Wider listening ‘do nows’

1. Wider listening ‘do nows’ Building cultural capital

2. Can you identify all of the instruments? This week’s piece: A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra by Britten, written 1945 • After an orchestral tutti (where everyone plays) the sections of the orchestra play one by one. In what order do they play? • What questions do you have about the instruments or what the musicians are doing?

3. This week’s piece: A Day In The Life by The Beatles, written 1967 What is the structure of this song? STRUCTURE How many sections? What order? Which sections are the same? Ternary form: ABA 12-bar blues Pop song structure: intro/verse/chorus/bridge/ outro • The Beatles were very experimental in their approach to music in the late 1960s. What is there in this song that you think is experimental for the time?

4. Can you identify all of the instruments? This week’s piece: Scheherezadeby Rimsky-Korsakov, written 1888 Start at 10:21 • This piece tells a story. What do you think it is about? What is there in the music that makes you think this? • What questions do you have about the instruments or what the musicians are doing?

5. This week’s piece: Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, written 1971 What textures can you hear in this song? TEXTURE Thick/thin? Simple/complex? Monophonic Polyphonic Chordal Melody + accompaniment Countermelody Parallel/contrary motion Unison Imitation Call & response • This song is in 3 sections (second starts at 4:35, third at 6:00). How are the sections different from each other? • Why do you think this is considered to be a classic rock song, that has influenced many later musicians?

6. Can you identify all of the instruments? This week’s piece: Symphony No.5 by Tchaikovsky, written 1888 • What happens in the music to build up a sense of emotional drama? • What questions do you have about the instruments or what the musicians are doing?

7. This week’s piece: Blowin’ In The Wind by Bob Dylan, written 1962 How can you describe the harmony in this song? HARMONY Major or minor? Consonant or dissonant? Key change? Harmonic rhythm: how often chords change Drone/pedal note • This song is in was adopted as an anthem for the civil rights movement. What was/is the civil rights movement? Why do you think this song suited them?

8. How can you describe the melody? This week’s piece: Summer from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, written 1777 MELODY Register– high or low? Range – wide or narrow? Sequence? Ascending/descending? Scalic or broken chord movement? Steps or leaps? Ornaments Melodic ostinato • This piece is a movement from a concerto. What do we mean by ‘movement’ in this sense? What is a concerto? • This piece describes a summer storm. What is there in the music that does this?

9. This week’s piece: Around the World by Daft Punk, written 1997 What textures can you hear in this piece? TEXTURE Thick/thin? Simple/complex? Monophonic Polyphonic Chordal Melody + accompaniment Countermelody Parallel/contrary motion Unison Imitation Call & response • The style of this music could be described as EDM. What does this stand for? • The music is very repetitive. How do Daft Punk keep the song interesting?

10. Can you identify all of the instruments? This week’s piece: Koyaanisqatsiby Philip Glass, written 1982 • This piece was written especially to go with the film. The title is from the Hopi language (where is this from?) and means ‘a life out of balance’. The 86-minute film is made up of time lapse photography showing man’s effect on the natural world. This sequence is about halfway through. • How do you think the music goes with the film?

11. This week’s piece: Sleep by Eric Whitacre, written 2000 How can you describe the harmony in this piece? HARMONY Major or minor? Consonant or dissonant? Key change? Harmonic rhythm: how often chords change Drone/pedal note • How does the music reflect the meaning of the words? • What challenges face the singers in a piece like this?

12. Can you identify all of the instruments? This week’s piece: Ode to Joy from Symphony No.9 by Beethoven, written 1824 • Why do you think this piece was chosen as the anthem of the European Union? • What questions do you have about the instruments or what the musicians are doing?

13. How would you describe the rhythms? This week’s piece: I Know You Know by Esperanza Spalding, written 2010 RHYTHM Duration: long or short notes? Even or uneven rhythms? Dotted rhythms Triplets Syncopation On a particular beat of the bar Rests/pauses Rhythmic ostinato • In this song, Esperanza Spalding sings and plays bass guitar. Most people find playing bass and singing at the same time harder than playing guitar and singing at the same time. Why is this?

14. This week’s piece: Introitus from Mozart’s Requiem, written 1791 What textures can you hear in this piece? TEXTURE Thick/thin? Simple/complex? Monophonic Polyphonic Chordal Melody + accompaniment Countermelody Parallel/contrary motion Unison Imitation Call & response • A requiem is a mass for the dead. What is a mass in this sense? • Is this piece in a major or minor key?

15. How many beats in a bar are there? This week’s piece: Take Five by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, written 1959 TIME/TEMPO How many beats in a bar? Tempo: fast or slow? Accellerando/ rallentando • After the main melody finishes, how would you describe what the saxophone plays (and then the piano)? • What style of music is this?

16. Can you identify all of the instruments? What type of voice is this? This week’s piece: Dido’s Lament from Dido & Aeneas by Purcell, written 1688 • This piece is from an opera. What is an opera? • In the opera, the character Dido sings this aria (song) just before she dies. How does the music communicate her sadness? • What questions do you have about the instruments or what the musicians are doing?

17. This week’s piece: Both Sides, Now by Joni Mitchell, written 1967, this version 2000 What textures can you hear in this piece? TEXTURE Thick/thin? Simple/complex? Monophonic Polyphonic Chordal Melody + accompaniment Countermelody Parallel/contrary motion Unison Imitation Call & response • What instruments are included in this arrangement? • Is this song in a major or minor key? • How would you describe the tempo?

18. This week’s piece: Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, written 1845 How are the dynamics used in this piece? DYNAMICS Pianissimo Piano Mezzopiano Mezzoforte Forte Fortissimo Crescendo Diminuendo How do the dynamics change? • What is a concerto? • Try to follow the notation of the violin part. Do you have any questions about what you see?

19. How would you describe the rhythms? This week’s piece: It Ain’t Necessarily So by Gershwin, written 1935 recorded 2002 RHYTHM Duration: long or short notes? Even or uneven rhythms? Dotted rhythms Triplets Syncopation On a particular beat of the bar Rests/pauses Rhythmic ostinato • What instruments can you hear? • How does Jamie Cullum give this song its jazz style?

20. This week’s piece: Sequenza III by Luciano Berio, written 1965 How are the dynamics used in this piece? DYNAMICS Pianissimo Piano Mezzopiano Mezzoforte Forte Fortissimo Crescendo Diminuendo How do the dynamics change? • This is an experimental piece that requires the performer to act as well as sing. The written instructions are (as you can see) very precise. • What features that you would normally expect to find in a piece of music are missing from this one?

21. This week’s piece: Grieg’s Piano Concerto, written 1868 What textures can you hear in this piece? TEXTURE Thick/thin? Simple/complex? Monophonic Polyphonic Chordal Melody + accompaniment Countermelody Parallel/contrary motion Unison Imitation Call & response • What is a concerto? • The piano part could be described as virtuosic. What do you think this means? • Is this piece in a major or minor key?

22. How many beats in a bar are there? This week’s piece: Ko-Koby the Charlie Parker, written 1945 TIME/TEMPO How many beats in a bar? Tempo: fast or slow? Accellerando/ rallentando • This is a style of jazz called bebop. How would you describe its musical characteristics? What is happening in the music?

23. This week’s piece: Gregorian chant, written between the 8th and 12th centuries What textures can you hear in this piece? TEXTURE Thick/thin? Simple/complex? Monophonic Polyphonic Chordal Melody + accompaniment Countermelody Parallel/contrary motion Unison Imitation Call & response • What language is being sung? • Where would this music be sung? • How is the notation different from modern notation?

24. This week’s piece: Prelude in D flat ‘Raindrop’ by Chopin, written 1838 How can you describe the harmony in this piece? HARMONY Major or minor? Consonant or dissonant? Key change? Harmonic rhythm: how often chords change Drone/pedal note • Why do you think this piece has the nickname ‘raindrop’? • Try to follow the notation. Do you have any questions about what you see?

25. This week’s piece: Miserere mei, Deus (Have mercy upon me, O God) by Allegri, written c1630 What textures can you hear in this piece? TEXTURE Thick/thin? Simple/complex? Monophonic Polyphonic Chordal Melody + accompaniment Countermelody Parallel/contrary motion Unison Imitation Call & response • The solo tenor sings an ancient style of music that we have come across before. What is this called? • This piece was written for the Sistine Chapel (where is this?) and was only sung elsewhere after Mozart listened to it, memorised it, and wrote it down. How do you think he did this (he would have been able to look up the words)?

26. This week’s piece: Nimrod from Enigma Variations by Elgar, written 1899 How can you describe the harmony in this piece? HARMONY Major or minor? Consonant or dissonant? Key change? Harmonic rhythm: how often chords change Drone/pedal note • Elgar’s music is often described as ‘quintessentially English’. Why do you think this is? • This piece is often played at funerals. What makes it appropriate for this?

27. How can you describe the melody? This week’s piece: Feeling Good by Bricusse/Newley, written 1964, this recording 1965 MELODY Register– high or low? Range – wide or narrow? Sequence? Ascending/descending? Scalic or broken chord movement? Steps or leaps? Ornaments Melodic ostinato • Is this song in a major or minor key? • How is the bass line put together? • Why do you think so many artists have recorded this song?

28. Can you identify all of the instruments? This week’s piece: Feeling Good by Bricusse/Newley, written 1964, this recording 2006 • At 2;18 and again at 2:43 something significant happens in the music. What is it? • How is this version different from Nina Simone’s?

29. Can you identify all of the instruments? This week’s piece: Feeling Good by Bricusse/Newley, written 1964, this recording 2001 • How have Muse given this song a rock style? • How is Matt Bellamy’s vocal performance different from Michael Bublé’s?

30. This week’s piece: Byrd Mass for Four Voices, written 1593 What textures can you hear in this piece? TEXTURE Thick/thin? Simple/complex? Monophonic Polyphonic Chordal Melody + accompaniment Countermelody Parallel/contrary motion Unison Imitation Call & response • What language is being sung? • What is a mass? • What challenges are there for the singers performing this music?

31. This week’s piece: Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, written 1936 How can you describe the harmony in this piece? HARMONY Major or minor? Consonant or dissonant? Key change? Harmonic rhythm: how often chords change Drone/pedal note • This has been described as the ‘saddest piece of classical music ever’. Why do you think this is?

32. Can you identify all of the instruments? This week’s piece: Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah by Handel, written 1741 • What is different/unusual about the trumpets in this performance? • What questions do you have about the instruments or what the musicians are doing?

33. What type of voice does she have? This week’s piece: Der HölleRachefrom The Magic Flute by Mozart, written 1791 • This is an aria (song) from the opera The Magic Flute. The character’s name is the Queen of the Night. In it, she gives her daughter a dagger and instructs her to assassinate her rival, Sarastro. How are the Queen’s magic powers and her rage shown in the music?