Comment bank Click here for specific music styles - describing music when answering the music knowledge questions
Talk about anything you notice. Use words like allegro, crescendo, ritardando etc(click for short list) and also try to use some of these words:-
· polyphonic - When music has multiple layers and the layers are very nearly equally important, it is called polyphonic music. Many choral works are polyphonic, most notably the choral music of Bach. · chordal /homophonic - Examples of homophonic music include barbershop quartet songs and brass fanfares and hymns · contrapuntal - When the different layers are more independent, playing different notes at different times with different rhythms and patterns, this is called contrapuntal music. Music which is polyphonic is also typically contrapuntal. The best examples of contrapuntal music are the preludes, fugues, etc of J. S. Bach. · monophonic - If there is only a single instrument or singer singing
· angular - not very tuneful
· lyrical - cantabile/singing tone
· clashing - as in ‘modern music’ eg Schoenberg
· crashing - harsh, violent, aggressive music
· busy - fast, complex music
· intricate - many intertwining lines of music
· predictable phrases as in lots of early classical era pieces
· melody and accompaniment – melody may be in treble or bass
· repeated patterns, ostinato, ground bass
· dense - many different notes all at different times
· thin, sparse - a small number of notes only every so often
· pulsing - slow repeated notes
· suspension - A suspension occurs when the melody lags behind the harmony.............makes you feel tense & then relieved
· major scale - Often used for happy, positive, upbeat, or noble music
· minor scale - Often used for sad, mellow, or more passionate music
· pentatonic scale - Contains five notes. At times, pentatonic can sound ethnic
or Asian, and at other times it can sound ethereal.
· blues scale—bit of a mix of major & minor..soulful and characteristic of
the American south
· modes - Aeolian—similar to minor, Ionian—same as major, dorian, phrygian, lydian,
mixolydian, and locrian). Each mode has a unique character, often giving the
music an ancient or rustic feeling.
· key change - Very often music will change keys in the middle of the
composition. This is done for a variety of reasons:
1) to add interest or variety (a new key can give music a much needed "lift" - i.e. an increase in energy),
2) to create a sense of departure from the original key,
3) to heighten the tension on the composition, or
4) to make the music more unstable or uncertain