Final Assignment

There are some major concepts that I learned in this class that will help me advance as a cultivated music listener in the future. One concept I learned was texture. At first, before I had taken this class, I did not understand what texture was relating to music. I learned that texture is based on the number and general relationship of musical lines or voices. I learned that every work of music has a texture from thick (many voices) to thin (a single voice). In addition, I learned that sometimes one line or voice is more important and that other times, all the lines or voices are of equal importance. This knowledge I have gained helps me when I listen to music now. Now I can recognize what kind of texture a song has. For example, when I listen to the kind of music I like and I hear just one singer, then I know that particular song has a thin texture. When I listen to my own music, I pay attention to the type of texture each song has so now I think about songs in a different and broader way. Another concept I learned was dynamics. I learned that the same music can be performed at many degrees of volume, from very soft to very loud. Also, dynamics determine the volume of a given work or passage in a work of music. This knowledge I have acquired helps me as well when I listen to my own music. Now when I listen to a song, I pay more attention the volume and I listen if it varies at all throughout the song. Some songs start out soft and then the volume picks up more and more as the song goes on and at the end of the song, the volume is at its highest. There are other songs where the volume stays the exact same throughout the whole song. This does not necessarily mean songs are more interesting if the volume changes and is unpredictable though. Another concept I learned relating to music was form. I learned that a single melody is usually too short to constitute a complete work of music and that typically, a melody is repeated, varied, or contrasted with a different melody. I learned that the way in which all these subunits are put together-the structure of the whole-is musical form. Finally, form is based on repetition, variation, contrast, or some combination of these three possibilities. Now when I listen to my own music, I pay more attention to the form in each song. In some songs, the melody is very repetitive. I find this happens almost all the time in any rap song I listen to. The melody has a repetitive beat and melody that is easy to dance to. In these rap songs, I find that the musical form is based on repetition. In some songs, however, the melody varies so then the form is based on variation. Other songs have contrasting melodies going on at the same time so it can be confusing to listen to but at the same time, the contrasting melodies sound good together. Repetitive, varying, and contrasting melodies in a song can all sound pleasant so it does not matter what the form is based on in a song. Another musical concept I learned was genre. I learned that symphony, opera, and song are all examples of genres and that each one tells us in advance how long it is likely to be, what kinds of instruments or voices we will hear, and what kinds of forms we might hear. I also learned that genre tells us about the function of a work. For example, dance music serves a different purpose from music to be used in a service of worship. I learned more about the genre of jazz because I went to a jazz concert. I learned that the typical jazz instruments are the saxophone, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, flute, piano, guitar, double bass, tuba, drums, vocals, and the vibraphone. I also learned that one of jazz's derivatives is rock n' roll. Now when I listen to my own music, I can recognize that rap and r&b are different genres. This information I have learned helps me become a better listener to music for the future because now I can notice little things in music that I never knew about or thought about before.