Musical innovations to note
Howard Goodall, proposes that music has been fundamentally changed by four key inventions. [Note: Not discoveries! but Inventions!] These are Notation, Equal Temperament, Opera, Piano and Recording . Howard, ( in a sad ommission from You Tube,) makes a strong case; so I'm going to give my students an alternative (available) summary of his 'Big Bangs':
Notation
Though I would normally skip all pre-Guido notation, the work done by Michael Levy is so interesting, I just had to include it. For a summary about this clip press here.
Though I would normally skip all pre-Guido notation, the work done by Michael Levy is so interesting, I just had to include it. For a summary about this clip press here.
Tilson Thomas, articulates the importance of notaion well, but doesn't mention Guido D'Arezzo, the man responsible for the quantum leap for music that he developed. Watch from 6:15 for his summary.
If anyone deserves a good documentary made about them, its Guido D'Arezzo. This is the best I could find:
Howard Goodall's Big Bangs- Episode 2- Equal Temperament
In a nutshell, equal temperament is a system of tuning that was developed to allow the movement between key centres. This tuning system involves making all the semitones (or halftones if you prefer), an equal distance from each other.
It is a deviation from the mathematically more 'correct', (but musically more limited in key movement) system of so called 'Pure' interval tuning a.k.a. 'Pythagorean' tuning. Goodall's excellent explaination has been removed by corporations, so I've had to settle for this:
It is a deviation from the mathematically more 'correct', (but musically more limited in key movement) system of so called 'Pure' interval tuning a.k.a. 'Pythagorean' tuning. Goodall's excellent explaination has been removed by corporations, so I've had to settle for this:
In this video, Mark Cerisano, RPT, B.Sc.(Mech.Eng.), Dip.Ed.(Music),explains how and why equal temperament works using charts and diagrams. He also explains the basic history of equal temperament and briefly discusses its implications.
Opera:
Still lookingfor the right material here too. A work in progress.
Still lookingfor the right material here too. A work in progress.
Howard Goodall's Big Bangs- Episode 4- Piano
Recorded Music:
Another work in progress.
Another work in progress.