Catalog Search Results
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Look beneath the surface of a seemingly simple feature of music: beat. Discover that beat perception in humans is exceedingly complex and incorporates six distinct criteria. Then survey animal studies to see if other species share our talent for getting the beat..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Begin your study of musical rhythm by distinguishing periodic from non-periodic rhythmic patterns. Periodicity can be thought of as beat; non-periodicity involves expressive techniques such as timing variations and phrasing. Close by asking whether composers write music in the rhythmic patterns of their native language..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
So far, you've been practicing five-finger scales, but in Western music, a complete scale is an octave, or eight notes. Expand your abilities to play full eight-note scales, and practice with C major, G major and D major. In addition to working on your existing repertoire, you'll add the jazzy "Minor Romp" and "A Turkish Tune" to the mix.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Take the measure of guitarist Charlie Christian and alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, each of whom transformed jazz and their instruments. Grasp how to work for greater speed and accuracy when playing melodies. Learn "movable" chord shapes for major and minor seventh chords, practice the Dorian modal scale, and use them in a minor blues tune.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Melodies and harmonies combine pitches according to rules that we have internalized through experience. Listen to musical examples that demonstrate unresolved and resolved expectations. Consider the analogy to grammar in language, and search for a connection between music and language in the brain..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Delve more deeply into the concept of chords and see how they can offer a richer harmony than single notes or two-note harmonic intervals. Examine one of the most popular chord progressions: I-IV-V-I (tonic to subdominant to dominant to tonic), one of the most common patterns in Western music.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Relive The Rite of Spring's riotous premiere, and examine the qualities that made it the most influential musical work of the 20th century. Observe how Stravinsky evoked ancient pagan rituals through stunning rhythmic asymmetry, bi-tonal harmony, and other daring compositional techniques. Take account of how the Rite changed the way composers thought about rhythm, melody, and orchestration.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
First, contemplate the principles of tonal beauty, as taught by the great Romero brothers. Study the technique of "planting", an aid for technical accuracy. Learn the D and A major chords, and how to read key signatures. Then play a new melody in D major, and accompany it in fingerstyle using your new chords.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
The cultural environment of California produced some of the most original musical thinkers of the 20th century. First encounter Henry Cowell and Lou Harrison, composers of astonishing eclecticism whose works incorporated non-Western musical forms. Also meet John Cage and Morton Feldman, whose "indeterminate" music introduced new conceptions of unpredictability and a non-directional sense of time.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
In this lesson, you will refine much of your existing repertoire. You'll then try your hand at Liszt's Liebestraum. While this piece can be quite challenging for students, Professor Pike has created a special arrangement designed for your current level of ability. Work on adding musical expression to these Romantic-era pieces.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Music is an integral part of humanity. Every culture has music, from the largest society to the smallest tribe. Its marvelous range of melodies, themes, and rhythms taps into something universal. Babies are soothed by it. Young adults dance for hours to it. Older adults can relive their youth with the vivid memories it evokes. Music is part of our most important rituals, and it has been the medium of some of our greatest works of art. Yet even though...
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
In approaching lyrics, begin by researching the piece, learning about the librettist, the time period, and the historical context. Also research the composer and how the piece was written. Using the text of an original song, and your character analysis worksheet, work to find your own expressive connection with the piece and create your interpretation of the song.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Learn how the advent of musical synthesizers and the tape recorder gave rise to both electronic music (using sounds created electronically) and musique concrète (manipulating real sounds with a tape recorder). Witness how Ultraserialism developed within Europe, leading paradoxically to hyper-complex music which in performance sounded random - a fatal problem for listener comprehension.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Clear diction and phrasing are fundamental to vocal artistry. In this episode, explore how we communicate meaning through pronunciation and syllabic stress. Begin to work with phrasing, how words are stressed relative to each other, and which words to emphasize as important. Consider how to place vowels and consonants in a sung phrase, and start to address intention and meaning in singing text.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Postmodernism in music represented both a return to the musical values of Romanticism and an amalgam of diverse musical influences. Investigate the music of George Rochberg and David del Tredici, both of whom embraced musical styles from the past. Then explore "pastiche" - direct quotation from earlier works - in the phenomenal music of Luciano Berio, Peter Maxwell Davies, and George Crumb.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
After warming up with a waltz, you'll learn "Rameau's Minuet," a piece widely anthologized for music students. Then, go back to the Baroque to learn about Bach's fugues and Pachelbel's famous Canon in D. This lesson gives you a chance to refine your skills in harmonization.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Regular and effective practice is crucial for developing your singing skills. Study three primary facets of efficient practice: Evaluate your progress; strategize a plan of action, and integrate your new skills. Grasp what a typical practice session will look like, from your warmup and assigned exercises to applying your new abilities to the music. Also, remember to sing for fun!
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Explore harmonic tension and resolution, and the dominant and tonic chords, through compelling examples in the music of Richard Wagner. Practice an important exercise for independent movement of the left hand fingers. Discover how three-note chords ("triads") can be constructed from the notes of the scale. Finally, play an original song using the material from this lesson.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Study core principles of vocal artistry in performance. Learn ways to connect imaginatively with your text and character, to believe in what you're communicating, and to share your unique perspective as a performer. Working with the song "Danny Boy," see how sight, sound, and touch feed your imaginative work, and how specificity in your artistic choices gives your work depth and authenticity.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Look first at the goals of this course, as it will explore the principal trends in 20th-century concert music, and the historical issues and events that shaped them. As background, delve into the history of musical notation as it gave rise to composed music, and take account of the upheavals, political and social catastrophes, and paradigm shifts that affected music in the 20th century.
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Try our Materials Request Service. Submit Request