Grade 6: Unit 1 – Lesson 1

Please have a seat and prepare yourself for an awesome year

First thing is first, the person to the right or left of you is your partner for the day. Introduce yourself and start talking about the piece of music you’re hearing

Do you like it? Why or why not?What type of music is this?

What does this music make you think of?

Introduction to Gregorian Chant….yikes

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services. It is named after Pope Gregory I, Bishop of Rome from 590 to 604, who is traditionally credited for having ordered the simplification and cataloging of music assigned to specific celebrations in the church calendar, although it is known now that he could not have done it as a system for notating music had not been established at the time. The resulting body of music is the first to be notated in a system ancestral to modern musical notation.

Gregorian Chant notation – symbols are called neumes

Modern day notation – symbols are called notes

Here is what Gregorian Chant sounds like.

Gregorian Chant sounds awesomeGregorian Chant sounds awesome

What was happening in

the world between the

years 1400 and 1600?

Renaissance (1400-1650)

Ever been to a Renaissance fair or Medieval Times? What

happens?

Renaissance literally means “rebirth”

This era of music started to allow composers to create music that

expressed what the text (usually of a church) meant to them. Music began

to have meaning.

Here is the Notation

Sir William Byrd (1539-1623)

Was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.

TIMEOUT…Poly who?

Polyphony…..

Who is that?

Not who, but what (this might be important). Did you know music has texture?

Texture?!?!!!??!?

There are four types of texture:

Monophonic: Only one entity is soundingExample: Taps, Gregorian Chant,

Bugle Calls

Polyphonic: Accompaniment and independent line (maybe more than one, like in the “Earle of Oxford’s March” by William Byrd)

Homophonic: Chorales, kind of like what Bach does (who’s he?) Independent and accompaniment move together.

Heterophonic: Javanese Gamelan.......

Mr. Carlin will now play for you….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vezWaMh3M0

What Textures did we learn about?What Textures did we learn about?

What part of history have we discussed?What part of history have we discussed?

What was the chant called?What was the chant called?