Elements: Rhythm and Melody

Exploring the World of Music Video 5: Rhythm

Marking time and moving through our bodies, rhythm has a special relationship to both musical form and worldwide dance traditions. How rhythm structures music is examined through the American marching band, North Indian tala, Japanese shakuhachi tradition, West African drumming, and Afro-Cuban dance music. Key Concepts 1. The term rhythm refers to patterns of sounds and silences in music. 2. The basic rhythmic unit is the pulse or beat. Western music groups these beats into linear meter patterns (such as 4/4, 3/4, etc.) while other cultures may think of rhythm in terms of cycles. All rhythmic groupings feature at least one consistently emphasized or accented beat. 3. If more than one cyclic pattern is heard at once, the technique is called polyrhythm. This is common in music based in Africa. 4. The speed or pace of the pulse is called the tempo. 5. If there is no steady beat, the rhythmic pattern is free or irregular. Gregorian chant is often performed this way, as well as the Japanese shakuhachi music seen in this video. 6. Rhythm holds the musicians and the audience together through organization and accents. Rhythm is the essence of human life, from the very turning of the earth and cycle of the seasons to the heart beating in each person. Perhaps this is why, as saxophonist Joshua Redman states, Rhythm is feeling, and its motion. Rhythm hits you at your core, at your physical coreits probably the most physical element of music. In the West, rhythmic patterns are often condensed to repeating groups of 2, 3, or 4 beats, and these are related to movement patterns such as those of a marching band or dance choreography. Rhythm is the element that keeps both musicians and audience together and thinking of the music in the same way at the same time. Cultures Tala is the term used for the rhythmic patterns in North Indian classical music. While these patterns may be up to 108 beats long, most common is the teental or 16 beat tala. They are conceived of as a circle or cycle with a clear starting and landing point, which the musicians always come back to. Watch and note: How do the parameters of the cycle define what the musicians do when they are improvising? What is the function of the tabla (drum) player as accompanist in this type of ensemble? The Japanese shakuhachi is a flute traditionally made of bamboo. Players blow across the end (in a similar way to blowing across the mouth of a bottle) and can bend the pitch up to a whole step upwards or downwards by adjusting the blowing angle. Watch and note: What are some of the reasons that rhythm for this instrument are thought of as free or irregular in Western terminology? Usually the shakuhachi is performed solo how does this influence this rhythmic ideal? How are aspects of this style related to visual art forms and Zen meditation? The West African drumming ensemble shown here is made up of a number of pitched drums of different sizes. The interlocking motives of the individual drums converse, providing cues for

dancers and each other and forming a rich texture. In the mendiani rhythm performed by the djembe watch the leader who cues the others and guides the improvisation. Watch and note: How are drum motives related to spoken language patterns? What is meant by this statement: This is not a performance for them. This is their life.? The Rumba Guaguanc is a form of Afro-Cuban dance music which pantomimes courtship, with the dancers in the roles of Rooster and Hen. This type of rumba developed in the Havana and Matanzas provinces and has its roots in music brought to Cuba by both slaves and colonizers. Watch and note: How is does the clave pattern function as the basis for the ensemble? What are some of the popular styles you are familiar with which have been influenced by this type of music? The swing style is at the heart and soul of jazz. As Joshua Redman states, you can define it technically as a subdivision of the beat which is uneven, with accents on the smaller portion. Many players and aficionados, though, will tell you that it is really something you have to just feel. Watch and note: How would you describe the difference between a straight scale and one played with a swing feel? What does he mean when he says you can apply this to any melody how would that work?

Exploring the World of Music Video 6: Melody

Melody the part of music we most often remember is examined here both scientifically and poetically, from a strict sequence of pitches to a group of notes "in love with each other." We see and hear melodies shaped, elaborated, and developed within Western classical music, the Arabic maqam tradition, Irish dance music and sean-ns singing, and Indian raga. Key Concepts 1. All melodies have in common the element of pitch (the frequency of vibration, or highness or lowness of the tone.) Pitches combine in melodies to create rising and falling contours and thus impart meaning. 2. Cultures around the world have different ideas about what the form of melodies should be. 3. The octave is used as a frame in melodic systems in many world cultures. The octave is subdivided into sequences of pitches called scales. For example, the western major scale is the well-known pattern, do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do. When you get back to do, you have reached a new octave. Melodies are usually based on scales. The distance between two notes is called the interval. 4. In many styles, melodies are shaped by performers using variation, ornamentation, and repetition. Melody is the story youre telling, says jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman. Ethnomusicologist Frederick Stubbs agrees, noting that melodies have a beginning, plot, and ending. As with speech, in order for melodies to communicate, composers and performers have to follow cultural rules and practices, which in turn must be understood by the audience. Melodies are therefore based on particular groupings of notes called scales or modes which composers draw on, adding rhythm and form to express musical ideas.

Cultures In her demonstration of construction of melody in the western classical tradition, Mary Jo Pagano compares melodies to thoughts, phrases or sentences, noting that we dont hear individual notes or phrases as much as how they combine to create a line. Watch and note: How is rhythm a crucial aspect of melody? How are repetition, variation, and contrast used in the Mozart Sonata in A Major (K 331) to create the melodic theme? How do you perceive these elements as an audience member? In Arabic classical music, the maqam provides the melodic formula for starting point, ending point, and typical phrases (like a scale) of a composition. These are embellished with sophisticated ornaments and rhythms. Watch and note: Can you hear the quarter tones in Simon Shaheens demonstration on the ud? He mentions that it is easier to hear these if you have grown up with or are very familiar this tradition a process called enculturation. Can you think of some other instances, such as with language sounds or food, where a similar effect occurs? In general, single melodic lines are the basis for four genres of Irish traditional music: dance tunes, slow instrumental airs, English songs, and sean-ns singing in Gaelic. In dance music the melody is often played on a fiddle, uilleann pipes, a concertina, or other instruments, accompanied by guitar, piano, and the bodhrn drum. These melodies have a basic structure of two eight bar sections. Musicians are expected to be able to ornament and vary the melody on each repetition of the section while still keeping the original tune recognizeable. Watch and note: How is musical ornamentation similar to the fine details in Celtic art? What is the significance of the hand-holding in a sean-ns performance? What about the slow uillean pipes music conveys sadness? In Northern Indian classical melodies, there are several hundred ragas which guide composition and improvisation. In each raga, there is a scale containing 5, 6, or 7 notes, ascending and descending patterns, indications as to which tones should be emphasized, and short motifs which make up the path of the raga. Each raga has associations with particular times or seasons, moods, or legendary properties and powers, for example, to invoke rain or heal the sick. Watch and note: What properties do ragas have in common with Western scales? What is different about these two systems? The film wraps up with several examples of melodies emphasizing the intention of words in the form of song. Watch and note: Pete Seeger quoting Yip Harburg, says, Words make you think; music makes you feel. What are some examples of songs in your personal musical collection where the words just wouldnt be the same without the melody? Why, specifically, do you think this is so, given what you have learned about melodic construction on this video?