What is rhythm? Rhythm is the organization of music in time using long and short sounds and silences. Do you know how to feel your heartbeat? Place two (2) of your fingers on the front of your neck and feel your heartbeat. This steady heartbeat is also called your pulse. Each pulse of your heart is called a beat. Music has a steady pulse, too. Just like your heart, each pulse of music is called a beat. It is also the steady rhythm that you tap your foot or dance. What is a pulse? The pulse is the beat in a piece of music. What is the beat? Beat is the background“heartbeat” of a piece of music. It is the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating event).
A Cappella is a group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment.
1. Religious A Cappella
It was formed because instruments were forbidden in worship in both Judeo-Christian an the Islamic tradition, so they could only use their voices to chant. It then became popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the release of the album "Chant" by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos.
2. Barbershop
A Cappella
This form of A Cappella is
characterised by its taunt, consonant four-part harmonies and ringing
overtones.
The roles of the four parts are:
·The lead sings the melody.
·The tenor harmonizes above the
melody.
·The bass sings the lowest
harmonizing notes.
·The baritone completes the
chord, usually below the lead.
Some famous quartets are:
·The
Buffalo Bills
·The
Singing Senators
·The
Dapper Dans
3. Pop music
A Cappella
It began when Bands
like the Persuasions and Manhattan Transfer brought A Cappella elements closer
to the center of pop music.
An example of this form of A Cappella isBoyz II Men's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to
Yesterday", which became an enormous hit in 1991 and remained on the
Billboard charts for 133 weeks
4. Collegiate
A Cappella This form of A Cappella is also known as
ensembles. They are student-run and directed singing groups. Such groups could
be found at many colleges and universities in the United States and are
increasing worldwide.
Some famous groups are:
·RPI
Glee Club – perhaps the world’s earliest group
·The Whiffenpoofs of
Yale University – perhaps the longest-continuously singing group
What is an ensemble? A group of musicians who perform together. Solo - a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer. Performing a solo is "to solo", and the performer is known as a soloist.
Duet - a piece of music that is performed by two singers or musicians.
Trio - a piece of music that is performed by threesingers or musicians.
Quartet- a piece of music that is performed by foursingers or musicians.
String Quartet - a musical group that includes two violins, a viola and a cello.
Quintet - a piece of music that is performed by five singers or musicians.
A cappella - a group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment.
Accompaniment -providing background music for a performance.
Unaccompanied -performing without supporting harmonies.
Choir (Chorus) - a group of six (6) or more musicians performing choral music (vocal music), usually accompanied by a piano.
Brass band -a group of musicians playing brass instruments and sometimes also percussion.
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA DEFENSE FORCE BAND
Steel Band/Orchestra - are groups of musicians who play steelpan instruments including the Single Tenor, Double Tenor, Double Second, Cello, Guitar, Quadrophonic and Bass together as an orchestral ensemble, often with expansive percussion and rhythm section.
Symphony Orchestra - A symphony (or philharmonic) orchestra is an orchestra of 70 - 100 players, who are divided into strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
Chamber Orchestra - a small orchestra of about fifty (50) musicians or less.
String Orchestra - A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first and second violin players, the viola, the cello, and the double bass.
Concert band - a group of musicians that sits down to play brass, woodwind and percussion instruments.
Marching band - is a group in which instrumental musicians perform for entertainment, and prepare for a competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind and percussion instruments, and colour guards.
Keyboard instrumentshave a keyboard, like a piano, that you play and which then produces the given note for you.
This family includes:
Piano
Harpsichord
Organ
Electric organ
Electric keyboard
Clavichord
ELECTRONIC FAMILY
An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker. this family including synthesizers, midi controllers, drum machines, instrument effects and sampler.
An orchestra is a large group of musicians (usually about
70 performers) that is led by a conductor.
What is a symphony orchestra? A symphony (or philharmonic) orchestrais an orchestra of 70 - 100 players, who are divided into strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
Who is a conductor?
A conductoris the leader of an orchestra or band.
He or she helps all the musicians not only stay together and play on the same
beat, but the conductor also leads the musicians to play with the same musical
expression (dynamics and tempo). The conductor stands in front of the orchestra
and directs then using a stick about the size of a pencil called a baton. Thescoreis the music the conductor reads
off and it has all the parts for all the instruments listed on it.
CONDUCTOR
BATON
SCORE
FAMILIES
OF THE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
There are four (4) families of the orchestra. They
are string, woodwind, brass and percussion.
Most of the instruments in the string section look
alike. The main difference between them is their size, as they are all played
in very much the same way; their strings can be plucked (this is called
“pizzicato”) or made to “sound” with a bow. The string section is the largest
section of the orchestra. In the string section there are 5 groups of players 1st
violin, 2nd violin, violas, cellos and double basses – as well as
the harp.
WOODWIND
Wood and wind are what makes this family of
instruments special. Long ago, all the instruments in this family were made of
wood, but now some are made of wood or metal or a combination of materials. All
of the instruments in the woodwind section are played with “wind” (the musician
blows air into them). For the most part they look like sticks, though some are
longer than others, but they have very different shapes. The different shape
and materials of each instrument help create its unique sound. The woodwind
tone carries well and can be easily heard when there are lots of other
instruments playing. This section is located in the center of the orchestra.
There are usually about 10-15 instruments in this section. Woodwind instruments
include: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and saxophone.
BRASS
Brass instruments are usually made of metal, often
brass. They can play the loudest of all the instruments in the orchestra and is
placed at the back of the orchestra. Brass instruments are basically very long
tubes with flared ends called “bells”. The brass tubes have been curved and
shaped to make them easier to hold. A brass instrument is played by putting
your lips into a cup-shaped mouthpiece and buzzing. This buzzing makes air
vibrate down the long metal tubes and creates sound. Many brass instruments
have valves that look like buttons. When you press the valves, they open and
close parts of the tubes. You change the sound by pressing different valves and
buzzing harder or softer. Examples of brass instruments include: trumpet,
French horn, trombone and tuba.
PERCUSSION
This section has the greatest variety of
instruments. Instruments in this family are banged, tapped, or shaken. All
percussion instruments do not usually play at the same time, so very often a
percussionist may play many different instruments during a concert. Examples
include: snare drums, bass drums, cymbals, tambourine, timpani, steel pans, xylophone,
glockenspiel, gong, tam-tam, tubular bells, triangle and celesta. There are two (2) groups of percussion instruments: untuned and tuned percussion.
Music may be produced through three (3) Main Musical Sound Sources:
The Human Body and Voice
Traditional and Non-Traditional Instruments
Electronically Generated
1. Human Body and Voice
A. Voice:
Ways of using the voice: singing, humming, whistling, mouth pooping, speaking, chanting, tongue clicking, rhythmic breathing, grunting, beat-boxing, rapping, etc
4 Main Categories of Human Voice
Women Soprano
Alto
Men Tenor
Bass
Shortened to SATB.
B. Body Percussion:the art of utilizing the human body to create sounds and rhythms.
Body percussion techniques: clapping, thigh-slapping (patsch), finger-clicking, top tapping, chest thumping, stomping, high fives, stepping, hand 'warming', etc.
2. Traditional and Non-Traditional Instruments:
A. Traditional instruments: may be classified in a number of ways. We will focus on orchestral families
Orchestral families
Stings
Woodwinds
Brass
Percussion
Two (2) other families are the Keyboards and Electronic.
B. Non-Traditional instruments: home made instruments, folk instruments etc.
Examples of non-traditional instruments include:
pot and spoon, desk top, water xylophone, grater, bagpipe, banjo, cuatro, djembe, fiddle, guitar, lute, pan flute, sitar, steelpan, etc.
3. Electronically Generated Sounds/Instruments
Produced by synthesizers, samplers, keyboards, drum-machines, computers - MIDI, electronic guitar, electronic drum, drum machine, etc.
1. Label your recorder and the case with a permanent marker. That way, if you leave it somewhere, it can be returned to you.
2. After playing, wipe the moisture from the inside of the recorder with a small piece of cotton cloth tied onto a cleaning rod. Do NOT use tissue or paper towel because these will fall to piece inside your recorder and would be very difficult to remove.
3. Clean the mouthpiece of your recorder with an old toothbrush or pipe cleaner. It is important to keep the mouthpiece clean.
4. Plastic recorders can be washed in the dishwasher or in warm, soapy water once in a while.
5. If your recorder is hard to take apart or put back together, you may use a little joint grease or petroleum jelly on the joints.
6. Keep your recorder in its case when you are not playing it.
