 Chapter 19 of Music Notation and Terminology This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Mark Smith Music Notation and Terminology by Carl Wilson-Gurkins Chapter 19 Abba Tuta With Beat In Strict Rhythm Transcriber's Note Corrected Error Batua in Original Arquatraments For Four Hands Accompaniment The Accompaniment Allunicino In Unison Alableve Alableve To-To Measure The term Alableve is also sometimes used as a tempo indication to show a rate of speed so great that a half note has a beat. For example, only two beats in a measure, hence twice as fast as before. Alacapela Usually the same as acapella. See page 76, section 162. But sometimes used in the same senses. Alableve Alamencia In March style Alzingara In Gypsy style Alt See in Alt Alt The Lowest Female Voice Approximately range G to E. The word Alto is derived from the Latin word Altus, meaning High. The term being formally applied to the highest male voice, which originally sang and still does so in many male choirs, the Alto part. Animato con me sopa In Animated Style As above Antiphony Antiphonal The responsive singing of two choirs, usually one at either end of the church or at either side of the chancel. Arabesque An instrumental composition of light, somewhat fantastic style. The term Arabesque is derived from the word Arabian and was originally applied to a style of decoration. Arioso In the style of an air or song. For example, a flowing vocal style. Ataca Attack the next division without any pause. Ataca subyuto Same as Ataca. Ataca subyuto is siguiente. Attack at once, that which follows. Transcriber's Note In last three entries, corrected misspelling Ataca in original. Attack, the promptness or firmness with which a phrase is begun. Bagpipe A scotch instrument on which the tone is produced by a combination of bellows and reeds. Its characteristic effect is the continuous sounding of a low tone. Sometimes several tones. While the melody is being played on the higher reeds. Barcarole Or Barcarole A boat song. Or so applied to a vocal or instrumental composition in the style of the gondolier's boat song. Baritone Or Baritone The male voice having a range between that of a tenor and that of a bass. Approximately range low G to high G. Bass The lowest male voice. Approximately range low E to high E. Basso. Same as bass. Vercusse. A cradle song. Binary form. A form in two parts. Binary measure. A measure having two beats. Beast. Twice. Used to indicate a repetition. Rare. Bass. The sign used to join several staffs. Showing that all tones represented on these staffs are to be performed together. The term is also often used in referring to the music written on staffs so joined. As begin with the upper brace. Broken chord. A chord whose tones are not all sounded simultaneously. As for example in an accompaniment group. Broken octave. An octave whose tones are sounded one at a time instead of simultaneously. Cacophony. Harsh. Discoordined. Unpleasant. Especially incorrect combinations of tones. The opposite of euphony. Cadenza. A brilliant passage. Usually in an instrumental composition. Introduced just before the close of a movement. The cadenza was formally improvised by the performer. Thus giving an opportunity for displaying his technical skill. But since Beethoven. Composers have usually written their own cadenzas. Cantabile. In a singing style. Cantando. Same as cantabile. Canto. The highest voice part. For example. The soprano part. Not the derivation of canto. Cantabile. Itisi. From the latin word cantus. Meaning a song. Carol. A hymn of joyful praise. Usually sung in connection with Easter or Christmas festivities. The word Carol meant originally a dance. Hence the happy character of songs of this type. Catch. A round set to humorous words. Chromatic. Noun. The term somewhat loosely applied to any term not belonging to the key. As indicated by the signature. Many teachers are replacing the word chromatic in this sense. With the term intermediate tone. This term being applicable. Whether the foreign tone is actually used for ornamental purposes. As a chromatic. Or to affect a modulation. For example. F sharp is the intermediate tone. Between F and G in the key of C. Clavichord. An instrument with keys. Resembling the square piano in appearance. The tone was produced by forcing wedge shaped pieces of metal against the strings. Thus setting them in vibration. The clavichord was one of the immediate predecessors of the piano. Much of the music written by Bach being composed for it. Although this music is now played on the modern piano. Colavorfe. With the voice. For example. Play the accompaniment according to the soloist's performance. Rather than strictly according to the rhythm indicated in the score. Colaparte. Same as Colavorfe. Colloratura. Florid passages in singing. Also applied to the style of singing employed in rendering such passages. C page 76 section 171. Consonance. A combination of tones agreeable to the ear. And requiring no resolution to the tone combinations. In order to give the effect of finality. The major triad. C, E, G. Is an example of a consonant chord. Contralto. Same as alto. Con variazoni. With variations. Direct. A sign. Direct symbol. Placed at the end of the last staff on a page. To indicate what the first note on the next page is going to be. This sign is now practically obsolete. Dirge. A funeral chant. The dirge is named from the first word of a chant. Used in the office for the dead. Which begins. Derge domine. Deus meus. In conspecto tuo via meam. Direct translation. Oh lord. My god. My way in thy sight. Discord. An ugly, unharmonious combination of tones. Dissonance. A harmonic combination of tones giving rise to the feeling of incompleteness. Or unrest. And therefore requiring resolution to some other combination. Which has an agreeable or final feeling. Compared to consonance. The diminished triad. C, E flat. G flat is an example of a dissonant chord. DVC. Divided. An indication showing that the first violins. Or the sopranos. Or any other body of performers ordinarily sounding in unison. Are now to divide into two or more parts. Duet. A composition for two performers. From the Italian word. Duet. Eccole. A school. Or style of composition for performance. Ecdude. A study. Or so an instrumental composition in the style of a study. But intended for artistic performance. Euphony. Agreeable tone combinations. The opposite of cacophony. From the Greek word meaning well sounding. Facile. Easy. Fanfare. A trumpet core. Fantasia. An instrumental composition not based on any regular form. Fiasco. A complete failure or breakdown. This use of the word fiasco. Which means in Italian. A flask. Or bottle. Is said to have reference to the bursting of a bottle. The complete ruin of the bottle. Being compared with the complete failure of a performance. Gemurt. Playing all the tones of a scale. Glissando. Playing a scale on the keyboard. By drawing the finger along over the keys. Thus depressing them in a very rapid succession. The word is derived from the French word. Glisser. To glide. Harpsichord. One of the immediate predecessors of the piano. Humoresque. A capricious. Fantastic composition. Compared to. Fantasia. Edel. A short. Romantic piece of music. In simple and unaffected style. In art. Pitches. In the first octave. Above the treble staff. For example. C in alt. Is the C represented by the second added line. Above the treble staff. In altissimo. Pitches in the octave. Above the alt octave. Instrumentation. C. Orchestration. Interlude. A short movement between two larger movements. Locker. Place. Play as written. C page 15 section 46. Lunga Trilo. A long trill. End of chapter 19. Read by Mark Smith. A short song-like poem of simple character. Also applied to instrumental pieces of light character. Magior. Major. Marcato Ilcanto. The melody well marked. I.e. subdued the accompaniment so that the melody may stand out strongly. Melos. Melodic. A short song-like poem of simple character. Also applied to instrumental pieces of light character. Magior. Major. I. the words. Melos. Melodic. A short song-like poem of simple character. Also applied to instrumental pieces of light character. Also applied to instrumental pieces of light character. Magior. The word Melos. Also applied to the peculiar style of vocal solo found in Wanga's music dramas. C recitative. page 75 section 170. Melo-fluis. Mezzo-Soprano, a woman's voice of soprano quality, but of somewhat lower compass than the soprano voice, range approximately B3 to G5. Minior, minor, nocturne, sometimes spelled N-O-C-T-U-R-N, N-O-T-T-U-R-N-A, N-O-K-T-U-R-N-E, et cetera. A night piece, a quiet melodious, somewhat sentimental composition, usually for piano solo. Nuance, delicate shading, subtle variations in tempo, and dynamics which make the rendition of music more expressive. Obligato, sometimes incorrectly spelled O-B-L-I-G-A-T-O, an accessory melody accompanying harmonized music, usually vocal music. The word obligato, meaning bound or obliged, refers to the fact that it is usually a melody of independent value, so important that it cannot be admitted in a complete performance. O-for-tory, sometimes spelled O-F-F-E-R-T-O-I-R-E, or O-F-F-E-R-T-O-R-I-U-M, a piece of music played or sung during the taking up of the offering in a church service. The word is often applied by composers to any sort, simple piece of music, usually for organ, that is suitable for the above purpose. Opus, work, used by composers to designate the order in which their compositions were written, as an example, Beethoven, Opus 9, number one. Orchestration, the art of writing for the orchestra, this implying an intimate knowledge of the range, quality, and possibilities of all orchestral instruments. Osea, or else, used most often to call the attention of the performer to a simpler passage that may be substituted for the original one, by a player whose skill is not equal to the task he is attempting to perform. Overture, for overt, meaning open, an instrumental prelude to an opera or oratorio. The older overtures were independent compositions and bore no particular relation to the work which was the follow, but in modern music, wanger, Strauss, et cetera. The overture introduces the principal themes that are to occur in the work itself, and the introduction thus becomes an integral part of the work as a whole. The word overture sometimes applied to independent orchestral compositions that have no connection with vocal works, as the Herbides overture by Mendelssohn. Pizzicato, plucked, a term found in music for stringed instruments, and indicating that for the moment the bow is not to be used, the tone being secured by plucking the string. Pollocko, a Polish dance in three quarter measure. Polonaise, same as Pollocka. Postlude, meaning after play. An organ composition to be played at the close of a church service. Prelude, meaning before play. An instrumental composition to be played at the beginning of a church service, or before some larger work, opera, et cetera. This term is also applied to independent piano compositions of somewhat indefinite form, such as Preludes by Chopin, Rachmaninoff, et cetera. Prière, a prayer, a term often applied, especially by French composers, to a quiet devotional composition for organ. Quintolle, quintuplet. A group of five notes to be performed in the time ordinarily given to four notes of the same value. There is only one accident in the group. This occurring, of course, on the first of the five tones. Religioso, religio cemente, in a devotional style. Requiem, the mass for the dead in the Roman Catholic Church. It is so called from its first word, Requiem, which means rest, see page 77, section 165. Rhapsody, an irregular instrumental composition of the nature of an impurrification, a term first applied by Liszt to a series of piano pieces based on gypsy themes. Rubatuta, a device in instrumental music whereby a two note phrase is gradually accelerated, even to the extent of becoming a trill. See Appendix E, page 150, for an example. Ritronello, ritronellae. A short instrumental prelude into the new postlude in a vocal composition, as an example in an operatic aria or chorus. Schottisch, a dance in two quarter measure, something like the polka. Sick, secco, dry, unornimented, applied to a style of operative recitative. See page 75, section 170. And also to some particular chord in an instrumental composition, which is to be sounded and almost instantly dropped. Score, a term used in two senses. One, to designate some particular point in which teacher or conductor wishes to call attention to, as an example, begin with the lower score third measure. The word brace is also frequently used in this case. Two, to refer to all the parts of a composition that are to be performed simultaneously, when they have been assembled on a single page for use by a chorus or orchestral conductor. The term vocal score usually means all chorus parts together with an accompaniment arranged for piano or organ. Well, the terms full score or orchestral score refer to a complete assemblage of all parts, each being printed on a separate staff, but all staffs being braced and barred together. Senza replica, Senza repetition. Without repetition, a term used in connection with such indications as DC, DS, et cetera, which often call for the repetition of some large division of a composition. The term sends a replica, indicating the smaller repeats included within the larger division are not to be observed the second time. Serenade, Serenata, an evening song. Sex tent, a composition of six voices or instruments. Sex tuplet, a group of six notes to be performed at the time ordinarily given to four of the same value. The sex tuplet differs from a pair of triplets in having but one accent. Simile, Similiter, the same, indicating of the same general effect should be continued. Sophagio, Sophaghe, a vocal exercise sung either on simple vowels or on arbitrary syllables containing these simple vowel sounds. Its purpose is to develop one's tone, quality and flexibility. These terms are also applied to classes in sight singing which use the sol fa syllables. Sopra, above. Soprano, the highest female voice, range approximately B3 to C6. Sostenuto, sustained or connected, the opposite of staccato. Soto, under. Example, soto voice, under the voice, i.e. with subdued tone. Solmization, sight singing by syllable. Staccato, detached, the opposite of legato. Subito, suddenly. Tenor, the highest male voice, range approximately D3 to C5. Tenuto, from tenor to hold, a direction signifying that the tones are to be prolonged to the full value indicated by the notes. Tokata, a brilliant composition for a piano or organ, usually characterized by much rapids staccato playing. Triplet, a group of three notes to be performed in the time ordinarily given to two of the same value. The first tone of the triplet is always slightly accented. Tutti, derived from totus, toti, latin, all. A direction signifying that all performers are to take part, also used occasionally to refer to a passage where all performers do take part. End of chapter 20. Chapter 21 of Music, Notation and Terminology. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Music, Notation and Terminology by Carl Wilson Gerkins. Chapter 21. Appendix A. The History of Musical Notation. Many conflicting statements have been made regarding the history and development of music writing, and the student who is seeking light on this subject is often at a loss to determine what actually did happen in the rise of our modern system of writing music. We have one writer, for example, asserting that staff notation was begun by drawing a single red line across the page, this line representing the pitch F, fourth line, base staff. The new my, the predecessors of our modern notes, standing either for this pitch F or for a higher or lower pitch, according to their position on the line or above or below it. Another line continues this writer. This time of yellow color was soon added above the red one, and this line was to represent C, middle C. Soon the colors of these lines were omitted, and the letters F and C were placed at the beginning of each of them. From this arose our F and C clefs, which preceded the G clef by some centuries. Begin footnote. Elson, Music Dictionary, Article, Notation. End footnote. Another writer. Begin footnote. Goddard, The Rise of Music, Page 177. End footnote. Gives a somewhat different explanation, stating that the staff system with the use of clefs came about through writing a letter, C or F, in the margin of the manuscript and drawing a line from this letter to the new, which was to represent the tone for which this particular letter stood. A third writer. Begin footnote. Williams, In Grove's Dictionary, Article, Notation. End footnote. Asserts that because the alphabetical notation was not suitable for recording melodies because of its inconvenience in sight-singing, points were placed at definite distances above the words and above and below one another. In this system everything depended on the accuracy with which the points were interspersed, and the scribes, as a guide to the eye, began to scratch a straight line across the page to indicate the position of one particular scale degree from which all the others could be shown by the relative distances of their points. But this was not found sufficiently definite and the scratched line was therefore colored red and a second line was added, colored yellow, indicating the interval of a fifth above the first. It will be noted that all three writers agree that a certain thing happened, but as in the case of the four gospels in the New Testament, not all the writers agree on details and it is difficult to determine which account is most nearly accurate in detail as well as in general statement. Communication was much slower 1,000 years ago than now and ideas about new methods of doing things did not spread rapidly. Consequently it is entirely possible that various men or groups of men in various places worked out a system of notation differing somewhat in details of origin and development, but alike in final result. The point is that the development of musical knowledge, rise of part writing, increased interest in instrumental music, et cetera, demanded a more exact system of notation than had previously existed just as the development of science in the 19th century necessitated a more accurate scientific nomenclature and in both cases the need gave rise to the result as we have it today. Out of the chaos of conflicting statements regarding the development of music notation, the student may glean and outline knowledge of three fairly distinct periods or stages, each of these stages being intimately bound up with the development of music itself in that period. These three stages are, one, the Greek system which used the letters of the alphabet for representing fixed pitches, two, the period of the Numai, three, the period of staff notation, of the Greek system little is known beyond the fact that the letters of the alphabet were used to represent pitches. This method was probably accurate enough, but it was cumbersome and did not afford any means of writing measured music, nor did it give the eye any opportunity of grasping the general outline of the melody in its progression upward and downward as staff notation does. The Greek system seems to have been abandoned at some time preceding the fifth century. At any rate, it was about this time that certain accent marks began to be written above the text of the Latin hymns of the church, these marks serving to indicate in a general way the progress of the melody, e.g. an upward stroke of the pen indicated a rise of the melody, a downward stroke, a fall, et cetera. In the course of two or three centuries, these marks were added to and modified quite considerably. And the system of notation which thus grew up was called num notation. The word num, n-e-u-m-e, sometimes spelled numma, n-e-u-m-a, or numma, p-n-e-u-m-a, being of Greek origin and meaning a nod or sign. This system of nums was in some ways a retroaggression from the Greek letter system for the nums indicated neither definite pitches nor definite tone lengths. But it had this advantage over the Greek system that the position of the signs on the page indicated graphically to the eye the general direction of the melody, as well as giving at least a hint concerning the relative highness or loneness of each individual tone. The so-called diastematic system, and this was a great aid to the eye in singing just as the relative highness and loneness of notes on the modern staff is of great value in reading music at the present time. Thus, although the numae did not enable one to sing a new melody at sight, as our modern staff notation does, yet they served very well to recall to the eye the general outline of a melody previously learned by ear and therefore enabled the singer, the system was used for vocal music only, to differentiate between that particular melody and the dozens of others which he probably knew. Nume notation was used mostly in connection with the plain song melodies of the church, and since the words of these chants were sung as they would be pronounced in reading, the deficiency of the nume system in not expressing definite duration values was not felt. But later on, with the rise of so-called measured music, CF invention of opera, development of independent instrumental music, et cetera, this lack was seen to be one of the chief disadvantages of the system. The elements of Nume writing as given by Riemann in his Dictionary of Music are, one, the signs for a single note, virga, virgula, and punctus, punctum, two, the sign for a rising interval, pez, podatus, three, the sign for a falling interval, clenis, flexa, four, some signs for special manners of performance, tremula, beibung, quillisma, shake, plica, turn, et cetera. The others were either synonyms of the above named or combinations of them. Since music in the Middle Ages was always copied by hand, it will readily be understood that these Nume were not uniform either in shape or size, and that each writer made use of certain peculiarities of writing, which, although perfectly intelligible to himself, could not readily be interpreted by others, CF writing shorthand. Here then we observe the greatest weakness of the Nume system, its lack of uniformity, and its consequent inability accurately to express musical ideas for universal interpretation. Examples of several Numes are given merely in order to give the beginner a general idea of their appearance. Virga, an upward slanting slash with a blodge at the end, or just a plain slash. Punctus, a dot slanting either right or left. Pez, a symbol rather like a modern quarter note but leaning to the right, or a hook leaning to the right. Cleenies, a hump or peak shaped line. As music grew more and more complex, and especially as writing in several parts came into use, CF, rise of organum, descant, and counterpoint, it became increasingly difficult to express musical ideas on the basis of the old notation, and numerous attempts were made to invent a more accurate and usable system. Among these one of the most interesting was that in which the words of the text were written in the spaces between long parallel lines, placing the initial letters of the words, tone and semitone, at the beginning of the line to indicate the scale interval. An example will make this clear. The example is five horizontal parallel lines, like the lines of a modern day staff, with at the beginning the initials T and S indicating tone and semitone between the lines, and the lyrics to my country, tis of thee, sweet land, et cetera, written in the spaces between the lines. This indicated the precise melodic interval but did not give any idea of the rhythm, and the natural accents of the text were the only guide the singer had in this direction, as was the case in new notation and in early staff notation also. Various other attempts to invent a more definite notation were made, but all were sporadic, and it was not until the idea of using the lines, later lines and spaces, to represent definite pitches and writing notes of various shapes, derived from the new my, to indicate relative duration values. It was only when this combination of two elements was devised that any one system began to be universally used. Just how the transition from new to staff notation was made, no one knows. It was not done in a day, nor in a year, but was the result of a gradual process of evolution and improvement. Nor is it probable that any one man deserves the entire credit for the invention of staff notation, although this feed is commonly attributed to an Italian monk named Guido di Arezzo. Approximate dates, 995 to 1050. To the same monk we are indebted, however, for the invention of the syllables, ut, re, mi, et cetera, which, in a somewhat modified form, are so widely used for sight singing purposes. For a more detailed account of the transition to staff notation, see Grove, op, sit, article notation. It will now be readily seen that our modern notation is the results of a combination of two preceding methods, the Greek letters and the neumes, together with a new element, the staff, emphasizing the idea that higher tones are written higher on the staff than lower ones. The development of the neumes into notes of various shapes indicating relative time values and the division of the staff into measures with a definite measure signature at the beginning are natural developments of the earlier primitive idea. In the system of musica mensurabilis, or measured music, which was inaugurated a little later, the virga, which had meanwhile developed into a square headed neume, was adopted as the longa, or long note, and the punctus in two of its forms as brev and semibrev, short and half short. The longa is now extinct, but the modern form of the brev is still used as the double whole note, and the semibrev is our modern whole note. Red-colored notes were sometimes used to indicate changes in value, and before long outline notes, called empty notes, came into use, these being easier to make than the solid ones. The transition from square and diamond-shaped notes to round and oval ones also came about because of the greater facility with which the latter could be written, and for the same reason, notes of small denomination were later tied together or stroked. This latter usage began about 1700 A.D. It is interesting to find that when measured music was finally inaugurated, there were at first but two measure signatures, viz, the circle standing for a three-beat measure, the so-called perfect measure, and the semi-circle, or broken circle, which indicated two-beat measure. Occasionally, three-beat measure was indicated by three vertical strokes at the beginning of the melody, while two-beat measure was shown by two such strokes. Upon the basis of these two varieties of measure, primitive in conception, though they may have been, has been built, nevertheless, the whole system now employed, and in the last analysis, all forms of measure now in use will be found to be of either the two-beat or the three-beat variety. The circle has disappeared entirely as a measure sign, but the broken circle still survives, and from it are derived the familiar signs, C, and C with a vertical slash through it, which are sometimes erroneously referred to as being the initial letter of our word common, as used in the expression common time. The transition from the older style of measure signature to the present one seems to have occurred during the century following the invention of opera, i.e., from about 1600 to about 1700 A.D. The rest came into use very soon after measured music began to be composed, and we soon find rests corresponding with the various denominations of notes in use, viz, large, two thick vertical strokes taking up the two inner spaces of the staff. Long, one thick vertical stroke taking up the two inner spaces of the staff. Pausa, or brev, a thick vertical stroke taking up the second space down in the staff. Semi-pausa, or semi-brev, what looks like our modern whole rest. Suspirum, our modern half rest, et cetera. The terms applied to these rests vary in different authorities, but it will be noted that the pausa, semi-pausa, and suspirum correspond respectively to the double whole rest, whole rest, and half rest in use at present. The bar and double bar may be developments of the maxima rest, as some writers suggest, but are probably also derived from the practice of drawing the line vertically through the various parts of a score to show which notes belonged together, thus facilitating score reading. The bar may occasionally be found as early as 1500, but was not employed universally until 1650 or later. The number of lines used in the staff has varied greatly since the time of Guido, there having been all the way from four to 15 at various times and in various places, four being the standard number for a long time. These lines, when there were quite a number in the staff, were often divided into groups of four by red lines, which were not themselves used for notes. These red lines were gradually omitted and the staff divided into sections by a space as in modern usage. The number of lines in each section was changed to five, in some cases six, for the sake of having a larger available range in each section. The clefs at the beginning of the staffs are, of course, simply altered forms of the letters F, C, and G, which were written at first by Guido and others to make the old Nume notation more definite. The staccato sign seems not to have appeared until about the time of Bach, the legato sign being also invented at about the same time. The fermata was first used in imitative part writing to show where each part was to stop, but with the development of harmonic writing, the present practice was inaugurated. Ledger lines came into use in the 17th century. Sharps and flats were invented because composers found it necessary to use other tones than those that could be represented by the staff degrees in their natural condition. The history of their origin and development is somewhat complicated and cannot be given here, but it should be noted once more that it was the need of expressing more than could be expressed by the older symbols that called forth the newer and more comprehensive method. The use of sharps and flats in key signatures grew up early in the 17th century. In the earlier signatures, it was customary to duplicate sharps or flats on staff degrees having the same pitch name. Thus, in the treble clef, a sharp sign on the top F line and in the lower F space, or treble clef, flat symbol in the upper E space on the middle B line and on the lower E line. The use of the G clef as here shown did not, of course, exist at that time. The double sharp and double flat became necessary when equal temperament, making possible the use of the complete cycle of keys was adopted. This was in the time of Bach, 1685 to 1750. Signs of expression relating to tempo and dynamics date back at least as far as the year 1000 A.D., but the modern terms used for this purpose did not appear until some years after the invention of opera. The date given by C. F. A. Williams in Grove's Dictionary being 1638. These words and signs of expression were at first used only in connection with instrumental music, but were gradually applied to vocal music also. Other systems of notation have been invented from time to time in the course of the last two or three centuries, but in most cases they have died with their inventors, and in no case has any such system been accepted with anything even approaching unanimity. The tonic sol fa system, begin footnote. The tonic sol fa system represents an attempt to invent a simpler notation to be used by beginners, especially in the lower grades of the public schools, and by singers in choral societies who have never learned to interpret staff notation, and who therefore find some simpler scheme of notation necessary if they are to read music at all. In this system the syllables do, re, me, et cetera, in phonetic spelling are used, the tone being arrived at in each case, first by means of a firmly established sense of tonality, and second by associating each diatonic tone with some universally felt emotional feeling. Thus, do is referred to as the strong tone, me as the calm one, and la as the sad tone, great emphasis being placed upon do as the center of the major tonality, and upon la as the center of the minor. The system is thus seen to have one advantage over staff notation, vis, that in presenting it the teacher is compelled to begin with a presentation of actual tones, while in many cases the teacher of staff notation begins by presenting facts regarding the staff and other symbols before the pupil knows anything about tone and rhythm as such. The symbol for each diatonic tone is the initial letter of the syllable, i.e. D for do, R for re, et cetera, the key being indicated by a letter at the beginning of the composition. The duration value of tones is indicated by a system of bars, dots, and spaces, the bar being used to indicate the strongest pulse of each measure, as in staff notation, the beats being shown by the mark, a dash indicating the continuation of the same tone through another beat. If a beat has two tones, this is indicated by writing the two initial letters representing them with a dot between them. A modulation is indicated by giving the new key letter and by printing the syllable initials from the standpoint of both the old and the new do position. The figure, single quote, above and to the right of the letter indicates the tone in the octave above, while the same figure below and to the right indicates the octave below. A blank space indicates a rest. The tune of My Country Tis of Thee, as printed in Tonic Soul Fa notation below, will make these points clear. The advantages of the system are, one, the strong sense of key feeling aroused and the ease with which modulations are felt. And two, the fact that it is necessary to learn to sing in but one key, thus making sight singing a much simpler matter and transposition the easiest process imaginable. But these are advantages from the standpoint of the vocalist, producing but one tone at a time only, and do not apply to instrumental music. The scheme will therefore probably be always restricted to vocal music and will hardly come into very extensive use even in this field, for the teacher of music is finding it perfectly possible to improve methods of presentation to such an extent that learning to sing from the staff becomes a very simple matter even to the young child. And even though this were not true, the Tonic Soul Fa will always be hampered by the fact that since all letters are printed in a straight horizontal line, the ear does not have the assistance of the eye in appreciating the rise and fall of melody, as is the case in staff notation. End footnote. The Tonic Soul Fa system is used quite extensively in England for vocal music, but has gained little ground anywhere else. And the chances are that the present system of notation with possibly slight additions and modifications will remain the standard notation for some time to come in spite of the attacks that are periodically made upon it on the ground of cumbersomeness, difficulty in teaching children, et cetera. The main characteristics of staff notation may be summed up as follows. One. Pitches represented by lines and spaces of a staff. The higher the line, the higher the pitch represented. Signs called clefs at the beginning of each staff making clear the pitch names of the lines and spaces. Two. Duration values shown by shapes of notes. Three. Accents shown by position of notes on the staff with regard to bars, i.e. the strongest accent always falls just after the bar and the beat relatively least accented is found just before the bar. Four. Extent and description of beat groups shown by measure signs. Five. Key shown by key signature placed at the beginning of each staff. Six. Rate of speed, dynamic changes, et cetera shown by certain Italian words. Allegro, andante, et cetera whose meaning is as universally understood as staff notation itself. End of Appendix A. Read by Kara Schellenberg on August 10th, 2009 in San Diego, California. Appendix B of Music Notation and Terminology. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Read and recorded by Sandra. Music Notation and Terminology by Carl Wilson Gherkins. Appendix B, Musical Instruments. One. Broadly speaking, musical instruments may be divided into two classes. These, one. Those that have a keyboard and are therefore capable of sounding several tones simultaneously. Two. Those that as a rule sound only one tone at a time as the violin and trumpet. The piano is, of course, the most familiar example of the first class and a brief description is therefore given. The piano was invented about 200 years ago by Cristofori, 1651 to 1731, an Italian. It was an enormous improvement over the types of keyboard instruments that were in use at the time, clavichord, harpsichord, spinet, virginal, and has resulted in an entirely different style of composition. See note on embellishments, page 26. Two. The most characteristic things about the piano, as contrasted with its immediate predecessors, are, one, that its loudness and softness of tone can be regulated by the force with which the keys are struck, hence the name pianoforte, meaning literally the soft loud. Two. The fact that the piano is capable of sustaining tone to a much greater extent than its predecessors. In other words, the tone continues sounding for some little time after the key is struck, while on the earlier instruments, it stopped almost instantly after being sounded. The essentials of the piano mechanism are, one, felt hammers controlled by keys, each hammer striking two or three strings, which are tuned in unison and immediately rebounding from these strings, allowing them to vibrate as long as the key is held down. The mechanism that allows the hammers to rebound from the strings and fall into position for another blow is called the escapement. Two. A damper made of softer felt pressing against each string and preventing it from vibrating until it is wanted. Three. A keyboard action that controls both hammers and dampers, causing the damper to leave the string at the same instant that the hammer strikes it. Four. A pedal, damper pedal, controlling all of the dampers so that at any moment all the strings may be released so as to be free to vibrate. Other interesting details are, one. The strings are stretched over a thin sheet of wood called the soundboard. This aids greatly in intensifying the tone. Two. The soft pedal, the one at the left on an upright piano, causes the hammers to move up nearer the strings and the shorter swing, thus afforded, causes a less violent blow and consequently a softer tone. In a grand piano, the same pedal shifts the mechanism to one side so that the hammers strike only one or two of the strings, this resulting in a softer tone of somewhat modified quality. These details regarding the mechanism of the piano can easily be verified by removing the front of any ordinary upright piano and observing what takes place when the keys are struck or the pedal depressed. Three. There are two familiar types of organ in use at the present time. One, the reed organ. Two, the pipe organ. The reed organ is very simple in construction. The tone being produced by the vibration of metal reeds fixed in little cells through which air is forced or sucked from the bellows. The latter being usually worked by the feet of the player. More power may be secured either by drawing additional stops, thus throwing on more sets of reeds or by opening the knee swells which either throw on more reeds, sometimes octave couplers, or else open a swell box in which some of the reeds are enclosed, the tone being louder when the box is open than when closed. More tone may also be secured by pumping harder. Four. The essential characteristic of the pipe organ is a number of sets or registers of pipes called stops, each being capable usually of sounding the entire chromatic scale through a range of five or six octaves. Thus, for example, when the stop melodia is drawn by pulling out a stop knob or tilting a tablet, one set of pipes only sounds when the keyboard is played on. But if the stop flute is drawn with melodia, two pipes speak every time a key is depressed. Thus, if an organ has 40 speaking stops, all running through the entire keyboard, then each time one key is depressed, 40 pipes will speak. If a chord of five tones is played, 200 pipes will speak. The object of having so many pipes is not merely to make possible a very powerful tone, but rather to give greater variety of tone color. The pipe organ usually has a pedal keyboard on which the feet of the performer play a bass part. This part often sounding an octave or more lower than the notes indicate. An eight foot stop on the organ produces tones of the same pitches as the piano when corresponding keys are struck. A four foot stop sounds tones and octave higher and a two foot stop tones two octaves higher. A 16 foot stop sounds tones and octave lower than the piano. And a 32 foot stop tones two octaves lower, while some organs have also a 64 foot stop which sounds three octaves lower. This gives the organ an exceedingly wide range, its compass being greater than that of any other single instrument and comparable in both range of pitches and variety of color only with the modern orchestra. Modern pipe organs always have a number of combination pedals or pistons, usually both by means of which the organist is enabled to throw on a number of stops with one movement. The selection and use of suitable stops, couplers, combinations, et cetera, is called registration. Five, the instruments mentioned at the beginning of this appendix as belonging to the second class are more familiar in connection with ensemble playing being commonly associated with either band or orchestra. Six, a band is a company of musicians, all of whom play upon either wind or percussion instruments, the main body of tone being produced by the brass and woodwind divisions. Sousa's band is usually made up in somewhat the following manner. Four flutes and piccolo's, 12 B-flat clarinets, one E-flat clarinet, one alto clarinet, one bass clarinet, two oboes, two bassoons, two cerisophones, four saxophones, four cornets, two trumpets, one soprano saxophone, flugo horn, four French horns, four trombones, two contra-based tubers, four tubers, one snare drum, one bass drum, two kettle drums, cymbals, triangle, bells, castanets, xylophone, et cetera. Seven, an orchestra is a company of musicians performing upon stringed instruments as well as upon wind and percussion. It is differentiated from the band by the fact that the main body of tone is produced by the strings. There are four classes of instruments in the orchestra. There's strings, woodwind, brass, wind, and percussion. In addition to these four classes, there is the harp, which although a stringed instrument does not belong in the same group as the other strings because the manner of producing the tone is altogether different. Eight, in the first group, the strings, are found the first and second violins, viola, violoncello, usually spelled cello, and double bass. The first and second violins are identical in every way, but play different parts, while the other members of the family merely represent larger examples of the same type of instrument. Nine, in the second group, the woodwind, are found the flute, piccolo, oboe, bassoon, English horn, double bassoon, clarinet, and bass clarinet. The English horn, double bassoon, bass clarinet, and piccolo are not called for in the older composition, hence are not always present in the orchestra. Ten, in the third group, the brass choir, are found the French horn, usually referred to as the horn, trumpet, sometimes replaced by the cornet, trombone, and tuba. Eleven, the fourth group, percussion, consists of kettle drums, bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, triangle, bells, et cetera. Twelve, in an orchestra of about a hundred players, the proportion of instruments is as about as follows, although it varies somewhat according to the taste of the conductor, the style of composition to be performed, et cetera. Eighteen first violins, 16 second violins, 14 violas, 12 cellos, 10 basses, one harp, three flutes, one piccolo, three oboes, one English horn, three clarinets, one bass clarinet, three bassoons, one contra, or double bassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, one tuba, three kettle drums, one bass drum, one snare drum, one each of triangle, cymbal, bell, and other instruments of percussion, several of which are often manipulated by one performer. Thirteen, the cuts and brief descriptions here added will give at least a rudimentary idea of the appearance and possibilities of the instruments most commonly used in bands and orchestras. For fuller descriptions and particulars regarding range, quality, et cetera, the student is referred to Mason's, the orchestral instruments and what they do, Lavignac's music and musicians, and to the various articles which describe each instrument under its own name in Groves' dictionary or in any good encyclopedia. For fuller details, some work on orchestration will have to be consulted. Fourteen, the violin has four strings tuned thus. G, D, A, E, these making available a range of about three and one half octaves. G, C, this range may be extended upward somewhat further by means of harmonics, these being produced by lightly touching the string at certain points while the bow is moving across it instead of holding it down against the fingerboard. The highest string of the violin, viola and cello also, is often called the chanterelle because it is most often used for the playing of melody. The violin ordinarily produces but one tone at a time, but by stopping two strings simultaneously and so drawing the bow as to set both in vibration, two tones may be produced at the same time while three and four tones can be sounded almost simultaneously. Footnote 41, the ranges noted in connection with these descriptions of instruments are ordinarily the practical, orchestral or band ranges rather than those which are possible in solo performance. End of footnote. Illustration, violin length, 23 and a half inches. Length of bow, 29 and a half inches. The mute, or sorodino, is a small clamp made of metal, wood or ivory, which when clipped to the top of the bridge causes the vibrations to be transmitted less freely to the body of the violin, giving rise to a tone modified in quality and decreased in power. The certain special effects, the player is directed to pluck the string pizzicato, this method of playing giving rise to a dry, detached tone instead of the smooth flowing one that is so characteristic of the violin as commonly played. Violins in the orchestra are divided into firsts and seconds. The first violins being always seated at the left of the audience and the seconds at the right. Illustration, viola length, 26 inches. Length of bow, 28, 15. The viola has four strings also tuned in fifths, thus, C, G, D, A. The viola looks exactly like the violin at a little distance and is really only a larger sized violin having a range of fifths lower. Its tone is not so incisive as that of the violin being rather heavier, more gloomy, as it is often described. The viola is not so useful as the violin as a solo instrument because it is not capable of producing so many varieties of colour. Nevertheless, it is invaluable for certain effects. In orchestral music, it is, of course, one of the most valuable instruments fulfilling in the harmony. The viola players are usually seated behind the second violin players in the orchestra. Illustration, violoncello length, three feet, 10 inches. Length of bow, 28 inches. 16. The violoncello, or cello, sometimes called bass vial, has four strings tuned thus, C, G, D, A. Its range is about three and one-half octaves from C to E, or F. But in solo work, this range is sometimes extended much higher. The cello is much more universally used as a solo instrument than the viola and its tone is capable of a much greater degree of variation. In the orchestra, it plays the bass of the string quartet, reinforced by the double bass, but is also often used for solo passages. Concordino and pizzicato passages occur as often for the cello as for the violin. 17. The double bass differs from the other members of the string family in that it is tuned in fourths instead of in fifths. Its four strings are tuned as follows. E, A, D, G. The entire range of the instrument being from E to A. In music written for the double bass, the notes are always printed an octave higher than the tones are to sound. That is, when the bass player sees the note middle C, he plays the C below middle C, this being done to avoid ledger lines. The tone of the bass is much heavier and the instrument itself much more clumsy to handle than the other members of the group. Hence, it is almost never used as a solo instrument, but is invaluable for reinforcing the bass part in orchestral music. The mute is rarely used on the double bass, but the pizzicato effect is very common and the bass pizzicato tone is much fuller and richer than that of any other stringed instrument. Illustration, double bass length, six feet, six inches. Length of bow, 23 and a half inches. 18, the flute has a range of three octaves. C, C, it is used in both solo and orchestral playing as well as in bands. The flute was formerly always made of wood, but is at present often made of metal. 19, the piccolo is a flute playing an octave higher than the one described above. The notes are printed as for the flute, but the player understands that the tone is to sound an octave higher. The piccolo is used widely in band music and quite often, orchestral music also, but since the tone is so brilliant and penetrating and is incapable of any great variety, it is not suitable for solo performance. Illustration, hobo, oh boy. Length, 24 and a half inches. Range, B, E. Contra bassoon, double bassoon. Length, six feet, range about one octave lower than the bassoon, but not all tones in this range are practical. English horn, corongrain. Length, two feet, 11 and a half inches. Range, E, A. Piccolo length, 13 inches. Note that this is approximately half the length of the flute. Flute length, 26 and a half inches. Bassoon, forgot the length. Four feet, three and a half inches. Range, B flat, B flat. 20. The next four instruments to be described, oboe bassoon, English horn and contra bassoon are often referred to as the oboe family, since the principle of tone production and general manipulation is the same in all four. The tone in these instruments is produced by the vibration of two very thin pieces of cane, which are called together a double reed. The oboe is especially valuable in the orchestra as a solo instrument, and its thin nasal tones are suggestive of rustic pastoral simplicity. Both oboe and English horn being often used by the orchestral composer in passages intended to express the idea of rural out of door life. The English horn is also often used in passages where the idea of melancholy and suffering is to be conveyed to the audience. In a military band, the oboe corresponds to the first violin of the orchestra. The bassoon and contra bassoon are used mostly to provide a base part for the harmony of the woodwind group, but are also sometimes employed, especially the bassoon, to depict comic or grotesque effects. Illustration. Base clarinet length, three feet, three inches. Range, D, B-flat. Clarinet length, 28 inches. 21. The next two types of instruments to be described, clarinet and saxophone, are alike in that the tone is produced by the vibration of a single strip of cane called single reed, which is held against the lower lip of the player. The clarinet and bass clarinet are made of wood and are used in both bands and orchestras, but the saxophone is usually made of metal and the tone being more strident and penetrating, the instrument is ordinarily used only in combination with other wind instruments, i.e. in bands. Since the fingering of the clarinet is excessively difficult, the performer can play in only certain keys on the same instrument. Hence, to play in different keys, clarinets in several keys must be provided, there being usually three in all. The music is written as though it were to be played in the key of C, but the tones produced are actually in other keys. For this reason, the clarinet is called a transposing instrument. The range of the clarinet is the greatest possessed by any of the wind instruments, that of the clarinet in C being from E to G. Illustration, saxophones. Soprano alto length, 15 3 quarter inches. Tenor length, two feet, seven and a half inches. Bass length, three feet, nine inches. Combined range, A to G flat. Illustration, the serousophone is an instrument with a double reed. It is made of brass and exists in several sizes, the only one ever used in the orchestra being the double bass serousophone, which has approximately the same range as the double bassoon and is sometimes, but rarely, made use of in the orchestra instead of the latter instrument. The tone of the serousophone is something like that of the bassoon. Illustration, French horn length, 22 and three quarter inches. 22, the French horn often called the valve horn or simply horn really consists of a long tube, about 16 feet, which is bent into circular form for convenience and handling. Its range is from B to F. In the orchestra, French horns are used in pairs, two of the players taking higher tone and two the lower. The tone is intensely mellow, but incapable of any extensive variation, but in spite of this lack of variety, the tone itself is so wonderfully beautiful that the instrument is one of the most useful in the orchestra, both in solo passages and to fill in the harmony. The horn as well as the trumpet and trombone differs from most woodwind instruments in that its mouthpiece contains no reed, the lips of the player constituting the vibrating body as they are stretched across the mouthpiece and air is forced against them. The horn is used in bands as well as in orchestras. The trumpet length, 22 and a half inches. 23, the range of the trumpet is G, B, the typical tone being brilliant and ringing. It is used in both band and orchestra, playing the highest part assigned to the brass choir. The trumpet is often replaced in both band and orchestra by its less refined cousin, the cornet, because of the ease with which the latter can be played as compared with the trumpet and the larger number of players that are available in consequence of this ease of execution. 24, the cornet looks something like the trumpet, but is not so slim and graceful in appearance. Its tube is only four and one half feet long as compared with the length of about eight feet in the trumpet and 16 feet in the French horn. The range of the cornet in B flat is from E to B flat. The tone is somewhat commonplace as compared with the trumpet, but because of its great agility in the rendition of trills, repeated tones, et cetera, it is universally used in all sorts of combinations, even, as noted above, taking the place of the trumpet in many small orchestras. Illustration, cornet length, 13 and three quarter inches. Slide trombone length, three feet, nine inches. Range of tenor trombone, the size ordinarily used, E to B flat. 25, the pitch sounded by the trombone is altered by lengthening or shortening the tube of which the instrument is constructed. This being possible because the lower part slides into the upper and can be pulled out to increase the total length of the tube through which the air passes. There are usually three trombones in the orchestra. Each playing a separate part and the combination of this trio with the tuber reinforcing the bass part is majestic and thrilling, being powerful enough to dominate the entire orchestra in fortissimo passages. But the trombones are useful in soft passages also and their tone when playing pianissimo is rich, serene and sonorous. 26, the bass tuba is a member of the saxhorn family and supplies the lowest part of the brass choir as the double bass does in the string choir. It is used in both orchestra and band being often supported in the larger bands by a still lower toned member of the same family, the contra bass tuba. The range of the tuba is from G to G. Footnote 42, the saxhorn was invented about 1840 by Adolf Sax a Frenchman. The saxophone is the invention of the same man and a footnote. Illustration, bass tuba length, three feet, three inches. Illustration, bass drum, diameter about two and a half feet. Symbols, diameter 13 and one quarter inches. 27, the kettle drum is the most important member of the percussion family and is always used either in pairs or in threes. The size of these instruments vary somewhat with the make but when two drums are used the diameter is approximately that given under the illustration. The range of a pair of drums is one octave F to F and when two drums are used the larger one takes the tones from F to about C of this range and the smaller takes those from about B flat to F. The most common usage is to tune one drum to the tonic and the other to the dominant of the key as the composition is written. The pitch of the kettle drum can be varied by increasing or lengthening the tension of the head by means of thumb screws which act on a metal ring. Illustration, kettle drums, diameter of head 24 and a half inches and 27 and a half inches. The other important members of the percussion family are shown on this and the following page. Their use being so obvious as to require no detailed explanation. Illustration, tambourine, diameter 10 to 12 inches. Illustration, bells, French, guerrillon, German, blockenspiel. Illustration, side drum, diameter about 15 and a half inches. Illustration, triangle height about 8 inches. 28. The harp is one of the oldest instruments dating back over 6,000 years but it is only in comparatively recent years that it has been used in the symphony orchestra. Its range is from C flat to F flat. Illustration, harp height 5 feet 8 inches. The modern double action harp has 46 strings which are tuned in half steps and whole steps so as to sound the scale of C flat major. It has a series of seven pedals around its base each pedal having two notches below it into either of which the pedal may be lowered and held fast. The first pedal shortens the F flat string so that it now sounds F giving the key of G flat. The second one shortens the C flat string so that it sounds C giving the key of D flat. The third pedal shortens the G flat string so that it sounds G giving the key of A flat. The fourth changes the D flat to D giving the key of E flat and so on until when all the pedals are fixed in their first notches the scale of C is sounded instead of C flat as was the case before any of the pedals were depressed. But if the first pedal is now pushed down into the second notch the original F flat string is still further shortened and now sounds the pitch F sharp giving us the key of G and if all the other pedals are likewise excessively lowered to the second notch we get in turn all the sharp keys D, A, E, B, F sharp and C sharp the last named key being obtained as the result of having all the pedals fixed in their second notches thus making all the tones of the original C flat scale a whole step higher so that they now sound the C sharp scale. Chords of not more than four tones for each hand may be played simultaneously on the harp but arpeggio and scale passages are the rule and are more successful than simultaneous chords. The notation of harp music is essentially like that of the piano music. End of Appendix B Appendix C of Music Notation and Terminology This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Music Notation and Terminology by Carl Wilson Gearkins Appendix C Acoustics Note, it is usually taken for granted that the student of music is familiar with the significance of such terms as overtone equal temperament etc and with principles such as that relating to the relation between vibration rates and pitches The writer has in his own experience found however that most students are not at all familiar with such data and this appendix is therefore added in the hope that a few facts at least regarding the laws of sound may be brought to the attention of some who would otherwise remain an entire ignorance of the subject. Acoustics is the science which deals with sound and the laws of its production and transmission Since all sound is caused by vibration acoustics may be defined as the science which treats of the phenomena of sound producing vibration. All sound, as stated above, is produced by vibration of some sort Strike a tuning fork against the top of a table and see the vibrations which cause the tone or if the fork is a small one and the vibrations cannot be seen hold it against the edge of a sheet of paper and hear the blows it strikes or watch one of the lowest strings of the piano after striking the key a sharp blow or look closely at the heavier strings of the violin or better still the cello and watch them oscillate rapidly to and fro as the bow moves across them The vibrating body may be a string a thin piece of wood, a piece of metal a membrane, compared drum the lips, compared playing the cornet the vocal cords, etc. Often it is a column of air as vibrations give rise to the tone the reed or other medium merely serving to set the air in vibration Three Sound is transmitted through the air in somewhat this fashion The vibrating body, a string for example strikes the air particles in its immediate vicinity and they, being in contact with other such air particles strike these others, the latter in turn striking yet others, and so on both a forward and backward movement being set up Oscillation These particles lie so close together that no movement at all can be detected and it is only when the disturbance finally reaches the air particles that are in contact with the eardrum that any effect is evident This phenomenon of sound transmission may perhaps be made more clear by the old illustration of a series of eight billiard balls in a row on a table If the first ball is tapped lightly striking gently against ball number two the latter as well as numbers three, four, five, six, and seven will not apparently move at all but ball number eight at the other end will roll away The air particles act to pun each other in much this same fashion The difference being that when they are set in motion by a vibrating body a complete vibration backward and forward causes a similar backward and forward movement of the particles, oscillation instead of simply a forward jerk as in the case of the billiard balls There is no way of describing the same process as this The vibration of some body produces waves in the air compare waves in the ocean which carry water forward but do not themselves move on continuously These waves spread out spherically, i.e. in all directions and finally reach the ear where they set the eardrum in vibration thus sending certain sound stimuli to the nerves of hearing in the inner ear and thus to the brain An important thing to be noted in connection with sound transmission is that sound will not travel some kind of medium is essential for its transmission This medium may be air, water, a bar of iron or steel the earth, etc. Four The rate at which sound travels through the air is about eleven hundred feet per second The rapidity varying somewhat with fluctuations in temperature and humidity In water the rate is much higher than in air about four times as great while the velocity of sound through other mediums as e.g. steel is sometimes as much as sixteen times as great as through air Five Sound, like light, may be intensified by a suitable reflecting surface directly back of the vibrating body compare sounding board It may also be reflected by some surface at a distance from its source in such a way that at a certain point the focus, the sound may be very clearly heard but at other places even those near the source of sound it can scarcely be heard at all If there is such a surface in an auditorium as often occurs there will be a certain point where everything can be heard very easily but in the rest of the room it may be very difficult to understand what is being said or sung Echoes are caused by sound reflection the distance of the reflecting surface from the vibrating body determining the number of syllables that will be echoed The acoustics of an auditorium i.e. its hearing properties depend upon the position and nature of the reflecting surfaces and also upon the length of time a sound persists after the vibrating body has stopped If it persists longer than two and one quarter or two and one third seconds the room will not be suitable for musical performances because of the mixture of persisting tones with following ones this causing a blurred effect somewhat like that obtained by playing a series of unrelated chords on the piano while the damper pedal is held down The duration of the reverberation depends upon the size and height of the room material of floor and walls furniture, size of audience, etc 6. Sound may be classified roughly into tones and noises although the line of cleavage is not always sharply drawn if I throw stones at the side of a barn sounds are produced but they are caused by irregular vibrations of an irregularly constructed surface and are referred to as noise but if I tap the head of a kettle drum a regular series of vibrations is set up and the resulting sound is referred to as tone in general the material of music consists of tones but for special effects certain noises are also utilized, compare castanets, etc 7. Musical tones have three properties Videliset 1. Pitch 2. Intensity 3. Quality Tamber by pitch is meant the highness or lowness of tone it depends upon rate of vibration if a body vibrates only 8 or 10 times per second no tone is heard at all but if it vibrates regularly at the rate of 16 or 18 per second a tone of very low pitch is heard if it vibrates at the rate of 24 the pitch is higher at 30 higher still at 200 yet higher and when a rate of about 38,000 per second has been reached the pitch is so high that most ears cannot perceive it at all the highest tone that can ordinarily be heard is the E flat 4 octaves higher than the highest E flat of the piano the entire range of sound humanly audible is therefore about 11 octaves rates 16 through 38,000 but only about 8 of these octaves are utilized for musical purposes the tones of the piano with a range of 7 and 1 third octaves are produced by vibration rates approximately between 27 and 42,24 in the orchestra the range is slightly more extended the rates being from 33 to 47,52 certain interesting facts regarding the relation between vibration rates and pitches have been worked out it has been discovered for instance that if the number of vibrations is double the pitch of the resulting tone is an octave higher i.e. if a string vibrating at the rate of 261 per second gives rise to the pitch C prime then a string one half as long and vibrating twice as rapidly 522 will give rise to the pitch C double prime i.e. an octave higher than C prime in the same way it has been found that if the rate is multiplied by 5 fourths the pitch of the tone will be a major third higher if multiplied by 3 halves a perfect fifth higher etc these laws are often stated thus the ratio of the octave to the fundamental is as 2 is to 1 that of the major third as 5 is to 4 that of the perfect fifth as 3 is to 2 and so on through the entire series of pitches embraced within the octave the ratio being of course the same for all octaves 9 the intensity loudness or softness of tones depends upon the amplitude width of the vibrations a louder tone being the result of vibrations of greater amplitude and vice versa this may be verified by plucking a long string on cello or double bass and noting that when plucked gently vibrations of small amplitude are set up while a vigorous pluck results in much wider vibrations and consequently a louder tone it should be noted that the pitch of the tone is not affected by the change in amplitude of vibration the intensity of tones varies by the medium conveying them being usually louder at night because the air is then more elastic tone intensity is also affected by sympathetic vibrations set up in other bodies if two strings of the same length are stretched side by side and one set in vibration so as to produce tone the other will soon begin to vibrate also and the combined tone will be louder than if only one string produced it this phenomenon is the basis of what is known as resonance compare body of violin and various cavities of nose and mouth sounding board of piano etc ten quality depends upon the shape or form of the vibrations which give rise to the tone a series of simple vibrations will cause a simple or colorless tone while complex vibrations giving rise to overtones of various kinds and in a variety of proportions cause more individualistic peculiarities of quality quality is affected also by the shape of the vibrations body compare last part of section 9 above 11 practically every musical tone really consists of a combination of several tones sounding simultaneously the combined effect upon the air giving the impression of a single tone the most important tone of the series is the fundamental which dominates the combination and gives the pitch but this fundamental is practically always combined with a greater or less number of faint and elusive attending tones called overtones or harmonics the first of these overtones is the octave above the fundamental the second is the fifth above this octave the third two octaves above the fundamental and so on through the series as shown in the figure below the presence of these overtones is accounted for by the fact that the string or other vibrating body does not merely vibrate in its entirety but has in addition to the principal oscillation a number of sectional movements also thus it is easily proved that a string vibrates in halves, thirds etc in addition to the principal vibration of the entire string and it is the vibration of these halves, thirds etc which gives rise to the harmonics or upper partials as they are often called the figure shows great C in its first eight overtones a similar series might be worked out from any other fundamental it will be recalled that in the section 10 dealing with quality the statement was made that quality depends upon the shape of the vibrations it should now be noted that it is the form of the vibrations that determines the nature and proportion of the overtones and hence the quality thus e.g. a tone that has too large a proportion of the fourth upper partial i.e. the third of the chord will be reedy and somewhat unpleasant this is the case with many voices that are referred to as nasal too great a proportion of overtones is what causes certain pianos to sound tin panny the tone produced by a good tuning fork is almost entirely free from overtones it is therefore no distinctive quality and is said to be a simple tone the characteristic tone of the oboe on the other hand has many overtones and is therefore highly individualistic this enables us to recognize the tone of the instrument even though we cannot see the player such a tone is said to be complex 12 the mathematical ratio referred to on page 134 if strictly carried out in tuning a keyboard instrument would cause the half steps to vary slightly in size and playing in certain keys especially those having a number of sharps or flats in the signature would therefore sound out of tune there would be many other disadvantages in such a system notably the inability to modulate freely to other keys and since modulation is one of the predominant and most striking characteristics of modern music this would constitute a serious barrier to advances in composition to obviate these disadvantages a system of equal temperament was invented and has been in universal use Bach 1685 to 1750 who was the first prominent composer to use it extensively equal temperament means simply dividing the octave into 12 equal parts thus causing all scales as played on keyboard instruments at least to sound exactly alike to show the practicability of equal temperament Bach wrote a series of 48 preludes and fugues two in each major and two in each minor key he called the collection the well tempered clavichord 13 various standards of pitch have existed at different times in the last two centuries and even now there is no absolute uniformity although conditions are much better than they were even 25 years ago scientists use what is known as the scientific standard sometimes called the philosophic standard Videlisit 256 double vibrations for middle C this pitch is not in actual use for musical purposes but is retained for theoretical purposes because of its convenience of computation being a power of two in 1885 a conference of musicians at Vienna ratified the pitch giving middle C 261 vibrations this having been adopted by the French as their official pitch some 26 years before in 1891 a convention of piano manufacturers at Philadelphia adopted this same pitch for the United States and it has been in practically universal use ever since this pitch giving middle C 261 vibrations is known as international pitch concert pitch is slightly higher than international the difference between the two varying somewhat but being almost always less than one half step this higher pitch is still often used by bands and sometimes by orchestras to give greater brilliancy to the wind instruments references Lavignac music and musicians pages 1 through 66 Broad house the students Hemholz Hemholz sensations of tone Hamilton sound in its relation to music note for a simple and illuminating treatment of the subject from the standpoint of the music student the books by Lavignac and Hamilton are especially recommended end of appendix C