You might enjoy this poem: "The Darkling Thrush", by Thomas Hardy.
Chapter 6: The Four Elements in Music, III. Harmony
The physics of harmony suggests underlying simplicity even in complex harmonies.
Think about this idea as you read this poem: "Figures of Thought", by Howard Nemerov.
Remember:
See the bottom of each class page for 1) music suggestions from students, and 2) questions from students. As these come it, I will just toss them into these features, but will be looking for ways to incorporate the music and the questions into course context. Thanks for your input. Below the most recent messages are ones from previous offering(s) of the course.
Assignment
In What to Listen For in Music, by Aaron Copland, read Chapters 5 & 6 before coming to this class. As you read, be sure to listen to the musical excerpts provided within the chapters (below on this page). Listen to them as you encounter them; then continue reading.
Listen !
Chapter 5 (melody)
Excerpts in Chapter 5
Page 43
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Page 44
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Page 45, first passage
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Page 45, second passage
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Page 47
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Copland's Musical Recommendations for Chapter 5 (melody)
1) Schubert—Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished)
2) Wagner—Tristan und Isolde
All four hours of it! A long time to sit still.
So here are a couple of famous bits:
Prelude and Liebestod
(Video begins with orchestra warming up -- that's not Wagner's music, which often sounds like it should be poured over a waffle.)
Duet from Act 2
3) Debussy—Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
4) Debussy -- The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (piano)
Additional, for Chapter 5 (melody)
• Aaron Copland -- Appalachian Spring
The melodies you love most are memorable; they stick in your head.
The following composition is almost pure melody, with little discernible rhythm.
• Anton Webern -- Five Pieces for Orchestra
An experiment: If you find any one of Webern's Pieces pleasant to listen to, then listen to it repeatedly, and see if any aspects of the melody becomes memorable or familiar to you -- so that you can anticipate what will happen next. It might take many listenings, or it might not happen at all.
••••••
Chapter 6 (harmony)
Excerpts in Chapter 6
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Page 52
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Copland's Musical Recommendations for Chapter 6 (harmony)
Old and New: Contrast these two pieces, from 1638 and 1910.
1) Monteverdi—“Hor che’l ciel e la terra” ---- Click for translation of text into English.
2) Schoenberg—Five Pieces for Orchestra
Additional, Chapter 6 (harmony)
• Four Freshman -- Angel Eyes
Dig the unexpected, but entirely harmonious, harmonies.
• Beach Boys -- Good Vibrations
Similar harmonies?
• Main Street -- Pop Songs Medley
Recent songs, old-fashioned harmony.
• 47b Idumea - Second Ireland Sacred Harp Convention, 2012
Example of Sacred Harp, a form of shape-note music. First stanza or verse is sung in solfège (singing the notes with their do-re-mi type names, although the names are a bit different from do-re-me), and then the next stanzas are sung with the words of the hymn. The verb "to sol-fa" means to sing in solfège. at Wikipedia, see Shape note and Sacred Harp.
• HERE is a reading on harmony that gets into more detail about overtones and their relationship with harmony.
• Listen now to Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #2, paying particular attention to the trumpet part (not hard to do). Why did Bach write this part so high in the trumpet range? For a hint, read about the natural trumpet at Wikipedia.
• Finally, here is a somewhat advanced lesson on the history of harmony. Don't worry if you can't follow the logic, just listen to the different ways the music sounds as time goes by, and harmonic freedom becomes greater.
Click HERE to listen to "Fair Harvard", the song Bernstein plays with different harmonies.
For more about the "circle of fifths', click "Circle of Fifths Explained" in the right-hand column.
The Science of Music 3
How musical instruments make sound
1. Wind instruments
Suggestions, Questions, and Comments from Students
From Spring 2019
none yet
From Spring 2018
••• Received April 3
Hmm, why do some harmonies sound "prettier" than others to us?
Bonnie Burkhart
(Click HERE for the video that Bonnie recommended on this subject.)
Thanks, Bonnie! A very useful video. Copland says (p. 41), "A scale is nothing more than a certain arrangement of a particular series of notes. Investigation has shown that these “arrangements,” so-called, are not arbitrary ones but have their justification in physical facts. The builders of scales relied on their instinct, and the men of science now back them up with their figures of relative vibrations to the second.
The video you recommended sheds light on what Copland might have meant by "justification in physical facts", and also updates his suggestions with models that incorporate modern information about our nervous system and our senses. These apply to what makes pleasing chords (as in the video), but also what makes pleasing melodies as well. The intervals in pleasing chords and the movements in pleasing melodies must have a lot in common.
••• Question in class, April 5
What does "chord sequence" or "chord progression" mean?
John Roediger
I answered this timely and productive question in class using the progression of chords C, Am, F, and G in the song "Heart and Soul". (If a person can play only one thing on a piano, it is likely to be either "Chopsticks" or "Heart and Soul".)
"Heart and Soul" is in the key of C major, so all "normal" notes in the melody are white keys on the piano. It's not a coincidence that every note in the four chords are on white keys also -- that is, keys of the C major scale. For every melody note on a white key, at least one of those four chords will include that note, and the rest of the chord is in harmony with it, at intervals of 3 or 5. Roughly speaking, chord changes will come at or near the time that a melody note requires a different chord for harmony, that is, when you move from a note that is not on the new chord to one that is.
If you have access to a piano or keyboard instrument of any kind, try singing the song and accompanying yourself with the chords.
To play these chords on a piano, start at middle C, and strike the notes CEG (C-major chord, or 1-3-5), then move all fingers down two white keys to play ACE (A-minor chord), then down two more to FAC (F-major chord), up one to GBD (G major chord), then return to C-major. Play the chords as you sing, changing when you reach the word or pause just below the chord designation. Chord timings are approximate, varying slightly by singing style:
C Am F G
Heart and soul, I fell in love with you
C Am F G
Heart and soul, the way a fool would do
C Am F G C
Madly, that magic night we kissed.
Am F G
Ba-doom ba-doom ba-doom
and on and on and on and on and on
Or instead, try to accompany Bea Wain as she sings.
Test yourself: Can you figure out when to change the chords during the bridge ("Who thought your lips were thrilling...")
