Sdgrgerg

Preparing for the Musicology/ Aural skill examination Strategies for the melodic dictation: Practise by listening to a diverse range of music Listening to a diversity of styles and instrumentation will help you in the preparation for this question. Try not to restrict your practise to piano examples, explore all instrumental and vocal excerpts. Past papers will give you an idea of the range and degree of difficulty of the melodic dictations. Try and memorise the melody A helpful technique is to try and memorise the melody by the end of the first playing as well as starting to write, this will enable you to hear the melody in between playing’s so that you can utilise the time effectively by singing (silently) intervals and patterns. Establish the tonic and dominant This is important as you can mentally refer to these notes throughout the playing of the excerpt and in your own (silent) singing through of the melody between playing’s. Noting the rhythm. Is the rhythm given or do you have to notate it as well' If the rhythm is not given, map it out quickly above the melody line during the first playing. Identify repetition of rhythmic patters, unusual note groupings (ie.triplets, syncopated patterns) and check the number of beats per bar. Recognising chromatic notes Is the excerpt wholly diatonic or does it include chromatic notes' Is there a modulation to a related key' If you hear a note that sounds different, sing the interval between the previous note and the note you are having trouble with. Looking for melodic patterns and shapes Is there a sequence or pattern or definite shape in the melody' Where does the pattern or sequence start' Does it move by tone, semitone or by a leap of a wider interval' Making use of given notes The notes preceding the excerpt will give you a tonality guide. Sing the interval to determine what it is. Are guide notes given as a start or finish to the excerpt' The accompaniment may provide some guide notes, so listen carefully to it as well. Perhaps your mentally embedded tonic note or chord appears in the accompaniment. The concepts of music Texture Texture results from the way voices and/or instruments are combined in music. *Layers of sound and their function *The roles of instruments and/or voices Layers of sound Monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic and Heterophonic Density of sound Rich, full, thick, dense, light, airy, sparse, transparent or changing densities Structure Refers to the idea of design or form in music. In organising sound the concepts of duration, pitch and tone colour are combined in some way for a particular purpose. Structure relates to the ways in which music sounds the same (or similar) and/or different. *Phrases *Motifs *Riffs and other repetitive patterns *Techniques of call and response or question and answer *Structures used in world music *Structures used in single pieces of music *Multi-movement structures i.e. symphony Identification Identify the main motifs or themes and where they reoccur Analysis of structure New material/old material Repetition of themes or motifs Development of themes or motifs Discuss unity or contrast achieved through repetition or variation Recognised forms Binary (AB) Ternary (ABA) Rondo (ABACA) Tone Colour Tone colour refers to that aspect of sound that allows the listener to identify the sound source or combination of sound sources. *Sound source material, eg. Wood, metal, string, skin, electronic and vocal *Method of sound production, eg. Blowing, hitting, plucking, scraping and shaking *Combination of sound sources eg. Single voice, multiple voices, voices accompanied or unaccompanied by instruments Performing Media: Solos: voices or instruments, accompanied or unaccompanied Small/Large ensembles Electronic music: synthesisers, effects pedals for electric guitars World music Unorthodox use of instruments: extremes of register Objective Descriptions String sounds Reeds Brass Winds Vocal sounds (not just singing) Subjective sounds Dark, mysterious, sombre Warm, bright, clear Nasal, harsh Is there a relationship between tone colour and structure' Is tone colour used to differentiate between sections and create contrast. Dynamics and Expressive Techniques Dynamics refers to the volume of sound. Important aspects include the relative softness and loudness of sounds, change of loudness and the emphasis on individual sounds. *A range of dynamics, including gradations *Articulations *Tempo and gradations of tempo *Stylistic indications Dynamics Volume levels and changes such as crescendo and Decrescendo Common terminology Terraced dynamics Accents Expressive Techniques Articulation patterns such as staccato, legato Various accents: sfz Instrumental techniques such as glissando Stylistic indications: rubato 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. *High/Low: pitches can be comparatively high or low *Direction of pitch movement *Melody *Harmony *Indefinite pitch: untuned sounds: the speaking voice *Definite pitch Melody Melodic contour Scalic, steplike melodies Chordal melodies Repetition of melody Melodic riffs, ostinati Imitation Countermelody Melodic ornamentation Vocal Melisma Phrasing Unity and variety Tonality (melody) Diatonic major/minor Modal Pentatonic Whole tone Chromatic Blues Atonal Tonality (harmony) Major/Minor chords Chordal patters: 12 bar blues Added note chords: jazz (9th, 11th) Atonality/polytonality Parallelism Chromatic Harmonies Modulations Dissonance Duration Duration refers to the lengths of sounds and silences in music and includes the aspects of beat, rhythm, tempo, pulse rates and absence of pulse. *Beat *Rhythm *Tempo *Metre Metre and phrasing Beat Time signatures Absence of time sig Multimeter Rhythmic phrase is regular or irregular Rhythmic phrase is balanced or unbalanced Rhythm Metrical Syncopation Rubato Rhythmic ostinato Rhythmic patterns Polyrhythm Cross Rhythms Tempo How fast or slow' Changing or Constant' Do changes accentuate a musical climax'