Pitch 1
From the syllabus:
Pitch refers to the relative highness and lowness of sounds. Important aspects include high, low, higher and lower pitches, direction of pitch movement, melody, harmony, indefinite and definite pitch.
Students should be able to discuss the following aspects of pitch as relevant to the music studied:
• high/low: pitches can be comparatively high or low
• direction of pitch movement: up, down, same level
• melody: a horizontal succession of pitches
• harmony: two or more pitches sounding together
• indefinite pitch: untuned sounds, for example, the speaking voice
• definite pitch: tuned sounds, for example, the singing voice.
Students should understand and apply the following (where appropriate to the musical context):
• definite and indefinite pitch
• pitch direction and contour
• pitch patterns
• pitch range and register
• harmony
• methods of notating pitch, both traditional and graphic
•various scales, modes and other ways of organising pitch.
Pitch refers to the relative highness and lowness of sounds. Important aspects include high, low, higher and lower pitches, direction of pitch movement, melody, harmony, indefinite and definite pitch.
Students should be able to discuss the following aspects of pitch as relevant to the music studied:
• high/low: pitches can be comparatively high or low
• direction of pitch movement: up, down, same level
• melody: a horizontal succession of pitches
• harmony: two or more pitches sounding together
• indefinite pitch: untuned sounds, for example, the speaking voice
• definite pitch: tuned sounds, for example, the singing voice.
Students should understand and apply the following (where appropriate to the musical context):
• definite and indefinite pitch
• pitch direction and contour
• pitch patterns
• pitch range and register
• harmony
• methods of notating pitch, both traditional and graphic
•various scales, modes and other ways of organising pitch.
Tonality
Major Minor Modulation Atonality (Atonal) Definite Pitch Indefinite pitch Scales Semitone Tone Blues Scale/Blue Notes Chromatic scale Modal (Modes) Pentatonic Whole tone Harmony & Chords Harmony Chords - Major - Major 7th - Minor - Minor 7th - Dominant 7th - Diminished |
Arpeggio/Broken Chord
Chromatic Harmony Cluster chord Consonance Diatonic Dissonance Primary Triads Rate of chord change Repeating chord progressions Cadence - Perfect - Plagal - Interrupted - Imperfect Melody and Direction Ascending Descending Intervals Leaps Melody Octave Phrase Range Register |
Pitch Devices
Alberti Bass Cadenza Call and Response Canon Counter Melody Drone Imitation Inversion Melisma Melodic Contour Motif/Fragment Ornamentation - Appoggiatura - Grace Note - Mordent - Trill - Turn Ostinato Pedal Point Question and Answer Retrograde Repetition Riff Sequence Walking Bass Line |
Tonality (tonal)
Tonality allows for a great range of musical materials, structures, meanings, and understandings. It does this through establishing a tonic, or central chord based on a pitch which is the lowest degree (first note) of a scale, and a somewhat flexible network of relations between any other pitch or chord exists. The relationships that exist between these chords is known as the tonality. There is one tonic/home chord that the music must return to.
The majority of music that you hear is tonal.
The diagram below shows the relationships between chords in a tonal system.
Tonality allows for a great range of musical materials, structures, meanings, and understandings. It does this through establishing a tonic, or central chord based on a pitch which is the lowest degree (first note) of a scale, and a somewhat flexible network of relations between any other pitch or chord exists. The relationships that exist between these chords is known as the tonality. There is one tonic/home chord that the music must return to.
The majority of music that you hear is tonal.
The diagram below shows the relationships between chords in a tonal system.
The 2nd last chord you heard, G major (Chord V/dominant) strongly pushes to the tonic chord C major. The tonal system of music constructs pitch relationships around one central note, the Tonic. If you have no sense of there being a tonic or home chord the piece is not tonal. The two common types of tonality are Major and Minor.
This next example contains 2 chord progressions. The first is tonal, the second is not. In the first one you will hear a short pause between the last two chords. Once you hear the last chord you will know that that is the tonic/home chord - therefore it is tonal. Tonality works by chords having specific relationships i.e. they should be used in certain orders. Think about the time I taught you that you must go from a tonic chord to a subdominant chord. The second example is not based on a major or minor tonality (scale) and the chords are in a sense ‘random’ as they follow no order unlike the first example. You will hear no sense of a tonic/home chord - therefore it is atonal.
This next example contains 2 chord progressions. The first is tonal, the second is not. In the first one you will hear a short pause between the last two chords. Once you hear the last chord you will know that that is the tonic/home chord - therefore it is tonal. Tonality works by chords having specific relationships i.e. they should be used in certain orders. Think about the time I taught you that you must go from a tonic chord to a subdominant chord. The second example is not based on a major or minor tonality (scale) and the chords are in a sense ‘random’ as they follow no order unlike the first example. You will hear no sense of a tonic/home chord - therefore it is atonal.
Major
Major tonality is based on the major scale and its associated chords. Below is the major scale. The major scale is generally 'bright and happy' in character. It is a series of 8 notes with a specific tone-semitone pattern indicated below.
Major tonality is based on the major scale and its associated chords. Below is the major scale. The major scale is generally 'bright and happy' in character. It is a series of 8 notes with a specific tone-semitone pattern indicated below.
This example contains some pieces based on major tonality (the major scale)
Minor
Minor tonality is based on the minor scale and its associated chords. Below is the minor scale. The minor scale is generally 'dark and sad' in character. It is a series of 8 notes with a specific tone-semitone pattern indicated below.
Minor tonality is based on the minor scale and its associated chords. Below is the minor scale. The minor scale is generally 'dark and sad' in character. It is a series of 8 notes with a specific tone-semitone pattern indicated below.
A characteristic of the minor scale is the Tone + Semitone (3 semitones) between the 6th and 7th note of the scale. This is known as an augmented 2nd. Augmented = higher by a semitone.
Here are the chords built on each note of the minor scale. Notice that chord III, V and VI are major. Minor pieces still use chords. In a minor piece the tonic/home chord is minor. (Any chord roman numeral that has an o next to it indicates that the chord is diminished. See diminished in the chords section.)
This example contains some pieces based on minor tonality (the minor scale)
Modulation
A modulation is a change of the home key/tonality. Pieces can modulate from major to minor key or to a higher or lower key. If you hear a modulation try and say if you think it modulates up a step or down two steps etc. Always try and describe the modulation as accurately as you can.
Here is an example from Donizetti’s ‘Lucrezia Borgia’. The piece modulates from minor to major. The major and minor key are very close. (It has actually changed from Eb minor to Eb major so it was a straight major to minor swap. The modulation occurs at 55 seconds.)
A modulation is a change of the home key/tonality. Pieces can modulate from major to minor key or to a higher or lower key. If you hear a modulation try and say if you think it modulates up a step or down two steps etc. Always try and describe the modulation as accurately as you can.
Here is an example from Donizetti’s ‘Lucrezia Borgia’. The piece modulates from minor to major. The major and minor key are very close. (It has actually changed from Eb minor to Eb major so it was a straight major to minor swap. The modulation occurs at 55 seconds.)
Atonality (Atonal)
Atonal music is music that has no tonal centre or tonic note/chord; music that is not based on major or minor (or similar) tonality. During the Romantic period some composers started to push the boundaries of tonality by including chords and notes not closely related to the major or minor scale they were working with. Some also started using other scales such as whole-tone. Put simply atonality may sound like 'random' pitch as the notes are not organized by the tonal systems that we are used to. Music that uses only indefinite pitch would be atonal as there is no tonic or tonal centre.
Music that has no tonality is known as ATONAL.
The following montage contains 3 atonal pieces. The first is from an Opera by Berg (The use of ascending chromatic scales helps create the atonality). The second is from a piece called 'Pithoprakta' by Xenakis; the piece has no tonal centre. The last piece is from a Symphony by Webern. It uses a technique called ‘serialism' where the 12 notes of the chromatic scale are placed in specific orders. This gives a strong sense of atonality.
Atonal music is music that has no tonal centre or tonic note/chord; music that is not based on major or minor (or similar) tonality. During the Romantic period some composers started to push the boundaries of tonality by including chords and notes not closely related to the major or minor scale they were working with. Some also started using other scales such as whole-tone. Put simply atonality may sound like 'random' pitch as the notes are not organized by the tonal systems that we are used to. Music that uses only indefinite pitch would be atonal as there is no tonic or tonal centre.
Music that has no tonality is known as ATONAL.
The following montage contains 3 atonal pieces. The first is from an Opera by Berg (The use of ascending chromatic scales helps create the atonality). The second is from a piece called 'Pithoprakta' by Xenakis; the piece has no tonal centre. The last piece is from a Symphony by Webern. It uses a technique called ‘serialism' where the 12 notes of the chromatic scale are placed in specific orders. This gives a strong sense of atonality.
Here is an example of the atonal music of ‘Pink Floyd’. This is from the period of ‘Progressive Rock’ where the boundaries of popular music were being pushed.
Definite Pitch
Notes that can be sung or found on a piano. (Melodic sounds) It may be useful to mention the contrast of definite and indefinite pitch but it is not usually the focus of a pitch answer.
Notes that can be sung or found on a piano. (Melodic sounds) It may be useful to mention the contrast of definite and indefinite pitch but it is not usually the focus of a pitch answer.
Indefinite Pitch
Notes that can not be sung or found on a piano. (Untuned percussive sounds)
Notes that can not be sung or found on a piano. (Untuned percussive sounds)
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