gcse ocr music notes - new syllabus

8/2/2019 Gcse Ocr Music Notes - New Syllabus

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GCSE OCR Music NotesBaroque (1600 – 1750)

1. Approx. date: 17th

and 18th

Centuries (1600 and 1750)

2. Instruments: Violin, Viola, Cello, Harpsichord, Organ, Recorder, Flute, Oboe

3. Typical forms/structures: Opera, Oratorio, Fugue, Suite, Sonata, Concerto

4. Composers and their works/pieces:Purcell – Dido and AeneasVivaldi – The four seasonsJ. S Bach – Mass in B Minor

Monteverdi – L’Orfeo Handel – Messiah

Domenico Scarlatti – Keyboard SonatasJ. S Bach – The well – tempered clavier

Romantic (1810 – 1900)

2. Instruments: Full Orchestra, Concert Grand Piano, Violin, Cor Anglais

3. Typical forms/structures: Opera, Music Drama, Programme Music, Song Cycles, Short Piano Pieces

4. Composers and their works/pieces:Weber – Der FreischÜtz

Rossini – William TellWagner – The flying Dutchman

Verdi – AidaSchubert – Die schÖne MÜllerinChopin – Four Ballads and other piano musicTchaikovsky – Swan Lake and Symphony no.6

5. Other details:Romanticism in art, literature and music moved away from Classicism by allowing emotionalcontent to dominate form.



Classical (1750 – 1810)

Melody:

o Simpleo Sometimes decorated with ornaments (trills, grace notes, mordent, turns)

Harmony:

o Simple

o no harsh dissonant chords

o based mostly on primary chords

Phrasing:o Balanced

o regular 4 bar phraseso Question and answer, not call and response.

Orchestra:o Small orchestra,o mostly strings with a few woodwind and brass,o Percussion is mostly timpani playing tonic and dominant, also could include piano.

Composer:

o Mozarto Haydn and Beethoven

Concerto:

3 movements – fast –slow-fast

Soloist demonstrates virtuosity during cadenza (end of first movement)

Usually a soloist and orchestra

Composers and their pieces:

Mozart: Don Giovanni, Die Zalberfloute, as well as many dances/concertos etc

Haydn: Surprise Symphony, the creation

Beethoven: Pathetique, moonlight, 5th

symphony



Set Music

Gamelan

Music from Indonesia (Bali and Java)

Based on cycles of melodies played at different speeds Uses metallic instruments such as gong, metallophone and drums

Drums keep a steady beat – accompanies puppet shows – is not notated - pentatonic

Indian Classical Music

Much is based around improvisation

Raga: a group of notes like a scale that the melody is based on (sitar or sarangi)

Tabla plays rhythmic improvisations forms a tala first beat or the bar called a ‘sam’

Tala: a cycle of beats that rhythm, is repetitive played on the tabla, forms bassline

African A Capella Singing Isicathamiya – gentle style with Ladysmith Black Mbazo in close harmony

Mbube - loud and powerful singing

Rhythm – gongan and ketog

Melody – pelog and slendro

Texture - heterophony

Pavane

Part of a suite of dances from the Renaissance period

The Pavan is the first dance. It is slow and stately In 2/2 time

Modal

Often has a drone accompaniment

Balanced phrases

Danced at court in pairs. Formal dance, big heavy costumes

Galliard

Followed the Pavane, often based on the same melody

¾ time,o fast and lively

Modal

Dotted rhythms allow for a jump.

Dance in pairs but not as formal as a Pavane

Strings, lute, tabor are common instruments.

Viennese Waltz

Romantic period first became popular in Vienna with Johann Strauss.

¾ time

Um cha cha feel, bass note of a chord accents the first beat of every bar. Harmonies are simple and change slowly (slow harmonic pace)

Melody is in balanced phrases, flowing and lyrical. Played by higher instruments (stings, flutes) in

orchestra.



Played by a large symphony orchestra

Rubato (slowing down and speeding up) is sometimes used although a steady beat is generally

needed to dance to the waltz.

Partner in a ballroom, formal, social occasion. Upper class dance to set steps.

Piano waltzes are common, but tend to be freer and therefore not suitable for dancing.

The Blues Fusion of American and African music growing out of the slave trade

Call and response

Swung rhythms

Improvisation

Blue notes and the blues scale

12 bar blues based on chords I, IV and V

Syncopated rhythms anticipate the beat

Salsa: Cuban Son:

o Son is a dance song from Cuba

Structured around the son clave rhythm

Uses lots of percussion to form complex cross rhythms

Call and response between pregon (lead singer) and choro (chorus) during montuno section. Sungin Spanish or Portuguese

Melodies move in 3rd or 5ths.

Simple harmonies based on chords I, IV and V.

Ostinato patterns are based on syncopated rhythms.

Use of Bandoneon Astor Piazollo.

Electro tango and tango Nuevo.

American Jazz

Big band instruments are used originally (trumpet, trombone, saxophone, drum kit)

Brass instruments have stab chords

Dialogue between different instruments and use of riffs

Piano and guitar use the compong style Syncopated rhythms.

SCAT rhythms in vocal improvisations

Bhangra

Punjabi Folk Dance with British Pop Music

Folk music to celebrate the end of the harvest

Music led by the dhol DRUM playing the chaal RHYTHM

Bols are used to help the dhol player know which strokes to use (dha and na)

Use of RAGA vocal melody

Singing is in Punjabi

Styles such as rap, reggae, hip hop, drum n bass have all influenced Bhangra as well as Punjabi fold

music.



Bhangra tracks can sound very different to each other as a result of what style is has been fusedwith.

Use a ‘Chaal’ rhythm and use of the word ‘Hoi’

Technology plays a big part in Bhangra:o Sampling of other trackso Remixing old trackso Effects such as echo/reverb

o Sequencing and looping

Tango

March like, slow tempo

2/4 or 4/4

Dotted rhythms and syncopation

Sonero and Choro (call and response)

Parallel 3rds and 6th

1970s Disco Began in the USA

120 beats per minute, fast tempo, usually 4/4 time

Four to the floor rhythms (accented 2 and 4 beats)

Use of hook lines and memorable melody

‘Wah Wah pedal’

Simple verse and chord structures

Informal, relaxed dance in clubs or discos

No set dance steps – people can dance how they like

Dancers can dance alone or in big groups

Amplified sound – loud. Loops and sequences

Hand claps

Club Music

Solo improvised dancing

Samplers, drum machines, synthesisers and sequencers

Remixing

Acid, drum’n’bass, trance, ambience, garage, house, techno

Moved on from disco to get people to stay on the floor longer



Other Important Things

Key Signatures:F 1 FlatB flat 2 FlatsE flat 3 Flats (B, E, A)

G 1 SharpD 2 SharpsA 3 Sharps (F, C, G)

Harmonies:DiatonicDissonantAtonalChromatic

Sub Dominant‘Blue’ Note Comping

TextureCounterpoint, Contrapuntal, PolyphonicObbligatoDescant

ArticulationLegato/slurredPizzicatoArcoStaccatoTremoloAccentRubatoRallentandoAcellerando

Vocal Ranges

Soprano: Highest female voice

Alto: Lowest female voice

Tenor: Highest male voice

Baritone: between tenor and bass

Bass: lowest male voice

Structure:

Binary: AB Ternary: ABA (or ABA1 where 1 is a variation to A)

Rondo: ABACADA (A: refrain; B,C,D: episodes)



Western popular styles

Irish Music

A jig is a performance dance usually in compound time (6/8) and is light and graceful (soft shoes)

hard jig is hard shoes

A reel is a social dance in simple time (2/4) is fast and uses angular movements

Has a relentless rhythm with tonic-dominant harmony

Stepwise melody with small intervals

Fiddle, bodhran, accordion, tin whistle, uilleann pipes and harp.

Romantic

German Lied (Schubert, Schumann, Brhams)

German poetry to music – strophic or through-composed

Use of piano and voice Word painting

Pop Ballad

Folk song from medieval Britain, passed down aurally In 19th Century it was songs of sentimental value Now – slow songs with romantic lyrics

Chamber Music Baroque uses contrapuntal texture, imitation, can be homophonic

Use of trio sonata - 2 melody instruments with the continuo

Classical uses melody with accompaniment and question and answer phrasing

Use of string quartet and piano trio

Great Choral Classics

Oratoria: overture, recitative, aria and chorus (Handel Messiah)

Mass: Latin Catholic Text; 6 movements (Kyrie, Benedictus, Angus Dei, Sanctus, Gloria and Credo)

Use a large choir

Example: CARMINA BURANA – O FORTUNA – by Orff



Serialism

Tone row (Prime order) includes all 12 chromatic pitches

20th century technique, made by Schoenberg

Detailed dynamics and articulation give serial melodies structure

Notes must always be heard in the correct order

Variations on tone row include:

o Inversion,

o Retrograde,

o Retrograde inversion

Atonal: no sense of tonic home note.

Impressionism

Based on whole tone scale

20th Century technique made by Debussy

Whole tone scale is made up entirely of whole tone intervals

Linked with impressionism in art

Whole tone scale sounds ‘dreamy’

Minimalism

Developed as a ‘Classical’ style of music in the 1960s

Influences from Africa, India and Indonesia

Composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass

Cells are staring points for ideas. Repetitions or patterns allow cells and patterns to develop and

change over time.

Hypnotic quality

Technology can be used to loop cells or build them up using multi tracking.

Phase shifting

Usually diatonal

(Don’t necessarily have to know)

gcse ocr music notes - new syllabus

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