Year 11 Revision Guide
Year 11 Revision Guide
Year 11 Revision Guide
There are examples of different styles of music that demonstrate the elements from each Area of Study on this website to accompany this book. It is really helpful to listen to the examples as you are revising it will give you a flavour of each style and will help you identify instrumentation, musical eras, composers and the use of the key musical elements. INSTRUMENTATION Below are some examples of instrumental combinations to listen out for. It is quite common for the exam paper to ask you the type of ensemble you are listening to.
Instrumental fam ilies: Strings violins, violas, cellos, double basses, harp Woodwind piccolo, flute, oboe, cor anglais, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon Brass trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba Percussion pitched: celeste, tubular bells, marimba, xylophone, kettle drums/timpani. Unpitched: triangle, gong, tam-tam, rattle, shakers, maracas, wood block, claves, cymbals
Baroque orchestra small in size, mainly strings, flute oboe and perhaps some trumpets and French horns. Usually features a harpsichord listen out for the harpsichord as this will be the giveaway! Also listen out for lots of decoration Classical orchestra bigger in size than a Baroque orchestra, features the clarinet. Classical music is all about balance, so phrases of equal number of bars lots of question and answer phrases with each section ending in perfect cadences Romantic orchestra very big, with equally big sound. Also known as the symphony orchestra. Much more use of brass and percussion. Lots of chromatic notes (meaning that notes which dont belong to the key the music is written in are used). Romantic music sounds mushy and lovey! 20 th /21 st century orchestra as big as a romantic orchestra, but with much more dissonance and clashing sounds. People find most styles from this period as angular and spiky not necessarily pleasant to listen to.
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Chamber ensem bles (this means smaller groups of musicians) String Quartet violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello String Quintet violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello, double bass Duet 2 instruments playing together Trio 3 instruments playing together
Musical Eras Baroque Era 1600-1750. Composers = J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Purcell and Handel Classical Era 1750-1820. Composers = Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn and Schubert. Romantic Era 1820-1899. Composers = Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Schumann and Strauss. 20 th Century 1900-1999. 21 st Century 2000-present day. These two eras are divided in to particular genres: Blues Johnson, BB King, Cream Pop music of the 1960s Beatles, Rolling Stones, Cliff Richard Rock M usic, R n B, Hip-Hop Led Zeppelin, Kanye West, Rihanna Music Theatre Schwartz, Webber, Bart, Rodgers and Hammerstein Film M usic Williams, Marianelli, Zimmer
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Tempo fast or slow sounds. Try to know these basic tempo settings: Lento very slow Adagio slow Andante at a walking pace Moderato moderate speed Allegro fast/lively Presto very fast
Texture the number of parts/layers that make up the music. Texture can be sparse or rich/full. Texture can also be described as: Monophonic one sound. This could be one singer or instrumentalist singing or playing one line of music, or a group of singers or instrumentalists singing or playing the same notes. Hom ophonic melody and accompaniment. Think God Save the Queen. Basically you will hear quite a thick chordal accompaniment to a main melody and all the music moves at the same time. Polyphonic many sounds interwoven together busy lines of music all weaving in and out of each other. Heterophonic one main tune with other parts playing decorated versions of it at the same time. Sometimes applied to minimalism.
Timbre quality of sound. Think of it as the many different ways instruments can make sounds, such as bowing a stringed instrument (arco), or plucking it (pizzicato), using a mute on brass instruments, pedals on the piano etc. Anything that changes the main quality of sound is changing the timbre.
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Articulation detail added to musical notes, such as staccato (short and detached), legato (smooth), accents, etc.
Structure how a piece of music is built. E.G. Ternary for (ABA), Rondo Form (ABACA), Theme and Variations, Ground Bass, Sonata Form etc.
Key major, minor, modal, atonal. Major = happy/cheerful/bright. Minor = sad/melancholic/mischievous. Modal = very churchy in sound or sometimes when you cant identify a piece being in major or minor (!). Atonal = no key (i.e. it sounds very clashy, dissonant and often not pleasant to listen to).
N.B. Please do not be fooled into thinking a fast piece of music isnt in a minor key. Really listen carefully if the music sounds a bit darker, its more likely to be in a minor key.
If you know your key musical elements, you will understand the question. Therefore, you will know what to listen out for in the extract and will get the question right. Rocket Science it is not.
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Regular Irregular
Free
Augmentation
Diminution
Hemiola
Cross-rhythm
Dotted rhythms
Triplets Syncopation
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AoS 2 Harmony and Tonality Harmony Key W ord Diatonic M eaning Music written using the major and minor keys; a major or minor scale, or the notes from such a scale. Where notes in the scale of the prevailing key are altered. An example would be G sharp in the scale of C major. Sounds which fit well together (though the range of these chords or combinations of sound is not fixed) Sounds which clash when played together. A sustained or repeated note, usually by not necessarily in the bass, sounding against changing harmonies. A continuous, sustained sound. Chords V and I at the end of a phrase. Chords IV and I at the end of a phrase. An approach chord followed by chord V at the end of a phrase. Chord V followed by an unexpected chord (such as VI) at the end of a phrase. Where the final chord of music in a minor key has a major third instead of the expected minor. Links to styles/general notes
Chromatic
Consonant
Dissonant Pedal
Drone Perfect Cadence Plagal Cadence Imperfect Cadence Interrupted Cadence Tierce de Picardie
This is a musical device. FIRST choice in the exam THIRD choice SECOND choice FOURTH choice Not common.
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Minor
Modal
Atonal
You will also be expected to be able to identify keys of up to 4 sharps and 4 flats. This information can be found in the Theory section. 7|Page
AoS 3 Texture and M elody Texture Key W ord Harmonic/Homophonic M eaning A type of musical texture where different parts sing and/or play different notes but move together in the same rhythm. A type of musical texture where different parts sing and/or play different notes using different rhythms. Where entries copy (exactly or at least recognisably) the musical phrase which has just been heard. A composition device in which a melody in one part is repeated note for note in another part while the melody in the first part continues to unfold. Music built up of several strands, a term often applied to minimalist music, or the method of producing music in a recording studio. Playing or singing the same tune together, without harmony, at the same pitch. Playing or singing the same tune together at different octaves. Where there is only one line of music being played. Where there is one main tune playing above an accompaniment (usually chordal accompaniment). (literally sounding across) used to describe the effect produced by the use of different groups of performers separated spatially. Links to styles/general notes
Polyphonic/Contrapuntal
Imitative
Canonic
Layered
Minimalism
Antiphonal
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Arpeggio
Passing notes
Acciaccaturas Appoggiaturas
Blue notes
Diatonic
Chromatic
Augmentation
Diminution
Sequence
Phrasing Articulation
You will also be expected to be able to identify intervals within the octave. This information can be found in the Theory section.
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Dynamics Key W ord Cresc. /crescendo Dim. /diminuendo Sfz / sforzando hairpins Dolce Espressivo Staccato Legato M eaning Gradually getting louder Gradually getting quieter An accent,; a note to be emphasised. Term used to refer to the signs which can replace crescendo and diminuendo. To play the music sweetly. To play the music expressively. To play notes in a short and detached manner. To play notes smoothly. Links to styles/general notes
Please also refer to the dynamic words in the key element section as these need to be learned as well.
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Sonata form
Strophic Through-composed
Da capo aria
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Cyclic
Ground bass
Continuo
Cadenza
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Strand 1 The W estern Classical Tradition Topics studied: Baroque orchestral music The concerto Music for voices Chamber music The sonata
Strand 2 Popular M usic of the 20 th and 21 st Centuries Topics studied: Blues Popular music of the 1960s Rock music, RnB, Hip-hop Music Theatre Film music
Strand 3 W orld M usic Topics studied: Music of the Caribbean Music of Africa Music of India
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However, remember that, while the questions based on an excerpt will probable refer to two or more different Elements of Music, each individual sub-question (a), (b), (c), etc. will focus on a single Element.
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Think in terms of the Elements of Music and use them as a basis for appraising what you hear, though not always trying to cover every element. Try to base your listening around an easily remembered mnemonic such as DR SMITH. D R S M I T H Dynamics Rhythm (and Metre) Structure (and Form) Melody Instruments (and Timbre) Texture Harmony (and Tonality)
Whenever you listen to a piece of music, focus on one or more of its musical features and listen as closely and accurately as you can. Discuss you findings with others, whether in a small group or as part of the class.
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Using the inner ear Everyone can sing a tune inside his or her head: this is called the inner ear. You need to train your inner ear so you can hear what a pattern of notes sounds like and so you can also hear the notes you write down in a dictation question. You can do this in different ways: ! Look at a short tune and try to imagine what it sounds like: think of the rhythm and the way the tune moves up or down by step or leap. When you have had a try, play the tune over (or get somebody else to do it for you) and see how right you were. The more you practise, the better you will get. Imagine a short phrase in your head then try to write it down, to notate it: when you have had a try, play back what you have written (or get somebody else to do it for you) and see how close you were. Write a short pattern of notes onto a stave, using the treble or bass clef, depending on which you read better. Look at what you have written in terms of rhythm and pitch and try to hear it in your head. When you have tried this, as before, play back what you have written (or get somebody else to do it for you) and see how close you were.
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Listen to dance music and try to work out the characteristic rhythms which set different dances apart from each other, whether the dance be a waltz, a polka, a minuet, a club dance, disco music and so on. Listen to how different composers have used individual families of instruments: ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! string instruments (whether in chamber groups or a string orchestra) brass instruments (whether orchestral brass used within an orchestra, for a fanfare, or as a brass band) percussion instruments, both pitched and unpitched woodwind instruments, whether in chamber groups of like instruments or in mixed woodwind groupings wind bands (i.e. using both brass and woodwind inastruments), sometimes called concert wind bands or military bands jazz combinations, large and small; it is here that you are most likely to hear effects such as con sordino (with a mute) and glissando (slide) rock groups, particularly the ways guitars and percussion have been used vocal groups both accompanied and unaccompanied (a cappella).
Listen for the different effects of various instrumental technqieus: pizzicato or plucking the strings, arco or using the bow, col legno or with the wood of a bow, using mutes (con sordino), sustaining and una corda pedals on the piano, and so on. Listen also for the use of different types of articulation: playing smoothly (legato), playing in a detached manner (staccato), the use of ornaments (e.g. trills, mordents or turns), changing speeds (tempi) through rallentando/ritardando/ritenuto (rall. or rit.) slowing down gradually or accelerando (accel.) speeding up gradually. Above all, know the key words for the Elements of Music and for each AoS and be sure you understand all the vocabulary there. Test yourself by copying out some of the terms and then, at a later date, try to explain what they mean.
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