Music from All over the World Presents a Range of Musical Theories. Some of These Are Documented in Writing Whilst Others Are Transmitted Orally. Discuss and Give Examples with Reference to Both Western and Non-Western Music.
Music from all over the world presents a range of musical theories. Some of these are documented in writing whilst others are transmitted orally. Discuss and give examples with reference to both Western and non-Western music.
Music Theory can be understood as chiefly the study of the structure of music. With the idea of both written and oral notation, it may be understood through recognized systems of indication, and used as systems of memorizing and transmitting the theories themselves. Western music theory is significant for its quantity and range whilst those of non-Western traditions are also notable in possessing major works of theoretical oration and literature.
Melodies for texts of the liturgy of the early Western Church were learned by oral transmission. Chant was learned and sung from memory, entailing singers to preserve hundreds of melodies, of which many were sung once annually. Chants which were simple frequently sung, or considerably distinct and memorable may have been passed down with very few changes. Other chants could have been improvised or composed orally using strict standards, following a given melodic form and using ornamental methods fitting to a particular text or place in the liturgy. This technique bears resemblance to other oral traditions; for instance, epic singers from the Balkans performed long poems seemingly by memory but in actual fact, by procedures correlating themes, syntax, meters, line endings, and other elements.
Evidence for such oral composition can be found in the chants themselves: by extracting the second phrases of the first four verses of the Tract ‘Deus, Deus meus’, it is observed that each phrase drifts around F which then descends to close with the same cadence in the middle of the verse. No two verses are alike, but each employs the same set of principles, which are also visible in many other Tracts. Because Tracts were initially performed by soloists, throughout the centuries singers developed a model,
Music Theory can be understood as chiefly the study of the structure of music. With the idea of both written and oral notation, it may be understood through recognized systems of indication, and used as systems of memorizing and transmitting the theories themselves. Western music theory is significant for its quantity and range whilst those of non-Western traditions are also notable in possessing major works of theoretical oration and literature.
Melodies for texts of the liturgy of the early Western Church were learned by oral transmission. Chant was learned and sung from memory, entailing singers to preserve hundreds of melodies, of which many were sung once annually. Chants which were simple frequently sung, or considerably distinct and memorable may have been passed down with very few changes. Other chants could have been improvised or composed orally using strict standards, following a given melodic form and using ornamental methods fitting to a particular text or place in the liturgy. This technique bears resemblance to other oral traditions; for instance, epic singers from the Balkans performed long poems seemingly by memory but in actual fact, by procedures correlating themes, syntax, meters, line endings, and other elements.
Evidence for such oral composition can be found in the chants themselves: by extracting the second phrases of the first four verses of the Tract ‘Deus, Deus meus’, it is observed that each phrase drifts around F which then descends to close with the same cadence in the middle of the verse. No two verses are alike, but each employs the same set of principles, which are also visible in many other Tracts. Because Tracts were initially performed by soloists, throughout the centuries singers developed a model,
Bibliography: - Grout, D. J., Palisca, C. V., Burkholder, J. P. A History of Western Music, 8th edition (1988) London: New York; W. W. Norton. - Sadie, S. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition, (2001) London: Macmillan Publishers - Shirlaw, M. (1960). The Science of Harmony: The harmonic Generation of Chords. Journal of Music Theory, 4(1), 1-18. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/843044