This is a music class, but it is open to non-music majors! Although you will find that most of our lessons are of a historical and social-centered nature, MSH245 will teach you some basic music vocabulary. Our aim is to get you to appreciate and be able to communicate differences in musical styles, instrumentation, structure, dynamics, etc. You can do this!
Read
Because music is an abstract, non-verbal time-art, repetition lies at the heart of how music “makes sense” claims Anthony Brandt. Read more about the role of consistency and repetition in music making through the link below.
Examine
Pay close attention to this chapter on “The Elements of Music” in Resonances: Engaging Music in Its Cultural Context, edited by Esther M. Morgan-Ellis. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Grab pen and pencil and take notes. This chapter will provide you with valuable information to make the most out of this class.
Useful questions to guide your reading :
- What are some words specific to our understanding of rhythm?
- What are some words specific to our understanding of pitch?
- Are pulse and tempo the same things?
- How can you explain the difference between low and high pitched sounds?
- You heard the word “melody” before… but what does it really mean?
- What is the “Western system of notation” and why do you think it is so widespread?
- How does a major scale sound when you compare it to a minor scale?
- We often talk about things being “in harmony,” but what does this mean in musical terms?
- How does the notion of timbre help us differentiate between different musical instruments?
- What are some different levels of musical texture?
- What is the role of “form” in music? Provide an example of a song with different sections.
Watch
Take a look at this video, which proposes a different way to understand rhythm. Think about all the new words you are learning to help you make sense of different rhythmic patterns and the best way to visualize these.
Read
How can we group all the different musical instruments in the world?! Take a look at the following resource and identify the common categories which group instruments according to how they produce sound. Move onto thinking about how instruments are grouped within an orchestra.
This OER, Music Its Language, History and Culture, was created by Doug Cohen and is available through an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.
Explore further
Take your understanding of music to the next level by completing lessons on this site or doing exercises on this one.
Suggested activity: come up with your own way to classify musical instruments. How would you group them? Even better: come up with your own system to visualize and communicate sounds. Break the mold!
