Musc 1236 Midterm 1 Final Notecards - Terms and History Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Musc 1236 Midterm 1 Final Notecards - Terms and History Deck (131)
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1
Q

Timbre

A

Timbre refers to quality of sound, or tone color. (same pitch, sounds different)

2
Q

Mutes

A

Physical devices inserted into the bell of the instrument to distort the sounds coming out.

3
Q

Timber Variation

A

The use of unusual sounds for expressive purposes

4
Q

Where did timber variation come from?

A

Came to jazz through African American folk culture

5
Q

Vibrato

A

Most wind playeres generate a slight wobble in pitch, known as vibrato

6
Q

Half valving

A

depressing one or more of the valves only halfway

7
Q

Shake

A

A quick trill between two notes that mimics a wide vibrato

8
Q

Cup Mutes

A

Adds an extension that more or less covers the bell, further attenuating the sound while rounding it out

9
Q

Straight Mutes

A

Inserted directly into the bell of the instrument, quiets the sound without too much distortion

10
Q

Harmon Mute

A

A hollow mute with a hole in the center; originally the hole was filled with an adjustable sliding tube, sutable for comic effects, but most jazz musicians simply discarded the tube, creating a highly concentrated sound

11
Q

Plunger Mute

A

It’s the rubber end of a sink plunger (can resemble human speech)

12
Q

Glissando

A

Glide seamlessly from one note to another (also known as smear)

13
Q

Cornet

A

a version of the trumpet with a mellower timbre and deep mouthpiece.

14
Q

Single-Reed Instruments

A

Clarinet, saxophone

15
Q

Purpose of Rhythm section

A

Provide harmony, bass, and percussion

16
Q

bass (or string bass)

A

The bass is the rock on which the jazz ensemble is built. Two critical functions: plays notes that support the harmony, and provides a basic underlying rhythmic foundation

17
Q

pizzicato vs bowing

A

Pizzicato is the plucking of the strings with fingers. Arco is just playing with bow

18
Q

Rhythm

A

a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound

19
Q

Meter

A

The grouping of pulses (beats) into patterns of two, three or more per bar

20
Q

Tempo

A

given speed

21
Q

Pulse Rhythm

A

Moving to a given tempo

22
Q

Free Rhythm

A

Speed up or slow down or even stop time altogether

23
Q

Polyrhythm

A

The simultaneous use of contrasting rhythms; The thythmic contrast resulting from the simultaneous use of contrasting rhythms

24
Q

rhythmic contrast

A

same as polyrhythm

25
Q

call and response

A

a succession of two distinct phrases usually written in different parts of the music, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or in response to the first

26
Q

syncopation

A

Every time a strong accent contradicts the basic meter. Occasional rhythmic distruption, a tempory “special effect” injected for variety.

27
Q

backbeat

A

The mid beats emphasized 1 2 3 4 (2 and 4)

28
Q

downbeat

A

The first beat of every measure

29
Q

groove

A

The overall framework within which rhythmic things happen

30
Q

swing

A

Steady, four-beat rhythm in the bass and cymbal with a backbeat

31
Q

melody

A

main

32
Q

scale

A

The basic unit of melody, the pithces that fall within the octave.

33
Q

chromatic scale

A

The twelve notes in an octave make up a scale by themselves

34
Q

half-step

A

Interval separating each note

35
Q

major mode

A

C to C whole whole half whole whole whole half

36
Q

scale degree

A

Each note in a major scale

37
Q

tonic

A

The note the tune insists on ending on. The first note, the do.

38
Q

tonal music

A

Music that insists on returning to the tonic

39
Q

whole step

A

C to D (black in between) two absolute keys up on the piano

40
Q

mode

A

The whole half pattern that makes up and defines the scale

41
Q

major mode

A

WWHWWWH

42
Q

minor mode

A

Most important difference from whole is the third degree of the scale. In minor, the interval between do and mi (known as a third) is a half step lower;.

43
Q

whole-tone scale

A

a scale consisting entirely of intervals of a tone, with no semitones

44
Q

pentatonic scale

A

A scale in which the tones are arranged like a major scale with its fourth and seventh notes omitted, a musical scale of five tones in which the octave is reached at the sixth tone

45
Q

blue notes

A

Certain notes are played with a great deal of flexibility, sliding through infinitesimal fractions (microtones) of a half step for expressive purposes (variable intonation). Notes inbetween cracks on piano

46
Q

motives

A

a short melodic or rhythmic idea

47
Q

riffs

A

short, catchy and reapeated melodic phrase

48
Q

chords

A

Play two or more notes at the same time (basis of the harmony)

49
Q

harmonic progression

A

(changes), a series of chords played in a strict rhythmic sequence

50
Q

consonant harmony

A

(stable) chords

51
Q

dissonant harmony

A

(unstable or jarring) chords are pulled as if by gravity

52
Q

cadence

A

The end of a phrase, where a chord progression comes to rest (temporarily or finally)

53
Q

harmonic substitutions

A

the substitution of one chord, or a series of chords, for harmonies in a progression

54
Q

chromatic harmony

A

complex harmony based on the chromatic scale

55
Q

texture

A

The balance between harmony and melody

56
Q

homophony

A

A melody is supported by harmonic accompaniment

57
Q

polyphony

A

Two or more melodies of equal interest are played at the same time

58
Q

monophony

A

A melody exists on its own without harmonic accompaniment

59
Q

breaks

A

A break is an interruption of homophonic texture by monophonic texture; when the rest of the band briefly stops playing to let a musician solo

60
Q

stop-time

A

Created when the ensemble plays a short chord at brief intervals, say, once every bar or once every other bar, and the soloist improvises with just these interruptions from the band prodding him on. Open-ended, lasts as long as the musician wants

61
Q

counterpoint

A

polyphonic texture, especially when composed. (polyphonic texture: two or more melodies of equal interest are played at the same time)

62
Q

licks

A

melodic phrases, simple and basic part of the common lore of jazz

63
Q

riffs

A

A repeated fragment of melody

64
Q

What are jazz forms derived from?

A

Jazz forms are derived from African Music

65
Q

Where does improvisation happen?

A

Improvisation happens within a cycle or chorus

66
Q

What is the purpose of rhythmic contrast?

A

In jazz rhythmic contrast is used to prevent boring repetition; where rhytmic contrast is when there are two distinct layers, one fixed and one variable

67
Q

What is the origins of blues form?

A

The blues form has its origins in African American folk poetry

68
Q

What is the blues form?

A

12-bar blues

69
Q

What is a chord progression?

A

I, V, IV, V

70
Q

I (chord progression) means?

A

I means a chord built on the first note of a particular scale

71
Q

IV (chord progression) means?

A

IV means a chord built on the fourth note of a particular scale

72
Q

I (chord progression) is known as?

A

tonic

73
Q

V (chord progression) is known as?

A

dominant

74
Q

What is tonic?

A

I (chord progression)

75
Q

What is dominant?

A

V (chord progression)

76
Q

Use of harmonic substitutions?

A

Variety can be added through harmonic substitutions

77
Q

What is a head?

A

composed portion of a small-combo jazz performance; the straight tune with no improvisation

78
Q

What is a 32-bar pop song form?

A

AABA. Compose an eight-bar phrase, Repeat it. Contrast it with a new eight-bar phrase (known as the bridge). Finally, repeat the oriign phrase one last time. All thirty-two bars make a single chorus.

79
Q

What letters denote repetition or contrast?

A

B

80
Q

Contrast of what?

A

phrases

81
Q

What songs are in 32 bar form? Give an example

A

A Sailboat in the Moonlight, So What, The Pot Boiler

82
Q

How does AABA form differ from ABAC form? What has changed?

A

While AABA adds contrast (the bridge) precisely halfway through the song, ABAC uses that same location to return to the opening melody

83
Q

Name a song in AABA form.

A

A Sailboat in the Moonlight, So What by Miles Davis

84
Q

Name a song in ABAC form.

A

Hotter than that by louis armstrong, singin the blues by bix biederbecke, star dust by artie shaw, ESP by miles davis

85
Q

Walking bass

A

A steady four best to the bar, providing the foundations to the chords while still generating melodic interest.

86
Q

Chart

A

the musical score that serves as the basis for jazz performance

87
Q

Comping

A

a rhythmically unpreditable way of playing cords to accompany a soloist; typicaly one of the variable layers in the rhythm section

88
Q

Pedal Point

A

a passage in which the bass note refuses to move, remaing stationary on a single note

89
Q

Ride pattern dropping bombs

A

The right foot of the drummer controlling the bass drum pedal plays thunderous acents

90
Q

Fill

A

Drummer adds an improvised passage

91
Q

Melodic Paraphrase

A

Takes a preexisting melody and varies it, typically adds notes and distorts the rhythm into something that swings, but does not disguise the source material

92
Q

Harmonic Improvisation

A

rely on the changes, create new melodies that fit over the basic chord progression

93
Q

Triad

A

a harmony consisting of three or more different pitches

94
Q

Modal Improvisation

A

replaces a welter of chords with a stable scale or mode

95
Q

big bands

A

Large groups, grouped by instrument section, use arragnements or charts usually in block chord texture and use call and response; consists of three sections brass, reeds, and rhythm

96
Q

small combos

A

A few horns plus rhythm section

97
Q

trading fours

A

in a jam session, “trading” short (usually four-bar) solos back and forth between the drums and the soloists, or between soloists, can involved call and response

98
Q

Jazz is an art form known as:

A

“America’s Classical Music”

99
Q

Jazz is considered ___ and ___.

A

Jazz is also a popular music and folk music.

100
Q

Where can jazz be traced to?

A

Jazz can be traced to Africa

101
Q

What are some characteristics of African music? Why is this important?

A

African music has traditional aspects which were characterized by polyrhythm, call and response, blue notes, timber variation, and combined ideas. These became an important part of jazz, especially early jazz.

102
Q

ballads

A

The retelling of local history, long romantic

103
Q

work songs

A

thrived on railroads, levees, and anywhere else music was needed to pace manual labor.

104
Q

spirituals

A

transformed call-and-response songs into religious poetry.

105
Q

field hollars

A

A rhythmically loose vocal line that expressed his or her lonesome individuality

106
Q

blues

A

a new poetic genre that emerged at the dawn of the twentieth century marked by its unusual three-line stanza. Earlier forms of folk poetry usually fell into stanzas of two or four lines, but the blues took the two-line couplet and repeated the first line.

107
Q

country blues

A

early blues style, performed ciefly by solitary male musicians throughout the rural south, from the Carolinas to the Mississippi Delta into Texas. The form was llose and improvisatory, suting the needs of the instrument.

108
Q

vaudeville or classical blues

A

Female singers wer accompanied by a small band on the stages of black theater circuits in the 1910s and 1920s

109
Q

Brass Bands

A

originally a military institution that in peacetime became a local “people’s ochestra, with new brass instruments like the sousaphone.” The brass bands primary contribution to jazz turned out to be the struture of its music.

110
Q

March form (AABBCCDD or AABBACCDD)

A

Marches are made up of a succession of strains (sixteen-bar defining unit), each usually repeated before passing on to the next. A typical march with four strains could be diagrammed as AABBCCDD or AABBACCDD (with the returing A offering a hint of closure and transition). Widely used in ragtime.

111
Q

Significance of third, or trio strain of march form, C

A

The third, or trio, strain © is particularly significant. It modulates to a new key (the subdominant, or IV), sometimes with the aid of a short introductory passage, and is often twice as long, lasting thirty-two bars instead of sixteen. Composers used the trio to change the piece’s dynamics, texture, or orchestration.

112
Q

What is dance music influence on on Ragtime?

A

subversively syncopated music was inescapably black, and derived from the contemporary piano style known as ragtime.

113
Q

How did dance music influence jazz?

A

transition from private clubs, to more accessible middle aged dance clubs.

114
Q

Dance Music and the Charleston

A

Most fashionable new dance (steps). The Charlestone derived its name and syncopations from the highly Africanized islands of South Carolina.

115
Q

Ragtime

A

a style of popular music in the early twentieth century that conveyed African American polyrhythm in notated form; includes popular song and dance, although it’s primarily known today through compositions written for the piano.

116
Q

New Orleans-how did this area enhance the development of jazz?

A

Lies in the city’s geographical, racial, political, cultural, and musical peculiarities. Port (location): blended elements of American commerce with those of a Caribbean island; half the population was black; Creole and black mix of culture

117
Q

What is Buddy Bolden’s Style?

A

Played loud, seductiveness of his approach to slow blues.

118
Q

What became known as the New Orleans style?

A

collective improvisation; its instrumentation derived from two sources. Brass band societies, which spawned smaller dance groups, gave the music its melody instruments: trumpet or cornet, trombone, and clarinet. (front line). Drumset, string ensembles, originally a lead violinist.; During the trio section of a piece, the band often switched to block-chord texture or, more rarely, presented a single horn plus accompaniment. Breaks and stop-time were common, soloing more rare.

119
Q

What is collective improvisation?

A

A highly unusual polyphonic technique, where several instruemets improvise their parts simultaneously, and it is a defining characteristic of New Orleans Jazz

120
Q

What change in the 1920’s with regard to Jazz? With regard to society in general?

A

NYC’s largest contribution to jazz was the development of large bands and orchestrations. Better recordings, radio, and movies. Electric recordings. Radio. Prohibition and speakeasies. Simmering pot of styles.

121
Q

Symphonic Jazz, what was that?

A

created by Paul Whiteman, “king of jazz”, symphonic jazz represented a fusion of musical styles

122
Q

What is a Charleston beat?

A

two emphatic beats followed by a rest, usually enunciated by the trumpets, alternates with the more even rhythms stated by the violins.

123
Q

What was Tin Pan Alley?

A

The center of the songwriting industry in New York; The first songwriting factory of its kind (where all the recording studios were on a street). Introduced the idea of the professional songwriter.

124
Q

What was the Harlem Renaissance? How did it develop?

A

An artistic movement of the 1920s that attempted to display African American abilities in painting, drama, literature, poetry, criticism, and music; jazz was usually not included by critics of the time, although in retrospect the music of Duke Ellington seems central. It developed in 1904, when the Afro-American Realty Company organized a campaign to lure African Americans to Harlem.

125
Q

What is stride piano?

A

An aggressive, competitive, joyous way of playing piano that directly refected the musical vigor of New York. Impetuous, flashy, and loud. Stride describes the motion of the pianist’s left hand, striding back and forth from low to high in the bass clef.

126
Q

Know about the Cotton Club. Who opened this?

A

Opened by Duke Ellington. It was a segregated citadel, thought to represent the height of New York sophistication, it actually exploited tired minstrel cliches. Refused to admit blacks

127
Q

What is programmatic music?

A

attempting to describe specific places, people, or events.

128
Q

Who’s music was often programmatic?

A

Duke Ellington

129
Q

Who were Louis Armstrong’s five influences that really can be measured as jazz progresses through the 20th century? (see pg. 108)

A

Blues, Improvisation, Singing, Repertory, and Rhythm.

130
Q

What is scat-singing?

A

wordless vocalizing, using nonsense syllables instead of words

131
Q

What is the Chicago style of jazz?

A

began by imitating New Orleans bands and evolved into a more slapdash, aggressively rhythmic school that combined expansive solos with polyphonic theme statements.