Beautifully taught Stephen. It would be nice to do an explainer on hearing intervals by sensing/feeling the "home". Very often interval recognition is taught using 'example songs' (e.g. perfect 4th- "here comes the bride"...)- the problem with this method is that it demonstrates intervals in a tonal vacuum without any context, or in only one tonal context. E.g. the student now knows how to recognise a perfect 4th jump from V to I by singing "here comes the bride", but ask them to sing a perfect 4th starting, for example, on the II degree from the "home" note and they may struggle as they have been taught intervals in this purely melodic, rather than harmonic, or tonal, sense
Excellent and very accessible introduction to some of the elements of music theory. Its great that you emphasize the multicultural nature of the study of music, and that western music is just one slice of the pie.
if it's modernist, 12 tone row kind of music, the aim is certainly to dispense with the notion of home. I think sometimes one may, in such a situation, still find little homes for a moment, only to have them cruelly and suddenly taken away...
Really enjoying this. A couple of observations - on the initial description of noise/sound/music, this put me in mind of how most of the really interesting phenomena in the world occur right on the cusp between order and chaos. Total chaos is not interesting. It's just confusing. Completely regimented order isn't interesting. It's easily predictable, and therefore boring. Life, and all complex systems, operate on the cusp between the two. A second observation - although octaves are definitely, in a mathematical sense, 'fundamental', I'm not sure all musical systems are strictly built around octaves. For example, Georgian music is arguably based on fifths. A note an octave up is not heard as being the 'same' note. www.folkworld.eu/37/e/georgia.html Neither of which makes any difference to your point about 'home' notes. But I'd be interested in your thoughts.
yes....the georgians would be the closest thing to an exception. but whilst their music builds on 5ths more than it does octaves, I'm not sure that they are "hearing" those as octaves. it's just that within a singing tradition very largely composed in 3 parts, an octave is just a waste of a harmony...because it adds no new information....so they are not often used. it's also, largely, a close singing musical tradition...the total compass being less than an octave, and that's part of the sound. as for octaves being tuned sharp, I disagree. the octaves are wang on in tune. the songs go sharp because everybody is pushing upwards together...the slightly disturbing and thrilling sound of this is much prized....
Clear concise and very helpful. Thanks!
beautiful explanation!!! love it!!!
Fabulously taught x
Beautifully taught Stephen. It would be nice to do an explainer on hearing intervals by sensing/feeling the "home". Very often interval recognition is taught using 'example songs' (e.g. perfect 4th- "here comes the bride"...)- the problem with this method is that it demonstrates intervals in a tonal vacuum without any context, or in only one tonal context. E.g. the student now knows how to recognise a perfect 4th jump from V to I by singing "here comes the bride", but ask them to sing a perfect 4th starting, for example, on the II degree from the "home" note and they may struggle as they have been taught intervals in this purely melodic, rather than harmonic, or tonal, sense
Excellent and very accessible introduction to some of the elements of music theory. Its great that you emphasize the multicultural nature of the study of music, and that western music is just one slice of the pie.
Thank you Stephen. I need more of this!
I can't remember where I first heard it, but I like "Music is organised sound with a cultural purpose". Question: does 12-tone music have a "home"?
if it's modernist, 12 tone row kind of music, the aim is certainly to dispense with the notion of home. I think sometimes one may, in such a situation, still find little homes for a moment, only to have them cruelly and suddenly taken away...
I love your definition Philip!
Really enjoying this.
A couple of observations - on the initial description of noise/sound/music, this put me in mind of how most of the really interesting phenomena in the world occur right on the cusp between order and chaos. Total chaos is not interesting. It's just confusing. Completely regimented order isn't interesting. It's easily predictable, and therefore boring. Life, and all complex systems, operate on the cusp between the two.
A second observation - although octaves are definitely, in a mathematical sense, 'fundamental', I'm not sure all musical systems are strictly built around octaves. For example, Georgian music is arguably based on fifths. A note an octave up is not heard as being the 'same' note.
www.folkworld.eu/37/e/georgia.html
Neither of which makes any difference to your point about 'home' notes. But I'd be interested in your thoughts.
yes....the georgians would be the closest thing to an exception. but whilst their music builds on 5ths more than it does octaves, I'm not sure that they are "hearing" those as octaves. it's just that within a singing tradition very largely composed in 3 parts, an octave is just a waste of a harmony...because it adds no new information....so they are not often used. it's also, largely, a close singing musical tradition...the total compass being less than an octave, and that's part of the sound. as for octaves being tuned sharp, I disagree. the octaves are wang on in tune. the songs go sharp because everybody is pushing upwards together...the slightly disturbing and thrilling sound of this is much prized....
Reberb was a bit distracting mate
fair point!.....I will dial back on the lushness next time...