Questions tagged [musicology]

The scholarly study of music, particularly different musical cultures and traditions

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What has scholarly research found about variations in live performances of the same songs by the same artists?

I am interested in the degree with which performances of the same songs by the same artists differ. In this regard, I wonder what scholarly research has found about such variations, and I especially ...
-1 votes
3 answers
223 views

Different meanings of "third"?

Third can refer to: an interval (major or minor third) the pitch class that is one third away from the tonic the third scale degree In case of the meaning 2., the pitch class that is one third away ...
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1 answer
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Creative Ideas for Teaching Musical Ornaments to Kids [closed]

I am a music teacher planning to introduce the concept of musical ornaments to a group of young children. I want to make this educational experience engaging and fun for them, and I'm seeking creative ...
6 votes
5 answers
327 views

Is a minor key based on the natural minor scale or all 3 minor scales?

I am finding very different answers from various sources online regarding this topic. Some say that the minor key is based on the natural minor scale, but harmonic and melodic minor can be used too. ...
1 vote
4 answers
574 views

Minor third interval in minor scales: From tonic to?

Major scales have a major third interval from the tonic of the scale to the 3rd scale degree. I would expect the same to be true in minor with a minor third interval but, for example, in the ...
13 votes
3 answers
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Authorship of Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565

An earlier question mentions the disputed authorship of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565. Several musicologists allege that the work has stylistic elements that are problematic for the ...
1 vote
3 answers
253 views

Celtic music uses todays acoustic guitar?

Can I use the traditional acoustic guitar to compose Celtic songs? Were they actually used in Celtic music history? If not, what's the name of the acoustic guitars they actually used?
1 vote
1 answer
209 views

Music Score annotations

What should music score annotations look like? Should I show every chord or only the important ones? What other music techniques do I annotate? I am annotating it as part of a musical analysis. The ...
10 votes
2 answers
3k views

When did the appearance of the quarter rest in music change from its original appearance?

WHEN did the appearance of the quarter rest in music change from its original appearance — as a backward looking number 7 () to its current look ()? I have been searching the Internet with no luck. I ...
23 votes
3 answers
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What are the greek modes, and how do they differ from modern modes?

This Question might be TwoFold, based on an uncertainty I have I understand the construction of traditional Ionian-Locrian modes, and I have read that various notes in the modes have traditionally ...
40 votes
5 answers
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Why is note B marked with H in Scandinavia and Germany?

At least in Scandinavia and Germany two notes are marked differently than in most other countries: B -> H B♭ -> B I have heard that this is due to mistake in interpreting messy sheet notes, as ♭ is ...
15 votes
8 answers
3k views

What is the preferred musicology term for "classical music"?

What is the preferred, more precise English-language musicology term for the genre of music which North Americans typically call “classical music”? I mean the broader meaning of "classical", ...
11 votes
7 answers
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Why is a minor chord or key considered to be "lesser?"

I am trying to understand why the terms major and minor, meaning greater and lesser, are applied to chords and keys. Why is a minor chord considered to be lesser and a major chord greater? I ...
4 votes
4 answers
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Is it possible to transpose samples (in cents) from minor to major?

I'd like to transpose a sample (in cents) from G Minor to C Major. How do I do that, or is it even possible?
9 votes
2 answers
360 views

End Accents in Other Cultures

Disclaimer: It's difficult mixing terminology between Western and non-Western musics, but I'll try to make my question as clear as possible. Western Classical music most often has an accent at the ...
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2 answers
163 views

What is the correct term for the "common" pentatonic scale?

So a "pentatonic" scale is just any scale with 5 scale degrees (pitches). Yet, in most music we always just seem to assume that it's the scale with the following number of semitones (half ...
3 votes
1 answer
269 views

Does playing vocals, instruments and bass in different speakers at the same time give a better experience to the listener?

Does playing vocals, instruments and bass in different speakers at the same time give a better experience to the listener or does playing it whole as a song in multiple speakers?? I recently got ...
3 votes
3 answers
112 views

Music Theory Terminology

What is the term for when one instrument (let's say trumpet 1) plays a high note, while another (trumpet 2) plays a note an octave or 5 semitones lower? I want to be specific and get this correct. ...
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1 answer
191 views

How to optimally rank performances in a music competition? [closed]

I have often thought about this but I could never reach a concrete answer which satisfied my ever inquisitive brain cells. I understand that it is a tricky question and may vary from situation to ...
6 votes
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Is there a list of Just Intonation chords as defined by Fétis, using ratios?

One way of ‘spelling’ chords in just intonation is using ratios - such as 10:12:14:17 (multiplications of the frequency of an implied ‘missing fundamental’). Fétis is quoted in Wikipedia (and here by ...
2 votes
1 answer
120 views

Is this a Passacaglia?

This piece is in triple-meter and has a clear cadential-formula. Is it fair to call it a passacaglia despite no bass-ostinato? Or is it a Chaconne? I am not clear on the difference except one is from ...
0 votes
5 answers
779 views

Why is Eastern Music a Mode of Western Music? [closed]

Western music (to me at least) is best captured in the major scale. And Phrygian, which is the 3rd mode of the major scale can be used to get a more Eastern sound (for example Jefferson Airplane/White ...
17 votes
4 answers
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Why did Beethoven include "in the Lydian Mode" in the title of String Quartet, Op.132 - 3?

Beethoven himself gave a title to String Quartet No.15 in A minor, Op.132 - 3: A Convalescent's Holy Song of Thanksgiving to the Divinity, in the Lydian Mode From the language and context, and ...
5 votes
3 answers
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Should I lift my hand from the frets?

I'm new, working on learning hey there delilah, I was wondering if it's bad to slide my finger down and up the string since it's fast or if I should pick it up? Possibly a silly question, but I'm new ...
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1 answer
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In music how much Research and Theories are Independent from Trends and Traditions? [closed]

What i belief that in music research and theories can't be certain unlike Mathematics, Science or somewhat Engineering discipline. I think that first any composition with/without song came first ...
31 votes
5 answers
8k views

How can a non-musician recognize anacrusis?

I need help understanding anacrusis (pickup notes). I'm no musician - I'm more of an anthropologist. I was reading some articles on ethnomusicology, and one of them makes reference to anacrusis in ...
4 votes
5 answers
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Wood vs Stone first drum

What was the first drum instrument? Was it wood or stone? Maybe there is an answer out there, but all I found were mere discussions.
17 votes
3 answers
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Baroque music composed in the 21st century

Which characteristically Baroque elements of music composition still have currency in the 21st century? Are there any 21st-century composers or songwriters who still compose primarily or largely in ...
5 votes
2 answers
298 views

Chants in Renaissance vocal music

In notice that in some vocal works composed during the Renaissance, especially masses, long chunks of music (sometimes the whole piece) are preceded by a monophonic, often short chant which is ...
1 vote
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Identify song name and artist [closed]

I think it was in 70s or 80s a young woman from U.S. went to work for awhile on an island, maybe Jamaica. When she was ready to return I believe there was a problem taking her earnings with her so she ...
6 votes
1 answer
435 views

What are these overlapping notes with different rhythms called in Music Theory?

On piano, when playing a long note followed by an overlapping shorter note or vice versa, what is this called? I know this is an extremely common thing in piano music, but I don't know what it's ...
3 votes
2 answers
159 views

What are the trends that led to fizzling of ars antiqua and rising of ars nova?

What is the trends that led to the fizzling of ars antique and to the rising of ars nova?
5 votes
1 answer
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what is a beat histogram and how is it different from spectrograms?

I am learning about audio signals for analytical purposes. I came across beat histograms and spectrograms. I understand that a spectrogram is all about frequency and time but I am confused about beat ...
1 vote
3 answers
157 views

Why are western double-reed instruments smoother than double-reed instruments outside Europe?

When one thinks of the timbre of double reed instruments, we tend to divide them as two groups: Oboe, English horn, bassoon. (Western instruments.) The sound is very smooth and pure. Other double-...
3 votes
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Questions about Renaissance music notation

I see that in Renaissance music printings, the noteheads are diamond and square shaped as opposed to circular, and the stem for each note comes up or down from the middle instead of from one side (I'...
4 votes
2 answers
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Find the origin of folk

The origins of a specific piece of music can be difficult to find. Especially when there are multiple variations in multiple languages. Folk music is often old and translated many times. Sometimes ...
1 vote
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Chord or tabs sheet for Baden's time [closed]

Can anyone please tell me the chords or tabs for baden's song to play on Acoustic guitar ? I wanna play it so badly pls help me . song : Baden's time (https://open.spotify.com/track/...
11 votes
1 answer
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Carnatic Vs Western 12 Note system

I was trying to learn the chromatic scale and associate it with carnatic equivalents (I know equal temperment is not the way with indian music, but it interest me to relate and learn it to certain ...
7 votes
3 answers
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What defines "contemporary art music"?

As an introduction, I'm not talking about contemporary pop music. I'm doing a brief write-up on contemporary art music written in the past 25 years. The very vague definition of contemporary art ...
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3 answers
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Is there a music term for a musician's overall approach to a melody

The notes that a musician stresses and emphasises in a melody, the contouring they use, their phrasing of the melody -- essentially, the way they articulate the melody: I call that "voicing"....
7 votes
2 answers
356 views

Confusion about Zarlino and his assertions about the diatessaron (perfect fourth)

In Part Three of Gioseffo Zarlino's "Le Istitutioni Harmoniche", "The Art of Counterpoint", Zarlino argues that the diatessaron (or perfect fourth) is not a dissonance, as the ...
7 votes
3 answers
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Latin voice denotations in Renaissance vocal music

I see that in the original printings of renaissance vocal music, the voices are labeled with Latin words like cantus, triplex, medius, etc... Assuming that these words denote the ranges of their ...
5 votes
3 answers
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Do the instruments used in a piece of music play a role in determining its genre?

I am researching about music genres but I am confused if instruments played in music help in determining its genre? What could be the differentiating features in genre recognition of music?
9 votes
6 answers
442 views

Why is it easier to remember a melody as opposed to a simple interval? [duplicate]

There's already a question similar to this here, but most of the answers raise questions like, "If you can throw an object a certain distance but not tell precisely how far you threw it, how do ...
15 votes
2 answers
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E flat or E natural in score of Beethoven String Quartet Op 131?

I have heard recordings of Beethoven's C sharp minor string quartet Op. 131 where, in bar 53 the third crotchet of the first violin part is played as E flat, and at least one recording where it is ...
2 votes
1 answer
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Relevant literature on Mathematical and neurological theories for functional harmony?

I’m interested in finding out what are the current proposed theories surrounding the expectation + release behaviour of functional harmony. From what I reckon, functional harmony seems to be a human ...
2 votes
2 answers
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What is it that makes music from different cultures/regions sound different?

I have always wondered what it is that makes music from different cultures/regions sound different from each other? For example, if we compare Western music, Indian music, Chinese music they all sound ...
1 vote
3 answers
150 views

How did Victorian Christmas carolers sing Christmas carols?

Do we have any idea of how Victorian Christmas carolers actually sang Christmas carols? What chords did they use, did they use ornaments etc, were there special ways that they ended the Christmas ...
3 votes
2 answers
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Did Nicolas Gombert compose a clean change of note or slides as endings in his motets?

A member of the Facebook group Barbershop Harmony said that in live performances of Gombert motets, the Bass will randomly drop an octave on the last chord, within one syllable, whilst the other ...
1 vote
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Spatial perception of pitch and playing an instrument: Any studies about it?

A keyboardist plays left to right (lower to higher notes). A violinist, the higher the notes, the fingers go nearer the body. A Double-bassist, the higher the notes, the fingers go towards the floor. ...