A. Definition
Music is an art form that involves organized sounds and silence. It is expressed in terms of pitch (which includes melody and harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo and meter), and the quality of sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, and texture).
B. History
The history of music predates the written word and is tied to the development of each unique human culture. Although the earliest records of musical expression are to be found in the Sama Veda of India and in 4,000 year old cuneiform from Ur, most of our written records and studies deal with the history of music in Western civilization. This includes:
- Medieval Musical period (±1000- ±1500)
In this period, the entertain music and romantic music has born. Music is not just one voice but begins enlarge to be some voices, such as motet, kanon, madrigal, etc. The famous figures in this period are: Guido Arrezo and Pierluigi da Palestrina. - Renaissance period (±1500- ±1600)
Renaissance means reborn. This period is a period where the old cultures are rebuilds and influences people to seek his own music style as free as they want. The famous figures in this period are: Andrea Gabrieli, Giovani Gabrieli, Frescobaldi (instrumental composer), Monteverdi, Lully (opera music composer) and Dr. Martin Luther (music gospel composer). - Baroque period (± 1600- ±1750)
In this period, the music has characteristic very lively and uses a lot of ornament and improvisation. Tabulature also used in this era to notate music for the lute, a stringed, fretted instrument. - Classical period (± 1750- ±1800)
Classical music period is transition period from baroque period to romantic period. This period indicated by: The composers use the dynamic sign crescendo and decrescendo, less ornament and use tempo changes retardant and accelerando. Famous composers in this period are: Franz Joseph Hayden, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. - Romantic period (±1800- ±1862)
The famous composers in this period are: Franz Peter Schubert, Johannes Brahms, and Felix Mendelssohn. - 20th century era music
Music in this era usually influenced by modern technology and expands of human’s social and culture such as modern music instruments, computer, radio, television, etc.
In this era, art music notation often becomes more explicit, and uses a range of markings and annotations to indicate to performers how they should play or sing the piece.
In popular music and jazz, music notation almost always indicates only the basic framework of melody, harmony, or performance approach; musicians and singers are expected to know the performance conventions and style associated with specific genres and pieces.
C. Music Genres
In the world many music genres are recognized such as:
- Classical music, popular term for the Western tradition of art music that began in Europe in the Middle Ages and continue today.
- Blues, type of music developed during the late 19th century by African-American performers.
- Country music, major genre of American popular music, primarily produced by white Southerners beginning in early 1920s.
- Folk music, the music with which the people of a nation or an ethnic group most especially identify themselves.
- Heavy metal, a style of rock characterized by aggressive guitar solos.
- Hip-hop, popular music that originated in New York in the early 1980s.
- Jazz, type of music first developed by African American around the 1st decade of 20th century that has an identifiable history and distinct stylistic evolution.
- Popular music, music produced for and sold to a broad audience.
- Reggae, genre of contemporary Caribbean music developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.
R - ock music, group of related music styles that have dominated popular music in the West since about 1955.
- Punk, movement of disaffected youth of the late 1970s, manifesting itself in fashions and music designed to shock or intimidate.
- Rap music, genre of Rhythm-and-Blues (R&B) that consist of rhythmic vocals declaimed over musical accompaniment.
- Electronic music, music that requires the use of electronic devices to produce or manipulate sound during its competition and performance.
- Instrumental music, also become increasingly prominent during the 17th century, often in the form of a continuous contrapuntal work with no clear cut divisions into sections or movements
- Opera music, also feature instrumental interludes and dance scenes even extended ballets that interrupt.
- Rhythm-and-Blues music or R&B, variety of different, but related, types of popular music produced and supported primarily by black Americans beginning in the early 1940s)
- Ska, developed partly as a Jamaican reinterpretation of American R&B music.
Disco music, international style of dance music of the1970s with heavily emphasized beat, derived from punk.
(Source: http://www.wikipedia.com, "SPORTIF" student worksheet grade IX)
