Listening

• SERIOUS MUSIC
• OTHER STYLES
• HOW TO LISTEN

There are 5 main periods or styles of serious music. These are-

• RENAISSANCE about 1500 - 1600
• BAROQUE about 1600 - 1750
• CLASSICAL about 1750 - 1830
• ROMANTIC about 1830 - 1900
• 20th CENTURY 1900 onwards

There are 4 very broad categories of non-serious music. These are:-

Folk Music - This is music that has been performed by generations of ordinary people and handed down from one generation to the next. As time goes by words and even tunes may change. Many countries throughout the world have folk tunes which belong to that country. Often these tunes tell us a lot about the people living in that country. Some English speaking folk musicians are :- RALPH MCTELL, JONI MITCHELL, MADDY PRIOR, SUZANNE VEGA, STEELEYE SPAN, CLANNAD, SIMON & GARFUNKEL

JAZZ - Jazz is a style of music that became popular at the beginning of the century. Its roots go back to the slave trade when many millions of West Africans were captured and taken to America. Negro slaves formed bands which played spirituals and marches. Soon they began to 'jazz up' the music by adding 'blue notes' and improvising. In New Orleans the jazz style became common and soon spread around the world. Styles of jazz include TRADITIONAL, DIXIELAND, SWING, BEBOP, BIG BAND and MODERN. Jazz today is varied. Some jazz musicians are : LOUIS ARMSTRONG, COUNT BASIE, DUKE ELLINGTON, HUMPHREY LYTTLETON, BENNY GOODMAN, OSCAR PETERSON.

POP MUSIC - Began in the mid 50's with a style called ROCK'n ROLL which developed from jazz and rhythm & blues.There have been many styles of pop music since then - HEAVY METAL, GLAM ROCK, ACID ROCK, PUNK, SKA, REGGAE, HOUSE, DISCO, RAVE, NEW AGE etc. Groups and 'stars' tend to come and go very quickly but some names which have been most famous are: THE BEATLES, ELVIS PRESLEY, BUDDY HOLLY, THE WHO, STEVIE WONDER, STATUS QUO, ELTON JOHN, PINK FLOYD, WET WET WET etc.

WORLD MUSIC - Many countries in the world have very strong musical traditions. Here are some: Scottish Bagpipe music, Welsh male voice choirs, Spanish flamenco music, French accordion music, Austrian yodelling, Russian folk music, Indian ragas, Chinese pentatonic music, Balinese gamelan music, African kora music, Carribean steel band music etc. There is much more.

WHEN YOU LISTEN TRY TO FOCUS ON THE FOLLOWING:-

PITCH (TUNE, HARMONY, SHAPE, RISE AND FALL, BROKEN CHORDS, SCALE, REPEATED NOTES, SEQUENCE, CANON ETC.)

RHYTHM (REGULAR, IRREGULAR, TIME SIGNATURE, ACCENTED, FLOWING, TRIPLETS, SLOWING, GETTING QUICKER)

TIMBRE ( TONE COLOUR OF INSTRUMENTS, VOICES, DARK, BRIGHT, BRILLIANT, HARD, WARM EG: ORCHESTRA, WIND STRING, PERCUSSION ETC. POP GROUP AND STYLES.)

MOOD (EFFECT OF ALL THESE ELEMENTS WORKING TOGETHER WITH SPEED AND VOLUME TO ADD TO EXPRESSION OF MOOD. (ROMANTIC, SAD, TRIUMPHANT, LONELY)

PICTURE ( EFFECT OF ALL THESE ELEMENTS AND MOOD TO GIVE A PICTURE)

FORM RECOGNITION ( A: ABA : ABACA : (BINARY, TERNARY, RONDO) FUGUE, CANON, PRELUDE, SONATA, SYMPHONY, OPERA, ORATORIO, CONCERTO ETC)

STYLE RECOGNITION ( BAROQUE, CLASSICAL, ROMANTIC (EARLY AND LATE) 20TH CENTURY, POP, JAZZ, DANCE, ETHNIC.