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ACADEC Music Theory By Micah Gautney

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ACADEC Music Theory

ACADEC Music TheoryBy Micah GautneyIntroductionWe study the musical patterns of the western world

6 time periods in musicMiddle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern

Music has slowly progressed over the past 2000 years to give us what we have todayWhat is music?Sound organized in time

Sound is a wave of energy

A wave of energy has two characteristicsAmplitude determines the decibel levelFrequency determines pitchFrequency and PitchesMeasured in Hz

Hz means cycles per second

Humans hear 20-20,000 Hz

An octave is the doubling of the frequency

Standard A-440 Overtones and partialsVery few sounds consist of one pure frequency

Most pitches consist of..A dominant or fundamental frequencyOther, less noticeable frequencies of smaller wavelengths Wavelengths of one half, one third, one fourth, etc.

These higher pitches with smaller wavelengths are called overtones or partials

Equal Temperament Since about 1750 a system of tuning called equal temperament has dominated western music

Divides the octave into 12 equal parts

These twelve pitches in order are called the chromatic scaleThe Keyboard and Staff

Scales A succession of whole steps and half steps

There are many different types of scalesMajorminor Church modesBlues, pentatonic, chromatic, whole tone, Arabic, byzantine, etc.

Often used as the common notes for a piece of music

Rhythm, Beat, and TempoRhythm is the way music is organized in timeBeat is the steady pulse that underlies most music (unless it is unmetered)Tempo is the speed of the beatTempo can change (rubato)RitardandoAccelerando Poco a pocosubito

Meter Beats have equal length but not equal importance. Some beats have more stress applied to them.There is normally a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed beats.Beats are grouped into measures based on the stressed beats. These measures are separated by bar linesThere are different types of metersDuple, triple, quadruple, or irregularMeter is often shown by the time signatureRhythmic NotationSymbols are used to show how long a note should last

Time SignatureIndicates meter Looks like a fraction without a barBottom number indicates the durational value of the beatTop number indicates beats per measureMost common is four-four time or common timeTwo-two is cut time

Simple and Compound MeterBased on subdivision of beats

If a beat is subdivided into two beats, it is simple

If a beat is subdivided into three beats, it is compound

ChordsThree or more notes sounding simultaneouslyA triad is a chord consisting of three notes with intervals of a third in between eachThere are 4 qualities of triadMajor, minor augmented, diminishedinversions

Key Not a piano keyA key is the world of pitch relationships within which a piece of music takes placeThe set of seven notes a piece or section of music usesKey signature