Activities

Hi everyone

Here you will find additional information about the activities.

Remember: the instructions and the example activities, made in classes, will be posted on this section every Friday and you will have 1 week to publish and comment.

Music Genres

Music Genres

Music can be divided into numerous categories based on elements, temperament, tone, etc. These categories are known as genres. A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions.

Jazz – it is a type of music that has its roots in Western African culture.
Pop – it is basically popular music that is mostly heard on the radio and on TV. It is called Pop music.
Rock – It has evolved from rock and roll and pop music.
Retro – It has style and elements from the past. Certain cities have clubs that play retro music on certain days of the week since a lot of people enjoy dancing to the tunes.
Heavy metal – It is a type of rock music, but the lyrics and the performances of artists have strong sounds.  Some well-known bands are Metallica and Megadeth.
Hip- Hop – It has its roots in the Afro- American culture. It has a very young beat to it. It is mainly based on rap culture and break dance.
Romantic – Romantic music always has a very good melody, the music is very light and makes you feel great.
Ambient – It is very soothing and related mostly to the atmosphere and environment. It is very light and makes you calm.

Elements of Music

Music is important in our everyday lives and it’s a common discussion topic in English.

The “Elements of Music” offer us specific terms and concepts that will help us better understand and describe any kind/style of music from Classical to Rock. The elements of music are rhythm, dynamics, melody, harmony, tone color or timbre and silence.

Rhythm is the element of TIME in music. The effect created by combining a variety of notes with different durations. Consider syncopation, cross rhythms, polyrhythm’s, duplets and triplets.

There are several important aspects of rhythm:

• DURATION: how long a sound (or silence) lasts.

• TEMPO: the speed of the BEAT, which can be described by the number of beats/second (or in Classical music by standard Italian terms).

Dynamics: The relative loudness or quietness of music fall under the general element of dynamics. In Classical music the terms used to describe dynamic levels are often in Italian: pianissimo [pp] = (very quiet) piano [p] = (quiet) mezzo-piano [mp] = (moderately quiet) mezzo-forte [mf ] = (moderately loud) forte [f ] = (loud) fortissimo [ff ] = (very loud).

Melody is the element that focuses on the HORIZONTAL presentation of Pitch.

Pitch: the highness or lowness of a musical sound.

Melody: The effect created by combining a variety of notes.

Harmony is the VERTICALIZATION of pitch. Most often harmony is thought of as the art of combining pitches into chords (several notes played simultaneously as a "block"). These chords are then arranged into sentence-like patterns called progressions.

Tone color or Timbre: The tone quality of the music, the different sounds made by the instruments used or by human voices.

Silence:  an extremely important element, which allows for a breath, a rest, or a dramatic pause.

Related Terms:

Rhythm: (beat, meter, tempo, syncopation, polyrhythm)


Dynamics: (crescendo, decrescendo; forte, piano, etc.)


Melody: (pitch, range, theme)


Harmony: (chord, progression, key, tonality, consonance, dissonance)


Tone color: (register, range).

Families of Musical Instruments

When we talk about music it is important to know the classification of the instruments in order to improve our vocabulary and to be able to communicate effectively. 

Families of Musical Instrument

A musical instrument is any device that produces a musical sound. The principal types of such instruments, classified by the method of producing sound, are percussion, stringed and wind.

Musical instruments are grouped into families based on how they make sounds. In an orchestra, musicians sit together in these family groups.

Brass instruments

Brass instruments are made of brass or some other metal and make sound when air is blown inside. The musician's lips must buzz, as though making a "raspberry" noise against the mouthpiece. Air then vibrates inside the instrument, which produces a sound. Brass instruments include trumpet, trombone, tuba, French horn, cornet, and bugle.

Percussion

Most percussion instruments make sounds when they are hit, such as a drum or a tambourine. Others are shaken, such as maracas, and still others may be rubbed, scratched, or whatever else will make the instrument vibrate and thus produce a sound.

Percussion instruments include drums, cymbals, triangle, chimes, tam-tam, glockenspiel, timpani, bells, and xylophone.

String instruments

String instruments produce sound from vibrating strings when the performer plays or sounds the strings. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the strings with their fingers and others by hitting the strings with a light wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow. In some keyboard instruments, the musician presses a key that plucks the string. Stringed instruments include the violin, viola, cello, bass, harp, and dulcimer.

Woodwind

Woodwind instruments produce sound when air (wind) is blown inside. Air might be blown across an edge, as with a flute; between a reed and a surface, as with a clarinet; or between two reeds, as with a bassoon. The sound happens when the air vibrates inside. Woodwind instruments include flute, piccolo, clarinet, recorder, bassoon, and oboe.

Music in poetry

Rhythm and meter in poetry

Rhythm and meter: literary terms explained

Poetic devices