<< Chapter < Page Chapter >> Page >

Activities

    Materials and preparation

  • You will need an audiotape or CD player.
  • Choose some music with independent harmonies for your students to listen to. (There are some suggestions below .) If you have the class time for it, and you have not already covered monody , drones , chordal harmonies , and parallel harmonies , you may want to include some examples of these for contrast. Suggested recordings for these other textures can be found in those lessons.)
  • Choose a song with independent harmonies for them to learn. Since this is fairly challenging, keep it simple unless you have older, musically trained students. If your students are up to the challenge, this type of harmony is not difficult to find; most SATB choral arrangements feature independent harmonies. If you would like a very simple example for young or musically inexperienced students, or if you are not experienced enough to tackle full-fledged harmonies, you may use "Train is a-Comin'", below. In this version, much of the song is in unison, with simple (but independent) harmonies in only a few places in the music. If you need to, listen to the melody , higher harmony , and lower harmony , and all the parts together .
  • If you would like, arrange for an accompanist. An accompanist is not necessary for this style of singing (not even for a simple piece like "Train is a-Comin'"), but it may make things much easier or more comfortable for the singers.
  • Have enough copies of the words and music for the students.

Train is a-comin'

The notes in black are the melody. Red notes are an extensive high harmony; give this to a few students who are ready for a challenge. Blue notes are a very small low harmony part, which can be ignored if you like; if you have a few more students who can sing a few notes that are not in the melody, give this part to them. Everyone should sing the melody whenever they do not have a harmony part.

    Procedure

  • Using the introduction above as a guide, talk with the class about independent harmonies. Introduce any definitions you want them to learn, and contrast this musical texture with any other textures you have studied or will study, including monody , drones , parallel harmonies , chordal harmonies , and counterpoint .
  • Play some of your examples of music with independent harmonies or accompaniment. Ask the students to hum along with the melody the first time. Play the example again. Can they hum along with the bass line or another harmony or accompaniment part the second time? How different are the parts?
  • If you have them, play some of your examples of monody, drones, parallel harmony, chordal accompaniment, and counterpoint, for contrast. If you have also studied these other textures, identify them as they are listening to them.
  • If you have enough examples, play some more, asking the students to identify the pieces with independent harmonies. Can they identify the other textures as well?
  • Divide the students into higher and lower voices and assign appropriate parts for the song they will sing.
  • Teach each group its part (this may be done over the course of several sessions) and have them practice it alone before attempting to combine the groups.

The suggestions for recordings to look for are pretty vague because there is so much music in this category. It is very easy to find, so you should not spend a lot of time looking for specific recordings. Just make sure there is one clear and obvious melody in your selections, but that the accompaniment to it is interesting and independent of the melody. The choral selections will be more likely to be homorhythmic , so that the words can be easily understood, whereas instrumental accompaniments will tend to be even more independent.

    Suggested listening list

  • Almost any chorus from a Gilbert and Sullivan opera.
  • Recordings of choirs singing traditional (nineteenth-century) hymns.
  • If you have trouble hearing hymn harmonies, try listening to the chorales of Bach's Christmas Oratorio (Weinachts Oratorium) . The chorales are not contrapuntal - the melody is clearly in the soprano part, and the different parts sing the same words at the same time - but it is unusually easy to hear that the parts are in fact quite different from each other.
  • Pop music with a solo singer, a strong bass line, and interesting instrumental accompaniment.
  • Most opera arias and many opera choruses.
  • This is also one of the most common textures in orchestral music, particularly in classical-era and Romantic-era symphonies (Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, etc.) But be aware that in symphonic music, texture can change often and quickly.

Questions & Answers

what is microbiology
Agebe Reply
What is a cell
Odelana Reply
what is cell
Mohammed
how does Neisseria cause meningitis
Nyibol Reply
what is microbiologist
Muhammad Reply
what is errata
Muhammad
is the branch of biology that deals with the study of microorganisms.
Ntefuni Reply
What is microbiology
Mercy Reply
studies of microbes
Louisiaste
when we takee the specimen which lumbar,spin,
Ziyad Reply
How bacteria create energy to survive?
Muhamad Reply
Bacteria doesn't produce energy they are dependent upon their substrate in case of lack of nutrients they are able to make spores which helps them to sustain in harsh environments
_Adnan
But not all bacteria make spores, l mean Eukaryotic cells have Mitochondria which acts as powerhouse for them, since bacteria don't have it, what is the substitution for it?
Muhamad
they make spores
Louisiaste
what is sporadic nd endemic, epidemic
Aminu Reply
the significance of food webs for disease transmission
Abreham
food webs brings about an infection as an individual depends on number of diseased foods or carriers dully.
Mark
explain assimilatory nitrate reduction
Esinniobiwa Reply
Assimilatory nitrate reduction is a process that occurs in some microorganisms, such as bacteria and archaea, in which nitrate (NO3-) is reduced to nitrite (NO2-), and then further reduced to ammonia (NH3).
Elkana
This process is called assimilatory nitrate reduction because the nitrogen that is produced is incorporated in the cells of microorganisms where it can be used in the synthesis of amino acids and other nitrogen products
Elkana
Examples of thermophilic organisms
Shu Reply
Give Examples of thermophilic organisms
Shu
advantages of normal Flora to the host
Micheal Reply
Prevent foreign microbes to the host
Abubakar
they provide healthier benefits to their hosts
ayesha
They are friends to host only when Host immune system is strong and become enemies when the host immune system is weakened . very bad relationship!
Mark
what is cell
faisal Reply
cell is the smallest unit of life
Fauziya
cell is the smallest unit of life
Akanni
ok
Innocent
cell is the structural and functional unit of life
Hasan
is the fundamental units of Life
Musa
what are emergency diseases
Micheal Reply
There are nothing like emergency disease but there are some common medical emergency which can occur simultaneously like Bleeding,heart attack,Breathing difficulties,severe pain heart stock.Hope you will get my point .Have a nice day ❣️
_Adnan
define infection ,prevention and control
Innocent
I think infection prevention and control is the avoidance of all things we do that gives out break of infections and promotion of health practices that promote life
Lubega
Heyy Lubega hussein where are u from?
_Adnan
en français
Adama
which site have a normal flora
ESTHER Reply
Many sites of the body have it Skin Nasal cavity Oral cavity Gastro intestinal tract
Safaa
skin
Asiina
skin,Oral,Nasal,GIt
Sadik
How can Commensal can Bacteria change into pathogen?
Sadik
How can Commensal Bacteria change into pathogen?
Sadik
all
Tesfaye
by fussion
Asiina
what are the advantages of normal Flora to the host
Micheal
what are the ways of control and prevention of nosocomial infection in the hospital
Micheal
Got questions? Join the online conversation and get instant answers!
Jobilize.com Reply

Get Jobilize Job Search Mobile App in your pocket Now!

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store Now




Source:  OpenStax, Music appreciation. OpenStax CNX. Mar 24, 2014 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11640/1.1
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.

Notification Switch

Would you like to follow the 'Music appreciation' conversation and receive update notifications?

Ask