http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/ The Sonic Glossary is an innovative teaching tool for music appreciation. It assumes no musical training on the part of the user. It defines musical terms by combining text, voice, pictures, graphics, and music in creative ways, delivering them in high-quality audio for private study. The Sonic Glossary does not replace classroom teaching: at Columbia University, Music Humanities is taught by small-group discussion, which the Sonic Glossary reinforces and amplifies. Definitions are written by the teaching staff of Music Humanities, sound is recorded and mixed by the Computer Music Center, and the illustrations and animations are generated at the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, who also compiles and releases the finished components on the Web. en-us Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning 2005-07-20T18:01:52-05:00 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=2.661 Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning The Sonic Glossary is an innovative teaching tool for music appreciation. It assumes no musical training on the part of the user. It defines musical terms by combining text, voice, pictures, graphics, and music in creative ways, delivering them in high-quality audio for private study. The Sonic Glossary does not replace classroom teaching: at Columbia University, Music Humanities is taught by small-group discussion, which the Sonic Glossary reinforces and amplifies. Definitions are written by the teaching staff of Music Humanities, sound is recorded and mixed by the Computer Music Center, and the illustrations and animations are generated at the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, who also compiles and releases the finished components on the Web. ccnmtl@columbia.edu Music Humanities Columbia University A method of thickening musical textures by augmenting the bass line. Summary:

• Basso continuo denotes musicians who thickened the textures in music of the Baroque era by augmenting the bass line with a combination of chord-producing and bass instruments.
• They appear in vocal and instrumental ensembles varying from trios to large ensembles.
• Continuo musicians also assumed an additional function in larger works by helping to keep the performers together.

]]> Music Humanities http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/basso_continuo.html A method of thickening musical textures by augmenting the bass line. 2005-07-18T14:11:41-05:00 874@http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/ Columbia University A steady and gradual decrease in volume. Music Humanities http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/decrescendo.html A steady and gradual decrease in volume. 2005-07-01T20:49:07-05:00 1033@http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/ Columbia University The number of times a sound wave repeats every second (Hz). Music Humanities http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/frequency.html The number of times a sound wave repeats every second (Hz). 2005-07-10T18:15:16-05:00 1058@http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/ Columbia University One of an ascending series of sonic components that sound, although sometimes imperceptibly, above a clearly audible fundamental pitch. Summary:

• A harmonic is one of a series of sonic components of a sound.
• A sounding pitch comprises a fundamental, and a number of harmonics above that fundamental, the totality being called a harmonic spectrum.
• The make-up of a spectrum (which harmonics are present, and in what proportion) produces the timbre, or tone color, of an instrument or voice.
• A harmonic spectrum contains both harmonic and inharmonic components.
• A timbre can be artificially synthesized by adding together sine waves.
• Harmonics can be produced separately on an instrument.
• Special vocal techniques exist for making harmonics audible in the voice.

]]> Music Humanities http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/harmonic.html One of an ascending series of sonic components that sound, although sometimes imperceptibly, above a clearly audible fundamental pitch. 2005-04-20T14:04:57-05:00 873@http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/ Columbia University A musical texture consisting of one melody and an accompaniment that supports it. Summary:

• Homophony is an important category of musical texture.
• It comprises a melody and an accompaniment.
• The accompaniment may consist of chords moving together with the melody, or a more elaborate pattern, possibly of broken chords or figurations.
• The melody may be in the highest register or it may be lower in the texture.
• Homophony is especially common in dance music, but it is also found in much music of the later 18th century.
• Sometimes the boundary between homophony and polyphony is blurred if the accompaniment seems especially rich or detailed, or carries important rhythmic motives.

]]> Music Humanities http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/homophony.html A musical texture consisting of one melody and an accompaniment that supports it. 2005-07-20T18:01:52-05:00 1083@http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/ Columbia University A musical texture featuring two or more equally prominent, simultaneous melodic lines, those lines being similar in shape and sound. Summary:

• Polyphony may be imitative or non-imitative, depending on how closely the various musical lines resemble each other.
• If the individual lines are similar in their shapes and sounds, the polyphony is termed imitative;
• but if the strands show little or no resemblance to each other, it is non-imitative.
• Each of these types may also mix with or succeed one another in a musical passage.
• Imitative polyphony is associated particularly with Western music from the later Renaissance and the Baroque periods.

]]> Music Humanities http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/imitative_polyphony.html A musical texture featuring two or more equally prominent, simultaneous melodic lines, those lines being similar in shape and sound. 2005-07-19T15:20:14-05:00 1057@http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/ Columbia University A texture comprising a single line of musical tones. Summary:

• Monophony is one of the primary textures of music.
• It comprises a single line of musical tones - a melody, or intonation, or cantillation.
• It may be rhythmic or non-rhythmic.
• It may be sung, by one or more voices; or performed on one or more instruments, or in a combination of voice and instrument.
• To this single line may be added a drone or drones; and percussion.
• These additions do not alter the status of the music as monophonic.
• Monophony occurs in all musical traditions, throughout the world.

]]> Music Humanities http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/monophony.html A texture comprising a single line of musical tones. 2005-07-10T14:55:25-05:00 1056@http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/ Columbia University A musical texture featuring two or more equally prominent melodic lines played at the same time. Summary:

• In short, Polyphony is a musical texture that features two or more melodic lines played at the same time. Each of these melodies is essentially equal in prominence and musical interest.
• The musical lines in a polyphonic texture may be instrumental or vocal, or both.
• Polyphony may dominate an entire musical work, a significant section of a piece, or may appear for only a short time within a composition.
• A polyphonic texture may be accompanied by other melodies, or supported by a series of chords. These accompanying parts do not challenge the overall description of the section or work as polyphonic.

]]> Music Humanities http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/polyphony.html A musical texture featuring two or more equally prominent melodic lines played at the same time. 2005-07-10T12:51:41-05:00 1055@http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/ Columbia University A vocal style that combines elements of song and speech. Summary:

• Sprechstimme is a vocal style that combines elements of song and speech.
• It was used most frequently during the early decades of the 20th century.
• It was often (but not always) used to represent emotional duress, the macabre, or madness.

]]> Music Humanities http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/sprechstimme.html A vocal style that combines elements of song and speech. 2005-04-20T13:50:48-05:00 872@http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/