Chapter 3: Color, Texture, and Form

Dynamics: How loud or soft the music is

• Terminology in Italian

Term Musical Symbol Definition

Fortissimo ff Very loud

Forte f Loud

Mezzo forte mf Moderately loud

Mezzo piano mp Moderately soft

Piano p Soft

Pianissimo pp Very soft

Color• Color / Timbre

• Voice: Classified by range into 4 parts– Soprano, (Mezzo soprano), Alto, Tenor, (Baritone),

Bass

Musical Instruments• Instrument families have the same basic shape and

are made of the same materials– Strings, woodwinds, brasses, percussion, keyboard

Strings• Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass (Listening Guide, p. 36)– Core of the Western symphony orchestra

– Different string playing techniques• Vibrato:

• Pizzicato:

• Tremolo:

• Trill:

• Harp: • Glissando:

• Arpeggio:

Woodwinds• Flute:

• Piccolo:

• Clarinet:

• Oboe: • English horn:

• Bassoon:– Contrabassoon: The lowest instrument of the orchestra

• Saxophone:

• Listening Guide: pg. 37-38

Brasses• Trumpet:

• Mute: A plug placed in the bell of the instrument to lessen the sound

• Trombone:

• French horn:

• Tuba:

• Listening Guide, pg. 38

Percussion• Some percussion instruments are pitched

– Timpani: percussion instrument most often heard in classical music

• Non-pitched percussion instruments:– Snare Drum, Bass drum, Cymbals

Keyboard Instruments • Pipe organ:– Stop:

Keyboard InstrumentsHarpsichord

• Most popular during the Baroque Era

Piano• Invented around 1700

The Symphony Orchestra

• Originated during the seventeenth century• Early 18th century: 15-25 musicians

• Late 18th century: 25-80 musicians

• 19th century: around 100 musicians

• Around 1800, a conductor became necessary as ensembles expanded and pieces became more complex

– Orchestral score:

• Listening Cue: Practice identifying instruments of the orchestra on CourseMate Listening Exercise 3.1

Texture• Texture:

• Vincent Van Gogh’s Branch of an Almond Tree in Blossom (1890)

Three Primary Textures in Music• Monophony:

• Unison:

• Homophony:

• Polyphony: • Counterpoint:

Identifying Texture

• The “Hallelujah” chorus from The Messiah by George Frideric Handel (pg. 45)

FORM• Form: • Use of statement, repetition, contrast, and variation

Five Favorite Musical Forms• Strophic Form: AA

– Listening example: pg. 47 (“Lullaby” by Brahms”)

• Theme and Variations: A A1 A2 A3 A4

– Listening example: pg. 48 (“Variations on Twinkle Twinkle” by Mozart)

• Binary Form: A B– Listening example: pg. 48 (“Andante” from

The Surprise Symphony by Haydn)

• Ternary Form: A B A– Listening example: pg. 49 (“Dance of the

Reed Pipes” from The Nutcracker by

Tchaikovsky)

• Rondo Form: ABACA or ABACABA– Listening example: pg. 50 (“Rondeau” by Mouret)