•Timbre
•Timbre is the way in which instruments are used in combination OR refers to the different sounds and tones an instrument can make.
•Concerto and Sonata
•The concerto and sonata are both types of music and refer to timbre.
•Concerto: A soloist accompanied by orchestra.
•Sonata: A soloist accompanied by piano OR solo piano.
•Both of these are made up of three pieces of music called movements.
•1st = moderato 2nd = Largo 3rd = Vivace
•The Orchestra
•STRINGS: Violins, Violas, Cellos , Double Bass
•WOODWIND: Piccolo, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon
•BRASS: Natural Horn, Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone, Tuba
•PERCUSSION: Timpani, Cymbals, Xylophone, Glockenspiel
•Instruments in red were added later on in the history of the orchestra.
•The piano was NOT part of the orchestra: piano plus orchestra = ???
•Smaller Ensembles
•Chamber Orchestra: Strings plus some woodwind and possibly a keyboard instrument.
•Quartets, Quintets etc: Combinations of instruments usually used in families (strings).
•Duets and Trios
•Pop and Rock ensembles
•Vocal Music
•Music for voices can be choral, solo or written for smaller combinations such as quartets.
•The music is generally written for four parts sometimes called SATB:
•Soprano (S) = high female
•Alto (A) = low female
•Tenor (T) = high male
•Bass (B) = low male
•These can be used in various combinations.
•World Music Instruments
•African:
•Percussion(Djembe), String, Melodic(Mbira) and wind.
•Indian:
•Raga (melody = sitar), Tala (percussion = tabla) and Drone (bass = sitar). For Bhangra add pop instruments.
•Caribbean:
•Steel Pans plus western instruments.
•Techniques and Timbre
•Listening Exercise
•Describe the use of melody, timbre, rhythm and metre used in this extract. (4)
•Techniques and Timbre
•Instrumental techniques also come under the category of timbre.
•Most instruments have techniques or devices which can be used to alter or change the timbre of the instrument.
•Technology
•Sound effects are often used in music and technology is used to adapt sounds.
•Samples – a short recording of a sound
•Loop – a repeated sample
•Reverb – adds echo to a sound
•Distortion – creates the impression of feedback
•Chorus – adds additional layers to the sound
•Delay – adds an echo effect
•Sustain – holding of notes
•Effects pedals – used on guitars to add these effects.
•Instrumental Techniques
•Con Arco – with a bow
•Pizzicato – plucked
•Con Sordino – muted
•Double Stopping – playing two notes at once
•Tremelo – adding a shaking sound
•Staccato – short notes
•Legato – smooth notes
•Macarto – accented notes
•Vibrato – with a shake
•Rimshot – hitting the side
•Brushes – using brushes instead of sticks
•Flutter Tonguing - creating a growling sound
•Harmonics – playing out of register falsely
•Slap Bass – slapping the bass strings (percussive)
•Pedalling – use of sustain pedal on piano
•Vocal Techniques
•Falsetto – singing out of range
•Vibrato – shaking sound
•Scat – improvised vocals with nonsense sound
•Castrati – male with female vocal range because they have no ….
•Head Voice – singing at top of range with no diaphragm support
•Dynamics
•Dynamics is a term used to describe how volume or quantity of sound is used in music.
•Dynamics is a term used to describe how volume or quantity of sound is used in music.
•It is represented through a series of words, letters and symbols.
•Dynamic Terms
•pp = pianissimo – very quiet
•p = piano – quiet
•mp = metzo piano – quite quiet
•mf = metzo forte – quite loud
•f = forte – loud
•ff = very loud
•Common Signs, Terms and Symbols
•Cresc = crescendo = gradually getting louder
•Dim = diminuendo = gradually getting quieter
•These can be represented by hairpins
•SFZ = sforzando = suddenly very loud/aggressive
•Poco = little …… so, poco a poco crescendo means…..
