Welcome back!!!

Welcome everyone!


HOPE you had the HAPPIEST vacation EVER!!!


Hey... I missed you, guys!


I know, you are thinking that how can I possible miss you and posting NEW MATERIAL for TEST ?????  Well... that is...irrelevant!  As you already know, this week we are going to have the Music Theory Test (except 6th graders) and after that, you will have 2 more: one in History and Terminology of music and the other in Auralia software (OK..this is going to be fun - I will update you in class!)


This is the notes I will give you to study at home, but in case someone doesn't get them...there is NO EXCUSE - there are here!

Music History:

Gregorian Chant:  Originated in monastic life, Gregorian Chant was traditionally sung by monks in churches  and it is, of course, a type of vocal music.  It is the first one to be notated  in a system ancestral to modern musical notation.

Canon: It is a piece of music that a musical theme get going infinite. Canons started out in Italy and France under the the name of “caccia” meaning in Latin: “chase”. There are different kinds of Canons’ most popular and famous are the “round canons”  and the “riddle canon”, where you needed to follow a clue, or a rule written on the canon in order to get it to work (e.g: “play it backwards”). Famous composers of canons are: Bach, Beethoven, Mozart. The most famous, though, piece of canon is  Canon in D written by  Pachelbel.

Harpsichord: Is a musical instrument played by means of keyboard (its strings are plucked from a keyboard), widely used in Baroque and  Renaissance period. It is known also as cembalo in many countries such as Germany.

Romantic Symphonic Orchestra: The first form of the Symphonic orchestra as we know it. It is consisted of strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion.  In strings group we have:  violins, violas, violoncellos, double basses and harp. In woodwinds group we have : flutes, oboes (English horns), clarinets in B-flat and bassoons. In brass group we have: horns in F, trumpets in F,  trombones and tubas. In percussion group we have: timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangles, tambourines and glockenspiel. 

Violin: The violin belongs to the string family. It is the smallest and the highest pitched instrument in the violin family. It’s first name was “vitula” which in Latin means: stringed instrument. A violin maker is called “luthier”.  The voice of the violin depends on the shape, the wood that is made from and the varnish that coats the outside surface. 

  The most important parts of the violin are: 

the peg box

the neck

the bridge

the f-holes

the fine tuners and 

the chin rest

 Violin’s strings (4) were first made of sheep guts but in now days we use various synthetic materials. The open strings are: G, D, A, E (sol re la mi) and can be tuned by turning the pegs in the peg box. 

The violin is played by a bow made of a stick with 100 horsehair (usually grey male horse) between the tip and the frog at opposite ends.

One very famous playing technique in violin is the “pizzicato” mode: The violin player has to pluck the string with the finger of his right hand rather than use the bow.

Music Terminology:

Tempo: In modern music, tempo is indicated in beats per minutes (BPM). This mean that a particular note value (e.g a quarter, or an eighth) is specified as beat and the marking indicates that a certain number of these beats must be played per minute. 

The greater the tempo, the larger the number of the beats - therefore the faster to be played.

Basic tempo markings: In classical music it is used for the tempo to be described by one or more words. Before the metronome  the same metronome we use up to our days for beat matching), words were the only way to describe the tempo of a music piece; yet in now days we still use these terms:

▪ Lento — very slow (40–60 BPM)

▪ Largo — very slow (40–60 BPM), like lento

▪ Grave — slow and solemn

▪ Adagio — slow and stately (66–76 BPM)

▪ Andante — at a walking pace (76–108 BPM)

▪ Moderato — moderately (101-110 BPM)

▪ Allegro moderato — moderately quick (112–124 BPM)

▪ Allegro — fast, quickly and bright or "march tempo" (120–139 BPM)

▪ Vivace — lively and fast (-140 BPM) (quicker than allegro)

▪ Presto — very fast (168–200 BPM)

▪ Prestissimo — extremely fast (more than 200 BPM)

Terms for changes in the tempo:  Sometimes, composers may use expressive marks to adjust 

tempo in the music:

▪ Accelerando:  Speed up

▪ Ritardando: Slow down

▪ Ritenuto: Slightly slower, like holding back

▪ A Tempo: Return to the main tempo marking.

For more images, please see older post on 10/12/2010. 

THAT'S ALL FOLKS! See you in class for more updates!!!!!!!