Music Notation and Terminology Part 22

d :d :r t_1 :-.d :r m :m :f m :-.r :d r :d :t_1 d :-- :-- s :s :s s :-.f :m f :f :f f :-.m :r m :f.m :r.d m :-.f :s l.f:m :r d :-- :--

The advantages of the system are (1) the strong sense of key-feeling aroused and the ease with which modulations are felt; and (2) the fact that it is necessary to learn to sing in but one key, thus making sight-singing a much simpler matter, and transposition the easiest process imaginable. But these are advantages from the standpoint of the vocalist (producing but one tone at a time) only, and do not apply to instrumental music. The scheme will therefore probably be always restricted to vocal music and will hardly come into very extensive use even in this field, for the teacher of music is finding it perfectly possible to improve methods of presentation to such an extent that learning to sing from the staff becomes a very simple matter even to the young child. And even though this were not true, the tonic-sol-fa will always be hampered by the fact that since all letters are printed in a straight horizontal line the ear does not have the a.s.sistance of the eye in appreciating the rise and fall of melody, as is the case in staff notation.]

1. Pitches represented by lines and s.p.a.ces of a staff, the higher the line, the higher the pitch represented, signs called clefs at the beginning of each staff making clear the pitch names of the lines and s.p.a.ces.

2. Duration values shown by _shapes_ of notes.

3. Accents shown by position of notes on the staff with regard to bars, _i.e._, the strongest accent always falls just after the bar, and the beat relatively least accented is found just before the bar.

4. Extent and description of beat-groups shown by measure-signs.

5. Key shown by key signature placed at the beginning of each staff.

6. Rate of speed, dynamic changes, etc., shown by certain Italian words (_allegro_, _andante_, etc.), whose meaning is as universally understood as staff notation itself.

APPENDIX B

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

1. Broadly speaking, musical instruments may be divided into two cla.s.ses, viz.: (1) those that have a keyboard and are therefore capable of sounding several tones simultaneously; (2) those that (as a rule) sound only one tone at a time, as the violin and trumpet. The piano is of course the most familiar example of the first cla.s.s, and a brief description is therefore given.

The _piano_ was invented about two hundred years ago by Cristofori (1651-1731), an Italian. It was an enormous improvement over the types of keyboard instrument that were in use at that time (clavichord, harpsichord, spinet, virginal) and has resulted in an entirely different style of composition. See note on embellishments, p. 26.

2. The most characteristic things about the _piano_ as contrasted with its immediate predecessors are: (1) that on it the loudness and softness of the tone can be regulated by the force with which the keys are struck (hence the name _pianoforte_ meaning literally the _soft-loud_); (2) the fact that the piano is capable of sustaining tone to a much greater extent than its predecessors. In other words the tone continues sounding for some little time after the key is struck, while on the earlier instruments it stopped almost instantly after being sounded.

The essentials of the piano mechanism are:

1. Felt hammers controlled by keys, each hammer striking two or three strings (which are tuned in unison) and immediately rebounding from these strings, allowing them to vibrate as long as the key is held down. The mechanism that allows the hammers to rebound from the strings and fall into position for another blow is called the _escapement_.

2. A damper (made of softer felt) pressing against each string and preventing it from vibrating until it is wanted.

3. A keyboard action that controls both hammers and dampers, causing the damper to leave the string at the same instant that the hammer strikes it.

4. A pedal (damper pedal) controlling all of the dampers, so that at any moment all the strings may be released so as to be free to vibrate.

Other interesting details are:

1. The strings are stretched over a thin sheet of wood called the sound-board. This aids greatly in intensifying the tone.

2. The soft pedal (the one at the left) in an _upright piano_ causes the hammers to move up nearer the strings, and the shorter swing thus afforded causes a less violent blow and consequently a softer tone. In the _grand piano_ this same pedal shifts the mechanism to one side so that the hammers strike only one or two of the strings, this resulting in a softer tone of somewhat modified quality.

These details regarding the mechanism of the piano can easily be verified by removing the front of any ordinary upright piano and observing what takes place when the keys are struck or the pedals depressed.

3. There are two familiar types of _organ_ in use at the present time, (1) the reed organ, (2) the pipe-organ.

The _reed organ_ is very simple in construction, the tone being produced by the vibration of metal reeds (fixed in little cells), through which air is forced (or sucked) from the bellows, the latter being usually worked by the feet of the player. More power may be secured either by drawing additional stops, thus throwing on more sets of reeds, or by opening the knee swells which either throw on more reeds (sometimes octave couplers) or else open a _swell box_ in which some of the reeds are enclosed, the tone being louder when the box is open than when closed. More tone may also be secured by pumping harder.

4. The essential characteristic of the _pipe-organ_ is a number of sets or registers of pipes called _stops_, each set being capable (usually) of sounding the entire chromatic scale through a range of five or six octaves. Thus for example when the stop _melodia_ is drawn (by pulling out a stop-k.n.o.b or tilting a tablet), one set of pipes only, sounds when the keyboard is played on: but if the stop _flute_ is drawn with _melodia_, two pipes speak every time a key is depressed. Thus if an organ has forty _speaking stops_, all running through the entire keyboard, then each time one key is depressed forty pipes will speak, and if a chord of five tones is played, two hundred pipes will speak.

The object of having so many pipes is not merely to make possible a very powerful tone, but, rather, to give greater variety of tone-color.

The pipe-organ usually has a pedal keyboard on which the feet of the performer play a ba.s.s part, this part often sounding an octave (or more) lower than the notes indicate.

An _eight-foot stop_ on the organ produces tones of the same pitches as the piano when corresponding keys are struck: A _four-foot stop_ sounds tones an octave higher and a _two-foot stop_ tones two octaves higher. A _sixteen-foot stop_ sounds tones an octave lower than the piano, and a _thirty-two foot_ stop, tones two octaves lower, while some organs have also a _sixty-four foot_ stop which sounds three octaves lower. This gives the organ an exceedingly wide range, its compa.s.s being greater than that of any other single instrument, and comparable in both range of pitches and variety of color only with the modern orchestra.

Modern pipe-organs always have a number of _combination pedals_ or _pistons_ (usually both), by means of which the organist is enabled to throw on a number of stops with one movement. The selection and use of suitable stops, couplers, combinations, etc., is called _registration_.

5. The instruments mentioned at the beginning of this appendix as belonging to the second cla.s.s are more familiar in connection with ensemble playing, being commonly a.s.sociated with either band or orchestra.

6. A _band_ is a company of musicians all of whom play upon either wind or percussion instruments, the main body of tone being produced by the bra.s.s and wood-wind divisions.

Sousa's band is usually made up in somewhat the following manner: 4 flutes and piccolos, 12 B[flat] clarinets, 1 E[flat]

clarinet, 1 alto clarinet, 1 ba.s.s clarinet, 2 oboes, 2 ba.s.soons, 2 sarrusophones, 4 saxophones, 4 cornets, 2 trumpets, 1 soprano saxhorn (fluegelhorn), 4 French horns, 4 trombones, 2 contra-ba.s.s tubas, 4 tubas, 1 snare drum, 1 ba.s.s drum, 2 kettle drums, cymbals, triangle, bells, castanets, xylophone, etc.

7. An _orchestra_ is a company of musicians performing upon stringed instruments as well as upon wind and percussion. It is differentiated from the band by the fact that the main body of tone is produced by the strings.

There are _four cla.s.ses of instruments_ in the orchestra, viz., _strings_, _wood-wind_, _bra.s.s_ (_wind_) and _percussion_. In addition to these four cla.s.ses, there is the _harp_, which although a stringed instrument, does not belong in the same group as the other strings because the manner of producing the tone is altogether different.

8. In the first group (the _strings_) are found the first and second violins, viola, violoncello (usually spelled _cello_), and double-ba.s.s.

The first and second violins are identical in every way (but play different parts), while the other members of the family merely represent larger examples of the same type of instrument.

9. In the second group (the _wood-wind_) are found the flute, piccolo, oboe, ba.s.soon, English horn, double-ba.s.soon, clarinet, and ba.s.s clarinet. The English horn, double-ba.s.soon, ba.s.s clarinet, and piccolo are not called for in the older compositions, hence are not always present in the orchestra.

10. In the third group (the _bra.s.s choir_) are found the French horn, (usually referred to as _the horn_), trumpet (sometimes replaced by the cornet) trombone, and tuba.

11. The fourth group (_percussion_) consists of kettle drums, ba.s.s drum, cymbals, snare drum, triangle, bells, etc.

12. In an orchestra of about 100 players the proportion of instruments is as about as follows, although it varies somewhat according to the taste of the conductor, the style of composition to be performed, etc.:

18 first violins, 16 second violins, 14 violas, 12 cellos, 10 ba.s.ses, 1 harp, 3 flutes, 1 piccolo, 3 oboes, 1 English horn, 3 clarinets, 1 ba.s.s clarinet, 3 ba.s.soons, 1 contra (or double) ba.s.soon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, 3 kettle drums, 1 ba.s.s drum, 1 snare drum, 1 each of triangle, cymbals, bells, and other instruments of percussion, several of which are often manipulated by one performer.

13. The cuts and brief descriptions here added will give at least a rudimentary idea of the appearance and possibilities of the instruments most commonly used in bands and orchestras. For fuller descriptions and particulars regarding range, quality, etc., the student is referred to Mason's "The Orchestral Instruments and What They Do," Lavignac's "Music and Musicians," and to the various articles which describe each instrument under its own name in Grove's Dictionary or in any good encyclopaedia. For still fuller details some work on orchestration will have to be consulted.

14. The _violin_ has four strings, tuned thus [Ill.u.s.tration: g d' a'

e"], these making available a range of about three and one-half octaves (g--c""). This range[41] may be extended upward somewhat further by means of _harmonics_, these being produced by lightly touching the string at certain points (while the bow is moving across it) instead of holding it down against the finger-board. The highest string of the _violin_ (viola and cello also) is often called the _chanterelle_ because it is most often used for playing the melody. The _violin_ ordinarily produces but one tone at a time, but by _stopping_ two strings simultaneously and so drawing the bow as to set both in vibration, two tones may be produced at the same time, while three and four tones can be sounded _almost_ simultaneously.

[Footnote 41: The ranges noted in connection with these descriptions of instruments are ordinarily the _practical orchestral or band_ ranges rather than those which are possible in solo performance.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: VIOLIN. Length, 23-1/2 inches. Length of bow, 29-1/2 inches.]

The _mute_ (or _sordino_) is a small clamp made of metal, wood, or ivory, which when clipped to the top of the bridge causes the vibrations to be transmitted less freely to the body of the violin, giving rise to a tone modified in quality, and decreased in power.

For certain special effects the player is directed to pluck the string (_pizzicato_), this method of playing giving rise to a dry, detached tone instead of the smooth, flowing one that is so characteristic of the _violin_ as commonly played.

_Violins_ in the orchestra are divided into firsts and seconds, the _first violins_ being always seated at the left of the audience and the _seconds_ at the right.