The podcast began by discussing the essential elements of music notations used to read and write music. A pitch is indicated in the music notation with five lines and a symbol. The G-clef is a symbol that denotes the note G on the second line from the bottom. Notes on the G-clef on the lines are E G B D F while notes played between the lines are F A C E. The notes can be played together to form a scale played on the white lines on the keyboard. Music notations also incorporate sharps that raise the pitch by a half-step and flats that lower the pitch by a half-step. The use of sharps and flats in music notations differentiate key signatures. The F-clef is another music notation symbol that indicates the note F.
Music notations have different durations, rhythm, and rests. The duration of notes is indicated by various symbols such as whole notes (4 beats), dotted half note (3 beats), half note (2 beats), quarter note (1 beat), an eighth note (1/2-beat), and two eighth notes (1 beat). Rests are indicated by a whole rest (4 beats), half rest (2 beats), quarter rest (1 beat), and an eighth rest (half-beat) (“Podcast 4: Reading Music and New Sounds”, 2013). The meter or time signature is also indicated on the music sheet. The 4/4-time signature, the most common time signature, represents four beats per measure and a quarter note gets one beat. There can be other varieties of the meter. Everything’s Alright song is an example of music with a 5/4 meter.
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The next part analyzed artistic movements in music such as romanticism, impressionism, 20th-century primitivism, expressionism, and serialism. The romantic style took place between 1820 and 1900. It had various characteristics such as bigger was perceived as better, long lyrical melodies, long movements that could go for up to half an hour, and rich harmonies with complicated notes. “Berlioz – Symphonie fantastique” is an example of program music in the romanticism period with various characteristics such as idée fixe, cyclic symphony, supernatural, freer forms, large orchestra, and colorful effects. Impressionism was a period where melody and harmony became loose, and new scales were established. The music had freer rhythms and shorter forms that made it somewhat blurry. 20th Century Primitivism was upheaval in nature and depicted violence. Expressionism had music that overwhelming emotion, while serialism incorporated a new alternative to tonalities like that of Arnold Schoenberg that had tone row and inversion. There were various American Experimenters such as Charles Ives, John Cage, and George Gershwin.
Reflection
I have always had a basic knowledge of the concept of music sheets and notation. The first part of the lesson was thus simple and easy to follow. Even though I am familiar with the G-clef, I have always found it difficult to remember most of the notes. I found that the use of mnemonics to memorize the G-clef as a new concept. The mnemonics of “Every Good boy deserves fudge” and FACE made it easy to memorize the different notes in the G-clef. I was able to identify the 5/4 meter in the song “Everything’s Alright.” However, I could not identify the sections that used the 7/8 meter.
It was interesting to note that the history of art has similar names, whether in painting, music, or literature. I am familiar with the history of painting such as expressionism that depicts subjective emotions and responses. I had never heard of the period of 20th Century Primitivism. The music period was the world war, and the music depicted similar themes of violence and had various characteristics such as violent shifts in dynamics. One new concept I learned was that of microtones. Microtones are notes not found in the traditional western twelve-tone musical instruments. The notes cannot be played on the keyboard but can be found in stringed instruments like a violin or wind instruments like a trumpet. Charles Ives’ music “The Unanswered Question” is an example of a piece that uses microtones.
Reference
Podcast 4: Reading music and new sounds. (2013). MUS 100 Fundamentals of Music National University. https://cfvod.kaltura.com/pd/p/1700302/sp/170030200/serveFlavor/entryId/0_bspfagur/v/2/flavorId/0_mf64yzlb/fileName/MUS_100_Podcast_4.mp4/name/a.mp4
