Category: musicTheory4

As promised, but a little late, here’s a compilation of links to review for the Midterm Exam. Text: Chapters 1 – 6 Links: Twilight of the Tonal System Integer Notation Scale Formations Chords and Verticalities Melody and Voice Leading Harmonic Progression and Tonality Rhythm and Meter: Bartok, Additive Meter and Syncopation Rhythm and Meter in…

Movement VI, Dance of the Furies, deals with additional rhythm and meter topics: added values, nonretrogradable rhythms, and augmentation/diminution of rhythmic patterns. Added Values Added rhythmic values occur in otherwise simple rhythmic and metric patterns by adding a short additional note, dot, or rest. Example 6-11 in the textbook has the opening portion of the…

We’re using Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time) 1940 – 41, by Olivier Messiaen (1908 – 1992), as the basis for several concepts introduced in chapter 6 (Rhythm and Meter). This post will focus on the first movement, “Liturgie de Cristal,” as an example of isorhythm. You may have studied isorhythm…

Last year’s post walks you through the basics. Look it over and make sure you understand the formula and how to use it for both tempo modulation (metric modulation to some) and polytempo. Just to include it here and reiterate: The formula can be stated in a simple, easy to remember way: original_tempo * (original_grouping_number…

I want to include a chapter 6 clean-up to make sure all are clear about the major concepts. This post from last year summarizes the topics very briefly, except for polytempo and tempo modulation.

Friday we covered two Bartok Mikrokosmos pieces: No. 115, Bulgarian Rhythm; and No. 133, Syncopation. Additive Rhythm and Additive Meter (“Bulgarian Rhythm”) Bulgarian Rhythm is an example of additive meter. The 5/8 meter is expresses as both (3+2)/8 and (2+3)/8. Additive rhythm is related to some folk rhythmic practices (African drumming, for example), where there…