8D: Listening to Music with Understanding

 To discuss matters relating to any of the musical features of a pieace played

by the examiner
 The emphasis will be on the candidate providing relevant information in a
short discussion on the selected topics, rather than on responses to direct
questions
 Candidates should be prepared to respond to open-ended invitations, such as
“please comment on any particular feature you found interesting”

Features such as:

1. Dynamics and articulation
a. Dynamics
i. Limited dynamics
ii. Loud/Soft
b. Articulation
i. Crisp and light with staccato
ii. Legartho, long and connected

2. Tempo and metre

a. Speed
i. Example: Three beats per bar
b. Tempo
i. Fast: allegro
ii. Slow
c. Pulse:
i. Steady pulse
ii. Elastic pulse
3. Tonality and harmony
a. Tonality
i. Major or minor
ii. Are there any modulations?
b. Harmony
i. Diatonic
1. Harmony is simple and traditional chord
4. Texture
a. Texture refers to how many layers of sound are heard at once, what
kind of layers they are and how they are related to each other
b. Some basic musical textures:
i. Build on broke arpeggio or broken chord figuration
ii. Homophonic
1. A melody with accompaniment
2. Melody accompanied by chords
3. Accompaniments in homophonic music vary widely
in character and importance from subduced
background chords to surging sounds that almost
hide the melody and even to simple alberti bass
iii. Chordal
1. Broadly harmonic
iv. Polyphonic/imitative/contrapuntal
1. Two or more melodic lines are played at the same
time
5. Phrase structure and form
a. Structure refers to the way in which musical ideas are organized,
connected and interrelated
i. How many main sections are there in this piece?
1. Applies mostly to Baroque
ii. What can you say about the length in this piece?
iii. Describe any phrase structure in this piece
iv. Was there any repetition of phrases? Where did it occur?
v. Which section of this piece was different from the rest of the
music? What was the purpose of the section?
6. Character and mood

7. Style and period

a. Baroque
i. Style and period
1. Baroque piece
2. Composers:
a. Bach, Vivaldi
ii. Tempo and metre
1. Energetic lively rhythms, often with an 18th century
dance character
2. With a steady pulse and has a fast tempo, most likely
allegro
iii. Dynamics and articulation
1. Crisp, light articulation and limited pitch range,
reflecting original use of harpsichord
2. Limited dynamic shaping and only rare use of
crescendo and diminuendo
iv. Tonality and harmony
1. Harmony
a. Strong, spirited melodic ideas in both lower
and upper parts, sometimes with parts
copying each other
b. Or simple traditional chords
v. Texture
1. Clear, polyphonic textures with imitation between
parts
vi. Phrase character and mood
1. Melodic decoration and ornamentation, especially at
the ends of phrases
vii. Phase structure and form
1. Sections often falling into two main halves, giving
an AB 9 or binary construction
2. Clear cut cadences occurring only at the ends of
main sections, owing to independence or parts
b. Classical
i. Style and period
1. Classical
2. Composer:
a. Beethoven, Mozart

ii. Tempo and metre

1. Fast, very steady pulse

iii. Dynamics and articulation

1. Light and crisp articulation
2. Dynamic shaping, with use of crescendo and
diminuendo

iv. Tonality and harmony

1. Simple traditional accompaniment
2. Accompaniments that outline the harmony, either
with chords or broken-chord patterns
3. Melody with simple scalic/chromatic passages
4. Graceful and elegant melodic ideas, often involving
repetition, mostly using notes from the key-chord or
scale

v. Texture
1. Homophonic
2. Frequent use of melody-dominated texture, usually
with the tune on top

vi. Phrase character and mood

vii. Phase structure and form

1. Phase structure usually involving repetition of ideas,
often with variants of the same basic material, as
well as use of contrasting ideas
2. Regular, clear-cut and generally predictable phrase
lengths that are clearly punctuated with cadences
a. E.g. 2+2+4 bars, or 4+4+8 bars
3. Straightforward tonic-dominant-oriented functional
harmony, with harmonic movement (rate of chord
range) tending to speed up towards cadence points
4. Phrases are balanced and symmetrical
c. Romantic (rich and expressive and USE A LOT OF PEDAL)
i. Style and period
1. Romantic
2. Composers:
a. Brahms, Chopin, Grieg

ii. Tempo and metre

1. Flexibility of tempo
2. Use of rubato
3. 3 beats per bar

iii. Dynamics and articulation

1. Thicker sonorities, with significant use of the
sustaining pedal in piano music, and greater
emphasis on a wide range of dynamic range
2. Broad and legato

iv. Tonality and harmony

1. Rich harmonies and expressive use of chromatic
notes
2. Diminished chords in the major key

v. Texture
1. Music on left hand and accompaniment on right hand
(broad key board range, thick with chords)
a. Accompaniment can be chordal, repetitive in
nature and has a lot of arpeggio ideas
2. Greater range of textural possibilities and potential
for fundamental variation in texture during a piece
a. Equally, texture remaining the same
throughout the piece but possibly more
dense with thicker chords, constant bass
notes

vi. Phrase character and mood

vii. Phase structure and form

1. Lyrical and song-like phrases and less obvious
candential punctuation
2. Phrases tending to be less regular and predictable in
length; structures often involving melodically
unrelated sections, such as separate introduction or
coda
d. 20th Century
i. Style and period
1. 20th century piece
2. Composers:
a. Gershwin, Stravinsky

ii. Tempo and metre

1. Laid back, lazy rhythm
2. With syncopation/off beats
3. Vigorous rhythms with abrupt changes between
ideas and use of spikey accents

iii. Dynamics and articulation

1. Wide dynamic possibilities, sometimes featuring
sudden changes and exploration of the extremes of
note range and dynamic level
2. Staccato and legato alternate

iv. Tonality and harmony

1. Harmony
a. Jazz harmony, a little dissonant
2. Harmony likely to be more adventurous and
dissonant (clashing), with a variety of chord types
including note clusters and unrelated chords used for
their coloristic impact or effect
3. Tonal centers that may be less obvious, or a
complete lack of tonal center
4. Static harmony
v. Texture
1. Simple and homophonic
2. Accompaniment has melodic interest
3. Texture likely to be varied, sometimes with dramatic
contrasts; equally, a particular texture sometimes a
main focus (e.g. in minimalistic music)
4. 2 part texture
vi. Phrase character and mood
1. Pieces showing the influence of jazz or blues, such
as syncopation, swing, rhythm or ‘walking’ bass
lines
2. Pieces in national styles often showing influence of
folk music
vii. Phase structure and form
1. Melodic phrasing tending to be freer and less clearly
defined with asymmetric phrase lengths possible
Response:
“ The melody was main diatonic, with some use of chromatic notes in the central
section. There was a rising sequence in the central section and the climax of the melody came
in the final phrase. The phrase was in triple time and there was a rhythmic ostinato (a
continually repeated musical phrase) in the bass part in the central section.
The most complicated rhythmic areas were the left-hand triplets against right-hand quavers.
Much of the melodic demonstrated rubato technique. The harmonies were mainly diatonic,
but there were some instances of chromatic chords during the course of the musical phrases.
The texture was chordal, taking the form of a melody with accompaniment and much of the
keyboard was used, owing to left-hand octaves and risinf octaves in the right-hand.
Dynamic variety was evident throughout and a cantabile tone was evident.
This music was romantic, and probably belongs to the late 19 th century, possibly by
Liszt/Grieg/Brahms/Chopin”