Music-Melody and Harmony PDF

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Summary

Notes on Melody and harmony in music...

Description

Melody Pitch- “highness” or “lowness” of a sound Frequency-Rate/speed of vibrations per second (determines pitch of sound)     

rate of vibration per second high pitches = fast vibrations low pitches = slower vibrations measured in Hertz (Hz) A = 440 Hz

Pitch Names 

Syllables = solfege (1600 in Europe) Do re mi fa sol la ti do

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Numbers = which notes to play (Asia) 1234567

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Letters ABCDEFG

Melody-Selection of pitches in the succession (horizontal thinking) Melodic Contour    

Outline (like a city’s skyline) Conjunct = moves by step Disjunct = moves by leap Combination

Examples: “Joy to the World”-conjunct “Live Your Life”-Disjunct “Moves Like Jagger”-Disjunct “Ode To Joy”-Conjunct Intervals-distance between 2 pitches 

Naming intervals 2nd, 3rd,4th,5th,6th,7th, octave

Auto-Tune-Pitch correction software  

Antares Audio Technologies Created by Andy Hildebrand (Exxon engineer)

Scale-pitches in ascending or descending orders   

Diatonic = pattern of half and whole steps Chromatic = all 12 pitches in an octave Pentatonic = five-note scale

Harmony Harmony: Pitches Heard Simultaneously = Thinking Vertically Half step   

Minor second Smallest intervals in Western Music 12 steps per octave

Interval review   

Distance between two pitches Naming intervals (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, octave) Type of interval (major, minor)

Major/Minor    

Half step Minor second Smallest interval in Western music 12 half steps per octave

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Whole step Major second 2 half steps

Microtones  

An interval smaller than the Western half step Feature of Arabic music o 24 pitches per octave

Chord 

3 or more pitches stacked vertically o 12345123 o 1 (2) 3 (4) 5 (4) 3 (2) 1 o 13531 o 3 groups: 1 3 5

Dissonance and Consonance Dissonance  

Tense, unstable, discordant Produces tension

Consonance  

Stable, free of tension, aesthetically pleasing Releases tension

Pitch Hierarchy      

Some pitch(es) more important than others Tonic = tonal center Key = tonal center named after specific pitch Dominant = 5th note of scale o Take Five by the Dave Brubeck Quartet Subdominant = 4th note of scale Leading tone = 7th note of scale

Chords Progression-Sequence of chords...