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exploring the world of music - melody — Transcript

by Walter Brath · 2,474 words · 386 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00[Music]
0:25melody is one of the essential elements
0:28of music changes in pitch one after
0:32another create rising and falling
0:34contours which taken together impart
0:37meaning melodies the story they're
0:46telling and and and and for that reason
0:48to me melody is is in some ways the most
0:50important elements of music it's like a
0:53story because it has beginning it has a
0:58plot and it has an ending melody I
1:07define it as a group of notes that are
1:15in love with each other
1:23[Music]
1:49all over the world with instruments and
1:52voice people create an uncountable
1:54number of melodies in an enormous
1:56variety of styles the methods in which a
2:02musical culture generates its melodic
2:04forms depend on the musical rules and
2:07practices of that culture these rules
2:10are employed by composers and performers
2:12and are implicitly understood by
2:14listeners as well but at the basis of
2:25all melodic form is the concept of
2:28vibrational frequency or pitch
2:35the Highness or lowness of the
2:38sound it's a matter of how many
2:41vibrations per second form the
2:43fundamental frequency of the sound for a
2:48musician of course the pitches at least
2:50in the Western vocabulary are the twelve
2:53pitches of the octave divided up
3:00dramatic scale and that's all we have
3:03each of those pitches or pitch classes
3:05from C to C it's reproduced in every
3:08octave so that this there's something
3:11fundamentally the same about that see
3:14and that's C and that C there they're an
3:18octave apart they're doubles in
3:20frequency every music around the world
3:25takes that raw material and sometimes
3:28the octaves are not divided up into
3:30twelve equal parts you can divide aquas
3:37into 20 into 30 40 parts or you can
3:40divide octaves and only three or four or
3:42five parts
3:46but every music has a certain idea of
3:49what is the match material inside the
3:52Optima
3:53we're familiar with a major minor scale
3:57system that that we use in our music
4:00there's a major scale
4:08it's a kind of bag of notes from which
4:10you can choose the notes of your melody
4:14but every melody doesn't go
4:21they jump around and so there are bigger
4:28and smaller intervals between the notes
4:31you play and you need to know something
4:33about that because those intervals are
4:35very important simpler musics for Gorion
4:43chant for instance the intervals are
4:45small between two notes adjacent the
4:57interval is a second of course between
5:01the same note and itself the interval is
5:04a unison a second a third a fourth etc
5:12[Music]
5:21melodies are very meaningful to people
5:23melody is often the most meaningful
5:26aspect of a piece of music it's what we
5:28remember it's what we relate to and
5:30those melodies come from the intervals
5:33between the notes as we play them melody
5:55is the two singable part of a piece of
5:58music it's the part that our ears
6:00naturally gravitate towards
6:02[Music]
6:08technically melody is a succession of
6:11pitches coming one after another that
6:13together form a complete thought or a
6:16phrase that's what we call it in music
6:19just like sentences have words and we
6:23don't hear the individual words of a
6:25sentence we hear how those words join
6:28together to form a sentence the same
6:30goes with music there are many notes but
6:32those notes we don't hear really
6:34individually we hear them as a long line
6:37and it gives the concept of a complete
6:41thought melodies have a beginning a
6:47middle and then an end okay and that
6:54gives us the sense of a sentence or a
6:56phrase one of the most important
7:01components of melody is its rhythm in
7:04other words if we just took rhythm out
7:06of melody and just play the notes
7:12it's rather boring but the rhythm that
7:16the composer writes with those notes
7:18just breathes life into those notes and
7:21make the melody much more compelling
7:24[Music]
7:37now composers have some tools that they
7:41use when they're constructing their
7:42melodies one of the tools that they use
7:44is repetition they can repeat an idea
7:47another tool that they can use is
7:49variation they can take an idea and
7:51change it slightly or they can contrast
7:54it with something completely new and
7:55different in this beautiful composition
7:59by Mozart we have an idea and then he
8:05takes that idea and moves it down a note
8:07variation and then the answer is a
8:13contrast completely new and now we're in
8:21the middle of it we haven't quite come
8:23home yet so he repeats it variation and
8:31then a new contrast which brings us to a
8:39close now when we when we talk about
8:42melody we're just talking about the
8:44beginning of a composition melodies can
8:46generate an entire work
8:50in this particular piece that's only
8:53half of the theme the theme then has
8:55developed a little further and then he
8:57writes a set of six variations on this
9:00thing
9:01[Music]
9:17[Music]
9:24many non-western musics employ complex
9:27melodic arrangements that form the basis
9:30for composition and improvisation the
9:33word mode is sometimes used to refer to
9:36these structures one example of this is
9:39the Arabic makan system
9:41[Music]
9:45the maqam system is based on scale like
9:48groupings of notes that each have
9:50certain distinctive characteristics
9:52since there are dozens of maqams the
9:55melodic possibilities are endless melody
10:00in Arabic music develops along a single
10:03line and is distinguished by the
10:05intricate use of ornaments subtle
10:07adjustments of pitch called micro tones
10:09and a sophisticated use of rhythm the
10:18basics of the structured and improvised
10:20music is the maqam system the maqam
10:25system you have a set of scales that has
10:31certain characteristics a certain feel a
10:34certain mood for example there is a
10:39certain maqam that could relate very
10:41much to an evening time for example or
10:45certain Macomb can relate to a sad state
10:48of being for example
10:51[Music]
11:08music the intervals is very much
11:12identified by what we call quarter tones
11:14or microtonal it Abbas and these are
11:18intervals dead from my experience with
11:20Western ear it's very difficult to hear
11:23this quality because it's an interval or
11:26distance between two pitches that the
11:29ear is not used to for example if we
11:34listen to the third note and I'm going
11:36to count this is the first the second
11:40and the third again
11:44okay so these are the first three notes
11:47in a scale that is familiar to many
11:50people that's called minor scale okay we
11:53can't call it also we call it in Arabic
11:55music nah-ha wand
11:56it has a name now let's listen to the
11:59third note in the different scale first
12:03second third and we call it here major
12:10scale or in Arabic music Asian AJ am
12:14Asian now between those three two notes
12:19and I'm referring to the third note I
12:22play it or I can fit another interval in
12:29between that we call quarter tone and
12:42many people it's think it's it's kind of
12:45weird or it sounds out of tune but it is
12:49not it is a quality that if you are born
12:51in certain region that practice this
12:54type of music or if you get used to it
12:56like many American students who studied
12:58with me for years and years they got
13:00used to it and they perform it perfectly
13:10I went to school in the early eighties
13:14it's Manhattan School of Music and I've
13:16specialized on violin and one of the top
13:19scientists them used to come and give us
13:22master classes was Harry sharing the
13:24Polish violinist and in one of the
13:27master classes I was supposed to perform
13:29I think it was a bit joven sonata on the
13:33violin and piano and after I finished he
13:38said you know he commented on my playing
13:40and before I leave the stage
13:42I asked to play another piece of music
13:45so I took the violin again and then I
13:48played an improvisation using all these
13:51ornaments and when I finished of course
14:10everybody was astonished and and he
14:13asked me one question he said young man
14:16this is fascinating how could you play
14:19all these intricate notes but one thing
14:22I'd understand why did you play so many
14:24notes out of tune
14:29you
14:37[Music]
14:43melodic expression also plays a
14:45fundamental role in other musical
14:47systems found around the world in Irish
14:50dance music for example it is the tune
14:53that is a particular importance a fixed
14:55melody that is repeated over and over
14:58again in performance but varied and
15:00ornamented differently each time it is
15:03play
15:04[Music]
15:06with Irish music the most important
15:08thing is the melody and when people are
15:11playing together in ensemble they
15:13basically play the same melody what
15:15makes a difference are the variations
15:17you can't change the melody too much
15:20it's not like not to the same degree as
15:23you wouldn't jazz you can only change it
15:25slightly but in any type of Celtic guard
15:28if you look at the Book of Kells for
15:30example all of the real artistry is in
15:33the details
15:33little little details basic picture
15:36stays the same but you change these
15:39little little details it's the same idea
15:42with the music
15:43[Music]
15:50that's just the straight notes that's
15:52the underlying melody that's it with
16:01ornamentation now there's also room to
16:03alter that melody but the challenge is
16:06to alter it and in such a way as to
16:08enable you to sit in and play with
16:10somebody you've never met before who
16:11also plays that tune and and in do it in
16:14such a way that doesn't sound discordant
16:15that it doesn't sound chaotic that's the
16:18beautiful thing I can sit down with
16:19somebody I've never met from another
16:21part of this country or in Ireland and
16:23sit down be able to play tunes with them
16:25[Music]
16:52me aggravating Irish traditional music
17:00any of the instrumental music it really
17:03comes from the older singing style
17:05called Shan no singing and Shan nose is
17:08to Irish language words meaning old way
17:14they're very very moving very very
17:17intimate songs it's usually a group of
17:19people sitting in a circle around a
17:21table the custom is for the singer to
17:24reach out and grab the hand of whoever
17:26is next to him or her and they start
17:29this rowing motion as they're singing
17:31the song it's not in time to the piece
17:33there's no rhythmic thing but it's an
17:36emotional custom where you're really the
17:39singer and the audience are really
17:40joined together
17:46I think the fact that I play the Ilyn
17:48pipes it's a good instrument for
17:49imitating the sham nose singers you can
17:51slide notes in somewhat the same way you
17:54try to ornament in somewhat the same way
17:56so it's a very good instrument for
17:58playing slow errors
18:02slow Aires what you attempt to do as
18:04closely as possible is to follow the
18:07style of the singer with these songs is
18:10telling a story literally some of these
18:12can be 1012 verses long
18:23as an instrumentalist you try and
18:25communicate the sadness the loneliness
18:28frequently you try and do with the
18:30singer does to draw in your audience to
18:32make them feel the emotion if you've
18:34done that you're good slow air player
18:43a melodic concept known as raga lies at
18:56the heart of North Indian classical
18:58music there are hundreds of raagas each
19:01of which functions as a sort of recipe
19:04for the creation of composed and
19:06improvised melody
19:09each ragga possesses its own set of
19:13rules and is associated with the
19:15prevailing mood and time of day or
19:18season of performance
19:23[Music]
19:29as in Arabic classical music melodies
19:32develop along a single line the typical
19:35performance format includes a soloist
19:37either a singer or instrumentalists
19:40accompanied by drums called table and by
19:44a tanpura a long-necked stringed
19:46instrument that is used to create a
19:49drone or continuous web of sound
19:51emphasizing the tonic or primary note of
19:54the raga Indian music is totally melodic
20:03but we cannot just go on producing any
20:09melody that comes to our mind it is
20:12guided by certain rules and framework
20:20when we play classical music it has got
20:24to conform to one raga or the other our
20:32music has the same 12 notes that occur
20:36in your piano keyboard in one octave in
20:41any piece of music the first the dough
20:44or let us call it the tonic must always
20:48be there and this cannot be changed
20:52[Music]
20:54tanpura provides that dough that
20:58baseline against which the whole music
21:00has been generated having selected your
21:04dough you have to select at least four
21:07other notes so long as you play that
21:11particular raga you cannot use any other
21:17[Music]
21:21secondly our music has definite and
21:24prefixed mode of going up and coming
21:28down the rules of the raga may preclude
21:31you from just climbing up straight
21:33forward in sequence
21:35it may have kinks in it
21:39[Music]
21:47Third Point is that out of these notes
21:52one note is generally more prominent in
21:58that it's used more frequently and
22:02sometimes you stop on that particular
22:06note very often
22:13so out of these several do's and dont's
22:17they are finally emerged a set of basic
22:21phrases which are just like the you know
22:25your nose eyes lips of a human
22:30countenance these basic phrases actually
22:35when you go through them they paint the
22:39face of the raga
22:44[Music]
22:49so have been able to explain to some
22:52extent what araga means chosen notes in
22:55an octave definite and prefixed mode of
23:00going up and coming down some particular
23:04note getting prominence and many other
23:08smaller rules which you'd rather not go
23:10into now right now for what a time
23:19[Music]
23:28[Music]
23:40melody in the form of Psalms maybe one
23:43of the most common types of musical
23:45expression found around the world it is
23:54the human voice solo or accompanied that
23:58has the primary role of conveying the
24:00meaning of a song and songs often
24:03express a most heartfelt sentiment
24:07[Music]
24:20a song has two parts the melody and the
24:22words the melody has to do something for
24:26those words
24:27melody is extremely important in making
24:30words work it makes the words sing
24:34literally and that's why you do a song
24:37otherwise we could just keep on talking
24:39to each other I don't know if you know
24:53the name of hip harbor who's a great
24:55lyricist of a pop song he wrote the
24:57words but it's only a Paper Moon and
24:59brother can use paradigm and over the
25:01rainbow and his way of saying a words
25:06make you think music makes you feel and
25:09a song makes it possible to feel a
25:11thought interesting way of putting it
25:15[Music]
25:40[Music]
26:26Annenberg media
26:34for information about this and other
26:37Annenberg media programs call 1-800
26:40lerner and visit us at WWE
26:44[Music]

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