Mediums of Music In music, symbols are universal.

Musical instruments are the means by which the composer communicates to the listener.

Musical experience is a three-way relationship. It involves the following: 1 Composer 2 Performer 3 Listener

Instruments have 3 things in common 1. 2. 3. Vibrator Resonator A system for producing and regulating fixed pitches Vibrator - the part of the instrument which produces the regular vibration. Resonator any material used to amplify the vibrations so that they can be heard at a distance Most instruments are capable or producing more than one pitch. The system chooses what pitch will be played at any given moment.

Three main kinds of instruments: 1. 2. 3. Instruments that are bowed Instruments that are blown Instruments that are struck

Four Traditional Groupings of Instruments: 1. 2. 3. 4. Strings (bowed) Brasses (blown) Woodwinds (blown) Percussions (struck)

Sizes of instruments correspond to their pitch: Smaller instruments produce faster vibrations => have higher sounds

- Larger instruments produce slower vibrations => have lower sound

Pitch is a special kind of sound produced by a particular kind of vibration. Sounds of definite pitch are created by regular, or periodic vibrations. Most instruments have limited range of pitches. 1. 2. Low instruments pitches are only within a low range High instruments pitches only within a high range

Strings Violin, Viola, Cello and Bass Strings The vibrator is the string itself. The string is made of gut or wire. Bow horsehair made sticky with resin The vibrations of the wooden box, along with the vibrating air inside the box, act as the resonator. Pitch is determined by the following: 1. 2. 3. Length Thickness Tautness of the four strings

Woodwinds Piccolo Flute Clarinet Oboe English Horn Bass Clarinet Bassoon Contrabassoon

Vibrators in woodwinds: 1. Column of air

2.

Reed

In the flute and piccolo, air blown across the opening near the head of the tube is split into two columns Air is both the vibrator and resonator. A single thin reed is the vibrator for clarinet, bass clarinet and saxophone. The tube becomes the resonator. Double reeds are used by the oboe, English horn, bassoon and contrabassoon. Pitch in woodwind instruments is determined by the length of the tube. Variety and control of pitch in woodwinds are obtained through the use of a series of holes stopped by the performers fingers or by the keys which shut the holes. Woodwinds Changing the pitch: 1. 2. Opening and closing the holes length of the tube is changed Overblowing

Brasses Vibrators the performers lips The brass tube is the resonator. Pitch is determined in the brass instruments by the length of tube through which the air must pass. Variety and control of pitch are achieved by changing the length of the tube. Brasses Changing the pitch: 1. 2. Depressing the valves Sliding the tubes

Percussions Two kinds of percussion instruments: 1. 2. Percussion of Definite Pitch Percussion of Indefinite Pitch

Percussions of Definite Pitch Tympani or Kettledrums - Large copper kettles with skin or plastic stretched over the top and tightened by taps around the edge -they can be tuned to definite pitch by tightening or loosening the taps -the vibrator is the skin of the drumhead -the resonator is the copper wall of the kettle Percussions of Definite Pitch Xylophone -a series of bars of hard wood placed side by side like the keys of a piano, each bar having a different length and thus producing a different pitch. -it has no resonator Marimba -a xylophone with a resonator -small tubes suspended under the wooden bars resonate the sound of the vibrating wood. Chimes -tubular bells -metal tubes hung from a frame and struck with a hammer Glockenspiel -a set of steel bars played with hammers Harp -a cross between a string instrument and a percussion instrument of definite pitch -always plucked and produces a silvery tone quality Percussions of Indefinite Pitch Snare drum or side drum -a small military instrument

Snare drum or side drum -parchment is stretched over the top and bottom of a circular wooden frame -the walls of the drum are the resonator Bass drum -large drum with two drumheads which are made of skin and beaten with padded sticks -the resonator is the wall of the drum Tambourine -small wooden hoop over which skin is stretched with metal disks on the rim Castanets -two hollowed-out pieces of hard wood which are snapped together by the hand Triangle -small steel rod bent in the shape of a triangle with one corner left open -suspended by a string and hit with a metal rod which is rapidly beaten against two sides Cymbals -two thin, slightly bowl-shaped plates of brass -played by rubbing together gently, beating with a soft stick or banging together violently Gong -a heavy metal disk hit with a padded stick Keyboards Piano -String instrument in which the string is struck by hammers attached to a keyboard Celesta -often considered as a percussion instrument of a definite pitch -has steel plates which are hammered Harpsichord

-string instrument whose strings are plucked by quills or leather or brass tongues attached to the keys Organ -wind instrument - The sound is made by air forced through pipes

Vocal Mediums The range of any voice or instrument is divided into three registers: 1. 2. 3. High register Middle register Low register

Timbre It is the tone color The characteristic quality of sound produced by an instrument that distinguises it from the sounds produced by other kinds of instruments

Chamber ensembles Music written for small groups with only one player to each part

String quartet: two violins viola Cello

Piano trio: Piano Violin Cello

Woodwind quintet: Flute Oboe Clarinet Bassoon French Horn

Four Basic ranges of the Human Voice: - Soprano - Alto - Tenor - Bass If each of the four parts is sung by many singers, the group is achorus, or a choir a cappella music unaccompanied singing

In group singing, the voices are commonly divided into four categories according to range: Soprano Contralto (or alto) Tenor Bass Sometimes, a fifth category is added between the tenor and bass: the baritone