy voice
BESSIE SMITH
BLIND BLAKE
Records "Gulf Coast Blind Blake made his first recordings on the East Coast.
Bessie Smith
Blues" and
performs in a
"Downhearted His elaborate guitar finger picking reflected the influence
minstrel troupe and
Blues"; Columbia of ragtime. Although many of Blake’s lyrics were light in
later begins her own nature, he sometimes touched upon serious topics like
dubs her "Empress
show. lynching. Much like many other blues musicians, his
of the Blues"
recording sales fell and he lost his contract during the
early 1930s.
Smith's career
In the late 1920s,
peaks. Her mostly ROBERT JOHNSON
like other blues
black audiences
musicians, Smith's Robert Johnson, another Delta bluesman, reached
compare her ability
popularity begins to the peak of his career in the 1930s
to work a crowd to
falter.
that of a preacher. This legendary musician lead a wild life and died
violently
Johnson did not impact the musical world much
while still alive
After he died in 1938, however, Johnson exerted
Columbia cancels
Smith appears in the
her contract early in considerable influence on future blues and blues-
talkie St. Louis Blues. rock artists
the Depression.
PERFORMANCE STYLE
Billie Holiday sings “St. Louis Blues” on the recording. CRAWFORD SAYS….
She often includes blue notes, or bent scale degrees. SECTION SUBJECT MATTER
Although similar, many of her blues notes do not exactly
share the same pitch. A A “confession of misery”
STRUCTURE OF “ST. LOUIS BLUES” B A “St. Louis woman”
SECTION BRIEF NOTES C The pain of stolen love
Intro Features the polyphonic Dixieland style
C Returns to the twelve-bar blues Due to the work’s long-lived status in the repertoire, “St.
progression Louis Blues” is today considered a jazz standard.
CROSS-CURRICULUM REFERENCE
ANOTHER HANDY THING TO KNOW
William Grant Still, composer of Afro-American
W.C. Handy Based the C section of this Symphony, studied with W.C. Handy and worked at the
composition off an earlier 1913 composition. blues composer's publishing company.
Music Cram Kit | 18
BESSIE SMITH: A CHANGE OF STYLE Big Bill Broonzy helped create an urban, “Southside
Chicago” type of blues. Although he recorded for
Bessie Smith came closer to economic survival than
many labels, Broonzy could not make a full living
any other black female blues singers during the
from music until the folk music revival of the 1950s
Depression
and 60s. Broonzy also notably assisted Muddy
Although Columbia terminated her lucrative Waters, the “Father of Modern Chicago Blues.”
contract, Smith continued to record
In the mid-1930s, she demonstrated an ability and
willingness to adopt Tin Pan Alley works like “Tea
For Two” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” into her A NEW GENRE
repertoire
Big Bill Broonzy, Tampa Red, and Thomas "Georgia
Smith succeeded Billie Holliday at a Harlem club in Tom" Dorsey helped create hokum, or party blues
1936
The industry consolidated in Chicago lacked recording studios for a long time.
Northern, urban areas Famous blues artists often travelled to Grafton,
Wisconsin instead to record.
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Harmony
LEAD BELLY
•Lead Belly repeats a IV, I, V, I chord progression
under each line of text
Although named Huddie Ledbetter, this
guitarist preferred the name Lead Belly Form
QUESTIONS
1. “Jelly Roll” Morton contributed to _______.
STRAINS 2. Who composed “That Mysterious Rag” and
“Alexander’s Ragtime Band”?
Many pre-jazz styles demonstrated similar traits.
3. “That Mysterious Rag” and “Alexander’s Ragtime
For instance, two or four phrases often made up a
Band” features a _______ _______ _______ style.
strain. Because strains limited formal and metrical
variation, the interest of a performance more likely 4. What rhythmic effect do “That Mysterious Rag”
lay in dynamics, melody, or rhythm as well as and “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” feature?
contrast between strains.
ANSWERS
Many African-American dance bands in New 1. ragtime
Orleans became influenced by the blues. These 2. Irving Berlin
musicians improvised blue notes, melodies, and 3. Tin Pan Alley
rhythms. Their performances also showed the
influence of the 12-bar blues structure, including 4. syncopation
three phrases per strain rather than two or four.
Music Cram Kit | 21
LOUIS ARMSTRONG
THE DIXIELAND STYLE Louis Armstrong developed the “hot”
sound on his trumpet. This sound provided the
In 1917, the all-white Original Dixieland Jazz Band basis for swing jazz.
became the first group to record jazz. Other
musicians soon began to imitate their style, the
Dixieland Style. The Dixieland style featured a DATE EVENT
polyphonic texture in which everybody played at
once. Despite the lack of solos or improvisation, 1922 “King” Oliver, a mentor of Louis
listeners heard a sense of freedom and spontaneity. Armstrong, invites the younger
musician to join his Chicago band
PAUL WHITEMAN
ASPECTS OF THE “HOT” SOUND
Uneven eighth notes Paul Whiteman, a white bandleader, incorporated
Four smooth beats per measure jazz elements into standard dance band
arrangements. Other white bandleaders followed
Blues inflections Whiteman's example. This bandleader famously
Emphasis on improvising soloists arranged a concert in New York during which he
conducted the premiere performanace of
Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.
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SECTION CHORUS
Clear Statement of the tune
“I got rhythm, I got music, I got my
A man, who could ask for anything
more?
Several repetitions of the chorus
I got daisies, in green pastures I got
A my man, who could ask for anything
more?
Alterations with each reiteration
Old man trouble I don’t mind him. create variation form
B
You won’t find him round my door.
POPULAR SONG
Popular Song Before the Depression (Page 1 of 3)
COLONIAL MUSIC PROFESSIONAL MUSIC
SUBSCRIPTION CONCERTS
TWO COLONIAL GROUPS
Subscription funded many colonial concerts.
Mennonites Audiences paid for tickets, or promised to pay,
ahead of time. If customers pledged enough money
ahead of time, organizers would produce the
•Mennonites emphasized congregational singing concert.
•The Mennonites did not allow instruments into
services until the 1960s
Some colonists
lived in isolated These settlers often ANSWERS
commercial
communities
performed the same 1. England
folksongs for
generations 2. thin, formulaic
3. airs
4. Love in a Village, Thomas Arne
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POPULAR SONG
Popular Song Before the Depression (Page 2 of 3)
PARLOR SONG GENRES
Other Genres
Lowell Mason •Americans, especially in the Southwest, sang folk
songs
•Lowell Mason has been called America's father of
musical education •Nostalgic songs like Danks' and Rexford's "Silver
Threads Among the Gold" idealize antebellum
•Mason earned a living from selling instruments America
and instructional material
•One cowboy song was "Ole Chisholm Trail"
POPULAR SONG
Popular Song Before the Depression (Page 3 of 3)
MINSTRELS AND TIN PAN ALLEY THE DEPRESSION HITS
OVER TIME…
THE HUTCHINSON FAMILY SINGERS
Popular music choruses grew in importance, while
the verses shortened. These stable choruses often
could stand alone. As tastes changed, Ragtime and
The Hutchinson Family Singers promoted a variety waltzes became less popular. Broadway and Tin Pan
of social causes. This group, for instance, adapted
the minstrel song "Old Man Tucker" into an Alley also increasingly promoted songs in duple
abolitionist anthem by including new lyrics. meter.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
TWO WAYS TO DISSEMINATE SONGS
In the mid-1920s, the music business changed
forever
POPULAR SONG
Great Songwriters
FIVE GREAT SONGWRITERS
POPULAR SONG
"Bei Mir Bist Du Schön"
HISTORY FORM
A HYBRID LANGUAGE
The Yiddish language combines elements of Hebrew
HISTORY OF “BEI MIR BIST DU SCHÖN” and German. The English translation of “Bei Mir Bist
Du Schön” only retains the original title, which
translates to “To Me You Are Beautiful.”
Sholom Secunda composes the song "Bay Mir Bistu
Sheyn" using lyrics by Jacob Jacobs.
EIN QUIZ
Musicians perform the song on
the Yiddish theater circuit. QUESTIONS
1. The verse of “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön” begins with a
pickup, or _____________.
2. Ella Fitzgerald improvises wordless vocal lines using
After radio and Hollywood reject the song, Jacobs ______ technique.
and Secunda sell the work to a publisher for $30.
3. The Chick Webb Orchestra commonly performed
at the _________ Ballroom.
4. The rhythm at which chords changed is called
Saul Chaplin and Sammy Cahn translate "Bei Mir _______ rhythm.
Bist Du Schön" into English.
ANSWERS
1. anacrusis
Decca Records releases a surprise hit recording of
the Andrews Sisters singing the song. 2. scat
3. Savoy
4. harmonic
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POPULAR SONG
Film Musicals
FILM MUSICALS ”CHEEK TO CHEEK”
Brief Chorus
Some composers wrote musicals specifically for the instrumental (instrumental
screen introduction only)
Jerome Kern - High Wide and Handsome
"Cheek
to
Cheek"
OPULENT ESCAPISM A A B C A
Musicals of the 1930s featured opulent escapism.
Charming, elegant songs helped Americans forget about
the bleakness of everyday life.
Many of these songs have become standards that have
outlived their immediate context in films or shows. The C section provides the most contrast in the
chorus of "Cheek to Cheek." Astaire sings this
section in C minor, whereas the rest of the chorus
employs C major.
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POPULAR SONG
"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime"
“BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME”
POPULAR SONG
Popular Music Outside New York
POPULAR SONG FOLK MUSIC
•By the end of the 1930s, country and hillbilly • In 1939, Moses Asch founded Asch Records, which
music had become more mainstream would later become Folkways
•Several styles, including bluegrass, sought to o This label featured many famous folk
return this music to its rural roots musicians, including Woody Guthrie and Lead
Belly
Ethnic Music
POPULAR SONG
Woody Guthrie
WOODY GUTHRIE “SO LONG, IT’S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YOU”
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Modernism (Page 1 of 2)
A NEW STYLE STRING QUARTET
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Modernism (Page 2 of 2)
PIANO VARIATIONS EXPERIMENTALISM
CLASSICAL MUSIC
A Change in Style
NEW SIMPLICITY ORGANIZATIONS
CLASSICAL MUSIC
The Plow that Broke the Plains
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTARIES STRUCTURE
Warning
Thomson draws inspiration from a mocking,
•In "Warning" the narrator repeats "...the rains
simple school of French composition
failed them..."
War and the Tractor
Speculation (Blues)
Thomson combines this style with American
folksong, creating the Americana sound
Drought
•The strings begin "Drought" with a minor,
mournful tune and then a woodwind joins with a
similar melody
OVERVIEW •Later in the movement, the music references jazz
The Plow that Broke the Plains tells the story of how poor and becomes bitonal
management and bad weather contributed to the Dust
Wind and Dust
Bowl. The 27-minute film promoted the Resettlement
Administration, which relocated struggling farmers. •Loud open fifths symbolize the beginning of the
dust storm in "Wind and Dust"
This film appealed to audiences emotionally. Farm
The severe music later emphasizes a dissonant
Security Administration officer George Stoney observed tritone
that audiences, having viewed the film, acted as if they
•Eventually, the music quotes a popular hymn
had just heard an evangelical sermon. The powerful tune, the Doxology or "Old Hundredth"
music and images, not a logical message, inspired
•Thomson decided to set this usually major tune
sympathy towards struggling farm families. to minor-key harmonies
•The original score for the film calls for the
harmonium, a small pump organ, but many
recordings use a small group of woodwinds
instead
Devastation
•The four-minute "Devastation" concludes
Thomson's score
Music Cram Kit | 41
CLASSICAL MUSIC
The Cradle Will Rock (Page 1 of 2)
OVERVIEW PREMIERE
CLASSICAL MUSIC
The Cradle Will Rock (Page 2 of 2)
SCENE 6 SCENE 7
Yasha the violinist and Dauber the artist bump into Several Liberty Committee members find themselves
each other in a hotel lobby. in jail by mistake.
A car horn plays a fragment of Beethoven, Imprisoned with them, union organizer Larry
announcing Mrs. Mister's arrival. Foreman describes his arrest to the prostitute Moll.
The two men then sing to her about how much they After criticizing the Liberty Committee,
would love to spend a weekend at her country home Foreman breaks into the title song of the musical,
and the words turn ugly. "The Cradle Will Rock."
•Mrs. Mister's lines refer to death and killing •"The Cradle Will Rock" resembles the workers
•Her husband, Mr. Mister, intentionally caused a choruses which the Composers' Collective
fatal explosion at union headquarters in the promoted in its early years
previous scene •The music features strong rhythms and an
emphatic march-like beat
Beethoven
Performers of Workers Songs
•Also ironically, Mrs. Mister's car horn frivolously
quotes a fragment of Beethoven's Egmont Overture •Composers probably did not intend all workers to
sing a workers song
•This overture draws inspiration from a play by
Goethe •Workers signed up for regular singing groups and
performed at scheduled gatherings
Comparisons
A Blend of Broadway and Modernism
•Marc Blitzstein directly compares Beethoven to •"The Cradle Will Rock" includes modernist
Yasha and Dauber dissonance, odd melodic leaps, irregular meter,
•The Egmont motive and Yasha and Dauber's "art and unexpected shifts in ahrmony
for art's sake" motive resemble each other •Despite frequent modulations, the song remains
tonal
Characterization
Philosophy
•Blitzstein portrays Mrs. Mister, Yasha, and Dauber
as immoral sellouts •"The Cradle Will Rock" does not draw inspiration
•Mrs. Mister desires prestige and attention, while from modernist philosophy at all
the two artists want food and shelter •The song clearly intends to inspire opressed
•Marc Blitzstein does not excuse Yasha and Dauber workers to act against the status quo
from moral responsibility
Music Cram Kit | 43
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Music and Media
OCHO POR RADIO MUSIC AND MEDIA
FORM
Classical
A
•Mozart, Haydn, Rossini, early Beethoven
•The A section conveys a festive mood over a quick
tempo
Romantic
•Cheerful folk melodies pervade throughout the A
section
•Late Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann,
•Ostinati in different keys provide a polytonal Mendelssohn, Schubert, Berlioz, Wagner, Verdi,
texture Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Verdi
•Rhythmic effects sometimes even obscure the
sense of meter
Late Romantic
B
•Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, Richard Strauss, Mahler,
•The slower, languid B section provides contrast Puccini
•The bassoon plays a melody which begins on a
repeated pitch Modern
A •Igor Stravinsky
•The final A section resumes the party atmosphere
of the first A
Coda
•A short flourish ends the composition
Music Cram Kit | 44
CLASSICAL MUSIC
The Harlem Renaissance
WILLIAM GRANT STILL AFRO-AMERICAN SYMPHONY
Exposition
He wins a prestigous grant from the Guggenheim
Foundation and relocates to Los Angeles, where he •Before the exposition of this sonata-allegro
sets a new standard in film scoring movement, an English horn plays a lyrical solo
•The first major idea of the exposition features an
AAB 12-bar blues pattern
•The second idea is a lyrical melody which
In 1931, Afro-American Symphony becomes the first resembles black spirituals
work by an African-American composer to be
performed by a major orchestra Development
In 1935, Still conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic, •A violin solo dominates the movement's
becoming the first African-American to conduct a development
major orchestra
Recapitulation
CRUNCH KIT
Music in Four Pages (Page 1)
INSTRUMENTAL FAMILIES KEYS
Any instrument whose strings vibrate to produce sound A key describes the main scale of a passage of music
is a chordophone A set of accidentals called the key signature indicates
A vibrating column of air produces sound in aerophones the key
like woodwind or brass instruments A key signature can refer to a major scale or its relative
All drums are membranophones minor
Striking the body of the instrument itself produces sound Music can change key, or modulate, most often along
on an idiophone the circle of fifths
Electrophones such as the Theremin produce sound HARMONIC PROGRESSION
electronically
A progression of chords, or a harmonic progression,
PITCH AND TUNING resolves unstable dissonance into consonance
The frequency of a sound wave determines the highness A bass line reinforces a progression
or lowness of the sound, its pitch Chord progressions commonly resolve to tonic
Doubling frequency increases the pitch by an octave harmonies
Using equal temperament tuning, the chromatic scale The dominant seventh chord (V7) pulls particularly
divides an octave into 12 equal parts strongly to tonic, in part due to its dissonant internal
tritone
A FEW SCALE DEGREES
The tonic is the “home base” of the scale BEYOND COMMON PRACTICE
The dominant, or fifth scale degree, is almost as Common-practice tonality is the most intuitive Western
important system of organizing harmonic progressions
The leading tone leads upwards by a half step to the Over time, composers began to use more and more
tonic chromatic pitches outside of their music’s key
In around 1910, Arnold Schoenberg decided to abandon
COMPARING TWO SCALES
common-practice altogether, creating atonality and later
Relative major and minor scales contain the same notes, the twelve-tone method
but have different tonics
COMMON MUSICAL TEXTURES
Parallel major and minor scales use the same tonics, but
different pitches Homophonic texture results when a melody and
supporting accompaniment function separately
CONTOUR
Multiple independent voices sound melodies at once in
Contour describes the profile of a melody polyphonic textures
Conjunct melodies contain many steps, while disjunct
TWO OTHER ELEMENTS OF MUSIC
melodies include more leaps
Dynamics indicate how loud or soft a musician should
METER AND RHYTHM play
Rhythm describes the duration of musical notes Articulation refers to the mechanics of producing the
The beat provides musical pulse music itself
Meter organizes beats into measures using a time COMMON FORMS
signature
A composer presents a main theme then repeats it with
Two beats per measure indicates duple meter, while variations in theme and variations form
three beats indicates triple
Twelve-bar blues also uses variation techniques
Irregular meter features atypical groupings of beats
ABA form exploits musical contrast, as does 32-bar
Syncopated rhythms emphasize notes in between beats form, which is common in popular songs
or on weak beats
Fugues are contrapuntal, imitative pieces with a main
CHORDS theme called a fugue subject
Three or more simultaneous pitches make up a chord SONATA FORM
Three-note chords, or triads, can be major, minor, The composer introduces two main themes and
diminished, or augmented modulates in the exposition
Sometimes composers invert triads by putting the third The development explores the possibilities of these
or the fifth of a triad on the bottom instead of the root themes
The recapitulation restates the material of the exposition
without modulating
Music Cram Kit | 46
CRUNCH KIT
Music in Four Pages (Page 2)
BLUES TRAITS JAZZ ORIGINS
The blues uses the three-part twelve-bar blues harmonic Jazz draws influence from various musical styles popular
structure in New Orleans including brass band music
Blues performances features call and response effects Scott Joplin’s syncopated Ragtime piano compositions
between performers also helped inspire the genre
Notation cannot capture the improvised elements of a The all-white Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded jazz
performance for the first time in the polyphonic Dixieland Style
Musicians common flatten third, fifth, or seventh scale LOUIS ARMSTRONG
degrees, creating blue notes
Assisted by Joe “King” Oliver, Louis Armstrong’s
PRE-BLUES GENRES trumpet playing helped shift the focus towards solos in
After church services, slaves often gathered to jazz
participate in a musical ring shout Armstrong’s “hot” sound and uneven swing rhythms
While working slaves often sang steady work songs inspired musicians
An individual slave sometimes improvised an elaborate, GEORGE GERSHWIN
spontaneous field holler White songwriter George Gershwin composed jazz
Variety shows like vaudeville and the minstrel show influenced works he called “Symphonic Jazz”
contributed to the later blues business model Examples include Rhapsody in Blue and the opera Porgy
Minstrel shows often featured white performers in and Bess
blackface BIG BANDS AND SWING
TYPES OF BLUES Big bands, or dance bands, played the most popular
Country blues featured itinerant male singers and was music of the 1930s
considered more “authentic” and rural White musicians favored sweet jazz while blacks
Classic blues showcased more professional musicians performed hot jazz
and flourished in cities Swing features a fast pulse and uneven eighth notes
W.C. HANDY In 1935, Benny Goodman’s Orchestra’s Palomar
W.C. Handy has been called the “Father of the Blues” Broadcast ushered in the swing era
Handy established a publishing company and composed PERFORMANCE CONVENTIONS
classic blues works like “St. Louis Blues” Many jazz performances use a 32-bar form borrowed
Billie Holiday sang “St. Louis Blues” from a popular song chorus
Unlike country blues, this work contains an established After stating the tune, the musicians repeat the chord
structure and requires a score progression and played variations or solos on top
BLUES SINGERS The rhythm section maintains the beat
In 1920, Mamie Smith released a hit recording of “Crazy Melody instruments like the saxophone often play
Blues” different notes of the same chords all at once by playing
as a choir
Other black female singers, in particular Bessie Smith,
subsequently featured on race records DUKE ELLINGTON
The Depression lost many blues musicians recording and Duke Ellington remained an important figure in jazz for
performing opportunities many years
HOKUM He composed and arranged for his band in innovative
ways
Big Bill Broonzy played a large role in creating hokum, a
more obscene type of blues Ellington’s composition Cotton Tail borrows the chord
progression, or changes, from Gershwin’s “I Got
Boogie-woogie piano also developed with the
Rhythm”
Depression
MORE MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
LEAD BELLY
Some musicians played combo jazz in smaller ensembles
Lead Belly could sing a large repertoire of songs,
called combos
including the blues
Art Tatum enjoyed fame as a virtuoso solo jazz pianist
He accompanied himself singing “Midnight Special” on
his twelve-string guitar Jimmy Blanton showcased his walking bass technique in
Duke Ellington’s band on his bass
Lead Belly came to the attention of folksong collector
John Lomax
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Music in Four Pages (Page 3)
COLONIAL SONG FRED ASTAIRE
We know the most about American colonial religious Fred Astaire starred in 11 movie musicals in the 1930s
singing He insisted upon high artistic standards for dance
The Psalter The Bay Psalm Book became the first book numbers
printed in America in 1640 Astaire introduced many new songs to the public
Various colonial groups brought their own ethnic musical through film, notably Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek”
traditions to the New World from the movie Top Hat
PARLOR SONG BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME
Parlor song dominated the 19th-century popular music Jay Gorney drew upon lullabies while composing
scene “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime”
Amateur musicians could play these simple songs at Lyricist Yip Harburg later worked on songs for The
home Wizard of Oz
One popular parlor song was ”Home Sweet Home” Unlike many popular songs, “Brother, Can You Spare a
The most popular American songwriter of the century Dime” admits to the hardships of the Depression
was Stephen Foster who only wrote lucrative minstrel The work also includes unusually chromatic harmonies,
songs reluctantly including modal mixture
TIN PAN ALLEY Rudy Vallee sings on the CD
New York City was a center of the music industry OTHER POPULAR MUSIC
Song pluggers played the latest sheet music along the Rural white musicians played country, or hillbilly music
publishing district Tin Pan Alley Bill Monroe pioneered bluegrass
PERFORMER’S MUSIC Ethnic groups like the Irish and Jews influenced
Composers writing composers' music intended mainstream culture with their unique musical traditions
musicians to perform the music exactly as written FOLKSONG COLLECTORS
Musicians could adapt works to fit their personal styles Many organizations collecting folk music viewed the
while performing performers' music genre condescendingly
GREAT SONGWRITERS OF THE 1930S Collectors like John Lomax helped preserve and promote
Jerome Kern famously teams up with lyricist Oscar American folk music
Hammerstein II to compose the musical Show Boat Classical composers like Aaron Copland even drew upon
Richard Rodgers famously collaborated with Lorenz Hart, folk material
and later Hammerstein WOODY GUTHRIE
Only Cole Porter could challenge Rodgers and Hart’s The Dust Bowl and the Depression galvanized folk
dominance on Broadway after 1935 singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie towards social
George Gershwin composed a large number of hit songs activism
with his lyricist brother Ira Guthrie performed in the Grapes of Wrath Evening
Irving Berlin owned a publishing company, could only concert alongside Alan Lomax and Lead Belly
play the piano in F-sharp, and lived to age 101
SO LONG, IT’S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YOU
BEI MIR BIST DO SCHÖN Guthrie’s “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You” draws
Sholom Secunda and Jacob Jacobs produced the original inspiration from a dust storm
version of “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön” in Yiddish This ballad relies on storytelling and subtle variation, not
The Andrews Sisters made the song famous in its English chromaticism and dissonance
translation Guthrie recorded the song twice
Ella Fitzgerald also sang the song with the Chick Webb
POLITICAL FALLOUT
Orchestra
Many musicians saw their opportunities wane due to a
Her performance shows off her ability to scat, improvise
fear of communism during the McCarthy Era
wordless melodies
In the 1960s, however, a group of younger protest
FILM MUSICALS singers rose to prominence
Film musicals like 42nd Street provided entertainment in Woody Guthrie inspired figures such as Bob Dylan and
the 1930s Bruce Springsteen
Musicals generally featured a degree of spectacle and
offered a route for escapism
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Music in Four Pages (Page 4)
MODERNISM VIRGIL THOMSON
Arnold Schoenberg helped inspire musical modernism in Virgil Thomson lived in France for a period of his life
America He combined a simple, mocking French style with
The 1913 Armory Show introduced Americans to American folk music to create an Americana sound
modernist visual art, including Pablo Picasso
THE PLOW THAT BROKE THE PLAINS
Modernists did not seek to satisfy an audience, but
Virgil Thomson composed a score for the government
believed in artistic autonomy, the idea that works of art
documentary The Plow that Broke the Plains
were self-contained objects of beauty
This film sought to promote the Resettlement
RUTH CRAWFORD SEEGER Administration, which relocated families who suffered as
Ruth Crawford Seeger married one of her modernist a result of the Dust Bowl
composition teachers, Charles Seeger The film describes how inferior management and
Eventually they abandoned modernism and acted in the unfortunate weather contributed to the Dust Bowl
folk music revival The film appealed to audiences not on a logical, but on
STRING QUARTET an emotional level
Ruth Crawford Seeger’s String Quartet features dissonant Thomson’s score interestingly quotes the Doxology
counterpoint, a technique that organizes pitch hymn
relationships according to a set of pitches rather than to RADICAL POLITICS
a scale
Many composers participated in the communist
Seeger emphasized the importance of melody, but her Composers’ Collective
melodies are not traditional, emphasizing normally
This organization debated what music best served
dissonant the melodic major seventh
American workers
The string quartet contains two violins, one viola, and
Active composers admired folksong material
one cello
THE CRADLE WILL ROCK
PIANO VARIATIONS
Marc Blitzstein’s musical The Cradle Will Rock describes
Aaron Copland’s Piano Variations is atonal, yet uses the
the struggle between steel workers and the wealthy
traditional theme and variations form
magnate Mr. Mister
A four-note motive provides the basis of the entire work
This work carries a leftist message
EXPERIMENTALISM On the night of the premiere, the Federal Theatre Project
Experimentalists sought to advance the possibilities of locked the venue to avoid causing riots
composition Instead, the audience found a new theater
Edgard Varèse experimented with pitch and unorthodox The actors participated from the audience in order to
ensembles avoid union rules
The works of Henry Cowell include piano special effects Mrs. Mister’s car horn quotes a fragment of Beethoven in
and tone clusters scene 6
John Cage inserted objects between piano strings to
OCHO POR RADIO
create the prepared piano
Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas wrote Ocho por
A NEW SIMPLICITY Radio in the balanced, playful neoclassical style
Modernist composers moved towards a simpler style This work helped inspire Copland’s El Salón México
during the Depression
MASS MEDIA
Aaron Copland’s populist or Americanist works include
the ballets Rodeo, Appalachian Spring, and Billy the Kid Radio proved an especially good medium for spreading
classical music, promoting conductors like Toscanini,
THE WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION Stokowski, and Koussevitzky
The Works Progress Administration supported the
AFRO-AMERICAN SYMPHONY
Federal Music Project
William Grant Still, the “Dean of African American
One branch of the FMP, the Composers’ Forum-
Composers” wrote Afro-American Symphony, the first
Laboratory, organized free concerts of works by new
work by a black composer to receive a performance by a
American composers
major orchestra
Many musicians also found work through the Federal
The first movement of this symphony uses sonata-
Theatre Project
allegro form and incorporates blues elements
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List of Lists
10 HIGH PRIORITY WORKS 10 THEATER AND FILM WORKS
Appalachian Spring An Aaron Copland ballet 42nd Street Film which set technological standards
Rodeo An Aaron Copland ballet Annie Get Your Gun A 1946 success of Irving Berlin
Billy the Kid An Aaron Copland ballet Girl Crazy Musical which premiered George
“Crazy Blues” A Perry Bradford composition which Gerhswin’s “I Got Rhythm”
Mamie Smith recorded in 1920 The Jazz Singer Starred Al Jolson and became the first
“Dixie” An originally mocking Dan Emmett song talking picture in 1927
which Southerners adopted as their own Love in a Village A Thomas Arne work popular in colonial
Ecuatorial An Edgard Varèse work which uses the America
ondes martenot Porgy and Bess George Gershwin’s “American folk opera”
“Home Sweet An enormously popular parlor song from Roberta A Broadway musical-turned-film which
Home” the operetta Clari, or The Maid of Milan earned Jerome Kern his first Opera
Rhapsody in Blue An orchestral work by George Gershwin Show Boat A Kern and Hammerstein musical which
which incorporates some jazz elements set a standard for plots and character
“Strange Fruit” A controversial song in Billie Holiday’s development
repertoire which criticized lynching St. Louis Blues A short film which featured Bessie Smith
“Tom Joad” A Woody Guthrie ballad which singing W.C. Handy’s Music
summarizes the story of The Grapes of Top Hat Premiered Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to
Wrath Cheek”
Blanton, Jimmy Bassist in Duke Ellington’s band who used Ring shout A gathering of slaves after worship
the walking bass technique services
Fitzgerald, Ella Sang “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön” Work song A steady song genre which slaves sang
Schoeberg, Arnold Pioneered atonality and the twelve-tone on the fields
technique Field holler An improvised, embellished song sung by
Smith, Bessie A famous black female blues singer single slaves
Broonzy, Big Bill Chicago blues musician who helped Tin Pan Alley blues A blues genre among white songwriters
create hokum like George Gershwin
Joplin, Scott Famous ragtime pianist and composer Dixieland jazz An early, polyphonic jazz style
Goodman, Benny White clarinetist, saxophonist, and Boogie-woogie A blues piano genre
bandleader who helped usher in the Sweet jazz Elegant jazz favored by white musicians
swing era Jungle style A “primitive” Duke Ellington style
Foster, Stephen C. Probably the most famous American Combo jazz Jazz performed by small ensembles
songwriter of the 19th century called combos
Whiteman, Paul White conductor who led the first Bluegrass A country style pioneered by Bill Monroe
performance of Rhapsody in Blue
Koussevitzky, Conductor of the Boston Symphony who
Serge broadcast the first-ever life performance
of a full symphonic concert
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List of Lists
10 MEDIUM PRIORITY WORKS PARLOR SONGS
“Alexander’s Irving Berlin’s first big hit Civil War Songs Usually glorified the war
Ragtime Band” Folksongs Most important in the Southwest
“The Battle Cry of A famous Civil War song Gospel songs Gentle, sentimental religious songs
Freedom” Labor songs Promoted the causes of workers
The City An Aaron Copland film score Nostalgic songs Longed for the antebellum past
“Daybreak A Duke Ellington work with a train theme
Express” Patriotic parlor Patriotic compositions like “The Star
songs Spangled Banner”
“Ko-ko” An example of Duke Ellington’s jungle
style Songs of Typically described the misery of
Westward travelling west
“Mood Indigo” A Duke Ellington mood piece Expansion
The River A Virgil Thomson film score
“The Star Spangled A patriotic parlor song which uses Francis
Banner” Scott Key’s lyrics
“Tenting on the A Civil War song which admits to the
Old Campground” war’s negative side
“To Anacreon in A British song which provided the tune
Heaven” for “The Star Spangled Banner”
Chávez, Carlos An important Mexican composer and Dauber An artist who meets Mrs. Mister
conductor Larry Foreman A worker who tries to organize a union in
Debussy, Claude Used non-functional harmonies and Steeltown, USA
unusual scales Moll A jailed prostitute to whom Larry
Hammerstein, Wrote lyrics and libretti for Kern and Foreman relates the story of his arrest
Oscar II Rodgers Mr. Mister A wealthy magnate who leads the
Hart, Lorenz Wrote lyrics and libretti for Richard oppressive Liberty Committee
Rogers Mrs. Mister Wife of Mr. Mister who desires prestige
Jefferson, Blind A Texas bluesman and attention
Lemon Yasha A violinist who meets Mrs. Mister
Jolson, Al Starred in the first-ever talking picture,
The Jazz Singer
Rainey, Gertrude A famous black female blues singer
“Ma”
Seeger, Charles Composer and husband of Ruth Crawford
Seeger
Stokowski, Leopold Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra
who exploited mass media early
Tatum, Art A virtuoso jazz solo pianist
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List of Lists
8 LOWER PRIORITY WORKS 8 MODERN MUSICAL TECHNIQUES
Aeolian Harp A Henry Cowell work which instructs the Atonal Describes music without any key
pianist to strum the instrument’s strings Bitonality Occurs when music sounds in two keys at
Concerto in F An example of George Gershwin’s once
“Symphonic Jazz” Dissonant Allows composers to derive pitch
First Construction A John Cage composition which only counterpoint relationships from the notes themselves,
(In Metal) features percussion not from a scale
Hyperprism An Edgard Varèse composition which Non-functional Use common-practice chords, but do not
strives for the “pitch continuum” harmonies resolve them in the typical fashion
Ionisation An Edgard Varèse composition which Octave The technique of moving some pitches of
uses 13 percussionists displacement a melody up or down by an octave or two
“Memphis Blues” An early W.C. Handy attempt at writing a Ostinati Short, repeated snippets common in
classic blues neoclassical music
The Second An Aaron Copland play-opera for Pitch continuum Edgard Varèse’s name for the entire
Hurricane children spectrum of possible pitches, including
those outside of the chromatic scale
“Tea For Two” A Tin Pan Alley song which Bessie Smith Polytonal Describes music which contains multiple
incorporated into her repertoire keys at once
Arne, Thomas Composer of Love in a Village Chorus The name given to repeated harmonic
Basie, Count Led a Kansas City band which progressions
incorporated blues elements Changes The chord progression of a chorus
Blake, Blind A ragtime-influenced bluesman Growl effect A raspy, strident instrumental effect
Dorsey, Thomas A. The father of gospel music who helped Playing as a choir The practice of assigning multiple
“Georgia Tom” create hokum instruments from a section different
Johnson, Robert An influential, yet short-lived downhome notes of the same chords in the same
blues artist rhythm
Morton, “Jelly Roll” A Creole pianist who helped develop the Plunger mute Enables special effects on instruments
ragtime style like the trombone and trumpet
Pace, Harry A college-educated African American Rhythm changes The chord progression from Gershwin’s “I
who helped W.C. Handy set up a Got Rhythm” which forms the basis of
publishing business many jazz compositions
Rodgers, Jimmy An important early country music Shout chorus A climactic, full ensemble chorus
musician Walking bass Innovative bass technique in which the
Schuman, William A classical composer who drew bassist deviates from the basic harmony
inspiration from folksong on weak beats
Weill, Kurt A German composer who inspired the
Composers’ Collective
Music Cram Kit | 52
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