EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
Western Music History through Performance
Jonathan Coopersmith, Curtis Institute of Music
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E Musical Terms and Notation Notes taken on March 26, 2016 by Edward Tanguay |
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notation has developed dramatically in the past 1000 years
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half note = 72 Rhythmico
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number refers to beats per minute
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i.e. 72 half notes per minute or 114 quarter notes per minute, which is pretty fast
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the tempo is very important and can be found on all standard metronomes in use since Beethoven's time
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clef sitting on the staff
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e.g. treble clef used for violin music or anything else that is higher in pitch such as the
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flute
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trumpet
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ukulele
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soprano voice
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clef is from French and means key
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the clef is the key to reading the notes that are on the staff
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key signature
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sharps, flats and naturals are called accidentals
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they alter written pitches higher and lower
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e.g. two sharps
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means either D major or b minor
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meter
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3/2 on the staff tells us that there are three half notes on this measure, which we call the meter
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the meter remains until it is changed
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the top number indicates the number of beats per bar
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bottom number indicates the rhythmic value
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a 2 means a half note
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if it were a 4 on the bottom, the beat would be felt in quarter notes
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if it were an 8 on the bottom, the beat would be felt in 8th notes
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a great deal of music is in 4/4 or 3/4
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the meter is just a way that composers group rhythms together into bars
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some pieces change meters quite a bit
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check out Stravinsky's Rite of Spring if you want to see some remarkable meter changes
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dynamics
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letters that control volume
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p = piano, or soft
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f = forte, or loud
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pp = pianissimo, or very soft
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mf = mezzo forte, or moderately loud
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Giovanni Gabrieli (1557–1612)
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credited as the first to use dynamics in his music
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articulations
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marks that affect duration and the way the note is sounded
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solid line
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means tenuto, Italian for "to hold, to emphasize"
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hold a note for its full duration, or to emphasize the note
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small dot
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staccato
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play the note short and not for its full duration
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play the note lightly
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there is room for interpretation
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how loud is loud
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how short is short
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there are also ephemeral aspects of music that can't be notated
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a wonderful aspect about the performance of music