What is Music?

1. Whatis Music? Music Explorations

2. Whatis Music? • How canwedefine music? • What types of characteristicscan music hold? • Is there a universaldefinition of ‘music?’

3. How Can WeDefine Music? • Scientifically • Mathematically • Emotionally • Historically • Culturally

4. Scientifically • ‘’ the science or art of orderingtones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition havingunity and continuity’’ Merriam-Webster Dictionary • Whatdoesthismean? (hint: temporal= of or relating to the sequenceof time)

5. Scientifically Let’sCreate Music Scientifically! -Control (time signature) -Variables (key signature) -Experimental substances (notes --Guidlines (rhythmic dos and don’ts)

6. Whatis Music? Mathematically

7. Mathematically How canwedefine music usingmathematics? Numbers? Equations? Patterns? ‘’ a sequence or pattern of numericallyassignedtones, put to a key, whose temporal sum must alwaysbeequal to a specificpre-set variable’’ Huh?

8. Mathematically A scale (CDEFGABC) isassignedscalesdegreenumbers. CDEFGABC 12345678 Choose the order of numbersatrandom or apply an equation. Ex: +1-2 AtRandom: Hereiswhereyour ‘Do Now’ comes in! Equation: +1-2 1(+1) 2(-2) 8(+1) 1(-2) 7(+1) 8(-2) (for a more interestingcomposition, trylarger jumps in patterns ex: +4-2)

9. Whatis Music? Emotionally

10. Emotionally Do you know how to define music emotionally? …Urban Dictionary does ‘’ Indefinable by words alone. It is not only something you hear but what you feel. It is something your soul can reach out and touch. It originates from all over the world since time began. Complex or simple, fast or slow, loud or soft. It is what you feel, or it could be your method of escape or it could just keep you alive. “ How canwecreate or recognize music emotionally?

11. Emotionally Choose an emotion and define the musical characteristics of each. Happy Sad Angry Create a songusingthosecharacteristics, or applythem to an alreadyexisting musical exerpt.

12. Whatis Music? Historically

13. Historically How wouldyoudefine music historically? Can youdefine music withhistoricalcharacteristics, or woulditbe more of an explination of music’s importance and influence at certain points in history? You decide. There is no wrong or right.

14. Historically Music iscreated to fit the characteristics or needs of a specific time. For Example: Renaissance music focused on nature, sprituality and literaryadvancement. Renaissance= The Re-birth (of society) after the darkages, whichhad no advancement in civilization, government, or literaryneeds. One example of the differencesbetween Baroque and Rennaisance music isrhythm. Baroque music wascreatedbecause society nowneeded more structure after the Renaissance. Different types of governmentswerebeingcreated and societieswererequired to adhere to new laws and guidlines. Baroque music follows more structuredguidlines in compositions. Let’slisten to examples of Renaissance and Baroque music to get a betteridea.

15. Historically Renaissance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkHSxZrYYv4 Baroque http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LAPFM3dgag

16. Whatis Music? Culturally

17. Culturally How canwedefine music in a cultural sense? Activity/HomeworkAssignment: Usingwhatwe’vediscussedtoday, create a cultural definition of music. Have themready to discuss. EVERYONE MUST CREATE THEIR OWN. No sharing work.

18. Culturally ‘a form of expression thatreflects the societalneeds of the creators. Whetherreligious, medicinal, or for entertainment, it serves a purpose.’ Music reflects the society thatcreatesit. In order to understand a culture’s music, we must first understand the culture. One way to do thiswouldbe to take an anthropologicalview. Whatisanthropological?

19. Culturally Anthropologyis the study of humankind. By viewing music and musical cultures from an anthropologicalview, we are able to step back fromourbiases and viewsocieties as visitors. i.e. explainingtexting to someonewho has neverexperiencedit (Likeyourgrandparents).

20. America(Anthropological) There are twoforms of music in America ‘’Classical’’ referring to music of the past & ‘’Contemporary’’ referring to music of the present. The people whochoose to listen to either of the two genres tend to bedifferentfromeachother in many social and cultural ways.

21. America Classical music refers to music of the past(althoughthereis an era of music specificallynamed ‘classical’). Music of the pastdiffersgreatlyfromcontemporary music in manyways (but thisdoes not meanthere are NO similarities). What are the waysclassical music isdifferentfromcontemporary music?

22. America Take a look at the performances of the different music. i.e a classical orchestra concert vs. A rock concert. In a classical performance, the audience sitsquietlyand applaudswhenprompted. Theydress up and make an evening of the performance. The age of the audience tends to floataround the late 30s and up. The people alsoseem to be in the middle to high range for societal classes. Contemporary Music concerts (rock shows) are filledwithyounger people thatshout and cheer on the music, eat and drink during performances. So why do thesetwo styles of music promotedifferentreactions? Whyis the audience so diverse for these styles of music?

23. America The answerisbecause the needs of society are changing. Yearsago, classical music wasconsidered a very noble and highlyregardedcareer. But nowthat people have realizedtheycanproduce music withoutmusicians, the career has fallen short of itsearlierreign.

24. America Assignment: Answer the following questions based on our society in America. • Is music important? (Why/why not?) • Are musicians important? (why/why not?) Have youranswersready to discusstomorrow.