Chapter 2 - Aural Analysis

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Chapter 2 introduces the basic terminology associated with the study of world music. While many of these music terms are familiar in other disciplines, e.g., melody or harmony, others are more particular to the discipline of ethnomusicology, e.g., heterophony or rhythmic density. The chapter covers the four main elements of musical sound: timbre, pitch, rhythm, and dynamics, as well as other important features, such as phonic structure and form.

Key Terms

Accent
Aerophone
Beat
Chordophone
Crescendo
Decrescendo
Definite pitch
Drone
Dynamics
Electrophone
Fiddle
Form
Free rhythm
Fret
Heterophony
Homophony
Idiophone
Indefinite pitch
Independent polyphony
Interval
Lamellophone
Lute
Medium
Melisma
Melodic contour
Melody
Membranophone
Meter
Monophony
Organology
Ornamentation
Pentatonic scale
Phonic structure
Pitch
Polyphony
Range
Reeds
Rhythm
Rhythmic density
Ritard
Sachs-Hornbostel System
Syllabic
Syncopation
Tempo
Text Setting
Timbre
Trumpet
Tuning system
Zither

Flashcards

Practice Quiz

On Your Own Time

Links and Further Resources

Book:: Kartomi, Margaret. On Concepts and Classifications of Musical Instruments. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1990.; http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo3774458.html
Book:: Nettl, Bruno. Heartland Excursions: Ethnomusicological Reflections on Schools of Music. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1995.; http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/67rdq6mq9780252064685.html
Book:: Sethares, William A. Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale. London: Springer-Verlag, 2005.; http://www.springer.com/engineering/book/978-1-85233-797-1
Website:: The American Musical Instrument Society; http://www.amis.org/
Website:: Musipedia—The Open Music Encyclopedia; http://www.musipedia.org/
Website:: San Francisco Symphony Kids Site (Fundamentals of Music); http://www.sfskids.org/templates/home.asp?pageid=1