MUSIC thoughts #2: Dynamics, structure, tone colour

Dynamics, Structure, Tone Colour

Duration
Duration is an amount of time or a particular time interval.

Time signatures tell musicians the rhythm and timing of music. One of the most common is 4 by 4, which means 4 beats to a bar where each beat is a crotchet. 6 over 4 means 6 counts per bar where each note is a crotchet. 6 over 8 means 6 counts per bar, where each note is a quaver.

3 over 4 is 3 beats per bar where each beat is equal to a crotchet -- this time signature is called a waltz as shown below:

An early moving picture demonstrates the waltz

The following excerpts of music can be used to demonstrate different time signatures:

Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker is in 3/4 time

The Can Can by Offenbach is in 4/4 time

Take 5 by Dave Brubeck Quartet is in 5/4 time

Mission Impossible Theme is also in 5/4 time

Hedwig's Theme from the Harry Potter soundtrack is in 6/8 time

Beat Vs. Rhythm

Where beat is the underlying basic unit of time in music, rhythm is what goes on top of that. A good way of demonstrating this to students is to chant a rhyme while keeping beat with your hands. The words represent the rhythm, while the clapping represents the beat.

Once they understand this, you can pair students. One student claps the beat on the other's hands, and the other one does chants the rhythm. Then they can swap.

Tempo

Tempo means: how fast or slow the piece is. 

Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov is an example of a very fast tempo (allegro)

Pirates of the Caribbean Sountrack by Hans Zimmer is an example of a moderate speed, moderato

In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg is an example of accelerando, an accelerating tempo. 

Italian tempo vocabulary:

• Adagio: slowly
• Andante: walking pace
• Moderato: at a moderate pace
• Allegro: fast and lively
• Molto allegro: very fast
• Accelerando: getting faster

Structure (or form)

The way a piece of music is put together.

Small structural elements may include:

• Motif (phrase) - repetition/contrast
• Ostinato/riff - repeated musical pattern e.g. in Michael Jackson's Billy Jean, the song starts with strong riffs which continue throughout. It is more underlying, and repeated throughout than a motif. 
• Call and Response - e.g. Billy Joel's River of Dreams and California Dreaming
• Counterpoint - 2 or more tunes running together e.g. Bach's "Little Fugue in G Minor"

An example of Counterpoint: two tunes running together

Structure of larger sections:

• Canon - identical piece but starting at different times e.g. Row your boat
• Binary form (AB) - 2 sections
• Ternary
• Rondo
• 12-bar blues - e.g. Hound Dog: Elvis Presley, this type of chord progression was the beginning of Rock n Roll
• Verse and chorus - used in pop music
• Part-singing - one idea + harmonies
• Partner songs - 2 different songs that can be sung together because they have the same chord progression

Pitch

Pitch is the frequency of a sound, i.e. how relatively high or low a sound is.

Elements to look out for in music are:

• Direction of pitch movement - is it getting higher or lower?
• Patterns - phrases, melody contour
• Melody - succession of pitched sounds
• Harmony - different pitches sounded together

In listening for pitch, some examples you might use in the classroom include:

• Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
• Hedwig's theme (the celeste: a mini upright piano but hammers inside hit bells)
• The Elephant in the Carnival of the Animals (Double Bass)
• Batman Theme (example of crescendo, and change of tempo as well)
• Kenny Loggins' 'Footloose' an example of medium pitch, and riff

An activity you could do is to provide a few different animals e.g. Kangaroo, Elephant, Swan and ask what the students would expect them to sound like. You could also play bits of music and see if they can guess which animal the music represents. To elaborate on this activity, you could use excerpts of the actual sounds these animals make and compare.

Tone Colour

Quality of the sounds determined by: sound, source material, sound production and single or combined sources of sound.

Dynamics

How soft or loud the sound is, and whether it is getting softer or louder.

Italian Dynamics Vocabulary:

• Piano: soft
• Mezzo-piano: moderately soft
• Pianissimo: very soft
• Forte: loud
• Fortissimo: very loud
• Mezzo-forte: moderately loud
• Crescendo: increasingly loud
• Diminuendo: getting softer

In listening for dynamics you could use:

• Carmina Burana by Orff
• Montagues and Capulets by Prokofiev
• Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg

Singing

What makes a good singer? Tone , Diction, Support, Breathing, Pitch, Rhythmic Accuracy, Range.

I have a history of singing in choirs, chamber choirs and doing singing lessons, so I will definitely be using my knowledge on the subject in the classroom as I think it is a wonderful, enjoyable thing to learn and do and helps a range of different vital skills. It is important to build students' confidence to sing out loud. I thought the way Nancy did it was a good idea, saying "If you're going to make a mistake, make sure it's a loud one", that way making mistakes is seen as okay and it means that hopefully the teacher can help the student fix it.

These are some examples of singing exercises to develop students' skills provided by Nancy:

Great example of a Partner Song and a lot of fun to sing!