Music

• Djembe


  Large drum with skin which would traditionally be made of animal skin, played with high and low pitches
• balaton


  Similar to a xylophone
• Agogo


  Cowbells with high and low pitch
• Voice


  • Very important in this type of music
  • Singers often use call and response and unison
• Fiddle


  Four stringed instrument that is known as the violin in classical music
• Fife


  Wooden flute with 6 finger holes and no keys, it sounds similar to the piccolo
• Accordion


  Produces sound when air flows past a reed inside the frame
• Bodhran

  A drum commonly used in Irish and other Celtic regions
• Bagpipes


  Loud wind instrument that produces sound when air flows past reeds, supplied by a constant supply of air from a bag
• In Celtic music, a very common time signature is 6/8 which has 6 quavers in a bar however these are grouped into 2 groups of 3, giving the music a dance-like quality
• There is lots of repetition in Celtic music. The melodies are often based around scales
• Celtic music is often played to accompany dancing
• 12 bar blues


  The chord progression, used in blues music, which follows the same pattern of chord I, IV and V
• 12 bar blues chords


  • C
  • C
  • C
  • C
  • F
  • F
  • C
  • C
  • G
  • F
  • C
  • C
• Blues scale


  The scale in blues music that contains flattened/sharpened notes (blues notes)
• Walking bass


  The bass line often used in Blues music, where one note is played on every beat of the bar, usually by double bass. They play the notes of the chord and the notes that lead it onto the next chord
• Blues music developed in Southern USA from the end of the 19th century and has a lot of influences from African music
• Common instruments in blues music


  • Guitar (sometimes electric)
  • Drums
  • Double bass often used pizzicato
  • Piano
  • Saxophone
  • Trumpet
  • Sometimes trombone
• Unison is when everyone sings the same thing at the same time
• Time signature


  How many beats in a bar and the type/value of beat
• Time signatures


  • 4/4 - 4 crotchet beats per bar
  • 3/4 - 3 crotchet beats per bar
• Note values


  • Semibreve - 4 beats (crotchet)
  • Dotted minim - 3 beats
  • Minim - 2 beats
  • Dotted crotchet - 1.5 beats
  • Crotchet - 1 beat
  • Quaver - 0.5 beats
• Tempo words


  • Grave - very slow
  • Largo - slow/broadly
  • Lento - slow
  • Adagio - slow/stately
  • Andante - walking pace
  • Moderato - moderate
  • Allegretto - quite fast
  • Allegro - fast/quickly
  • Vivace - fast and lively
  • Presto - very fast
  • Prestissimo - very very fast
• The notes of the bass clef in the lines are A, C, E, G,
• Melody


  Another word for tune
• Tempo


  Speed of music
• Elements of music

  • Angular (jumpy)
  • Fast - allegro
  • Medium - moderato
  • Slow - lento, adagio
  • 2 time, 3 time - made up of beats
  • Articulation - how the note is played/sung
  • Staccato - detached, short
  • Legato - smooth, joined
  • Dynamics - volume (loud- forte, quiet- piano, medium- mezzo)
  • Time signature - how many beats in a bar and the type/value of beat
• Purpose of african music : used to help spirits up during heavy, manual labor and is often used for celebrations
• What is the rhyme which could be used to memorise the notes in the lines of the bass clef

  All cows eat grass