Elements of Music

Jason Martineau

Description

What is the secret code behind so many musical compositions? How do you substitute chords to create greater musical complexity? Why is music so good at playing with people's emotions? In this compact book, composer and pianist Jason Martineau presents the elements of music in clear and comprehensible terms. Packed with superb diagrams and a wealth of fascinating hard-to-come-by musical tips, this is a great primer, and an invaluable resource for novice and professional alike. "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

Informations

• Publié par: Wooden Books
• Date de parution: 20 mai 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781912706082
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

First published 20 08 R e vised and upda ted edition 20 1 0 eBook edition © W ooden Books Ltd 20 1 8 Published b y W ooden Books Ltd. Glastonbury , Somerset. British Libr ary Ca taloguing in Publica tion Da ta Martineau, J. The Element s o f Music A CIP ca talogue r ecor d f or this book ma y be obtained fr om the British Libr ary . eBook ISBN: 978-1-9 1 2706-08-2 Ph y sical ISBN : 978-1-90426 3-72-2 All rig hts r eserv ed. For permission to r epr oduce an y p art of this melodic lit tle book please contact the publishers. Designed and typeset in Glastonbury , UK . Con v erted and optimised f or digital displa y b y the eBook P artnership, UK.
THE
ELEMENT
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C MEL O DY , RHY THM, & HARMO NY
Jason Martineau
f or s omeone special Wit h gr atitud e t o my mot her and f at her f or t heir supp ort in my lif e pur suit s. Als o t hanks t o: J o hn Martine au, Gary D eSor bo , D r . B ruce B ennet t, D r . D avid Cont e, Pet er O’Hanr ahan, D avid Sa ÿ en, Alan T ow er , Mar cus She lby , and t he man y comp o s er s, perf ormer s, artist s, and t hink er s t hat hav e inspir e d me ov er t he y e ar s. Thanks t o t he Alex and er T urnbu ll Lib r ary f or permis sion t o r epr oduce t he B oet hius fr ontispiece. Ab o v e : e L u t e Pl a y e r an d t h e Har pi s t , I sr ahe l an M e c k e ne m, c. 1 5 00. T i t l e p a ge : e Mus i c al S o ci e t y , A b r aham B o s e, 1 6 3 5. F r on t i s pi ece : Z o o or p i c on o c h o d , f r o D e Mus i c a b y B o e t i u s [4 8 0-5 2 4 ad ].
C O NTENT S Intr oduction 1 Wha t Is M usic? 2 Epigr ams and Dialectics 4 A coustics and Ov ertones 6 Understanding Scales 8 Meet the Interv als 10 Basic Rh ythms 12 T one T endencies 14 Basic Harmonies 16 Basic Melody 18 Chor d Pr ogr essions 20 Instrumenta tion 22 Mor e Complex Rh ythms 24 Form and Structur e 26 Mor e Complex Harmonies 28 T onality and Modula tion 30 Modal, T onal, Dr onal 32 The Thr ee Minors 3 4 Mor e Interv als 3 6 Further Melodic Elements 38 Complex Chor d Pr ogr essions 40 Ar ound the W orld 42 A dv anced Harmonies 44 A dv anced Forms 46 Put ting It All T og ether 48 Glossary of T erms 50 Appendix I - Basic N ota tion 52 Appendix II - Scales 54 Appendix III - Selected Rh ythms 56 Appendix IV - Harmonies 57 Appendix V - Solf eg e and Mnemonics 5
A b o v e : J u s t o v e s e v e n o c t a e s of t e a u d i l e e c tr u , c e n te r e d o n i d l e C , s o w i n g t e p o s i t i o n i n g of d i ff e r e n t i ns tr u e n ts w i t i n t e r an ge of a u d i l e f r e q u e nc i e s. D a t a f o f r e q u e nc y and p e i o i s g i e n f o e q u a l te m p e r ame n t . 21 23 24 26 28 29 31 33 35 36 38 40 41 43 45 47 48 50 52 53 55 57 59 60 62 64 65 67 69 71 72 74 76 77 79 81 83 84 86 88 89 91 93 95 96 98 100 101 103 105 107 108 A0 B0 C1 D1 E1 F1 G1 A1 B1 C2 D2 E2 F2 G2 A2 B2 C3 D3 E3 F3 G3 A3 B3 C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 A4 B4 C5 D5 E5 F5 G5 A5 B5 C6 D6 E6 F6 G6 A6 B6 C7 D7 E7 F7 G7 A7 B7 C8 36.36 32.40 30.58 27.24 24.27 22.91 20.41 18.18 16.20 15.29 13.62 12.13 11.45 10.20 9.091 8.099 7.645 6.811 6.068 5.727 5.102 4.545 4.050 3.822 3.405 3.034 2.863 2.551 2.273 2.025 1.910 1.703 1.517 1.432 1.276 1.136 1.012 0.9556 0.8513 0.7584 0.7159 0.6378 0.5682 0.5062 0.4778 0.4257 0.3792 0.3580 0.3189 0.2841 0.2531 0.2389 34.32 28.86 25.71 21.62 19.26 17.16 14.29 12.86 10.81 9.631 8.581 7.216 6.428 5.405 4.816 4.290 3.608 3.214 2.703 2.408 2.145 1.804 1.607 1.351 1.204 1.073 0.9020 0.8034 0.6757 0.6020 0.5363 0.4510 0.4018 0.3378 0.3010 0.2681 22 25 27 30 32 34 37 39 42 44 46 49 51 54 56 58 61 63 66 68 70 73 75 78 80 82 85 87 90 92 94 97 99 102 104 106 27.500 30.868 32.703 36.708 41.203 43.654 48.999 55.000 61.735 65.406 73.416 82.407 87.307 97.999 110.00 123.47 130.81 146.83 164.81 174.61 196.00 220.00 246.94 261.63 293.67 329.63 349.23 392.00 440.00 493.88 523.25 587.33 659.26 698.46 783.99 880.00 987.77 1046.5 1174.7 1318.5 1396.9 1568.0 1760.0 1975.5 2093.0 2349.3 2637.0 2973.0 3136.0 3520.0 3951.1 4186.0 29.135 34.648 38.891 46.249 51.913 58.270 69.296 77.782 92.499 103.83 116.54 138.59 155.56 185.00 207.65 233.08 277.18 311.13 369.99 415.30 466.16 554.37 622.25 739.99 830.61 932.33 1108.7 1244.5 1480.0 1661.2 1864.7 2217.5 2489.0 2960.0 3322.4 3729.3 Frequency Hz Period ms Note Name MIDI number
1 INTR O DUC TI O N
M tha t communica tes interiority , being only per ceiv ed b y the ears, and r eceiv ed b y the mind. A strict appr o ach to understanding music will consequently alw a y s ha v e something lacking as music theory , in essence, is primarily descriptiv e and not pr escriptiv e. The tendencies and pr actices in music ar e only observ ed and ca talog ed upon analy sis, af ter the f act. It is the hearts and minds of human beings tha t shape and w ea v e melodies, harmonies, and rh ythms tog ether into meaningf ul tapestries, imbued with the interior landscapes of their immedia te experiences. M uch of the theory in this book is b ased upon the Eur opean classical tr adition, starting ar ound the early 1 8th century . The content is designed to g et y ou started in understanding the r ela tionships of the tones and rh ythms, and in unp acking the inher ent pr operties of sound in the pr ocess, and then, perhaps, music in g ener al. For the purposes of this book all principles ar e pr esented assuming equal temper ament, the pr e v alent tuning s y stem f or o v er 30 0 y ears. The w or d “tone ” and “note ” ma y sometimes be used inter chang eably , but g ener ally “tone ” r ef ers to the audible sound, and “note ” r ef ers to the writ ten s ymbol. Other terms can be consulted in the g lossary . The deeper ma thema tics behind temper ament and the tuning of scales ar e co v er ed in Harmono gr ap h , b y Anthon y Ashton. I hope this book will r e v eal ho w the underlying harmonic templa te of sound acts as an org anisa tional fr ame w ork fr om which the f abric of music is w o v en, influencing our per ception of accor d, discor d, tension and r elease, telling a story , making a journe y .
2
W ha t

I s

M us I c
? and all that jazz M usic is ... a mother ’ s lullab y . It giv es sound to our f eelings when w e ha v e no v oice, w or ds when w e ar e silent. In it w e pr aise, lo v e, hope, and r emember . The br ea th of the soul, the contours of the p a th of a humming bir d in flig ht, and the wind tha t carries it, music shapes and shiv ers into endless colours, nuanced and div erse, and eternally cr ea tiv e. It is Spirit taking f orm. M usic is carried b y the vibr a tions of molecules of air , lik e w a v es upon an ocean. It perhaps uniquely captur es and con v e y s the interior landscape of one human mind to another , holding our tears and s w ea t, p ain and pleasur e, p ackag ed as p aeans and pr eludes and etudes and nocturnes. It is the texturisa tion of the deliquescence of time, the ebb and flo w of mood and meaning. It rumina tes, v acilla tes, contempla tes, and stimula tes. In music w e org anise and f antasize, arr anging the elements of music— me lody , rh y th m , and harmon y —into meaningf ul shapes and p a t terns. Its rh ythms mo v e our hands, f eet and bodies to the pulses of the univ erse. Its harmonies br ea the with the explor a tory intricacies and curiosities of r ela tionship and pr oportion, consonance, dissonance, assonance, and r esonance. Its melodies flit ter into flig hts of f ancy , w ea ving w oe and w onder . When music is married to languag e, then wha t is spok en becomes song, ele v a ting the intentions and entr ea ting us to listen mor e deeply , making the pr of ane sacr ed. M usic soothes the soul, and the sa v ag e beast. Orpheus m y stifies cr ea tur es and tr ees, changing the course of riv ers, outpla ying the Sir ens ’ song with his lyr e. Radha and Krishna pla y the flute and dance jubilantly .