Chapter 3

Experiencing Music

Listening to Music

One of most pleasurable aural experiences is musicLevels of Listening

Different levels of attentivenessSensuous listening – actively listening and becoming absorbed in musicPerceptive listening – analyzing how elements and musical structure combine to form unified compositionPeak experience – heightened response to music (aesthetic)

Becoming a Perceptive Listener

Perceptive listening relies on knowledge of music

Elements used to create it

Scale – 12 major scales on which most music is based

Intervals – combination using notes of a scale create melody

How We Experience Music

Experiencing Music AloneHeadphones/earbuds

High volume levels can damage hearing

Choose music to match mood

Experiencing Music TogetherListening in the company of others

Audience can be made up of diverse individuals (i.e., sporting events)

Performing Music Alone

Need to express ourselves and our feelingsPeople enjoy expressing themselves with or without an audience

Solo performers become their own audienceGuitar – called most important musical instrument of the past 50 years by composer Libby LarsenNative American Flute

Flute common to many cultures throughout the worldCan be made from natural or manufactured materials

Performing Music Together

Group expression and social communication

More than one person needed to create harmony and texture

Ensembles allow musicians to function cohesively together

Monophonic, Call and Response, etc.

Performing Music Together (cont.)

Mixed EnsemblesUsually start by beginning together then featuring soloist, duet, etc. (smaller groups from within larger ensemble)Those not soloing provides harmonic and rhythmic backup

Mariachi TraditionMusic ensemble from Mexican state of JaliscoTwo types of Mariachi styles: son jalisciense and canción ranchera

Critiquing Music

Criteria for Evaluating PerformanceTimbre – quality of tone, range, variety, appeal of musical sounds

Expressiveness – interpretation, style, and phrasing

Technique – performer’s skills

Presentation – choice and appropriateness of the music, and whether the performance meets your expectations

Impact – artist’s charisma, familiarity or newness of what you hear, comparisons to other performances

Critiquing Music (cont.)

The Role of the CriticDoes more than condemn or rave about a performance

Gives arguments to support claims

Must be perceptive listeners

Also takes into account nonmusical aspects of performance

Influence public opinion, can make or break musicians’ careers

Colorful language – descriptive words

Musical Artistry in Schools

Teen years are when musician goes from beginners to experts

Some may become professionals or virtuosos

Band, Orchestra, Choir, Musical Theatre, etc.

Vocabulary

Aural – hearing-relatedPerceptive Listening – listening to and appreciating a musical work for its full range of technical and expressive qualitiesAesthetic – characterized by a heightened sensitivity to the content, form, or emotional impact of an artistic work or event

Scale – a sequence of tones arranged in rising pitchesMajor Scale – a sequence of eight pitches built on the pattern of two whole steps, one half step, three whole steps, and one half stepInterval – distance in pitch between two tones

Vocabulary (cont.)

Texture – the way sounds are woven togetherEnsemble – cooperative musical expressionMonophonic – in unison with everyone sounding the same pitch or octave at the same time

Mariachi – a musical group with several violins, trumpets, large bass guitar, and special five- and six-string guitarsVirtuoso – a performer with brilliant, flawless technique