Melody The true goal of music—its proper enterprise—is melody. All the parts of harmony have as their ultimate purpose only beautiful melody. Therefore the question of which is the more significant, melody or harmony, is futile. Beyond doubt, the means is subordinate to the end. Elements[edit] Given the many and varied elements and styles of melody "many extant explanations [of melody] confine us to specific stylistic models, and they are too exclusive The melodies existing in most European music written before the 20th century, and popular music throughout the 20th century, featured "fixed and easily discernible frequency patterns", recurring "events, often periodic, at all structural levels" and "recurrence of durations and patterns of durations".[3] Melodies in the 20th century "utilized a greater variety of pitch resources than ha[d] been the custom in any other historical period of Western music." Examples[edit] Different musical styles use melody in different ways. See also[edit]
Music This article is about music as a form of art. For history see articles for History of music and Music history. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social context. Music ranges from strictly organized compositions (and their recreation in performance), through improvisational music to aleatoric forms. To many people in many cultures, music is an important part of their way of life. Etymology The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "art of the Muses").[4] Music as form of art Jean-Gabriel Ferlan performing at a 2008 concert at the collège-lycée Saint-François Xavier Music is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product for the marketplace. There are often many links between amateur and professional musicians. Composition Music can be composed for repeated performance or it can be improvised: composed on the spot. Notation Play
Treatise on harmony - Jean Philippe Rameau Rhythm Compound triple drum pattern: divides three beats into three. Play Contains repetition on three levels. In the performance arts rhythm is the timing of events on a human scale; of musical sounds and silences, of the steps of a dance, or the meter of spoken language and poetry. Rhythm may also refer to visual presentation, as "timed movement through space."[3] and a common language of pattern unites rhythm with geometry. Anthropology[edit] Percussion instruments have clearly defined dynamics that aid the creation and perception of complex rhythms In his series How Music Works, Howard Goodall presents theories that human rhythm recalls the regularity with which we walk and the heartbeat. The establishment of a basic beat requires the perception of a regular sequence of distinct short-duration pulses and, as subjective perception of loudness is relative to background noise levels, a pulse must decay to silence before the next occurs if it is to be really distinct. Terminology[edit] Play .
Musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates to the beginnings of human culture. Early musical instruments may have used for ritual: such as a trumpet to signal success on the hunt, or a drum in a religious ceremony. Cultures eventually developed composition and performance of melodies for entertainment. Musical instruments evolved in step with changing applications. The date and origin of the first device considered a musical instrument is disputed. Musical instruments developed independently in many populated regions of the world. Musical instrument classification is a discipline in its own right, and many systems of classification have been used over the years. Definition and basic operation[edit] A musical instrument makes sounds. Archaeology[edit] History[edit]
Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (French: [ʒɑ̃filip ʁamo]; 25 September 1683 – 12 September 1764) was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era.[1] He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François Couperin.[2] Little is known about Rameau's early years, and it was not until the 1720s that he won fame as a major theorist of music with his Treatise on Harmony (1722). He was almost 50 before he embarked on the operatic career on which his reputation chiefly rests. His debut, Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), caused a great stir and was fiercely attacked for its revolutionary use of harmony by the supporters of Lully's style of music. Life[edit] The details of Rameau's life are generally obscure, especially concerning his first forty years, before he moved to Paris for good. Early years, 1683–1732[edit] The Cathedral of Saint-Bénigne, Dijon
Sound A drum produces sound via a vibrating membrane. Sound is a vibration that propagates as a mechanical wave of pressure and displacement, through some medium (such as air or water). Sometimes sound refers to only those vibrations with frequencies that are within the range of hearing for humans[1] or for a particular animal. Acoustics[edit] Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. Physics of sound[edit] Propagation of sound[edit] The behavior of sound propagation is generally affected by three things: A relationship between density and pressure. When sound is moving through a medium that does not have constant physical properties, it may be refracted (either dispersed or focused).[4] Spherical compression (longitudinal) waves Longitudinal and transverse waves[edit] Sound wave properties and characteristics[edit] Speed of sound[edit] U.S. to . = density. Human ear
Musical instrument classification At various times, and in various cultures, various schemes of musical instrument classification have been used. The most commonly used system in use in the west today divides instruments into string instruments, woodwind instruments, brass instruments and percussion instruments. However other ones have been devised, and some cultures also use different schemes. The 8-fold system of pa yin ("8 sounds"), from the same source, occurred gradually, and in the legendary Emperor Shun's time (3rd millennium BC) it is believed to have been presented in the following order: metal (chin), stone (shih), silk (ssu), bamboo (chu), gourd (p'ao), clay (t'u), leather (ko), and wood (mu) classes, and it correlated to the 8 seasons and 8 winds of Chinese culture, autumn and west, autumn-winter and NW, summer and south, spring and east, winter-spring and NE, summer-autumn and SW, winter and north, and spring-summer and SE, respectively (Kartomi, 1990). Strings, percussion, and wind[edit]
Napoleonic Code First page of the 1804 original edition The Napoleonic Code ‒ or Code Napoléon (the official name being the Code civil des Français) ‒ is the French civil code established under Napoléon I in 1804. The code forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that government jobs should go to the most qualified.[1] It was drafted rapidly by a commission of four eminent jurists and entered into force on 21 March 1804.[1] The Code, with its stress on clearly written and accessible law, was a major step in replacing the previous patchwork of feudal laws. Historian Robert Holtman regards it as one of the few documents that have influenced the whole world.[1] History[edit] The categories of the Napoleonic Code were not drawn from earlier French laws, but instead from Justinian's sixth-century codification of Roman law, the Corpus Juris Civilis and, within it, the Institutes.[2] The Institutes divide law into the law of: personsthingsactions. Napoleonic reforms[edit]
Glossary of musical terminology This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian (see also Italian musical terms used in English), in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings of these phrases differ from the original or current Italian meanings. Most of the other terms are taken from French and German, indicated by "(Fr)" and "(Ger)", respectively. Unless specified, the terms are Italian or English. A[edit] B[edit] C[edit] D[edit] E[edit] F[edit] G[edit] H[edit] I[edit] J[edit] K[edit] keyboardist (Eng) : a musician who plays any instrument with a keyboard. L[edit] M[edit] N[edit] nach und nach (Ger) lit. O[edit] P[edit] Q[edit] R[edit] S[edit] T[edit] U[edit] V[edit] W[edit] wenig (Ger): a little, not muchwolno (Polish): loose, slowly Z[edit] See also[edit] References[edit] External links[edit]
List of musical instruments The following is a list of musical instruments, categorized by section. This includes the variations of categories, but not the categories themselves. Example: There are eight types of flutes in the Western concert flute category, which are all metal. Therefore there are eight instruments listed in that category but the Western concert flute is not considered a musical instrument and is not listed in the count of instruments. Percussion instruments[edit] Idiophones[edit] Membranophones[edit] Other: Wind instruments (aerophones)[edit] Melodica Stringed instruments (chordophones)[edit] Electronic instruments (electrophones)[edit] See also[edit] External links[edit]
H.U.V.A. Network Discography[edit] "Distances" Ultimae Records, 2004"Ephemeris" Ultimae Records, 2009"Live at Glastonbury Festival 2005" Ultimae Records, 2010 References[edit] External links[edit] Key (music) Pieces in modes not corresponding to major or minor keys may sometimes be referred to as being in the key of the tonic. A piece using some other type of harmony, resolving e.g. to A, might be described as "in A" to indicate that A is the tonal center of the piece. An instrument may be said to be "in a key", an unrelated usage meaning it is a transposing instrument. A key relationship is the relationship between keys, measured by common tones and nearness on the circle of fifths. See: closely related key. Perfect authentic cadence (V-I [here in V7-I form] with roots in the bass and tonic in the highest voice of the final chord): ii-V7-I progression in C Play . The notes and chords used within a key are generally drawn from the major or minor scale associated with the tonic triad, but may also include borrowed chords, altered chords, secondary dominants, and the like. It should be noted that the key of the piece ... contributes an indefinable something to the evocative quality. Key coloration