Summary of MUSI1025 Art of Listening

The article is written for my personal review and summary of the course: MUSI1025 Art of Listening at HKU. It is not intended for public sharing since the content is based on my understanding of the course materials and lectures, which may not be accurate or comprehensive. However, if these notes can help you in your studies, I'm glad to hear that.

This course is not about music theory or performance, but rather about developing a deeper appreciation and understanding of music through active listening. In other terms, you might have heared the word of "Music Analysis". This course is more about the "analysis" part: What is the form of the music? What are the elements that make up the music? How do these elements interact with each other? How does the music make you feel? What is the historical and cultural context of the music? These are some of the questions that we will explore in this course.

To build up the vocabulary for you to do proper music analysis, this course will cover the following topics:

Art of Listening

Think about what could be the difference between the ambient noise of a street, and a precise composition of symphony. We perceive both as sound, but you will only listen to the latter when you apply a specific set of cognitive skills and cultural knowledge.

In this course, we will define listening as a deliberate cultural practice, a skill that can be refined and even judged as True or False depending on the depth of understanding one brings to the music.

We could put these skills into use, try if you can hear these differences in the following two pieces of music:

The knife - Heartbeats (Original / Cover)

In populaar music, a "cover song" is a recording of a previously released track, and it is often used to pay tribute to the original artist or to reinterpret the song in a new way. The cover version of "Heartbeats" by José González is a stripped-down acoustic version that emphasizes the lyrics and melody, while the original version by The Knife is an electronic dance track with a more upbeat tempo and a different arrangement.

So you know there are differences, but we need to be more specific about what those differences are. Hence, we need to develop a vocabulary to describe these differences.

Musical Vocabulary

Rhythm

Rhythm can be understand as the organization of time in music. It is the pattern of sounds and silences in music, and it is what gives music its sense of movement and flow. In layman's terms, rhythm is the "beat" of the music, and it is what makes you want to dance or tap your foot to the music.

Rhythm is structured through a hierarchy, where it starts with a steady pulse, which is then organized into "meter". Meter is the grouping of beats into regular patterns, where to be more easy to understand, we can think of it as the "time signature" of the music. The time signature is usually written as a fraction, where the top number indicates how many beats are in a measure, and the bottom number indicates the type of note that gets one beat. For example, in a 4/4 time signature, there are four beats in a measure, and the quarter note gets one beat.

It is also worth to mention that there is a concept called "Syncopation", which is the accentuation of weak beats or off-beats in music. Syncopation can create a sense of tension and release in music, and it is often used in jazz and other forms of popular music to create a more complex and interesting rhythm.

Melody

Melody is the succession of musical tones that unfold over time. It is the part of the music that you can hum or sing along to, and it is often the most memorable part of a piece of music.

For instance, every one's favorite: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The melody of this song is the sequence of notes that you can sing, and it is what makes the song recognizable and memorable.

Pitch

Pitch is the perception of the frequency of a sound. Higher the frequency, higher the pitch, and lower the frequency, lower the pitch.

Harmony

When there are multiple pitches sounding at the same time, we have harmony. To be exact, harmony is the combination of different pitches sounding together.

Think of a melody constructed with pitch to be unfold on the axis of rhythm, then harmony is the vertical axis of the music, it gives music its depth and weight.

When you play a chord on an instrument, you are creating harmony. The way the different pitches interact with each other can create different emotions and moods in the music.

In Western Art Music, we have developed a system of functional harmony where certain chords feel like "Home" and "Away", with other middle chords creating tension and releases. For instance, tonic "I" chord sound stable and restful, while the dominant "V" chord creates tension that wants to resolve back to the tonic "I" chord.

We will eventually reach the concept of "Functional Harmony" later in this note, so don't freak out.

Timbre

When you sketch a drawing's outline, at the end you have to color it to finish your painting. Different ways of coloring can give the same drawing different flavors.

In music, we can play with the Timbre of the sound constructing melody and harmonies, to give them special flavors, just like painters did.

Timbre is the quality of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds, or the tone color. It is what makes a sound of synthesizer sound different from a guitar, like we've seen in the two versions of "Heartbeats". Using synthesizers, the track sounds energetic and pulsy, while the acoustic guitar gives the track a more intimate and warm feeling.

Compared to rhythm, melody, pitch and harmony, the way we describe timbre is more subjective and somehow vague. For instance, typically guitar sounds "warm", while synthesizer sounds "cold". But these descriptions are not universal, and they can vary depending on the context and the listener's personal preferences.

Tempo

Quickly mention a simple term: Tempo, which is the speed of the music. To be more in depth, it is the rate at which the rhythm of the music unfolds, and it is usually measured in beats per minute (BPM) nowadays.

In older times, typically in Western Art Music, we use Italian terms to indicate the tempo of the music, such as "Allegro" for fast, "Andante" for moderate, and "Adagio" for slow.

Texture

Texture refers to the way different musical elements are combined and layered together in a piece of music. It is the way the different voices or parts of a piece of music interact with each other, and it is what gives a piece of music its overall sound and feel.

Different to harmony, that texture does not care about the vertical combination of pitches, but rather the horizontal combination of different musical elements, such as rhythm, melody, and timbre.

This determines the "thickness" of the music, whether it is a single melody line (monophonic), a melody with accompaniment (homophonic), or multiple independent melodies (polyphonic).

And still, we will unfold more in a later section about texture.

Form

Form can be visualized as the architecture of the large-scale organization of time in a composition. It is the way the different sections of a piece of music are organized and structured, and it is what gives a piece of music its overall shape and coherence.

For those who does not have a music background on Western Art Music, this is a bit tricky to understand, as most of the forms we will discuss are based on the conventions of Western Art Music, which may not be familiar to everyone. However, you may understand the concept of Form as the "song structure" of a piece of music, which is a more general term that can be applied to any type of music.

For instance, modern pop songs follow a form called "Verse-Chorus Form". More stuff about forms will be discussed in a later section, but for now, just understand that form is the way the different sections of a piece of music are organized and structured, and it is what gives a piece of music its overall shape and coherence.

Listening, Taste and Pleasure

We are living in an era where distracted listening is the norm, where music is often consumed as background noise, or as a way to fill in the silence. If we put our divices away, and let the music flow into our ears, try to do cognitive engagement with the music, we might be able to discover new things about the music that we have never noticed before.

For instance, you might have found out that you are addicted to certain type of music, and you might have a strong preference for certain genres or artists. This is because our enjoyment of music is not just a passive feeling, but a complex interaction betweent he sounds we hear and the schemas, acts as the mental frameworks or rules our brains have built up over a lifetime of listening.

"This is Your Brain on Music" by Daniel Levitin

Schema

This is the first reading of the course, and it covers a lot of topics that sets the foundation for this segment.

Remember the schema we mentioned earlier? This concept proposed by Daniel Levitin is a key concept in understanding the perspective of how we listen to music that we like. You can undertsand schema as your brain's way of organizing and categorizing the music you have heard before, and it is what allows you to recognize and appreciate new music that is similar to the music you have heard before.

If a new piece of music fits into your existing schema, you are more likely to enjoy it, because it is familiar and it resonates with your existing musical preferences, you will find it more predictable and enjoyable. On the other hand, if a new piece of music sounds quite different from your existing schema, generally you'll find it less enjoyable.

However, there is a inverted U-shaped relation between the complexity of the music and our enjoyment of it. If a piece of music is too simple and predictable, we find it trivial and boring, but if a piece of music is too complex and unpredictable, we find it confusing and irritating. Most of the music we enjoy falls somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, where it is complex enough to be interesting, but not so complex that it is overwhelming.

Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz

This track is a good example to demonstrate the concept of schema.

This Free Jazz track sounds like chaos to me, and perhaps to most of the people on the planet. I feel a sense of confusion and even irritation, and even a Youtube comment pointed out that timestamps are all lebelled as chaos. This reaction happens because this track does not fit into our existing schema of music, because it is too complex or unpredictable. Our brains struggle to find a familiar pattern or structure in the music, and we often reject it because it feels nonsensical.

Relativity of Taste

Taste is a complex and subjective phenomenon that is influenced by a variety of factors, including cultural background, personal experiences, and individual preferences. It is dificult to define taste in a precise way, because it is not a fixed or objective quality, but rather a dynamic and evolving aspect of our relationship with music.

In fact, every person has their own unique taste in music. What one person finds enjoyable, another person may find unappealing, and this is because our taste in music is shaped by our individual experiences and preferences. This phenomenon is what we call the "relativity of taste".

The reason is clear, where we stated in the last paragraph, that everyone has different background and experiences. These differences are the reason why we have different tastes in music, and why we can enjoy different types of music.

Levitin suggests that some biological universals, such as preference for "consonances" over "dissonances" that begins even in the womb, we must eventually confront the fact that much of what we call "good taste" is actually a social construct. Our taste in music is not just a matter of personal preference, but also a reflection of the cultural and social context in which we live. For instance, certain genres of music may be more popular in certain cultures or social groups, and this can influence our taste in music.

The Shaggs - Philosophy of the World

While Coleman's music is complex and virtuosic, this track by The Shaggs were three sisters with very little musical training, whose amateurish style subverts almost every rule of Western turning and rhythm.

We are left to wonder if one person finds this incompetent music to be enjoyable, while other finds it unlistenable, is there actually any universal standard for what makes music good? Or is it all just a matter of personal preference and cultural context?

But most importantly, this track triggers a conversation between scholars, where they debate whether our musical prferences are shaped by our biology, the Nature, or by our culture, the Nurture.

From a biological perspective, the result is that the listening to The Shaggs is often cognitive distress, because their music lacks the predictable patterns our brains have evolved to crave, and it often falls in the chaos category of the Inverted U-function. However, the Nurture side suggest that: if tasts were purely biological, everyone would hate The Shaggs, yet they have a dedicated fanbase that finds their music charming and endearing. This implies that if you have been nurtured to value authenticiy, or rawness of music over technical polish, your schema will change, and this is where the noise becomes art.

So in fact, this track prove that while our biology privides the hardware for listening, our culture provides the software to tell us what is good.

"Let's Talk About Love - A Journey to the End of Taste" by Carl Wilson

Cultural Capital

Since we know that musical taste is not just a matter of personal preference, but also a reflection of the cultural and social context in which we live, we can turn to the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu for a more in-depth understanding of how taste works in society.

What do you think if listening to Bach is superior to listening to Justin Bieber? Or if listening to classical music is more sophisticated than listening to pop music?

A french sociologist named Pierre Bourdieu argues that our taste in music is not just a matter of personal preference, but also a reflection of our social class and cultural capital. He suggested that taste is never disinterested or purely about music, instead, it is a social phenomenon used for distinction.

Think of how a high school student might start listening to an obscure indie band to show off their unique taste and differentiate themselves from their peers, or how a wealthy person might attend a classical music concert to demonstrate their cultural sophistication and social status. In this sense, taste is a weapon used to mark social boundaries an claim status.

And this leads to the concept of Cultural Capital, which refers to the knowledge and skills, or "special currency" that allow an individual to navigate high-status cultural spaces and social circles.

This means that when someone claims Bach is superior to Justin Bieber, they are often not just making a musical judgment, but usually a social judgment, where they are trying to increase their own cultural capital by aligning themselves with elite values, drawing distinction between themselves and those who listen to "lowbrow" music, and asserting their own superiority.

Therefore, most of the times when people say they listen to difficult music like Free Jazz we mentioned earlier, they are spending cultural capital to prove that you have a more sophisticated schema than the average listener, thereby distinguishing themselves from the common crowd.

Social Norms of Listening

Understand it as music is a room with invisible rules, similar to the intuition where you will not wear a t-shirt to a classical music concert, or you will not scream in a library.

The image of a classical music audience are stiff, silent, and passive, and in Bourdieu's view, these silence is not just about hearning the notes, where it is a cultural signal that the music is somewhat "sacred", intellectural object that requires a specific kind of disciplined distinction to appreciate.

For instance, knowing what Beethoven's motifs mean is one kind of capital, but knowing how to sit, dress and respond in a concert hall is another kind of capital. These norms transform abstrack knowledge into visibal social distinction.

This theory acts as a bridge to connect to the concept of cultural capital discussed earlier into behavior. These social norms of listening show how that hierarchy is enacted in practice.

Steve Reich - Pendulum Music

This one is not on the listening list, so I will not provide an embedded Youtube video. Basically, in this piece, microphones swing over speakers to create feedback loops that change over time. For a listener with a traditional classical schema, this might be perceived as noise, but for someone with a more experimental schema, this might be perceived as music, as it is a masterpiece of minimalism. This gap in understanding is exactly the distinction coming from the different social norms of listening, where one group of listeners might find this piece to be a profound exploration of sound and rhythm, while another group might find it to be a meaningless noise.

Thinking about Time in Music: Time, Form and Rhythm

Temporal Medium

We now can end our discussion about the social and cultural aspects of music, and we can start to talk about the musical elements themselves.

When we say music is a temporal medium, we mean that music unfolds over time, and it is not just a static object that exists all at once. This means that the way we experience music is fundamentally different from the way we experience other art forms, such as painting or sculpture, which exist in space and can be experienced all at once.

Temporal expectations are the way we anticipate and predict the unfolding of music over time, connecting the schema concepts we have discussed earlier. But there is a challenge on the way we understand temporal expectations, a piece by Igor Stravinsky called "The Rite of Spring".

Igor Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring

On first glance it sounds like Tom and Jerry's soundtrack, but it is actually a masterpiece of modernism. When this work premiered, it was so radically different from the music of its time that it famously triggered a riot in the theater.

The reason for this is that Stravinsky deliberately subverts our temporal expectations by using irregular rhythms, unexpected accents, and dissonant harmonies. Which it is hard for audience to find a steady, predictable pattern in the music, and when you think about the schema, the audience's existing schema classical music were shattered, and they were not able to process the music in a way that made sense to them, which led to a sense of confusion and even anger.

Think about the same era this piece came out, around 1913, where there is another famous artist named Pablo Picasso, who also created works that subverted the existing artistic norms and expectations. We call it as Modernism. Just as Picasso was moving away from realistic painting style to "Cubism", deconstructing objects into geometric shapes and presenting them from multiple perspectives, Stravinsky was moving away from the traditional tonal and rhythmic structures of classical music to create a new, more abstract and experimental style.

Both artists were challenging the existing norms and expectations of their respective art forms, and they were both met with resistance and controversy from audiences and critics alike. However, over time, their works have come to be recognized as masterpieces of modernism, and they have had a profound influence on the development of art and music in the 20th century and beyond.

This shows that the way we "mark" time, or create time in music is always a reflection of the cultural and social context in which the music is created, and it is not just a matter of personal preference or biological universals.

Marking Time with Music

We already stated that music unfolds over time, and it exists in time, but it also has the power to shape our perception of time.

It effectively makes time by organizing our perception into cycles and patterns. Just like we use church bells or clocks to mark the passage of time.

Steve Reich - Piano Phase

Music can be used to dictate time, and nothing demonstrates this better than Steve Reich's "Piano Phase".

In this piece, two identical piano patterns begin in unison, but slowly drift apart as one piano gradually increases its tempo. This technique is called Phasing, and it creating an insteresting effect when one piano is playing at a certain tempo and offset from the other piano, it creates a new pattern that we perceive as new rhythm relationships.

This music represents a radical shift in the schema, since it is extremely repetitive and minimalist, that forcing us to abandon our expectations for a traditional melody and instead focus on the subtle changes in rhythm and texture.

This syncing is not merely an artistic experiment, but it is widely used as a tool for survival and labor coordination, where here are some worksongs that uses music to coordinate the labor of a group of people:

Postal Workers in Gnana - Field Recordings

This is a field recording of postal workers in Ghana whistling while they work, and you can clearly hear that the sound of stamping and whistling are perfectly synchronized, where the stamping sound work as drums, and the whistling work as melody.

One of the main reason where they decided to stamping in rhythm with their whistling is that it helps them to coordinate their work, and it also helps them to maintain a steady pace and rhythm, which can increase their productivity and efficiency.

Mississipppi Chain Gang - Rosie

Prison chain gangs in the American South were groups of incarcerated men forced into hard labor, often in outdoors. This recoding is a field recording of a chain gang singing while they work, and you can clearly hear that the sound of their tools hitting are perfectly synchronized. In each bar-ish segment, you will hear the hit on the first beat, and the leader will start sing a line in that segment. In the next segment, it also starts with a hit on the first beat, and the workers will repeat the line that the leader sang in the previous segment.

Soran Bushi

This is a fisherman's song from Hokkaido, and it is also a good example of how music can be used to coordinate labor. In this song, the rhythm of the music is perfectly synchronized with the movements of the fishermen as they pull in their nets.

What we are trying to say through these three examples is that, the rhythm of these work songs serves a functional, communal purpose. Music under these environments are used to coordinate the physical movements of a group, ensuring that everyone strikes a hammer or cancels a stamp at the exact same moment.

This is often achived through a style called Call-and-Response, where it can be clearly heard in the Rosie that leader privides a signnal and the group resoonds in sync, proving that a steady, regular beat is the most effective way to unify a collective body through time.

The Golden Record

The Golden Record, is a phonograph record that was launched into space aboard the Voyager spacecrafts in 1977. It contains a variety of sounds and images that are intended to represent the diversity of life and culture on Earth, including music from different cultures and genres.

However, we know that due to a relativity of taste, especially we have multiple cultures around the globe, it is hard to agree on a single piece of music that can represent the diversity of life and culture on Earth. So the solution? We put a variety of music on the Golden Record, including classical music, folk music, and popular music from different cultures around the world.

But it is still worth to mention that on the golden record, there is still a bias towards Western Art Music, where there are more pieces of Western Art Music than any other genre or culture. This reflects the cultural and social context in which the Golden Record was created, where Western Art Music was often seen as the most prestigious and sophisticated form of music, and it was often used as a symbol of cultural superiority.

Musical Form

If rhythm is the micro organization of time in music, each of these micro units of time are then ensemble and organized into larger units, we call it as Form.

Form is that kind of blueprint that tells us where the journey of music is going, and how long it will take to get there. It is just like the architecture of sound, just as building is organized into rooms and hallways that serve different purposes, a musical composition is organized into sections that provide a sense of narrative logic and arrival.

For instance, we might encounter a simple Verse-Chorus structure in a pop song, or Sonata Form in classical symphonies, or even more complex forms like Fugue in Baroque music. Each of them features different journey and arrival, but all of them serves as a mental map for the listeners.

Verse-Chorus Form

Let's start with the most common form in popular music. Verse-Chorus Form consists of two main sections: the verse, and the chorus. The verse is the section of the song that tells the story, where the lyrics usually change with each repetition, while the chorus is the section of the song that contains the main message or hook, where the lyrics usually remain the same with each repetition.

Our professor uses an example of Yellow Submarine by The Beatles to demonstrate this form, where you can hear at any streaming platform. Pay attention at the lyrics, and listen to perceive the difference between these two parts:

Verse

In the town where I was born
Lived a man who sailed to sea
And he told us of his life
In the land of submarines
So we sailed up to the sun
Till we found the sea of green
And we lived beneath the waves
In our yellow submarine

Chorus

We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine

Verse

And our friends are all aboard
Many more of them live next door
And the band begins to play

Chorus

We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine

You can hear that the verse is more narrative, pushing the story forward, and building up the tension, while the chorus is more repetitive and catchy, providing a release of tension and a sense of arrival.

Strophic Form

Strophic Form is quite different, as it consists of a single section that is repeated throughout the song, with different lyrics each time. Think about American folk songs, where you can hear there are different parts of the song seperated by a repeated melody, but the lyrics change with each repetition.

For instance, the example song "Amazing Grace":

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see

'Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear
And Grace my fears relieved
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
And Grace will lead me home

Since all these three parts has the same melody that is repeated over and over with different lyrics, we flag then as A, A and A. It just feels like someone is simply wanna tell a story for you, but in a singing way, and the repetition of the melody helps to reinforce the message of the song, and it also creates a sense of unity and coherence throughout the song.

If we discuss about the scope of Western Art Music, things are a bit more complicated.

Sonata Form

Sonata Form is commonly used in Western Art Music from 18th century, and usually opening movement of a multi-movement work, such as a symphony or a string quartet.

It basically follows a following three-part structure:

The first part is called the Exposition. This part introduces the main themes of the piece, the main characters.

The first theme is usually in the home key, which is the key that the piece is based on, and it establishes the tonal center of the piece. The second theme is usually in a different key, often the dominant key, which creates a sense of contrast and tension. There will be a closing theme in the end of the exposition.

Second part is Development. This is the most exiting part of the journey, where the composer takes the themes introduced in the exposition and develops them in new and interesting ways. The composer might take a theme and fragment it, or transpose it to a different key, or combine it with other themes to create new melodies and harmonies.

Finally we will reach Recapitulation. This is the part of grand return to our starting point, where all the themes from the exposition are restated and resolved in the home key. It sounds like a "closure".

One of the famous examples of Sonata Form is Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major :

You can try to track this form down.

Musical Aesthetics

We will first have a listen to this classic Mozart's Symphony No. 25:

Synphony No. 25 in G Minor, K. 183

On your first listen you will identify that this piece is Western Art Music, and we all enjoy listen to. Mozart creates a restless, forward driving energy that organized the listener's attention and anticipation, and it is what makes this piece so exciting to listen to. This marks the point we've raised before: Music is a temporal medium, and it is what gives music its sense of movement and flow.

One thing you might have realized that much of the western music we have listened to is "telelogical", where it feels like an arrow flying towards a specific target, and it is what gives us a sense of arrival when we reach the end of the piece.

But when it comes to the scope of aesthetics, what do you think this piece differs from the Mozart Symphony?

Etenraku, and Jo-Ha-Kyu Aesthetic

We can hear that this is outside from the WAM schema, and it is actually true, this piece is not a WAM composition, but a piece of Japanese music called "Etenraku".

This piece brings us an ancient Japanese tradition called Gagaku, and this ensemble is actually called Gagaku Ensemble, containing wind, string, and percussion instruments. Gagaku feels fundamentally different to WAM, where it is more like a circular journey that repeats and evolves over time.

This aesthetic, we call it Jo Ha Kyu, 序破急, actually stands for Start - Break - Accelerate if you speak Chinese/Japanese. What's important about this aesthetic, as we've found in the last paragraph, that it is in a circular form. We will have a sense of arrival at the end of the "Jo" section, but then we will break that sense of arrival in the "Ha" section, and then we will accelerate to a new sense of arrival in the "Kyu" section.

So is that a music form? Not really, it is more of a musical aesthetic, because it is not a fixed structure that we can easily identify, but rather a general principle that guides the composition and performance of music in a certain cultural context. And also it is not really comparable to WAM notions of formal structures, because it is not a linear structure that we can easily identify, as we said earlier.

This perspective is deeply rooten in East Asian spiritual traditions, like Buddhism, and is reflected in aesthetic concepts such as "wabi-sabi" (the beauty of imperfection) and "mono no aware" (the awareness of the impermanence of things). It emphasizes the beauty of simplicity. Therefore, when we listen to a piece like Etenraku, we shouldn't be looking for, like a grand arrival at the end of the piece, but rather we should be appreciating the subtle changes and evolutions that occur throughout the piece, and finding beauty in the impermanence and transience of the music.

However, while distinctions are obvious, we should not over-generalize these two aesthetics by fiting these music into two boxes of "Eastern" and "Western", because there are many pieces of music that do not fit neatly into either category, and there are many composers who draw inspiration from both traditions.

Hierarchy of Meter

Thinking about the way we mark time in music, specifically in Western Art Music, for centries from Baroque through the 19th centry, we rely on a very regular, predictive cycles. What we call as duple, triple, or quadruple meters, like 2/4, 3/4, or 4/4 time signatures.

These meters are as a staircase where some steps are made of strong beats, and some steps are made of weak beats, and this hierarchy of strong and weak beats is what gives us a sense of rhythm and groove in music. For instance, in a 4/4 meter, the first beat the absolute downbeat that is heavy and strong, give listeners a sens of absolute security.

The Rite of Spring and Piano Phase: What's New?

However, if we see the piece we've visited before, Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring", we can find something new.

We've already mentioned that this piece subverts our temporal expectations by using irregular rhythms, unexpected accents, and dissonant harmonies. But here we focusing on the irregular rhythms more. He used a technique called "Syncopation", where the accents are placed not only on the strong beats, but also on the weak beats, to catch listeners off guard and create a sense of tension and unpredictability. This creates a visceral, jarring energy which feels quite modern, despite this piece was composed over a century ago.

And the piece Piano Phase by Steve Reich, also mentioned earlier, uses phasing techniques to create a repetitive, minimalist landscape that forces us to abandon our expectations for downbeats and instead focus on the subtle changes in rhythm and texture.

J.Strauss - The Blue Danube

This is another famous piece of music called The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II, and it is a good example to demonstrate the hierarchy of meter in Western Art Music.

What's special about it, is that it is a waltz, which is a type of dance music that is characterized by its triple meter, where the first beat is strong and the second and third beats are weak.

This creates a sense of elegance and grace, and it is what makes this piece so enjoyable to listen to. The strong downbeat on the first beat of each measure gives us a sense of stability and predictability, while the weak beats on the second and third beats create a sense of movement and flow.

Meter in Popular Music

Nowadays popular music are made for entertainment, and it is often designed to be catchy and easy to dance to. Therefore, most of the popular music we listen to today relies on a regular, predictable meter, such as 4/4 time signature, which is the most common time signature in popular music.

Also most of the tracks we listen today are emphasizing on repetition, cyclic patterns and metrical regularity.

Here are two examples:

Outkast - Hey Ya!

Zedd, Maren Morris, Grey - The Middle

Let's see how these two tracks can made us get into the groove.

The Middle by Zedd, Maren Morris, Grey is a Electropop track that relies on a steady, driving beat in 4/4 time signature. Think about how it can get us into the groove, where the regular, predictable rhythm creates a sense of momentum and energy that makes us want to dance along. Thus, reaching the purpose of entertainment.

Hey Ya! is different from the typical 4/4 time signature, but used a special meter instead. If you can follow, you will find that the first three bars are in 4/4 time signature, followed by a 2/2 time signature, and then it goes back to 4/4 time signature for two more bars. Why it still make us wanna dance, despite its irregular meter? I believe that the middle 2/2 section is actually a clever way to create a sense of surprise and excitement, where it catches us off guard and creates a moment of tension before returning to the familiar 4/4 rhythm. Despite that 2/2 section, most of the bars are still in 4/4 time signature, which provides a sense of stability and predictability that allows us to get into the groove and enjoy the music. Its like adding a little bit of spice to the dish, while still keeping the overall flavor familiar and enjoyable.

Meter in Flamenco

Soleá: Cante y Guitarra

Flamenco is a traditional Spanish genre of folk music, derived from Southern Spain. It includes singing tradition, guitar playing, clapping, and dance, though we can't really hear them in tracks.

Flamenco is not built on simple groups of four, but on a unique rhythmic systems called palos. To pick up a palo in the track Soleá, you should imagine a 12-beat cycle, known as compás, where the accents do not fall on "ones" at the beginning of each measure. Instead, the accents are distributed asymmetrically on beats 3, 6, 8, 10 and 12. Like:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

It creates a exotic feeling that sounds restlessness and tension, which is what gives flamenco its distinctive character and emotional intensity.

Siguiriyas

Siguiriyas is another palo in flamenco, but its meter is even more sophisticated than Soleá, where it is based on a 12-beat cycle, but the accents are distributed in a different way. By combining patterns of 2s and 3s within a single 12-beat revolution, it creates a complex and dynamic rhythmic structure that is both challenging and rewarding for performers and listeners alike.

For your reference, this is a Siguiriya metronome:

Meter in Hindustani Classical Music

Rhythm in Hindustani Classical music are depending on its origin. South Indian music we call it as Carnatic music, but north we call it as Hindustani classical music.

Since we are talking about Hindustani classical music, we will dive into North style only in this section.

Hindustani classical music does not use WAM meters at all, but instead relies on a complex system of rhythmic cycles called Tala.

Tala can be loosely translated as "metre", but it is different from the Western concept of meter in several ways. First, It is based on a cyclic pattern, and there are many different types of Tala, each with its own unique pattern of beats and accents.

For instance, the most common Tala is called Teental, which consists of 16 beats divided into four equal sections of four beats each.

To understand clearly about Teental, we will try to explain this with a specific example:

Raag Yaman - Ustad Shahid Parvez & Ojas Adhiya

This track is a perfect example of how the Teental works in practice.

This picture shows the structure of Teental, where the 16 beats are divided into four equal sections of four beats each, and the accents are placed on the first beat of each section.

By dividing these 16 beats into four sections, the accent in 1, 2, 4 section is called Taali, which is a clapping sound, while the accent in the 3rd section is called Khali, which is a waving sound.

By looking at the 16-beat cycle of Teental, the first beat of the cycle is called Sam, which is the most important beat in the cycle, and it serves as a point of reference for the performers and listeners.

Other than these accents, following from 1 to 16, each has its own name:

Dha indicates a strong beat, while Ta indicates a weak beat, and the other syllables indicate different types of strokes on the tabla. Tabla is that percussion instrument that you can see in the video, and it is used to provide the rhythmic accompaniment for the music.

For final test, we just have to remember that how this Teental cycle works, and we knoe that rhythmic syllables are called bols, and the start of each 16 beat cycle is called Sam.

Raag Gorakh Kalyan - Soumik Datta & Sukhwinder Singh

In this piece, we will focusing on the form more specifically. The performance starts calmly with the sarod, it introduces the main theme of the piece, and then the tabla enters to provide rhythmic accompaniment.

Before the tabla enters, the sarod is playing in a free meter improvisation section. We call it as Alap. This is a slow, unmetered section of the performance where the sarod player explores the melodic and rhythmic possibilities of the raga, which is a specific melodic framework that serves as the basis for improvisation in Hindustani classical music.

During the Alap in this piece, you will notice that there is no steady pulse or drum accompaniment, instead, the artist explores the raga in a way that feels suspend in time, often supported by a drone.

After the Alap, the music transitions into the Gat, where can be easily heard that the tabla enters strongly, and the music becomes more rhythmic and structured.

The Gat is a faster, more rhythmic composed section of the performance where the sarod player improvises within the framework of the raga while being accompanied by the tabla. The tabla provides a steady pulse and rhythmic structure for the improvisation, and the sarod player responds to the tabla's rhythms with intricate melodic improvisations.

In this part, it is where the music finally locks into a specific Tala. It is crucial to understand that even though there is a main melody here, it serves as a base for improvisation. This leads us to the sophisticated concept of Layakari, which literally means "playing with tempo".

In western tradition, we often think of tempo as simply fast or slow, but in Hindustani classical music, laya functions more like beat subdivision or diminution.

Time, Groove, and Rhythm

If you have ever working composing jazz or classical music in a DAW, you will find that sometimes your music just doesn't feel right, even though you have everything in the right place, and it is perfectly in time. This is because there is a difference between being "in time" and being "in the groove".

Thinking about listening to a metronome, it is perfect in time, but it is stiff and cold. It does not have the human feel that we often associate with music, so as a result, you are less likely to get groove with a metronome, even though it is perfectly in time.

Therefore, we must define groove not just as a steady beat, but as a specific quality of the rhythmic "feel" that emerges from the tiny, human deviations from perfect timing. We can think of groove as a kind of "swing" or "pocket" that gives music its sense of forward momentum, it is what makes us want to move and dance along with the music.

For instance, a modern production of the Jonas Brothers' "Sucker" and James Brown's "Funky Drummer"

These works do make you feel groove, even though they are not perfectly in time, and that is exactly the point! Groove is not about being perfectly in time.

If we think about micro-rhythms, how do rhythmic nuances can create a groovy feel? Analyze these two tracks, if we focusing on perspectives of timing and articulation, we can find that in "Sucker", the rhythm section is playing slightly behind the beat, which creates a laid-back, relaxed feel that is characteristic of many pop songs. This is the essential trick of creating "feel" in your music; if focusing on the tempo, playing with the "pace" of the music, and intentionally placing certain elements slightly ahead or behind the beat, you can create a sense of groove that makes your music more engaging and enjoyable to listen to.

So if you don't want to read that much of text, just make it simple, Humanize in music is the key of making music feel good, and it is what makes us want to move and dance along with the music. Snapping onto grid is not the only way to make music, and it is not the only way to make music feel good. By intentionally playing with the timing and articulation of your music, you can create a sense of groove that makes your music more engaging and enjoyable to listen to.

Melody, Pitch and Mode

So far we've covered mainly on Time, but now we will shift our focus to the other fundamental element of music, which is melody.

All about Melody, and its related concepts

Melody is a succession of pitches in time, where pitch indicates the highness or lowness of a sound, and it is determined by the frequency of the sound wave.

In Western Art Music, pitch can be organized into notes, which are represented by the letters A through G, and these notes can be further organized into scales and modes, which provide a framework for melody and harmony.

Different music cultures organize pitch differently. For instance, in WAM, we got the 12-tone equal temperament system, where the octave is divided into 12 equal parts, and each part is called a semitone. In C major scale, the notes are C, D, E, F, G, A, and B, and these notes can be used to create melodies and harmonies that are characteristic of Western music.

However in Japanese music in example, they use a different system of pitch organization called pentatonic scale, where the octave is divided into five notes instead of seven, and these notes are often arranged in a specific pattern that gives Japanese music its distinctive sound.

For instance, Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy" is a good example of how pitch and melody can be used to create a distinctive sound.

This is that sort of pop music with simple melody lyrics. But it does not feel quite boring despite that repetitive pitches in melody. That is because the way vocals are delivered. If we listen to them carefully we can find out that vocals are "Layered" with different pitches, creating a rich, textured sound supporting by harmonies. Just like a unison choir, where multiple voices singing the same melody but with different pitches, creating a sense of depth and complexity that makes the music more engaging and enjoyable to listen to.

In a Landscape - John Cage

In a Landscape serves as a meditative laboratory for the most basic definition of melody.

In this piece, Cage deliberately avoids the high-energy "hooks" or "riffs" we find in pop music like Billie Eilish, instead allowing pitches to unfold with a gentle, atmospheric quality.

Standing from a musical analysis perspective, Cage is used to prime your ears for the concept of melodic contour. Because the music lacks a driving beat or dramatic harmonic shifts, you are forced to pay attention to the "shape" of the sound—whether it is conjunct, moving smoothly like a gentle breeze, or disjunct, leaping across intervals.

Piano Sonata No. 16 - W.A. Mozart

Mozart is introduced here to provide the "Gold Standard" for the analytical vocabulary, specifically the distinction between a motif, a phrase, and a theme. It is the perfect example because it uses clear arpeggios and cadences to signal to the listener exactly where one idea ends and the next begins.

While both Cage and Mozart are using the same "raw material"—the Western system of pitches (ABCDEFG)—they are organizing them according to different cultural and stylistic rules. Cage uses pitch to create an environment where time feels suspended, while Mozart uses pitch to create a dramatic narrative with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Extra Terms about Melody

There are also some common terms about melody that need some attention:

Riff means a short, repeated musical phrase that is often used as a hook or a motif in a song. Riffs are typically played on guitar or bass, and they can be used to create a memorable and catchy melody that sticks in the listener's head.

Hook is a musical idea, often a short melody or a catchy phrase, that is designed to grab the listener's attention and make the song memorable. Hooks can be found in the chorus of a song, but they can also appear in the verse or even in the instrumental sections.

Then, Coda is a concluding section of a piece of music that serves to bring the composition to a close. It is often used to provide a sense of resolution and finality to the music, and it can take many different forms depending on the style and genre of the music. In some cases, a coda may simply repeat material from earlier in the piece, while in other cases it may introduce new material or provide a dramatic flourish to end the music on a high note.

Phrase is a extended musical unit that typically consists of several measures and is often marked by a sense of completeness or resolution, just like sentense in language. They convey a specific musical idea or emotion, and they are often used to structure melodies and harmonies in a way that is meaningful and engaging for the listener.

Motif means tiny musical "cell" or "seed" that is repeated and developed throughout a piece of music. The most famous example is that four-note motif in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, like: Da-Da-Da-Duum, 6-6-6-4 in relative pitch to the tonic. This motif is repeated and developed in various ways throughout the symphony, creating a sense of unity and coherence that ties the entire work together.

If we extent a bit more, then we got Theme. This is the main musical idea or melody that serves as the basis for a composition. A theme can be a simple melody, a rhythmic pattern, or even a harmonic progression, and it is often repeated and developed throughout the piece to create a sense of unity and coherence. If you have ever listened to a OST of a movie or a video game, you will most certainly realize that in different tracks, there are some recurring musical ideas that are associated with specific characters, places, or emotions in the story.

Extra terms for writing about music

And there are more useful vocabs when we use to writing about music. For instance:

Melodic Contour refers to the overall shape or profile of a melody, which can be described in terms of its rising and falling motion, as well as its overall direction and range. Imagine you start at the beginning note of a melody, and then you follow the notes as they go up and down in pitch, draw them down on a graph, you will get a visual representation of the melodic contour.

We can say the contour is Conjunct if the melody moves in small, stepwise intervals, creating a smooth and flowing melodic line. On the other hand, if the melody moves in large, disjunct intervals, it is called Disjunct, which creates a more angular and fragmented melodic line.

Also, if it is Ascending, the melody moves upward in pitch, creating a sense of tension and excitement. If it is Descending, the melody moves downward in pitch, creating a sense of resolution and relaxation.

Musical Ideas are the basic building blocks of a composition, and they can take many different forms, such as a melody, a rhythm, a harmony, or even a specific sound or texture. If you are walking on the street and suddenly you have a musical idea, it can be anything, like a catchy melody that pops into your head, a rhythmic pattern that you hear in the environment, or even a specific sound that inspires you.

Musical Gestures on the other hand, are the expressive movements and actions that performers use to convey emotion and meaning in music. These can include things like dynamics, articulation, phrasing, and even body language. For instance, a performer might use a sudden change in dynamics to create a sense of surprise or tension, or they might use a specific articulation to convey a particular emotion or mood.

Arpeggios are a type of musical figure where the notes of a chord are played in sequence, rather than simultaneously. For instance, if you have a C major chord, which consists of the notes C, E, and G, an arpeggio would involve playing those notes one after the other, rather than all at once. On a piano roll, it looks like stair steps.

Cadences are a sequence of chords that create a sense of resolution or finality in music. They are often used at the end of a phrase or a section to provide a sense of closure and to signal the end of a musical idea. For instance, in Western music, a common cadence is the Perfect Authentic Cadence, which consists of the V chord followed by the I chord, creating a strong sense of resolution and finality.

Functional Harmony

"Why Classical Music is Better" is an article written by James O. Young, talking about why he thinks classical music is better.

Western Art Music, possesses a unique combination of complexity, emotional depth thanks to a concept called functional harmony. By definition, it is a hierarchical system of chords built around the idea of home key, where chords are not just colors and sounds, but serves as particular functions.

For instance, Tonic chord, which is the I chord, serves as the home base, is the sense of resolution and stability.

Dominant, or V chord, creates tension and instability, and it is what gives us a sense of forward momentum and anticipation, driving listeners towards resolution.

Subdominant is the IV chord, which is used to prepare for contrasts and departures from the home key, and it is what gives us a sense of movement and variety in the music.

These functions establish a narrative structure in music, where the tension and release created by the interplay of these chords can evoke a wide range of emotions and experiences for the listener. This result in a classical music that is full of surprises, twists and turns, and it is what makes it so engaging and rewarding to listen to.

Comparing to popular music, which often does not rely on these functional harmonies, it lacks a greater expressive depth. Since functional harmony allows for modulation and contrary motion, it creates a sense of unpredictability and surprise that is often missing in popular music. What's more, using it with different complex forms, such as sonata form, can create a sense of narrative and development that is often absent in popular music.

So overall, he thinks that functinoal harmony is the grammar of the classical tonality, and it is the crucial system that creates tension, movement, and resolution.

This rule in WAM is called, the Tonality. Which actually, is basically the same as the concept of functional harmony.

This system has reached its peak in the Common Practice Era, abbr CPE, which creates a clear hierarchy of notes, where certain pitches feels like home and other create different feelings.

Then what is mode, and what is the connection between it and tonality? Mode, is a type of scale that organizes pitches in a system. For instance in WAM we have the major and minor modes, which are the most common modes in Western music. Other than Major(Ionian) and Minor(Aeolian), we also have Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, and Locrian modes.

In other cultures, there are different modes that are used to organize pitch. For instance, in Indian classical music, there are many different modes called Ragas, which we have already mentioned before. In Arabic music, it is called Maqam, which is a system of melodic modes that are used to organize pitch and create melodies in Arabic music.

In Japan, we have Yo and In modes, which are based on the pentatonic scale, and they are used to create melodies that are characteristic of Japanese music.

If you're new to music feeling, we can characterize that for WAM, the major mode is often associated with a bright, happy, and uplifting feeling, while the minor mode is often associated with a darker, sadder, and more introspective feeling.

Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331 - W.A. Mozart

Here are two versions of the same piece, this first one by Murray Perahia

and this second one by Glenn Gould:

You can notice a significant difference in the way these two pianists approach the piece, even though they are playing the same notes.

Perahia's version represents the "Standard Interpretation", where he adheres to the expected tempo, and elegant phrasing that most listeners associate with the late 18-th century aesthetic. You can hear that his performance is smooth and flowing thanks to a higher degree of legato, faster tempo.

However Gould's version has different stylistic choices. He chooses a significantly slower tempo, almost to the point of dragging. The phrasing is also a bit detached, with more emphasis on the individual notes rather than the overall flow of the music.

So our professor suggested that through these two versions, we can learn more about profoundity in music, which is a term that is often used to describe the emotional depth and complexity of a piece of music. And also demonstrates that under a relatively fixed western tonality, there is a massive range of expressive power that depends on the performer's interpretation and the listener's perception.

Functional Harmony and Form

In WAM we don't just have functional harmony, but it is also tightly connected to the concept of form.

Take Sonata Form for example, in the system of Functional Harmony that dominated CPE, every piece begins in a specific key, called Tonic, represents home and rest. For the story to be interesting, the music must leave this home for development. This is why the Exposition part moves its key to the Dominant, which is the chord for basically maximum tension. After that the development section is a period of harmonic instability, where the music can modulate to different keys, creating a sense of unpredictability and surprise. Finally, the Recapitulation returns to the Tonic key, providing a sense of resolution and closure to the piece.

This proves that James O. Young's point about the "profundity" of classical music, which is not just about the complexity of the music itself, but also about the listener's ability to follow and understand the underlying structure and narrative of the music.

Here are some tracks that is worth to listen to, and they are all great demonstration of how harmony are used:

Liturgy Op. 31-02 Bless the Lord, o my soul - Rachmaninov

Rachmaninov is used here as the "Gold Standard" for Functional Harmony and the Minor Mode.

In this system, every chord has a specific "job" to do: some create tension, while others provide a profound sense of "home" or resolution. Although we often categorize the minor mode as simply "sad," Rachmaninov uses it to create a deep, spiritual resonance that feels grounded and inevitable. Standing from a musical analysis perspective, this piece serves to prove Young's point: the "profundity" comes from the listener’s ability to follow a complex harmonic map where every note is part of a larger, teleological (goal-oriented) journey.

Six Melodies (No.3) - John Cage

Cage's Six Melodies serves as a counterpoint to Rachmaninov, demonstrating how the absence of functional harmony can create a completely different listening experience. In this piece, Cage deliberately avoids traditional harmonic progressions, instead allowing the melodies to unfold in a more free-form manner.

More specifically, he organizes pitches in a way that avoids tension-resolution. The melody feels suspended, almost static, yet still coherent. The violin line is delicate and ornament-like, while the piano provides sparse, almost neutral support. This creates a heterophonic texture rather than Western-style harmony.

Functional Harmony in Hindustani Classical Music

We heared the Raag Gorakh Kalyan before, this time we will focusing on harmony instead of rhythm.

Recalling that we say that this type of raga are being split into Alap and Gat, where Alap is a free meter improvisation section, and gat is a faster, more rhythmic composed section.

To understand more from it, first we have to understand these terms:

Drone is a sustained pitch or chord that serves as a harmonic foundation for a piece of music. It is not only used in Hindustani classical music, but also in many other musical traditions around the world. For instance, when you listen to music that are used for meditation or relaxation, you will often hear a drone in the background, constantly at a single pitch or a chord, providing a sense of stability and grounding for the music.

Range refers to the distance between the lowest and highest pitches in a piece of music.

Microtone refers to a pitch that is smaller than a semitone, which is the smallest interval in Western music. Many will say that within an octave there are 12 semitons, hence 12 keys on a piano, but in reality there are many more pitches that can be used in music, and these pitches are called microtones.

In fact in many musical traditions around the world, microtones are an essential part of the music, but they are often used in a way which we didn't notice. For legato and portamentos, which are techniques used in singing and instrumental music to create a smooth, connected sound between notes, often involve the use of microtones. For instance, when pushing certain strings up or down on a guitar, you can get a pitch that is a couple of microtones away from a standard note, and this can create a unique and expressive sound that is characteristic of many styles of music.

In hindustani music, similar techniques are used to create microtonal variations in pitch, which can add a sense of expressiveness and nuance to the music. Notice how "twisty" hindustani music and arabic music can be, and that is because of the use of microtones.

Runs are gestures that outlines scales or modes, and they are often used in improvisation to create a sense of movement and development in the music.

Now look at the Raag Gorakh Kalyan, it is in a hexatonic structure, where it utilizes six notes, but strongly 5 if you argue. This particular structure is played in the late evening.

Vadi and Samvadi are the most important notes in a raga, and they serve as the focal points for the improvisation. The Vadi is the most important note in the raga, and it is often emphasized in the improvisation, while the Samvadi is the second most important note, and it is often used to create tension and release in the music.

Similar to how WAM label our notes with letters, we can see from this chart that:

and Avaroh:

But what makes it so facinating and unique is that you can see there are Aroh and Avaroh.

Aroh is the ascending pattern of the raga, while Avaroh is the descending pattern. In WAM when we select a scale, we usually have the same notes for both ascending and descending, for instance, in C major scale, the notes are C, D, E, F, G, A, B for ascending, and the same for descending, just simply in reverse order. But in Hindustani classical music, the notes used for ascending and descending can be different, and this is what gives each raga its unique character and flavor.

From Mode to Texture

Before we move on, our professor has added a page explaining Indian Raga system, and I dunno why it is here.

But since it is here, let's just take a look at it.

Raga as we discussed, is similar to mode, but in different ways. There are hundreds of Ragas in Indian Classical Music, where in Hindustani Classical Music, it is built on an improvisational basis.

Here are some facts that we might be able to understand and remember:

• It is related to spiritual and emotional associations

• It is associated with specific times of day, seasons, and moods. The reason for this is that the specific combination of notes and intervals in a raga can evoke certain emotions and feelings in the listener, and these emotions are often associated with specific times of day or seasons.

• It usually has Ascending and Descending patterns, which we have already mentioned before.

• It has notes to emphasize, which are called Vadi and Samvadi, and they serve as the focal points for the improvisation.

• It has different types of ornamentation

• It has a lot of melodic possibilities, which is what makes it so fascinating and unique.

Deep on Pitch

In Western Art Music, pitch is standarized. We use a cent system, where the octave is divided into 1200 cents, and each semitone is 100 cents, depending on the physical properties of the sound wave, we can determine the pitch of a note, and this allows us to create a standardized system of tuning and intonation that is used in Western music.

In particular, A is turned to 440 Hz, which is the standard tuning pitch for most Western music. This means that the A above middle C is tuned to vibrate at a frequency of 440 cycles per second, and all other notes are tuned in relation to this reference pitch.

When it comes to temperament, there's a thing called Equal Temperament, which is the most common tuning system used in Western music, where the octave is divided into 12 equal parts, and each part is called a semitone. This allows for easy transposition and modulation between keys, but it also means that some intervals are slightly out of tune compared to just intonation, which is a tuning system based on pure intervals derived from the harmonic series.

However in other systems, pitch might not be absolute, but relative. For instance, gamelan music from Indonesia uses a tuning system called slendro, which is based on a five-note scale that does not correspond to the Western chromatic scale.

Javanese Gamelan

For instance, Javanese Gamelan is a bit different.

We know that in WAM standards, pitches are fixed and standarized. We use A = 440Hz and equal temperament.

In Gamelan however, pitches are not fixed, we call it relative turning. Each gamelan ensemble has its own unique turning system. This means although two gamelan might follow the identical scale logic, two ensembles may have vastly different frequencies for the same note, since there is no agreement on a standard turning pitch, like A = 440Hz.

Because of this, you cannot simply take a bell from A ensemble and put it in B ensemble, because the pitch will be different, and it will sound out of tune.

Slendro is a pentatonic scale that divide an octave roughly into five equal parts.

Pelog however is a heptatonic scale. Unlike Slendro, its steps are not equal, and it has a more complex and varied sound.

This image shows the difference between standard WAM tuning, and Slendro / Pelog turning.

Threnody for Carlos Chavez

Unlike WAM pieces that rely on melodic development or "teleological" journeys through chord progressions, this piece focuses on the unique tone color and layering of the percussion. It relies on the fact that the Gamelan is a private tuning system. The out of tune feeling a Western listener might perceive is actually the specific pitch relationships intended by the builders of that specific ensemble.

Concerto for Piano with Javanese Gamelan - Lou Harrison

This is the first movement:

and the second:

Piano is a fixed-pitch instrument tuned to equal temperament, while Gamelan is a unique ensemble with Relative Pitch.

Harrison had find a way for a standardized Western instrument to play alongside a unique Javanese set without it sounding like a mistake. It is an interesting experiment that bring together two fundamentally different tuning worldviews. From it we can see that pitch is not a universal truth but a cultural construct.

Tuning and Intonation

Like I said, WAM music finally settled down on the equal temperament system. But before that, there were many different tuning systems that were used in Western music, such as just intonation, meantone temperament, and Pythagorean tuning.

I wanted to expand a bit onto Just Intonation, which is based on the pure mathematical ratios found in the natual overtone series. While Just intonation sounds incredibly resonant and pure in one specific key, it becomes a mathematical nightmare when you try to modulate to different keys.

For instance, if you are playing a piece in C major, and you want to modulate to G major, you will find that the notes in G major do not fit into the just intonation system based on C major. Reflect this on an instrument, like a piano, if you are playing in C major, the notes will be tuned to the just intonation system based on C major, but when you try to play in G major, the notes will be out of tune because they are not tuned to the just intonation system based on G major.

Ascanio Mayone: Toccata quinta (excerpt)

It include two different tuning systems on a same piece. In Meantone temperament, the intervals are tuned to be more consonant in certain keys, but this comes at the expense of other keys sounding more dissonant. In this piece, you can hear that the first part is tuned in meantone temperament, where the intervals sound more consonant and pure, while the second part is tuned in equal temperament, where the intervals sound more dissonant and less pure.

However, the use of different tuning systems in the same piece creates a unique and interesting listening experience, as it allows the listener to hear the differences between the two tuning systems and how they affect the sound of the music. While we lost the purity of the intervals, we gained the ability to create the massive, shifting harmonic landscapes that we find in the music of Bach, Beethoven, and beyond.

The Beech Tree from Plan & Elevation - C. Shaw

Start from 12:28.

This V part follows a three part structure. First, we have violins playing pizzicato, at random timing. To be exact, it opens with a warmly arpeggiated pizzicato (plucked) cello chord progression, which is soon overtaken by what sounds like the pitter-patter of raindrops or rustling leaves.

This is a design that intentionally loosening the strictness of sheet music.

Followed by a section of bowed harmony by violin and dim out, we can say that this piece in this final section delivers Musical Texture.

Texture and Timbre

We'll start from Mozart's Requiem:

Polyphony

Requiem - 2. Kyrie W.A. Mozart

This is a piece of fugue, representing one of the most sophisticated textures in Western Music because it is a conversation where multiple voices enter at different times, each carrying the same weight and importance, forming a rich, dense texture.

You can hear that there are multiple voices, each with its own melody, and they all intertwining with each other, but non of them stands out as the main melody, as they are all equally important. We call this type of texture as Polyphony, where multiple independent melodies are played simultaneously, creating a rich and complex texture that is characteristic of much of Western music.

Canon in D Major - Pachelbel

Same things goes on in this iconic piece, where there are multiple voices entering at different times, each carrying the same weight and importance, forming a rich, dense texture.

Homophony

Liturgy Op. 31-01 Great Ektene - Rachmaninov

Take a closer listen to how each voices layer with each other. You can hear that despite there are multiple voices, they sound like they are singing together, and they are supporting each other, creating a sense of unity and coherence in the music. No particular is standing out, and together they form harmonies. This is an example of Homophony, where multiple parts in sync, as if they are singing together.

The Last Words of Copernicus - United Sacred Harp Musical Association

This one sounds also homophonic, but for me it is a bit loud and chaotic.

Raga Hamsadhwani - Kadri Gopalnath

We start the listening from 5:00, right at the main theme of the piece is introduced.

You can hear that the main Saxophone melody will be introduced first, then in the background, violin will kinda repeat that same melody, but in a different timing, perhaps a couple of bars later. Like this, where multiple voices are playing in the same melody, but they are not in sync, is an example of homophony.

Monophony

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Bob Dylan

It is a good example of monophony, where there is only one melody, and there are no harmonies or accompaniment. The guitar is playing a simple chord progression, but it is not providing any harmonic support for the melody, and the vocals are singing a single melodic line without any harmonies or counterpoint.

When we say Monophony, it means solo voice, perhaps multiple voices singing the same melody in unison, but there is no harmony or accompaniment. Or in other form, you can hear the clear main melody, and another voice playing a harmony, clearly for supporting the main melody, and can be clearly distinguished from the main melody: only for supporting purposes, then it is also Monophony.

Heterophony

Heterophony is a musical texture where multiple voices or instruments play the same melody, but with slight variations in rhythm, pitch, or articulation. This creates a rich, interwoven sound that is distinct from both monophony and homophony. For instance, in some traditional folk music, you might hear multiple singers or instrumentalists performing the same melody, but each one adds their own unique embellishments and variations, creating a complex and textured sound that is characteristic of heterophony.

Yu Le Shengping

This is a piece of Chinese music, and since we can hear that different instruments are playing the same melody, but with slight variations in rhythm, pitch, or articulation, it is an example of heterophony.

Thinking about Timbre

We have talked about that different cultures have different aesthetic ideals, like this track:

Sanya - Kohachiro Miyata

This clearly demonstrates a different aesthetics, and it demonstrates the concept of "ma" in Japanese music, which is the idea of space or silence in music.

You can only hear a wind instrument, Shakuhachi, made of bamboo. sounds hollow and airy, and there is a lot of space between the notes, creating a sense of openness and tranquility in the music. Note that the piece does not utilizes other voices to support the melody through harmonization, but instead emphasizes timbral aesthetics, as nuances of pitch, timing, articulation make this "boring melody" sounds chewy and interesting.

Timbre in Japanese Music plays a crucial role in creating the unique sound and character of the music, and it is often related to the Zen tradition. If flute in WAM focuses on melody, then in Japanese music, it is more about the timbre.

For those who skipped the first part of this note, Timbre basically means the tone color, how the sound sounds. It demonstrates the character of quality of sound other than pitch or volume.

However, thinking about timbre in Western Art Music, array of instruments and timbral possibilities is one of the defining features of Western music, and it is what gives it its unique character and flavor. For instance, orchestral music.

Generally in WAM, instruments are designed to be adaptable for different musical contexts, and they can be used to create a wide range of timbres and textures. For instance, the violin can be played with different bowing techniques, such as legato, staccato, or spiccato, which can create different timbres and textures in the music.

Bolero - M. Ravel

What's special about this piece, is that while many Western works rely on changing the melody or shifting through different keys to tell a story, Ravel keeps the melody and the rhythm almost entirely static.

This is a masterpiece of strict, mechanical repetition and calculated tension. It basically abandons the traditional musical development. Instead, it relies on the gradual layering of different instruments and timbres to create a sense of progression and development in the music.

Every time the melody loops, Ravel hands it to a different instrument or a newly invented combination of instruments. It starts with woodwinds with brass, and eventually sweeps in the arco strings. This is a piece that represents the shift of focus from melody and harmony to timbre and texture in Western music.

Five Pieces for Orchestra - Arnold Schoenberg

It really sounds like a Tom and Jerry OST, and it isn't a coincidence, as the composer who wrote the music for Tom and Jerry, Scott Bradley, was heavily influenced by Schoenberg's music, and he often used similar techniques in his compositions for the cartoon.

Arnold Schoenberg's Avant-Garde piece: Five Pieces for Orchestra, is special due to these aspects:

First, unlike traditional classical music, this piece has no clear tonal center. Your brain never feels a sense of resolution or rest. In Schoenberg's mind, this created deep psychological anxiety. In cartoon, this constant, unresolved tension is the exact musical equivalent of visual storytelling.

Another critical thing, it called Klangfarbenmelodie, literally means Sound-Color Melody, which is a technique Schoenberg invented, which features heavily in this suite. Instead of one instrument playing a whole melody, a melody is passed rapidly across the orchestra. A flute plays one note, a muted trumpet plays the next and, a plucked violin playes the third.