Simoncic Lecture – Simple Triads
12029First, read Simple Triads below or read as watching the video. This does not go into depth but is a simple introduction to triads, the building block for chords and harmony in the Western World of music. I do not expect you to fully “get it”, but at least to become aware of the triad. https://www.dropbox.com/s/oiohg1lang0otup/chords%20and%20harmony%20%282%29.mp4?dl=0
1. (15 pt.) Simple triads: The four triads of Western classical music from around the late 16th century to present pop music but not so much in the classical music arena as it moved on. I tried to simplify it visually, but not confuse the color of the piano keys with the music sound. Triads are made up of three notes; each is what we refer to in a very general way as an interval of a third from the other note of the triad.
Western scales are simply alphabets of a language and triads are made from these scales. Triads are similar to words, and harmony is a connection and combination of triads in a piece of music similar to sentences in grammar.
Let’s take this alphabet scale of something we call the A minor scale:
A,b,c,d,e,f,g, A. Every triad has three parts, the root, similar to the root of a tree, which the triad is built upon; the 3rd, which might be the trunk of the tree and the 5th which could be the branches. If I build a triad using the note, A as its root then C would be the 3rd and E would be the 5th. Looking back at the scale of A minor let’s build simple unspecified triads:
There are seven notes in the basic Western Music scale: Each note can become the root: Each “seed” can become its own tree. There will be seven triads on each scale.
So, if I wish to build the A minor triad, then the notes in A minor would be: A as root, then skip to C as the 3rd and E as the 5th. Every other letter note in the musical alphabet is an interval (melodic distance from one note to the next) of 3rd or 3 steps away. Always count step one as the root, step 3 as the 3rd, and step 5 as the 5th of the triad. It’s easy; just skip every other letter name on a scale;
If I start on the note “B”, then the triad would be spelled, B, D, F: the C triad: C, E, G . Use the alphabet below and spell a triad starting with each letter name and skipping one letter to create a triad. We already did the B and C triad.
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C,D,E,F,G,A
In my video, it may appear that minor chords contain a black key as the 3rd of the triad, and while that is true for such minor triads as C minor, F minor G minor, I did it for visual reasons. There are other triads that have mixtures of black and white keys on the piano keyboard, but what if there are instruments creating chords such as a harp that do not have color keys? Visuals are good for learning.
I also touch on the diminished and augmented triad. That is less important for now.
What I can’t teach you is how these chords work in a more advanced music setting. That takes much longer. However, suffice to say, if a person can learn to play the three basic “hymn” triads (chords) they are assured of being able to strum on guitar to hundreds/thousands of folk, country music, hymns, blues tunes, and pop songs. With a little practice and a good teacher, it might take about two weeks to achieve a strumming level to play along with a great deal of folk or pop the blues, or older church hymns.
Two-part question: In part A, comment on what you may have gained from the written material: Part B, Point out several things about triads that you learned from the video: Always remember Rule #1.
2. (10 pt.) https://www.dropbox.com/s/cukgxuv55c4o389/melodic%20harmonic%20intervals.mp4?dl=0 Melodic intervals and harmonic intervals: Melodies are easily identifiable by the melodic intervals of their first few notes with correct rhythms. Write a review and short conclusion on the section covering only melodic intervals: Be specific by using timestamps on what they mean and which pieces of music Simoncic used to describe and illustrate specific intervals.
Harmonic interval information:
For the harmonic interval part of the video, watch and listen only: there are two types of harmonic intervals; consonant and dissonant. Consonant intervals sound “pleasant” to the Western ear. Dissonant intervals seem less pleasant to the Western ear. They are created when two or more notes sound together at the same time and may sound somewhat disagreeable or highly disagreeable to the Western ear.
3. (12 pt.) What makes Music Western? A video intro by Simoncic https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfx5smyolk3hlql/Western%20Music.mp4?dl=0
What makes Western music different from most other cultures’ music? “Other cultures “, includes India, Arab World, Africa, Indonesia, and others that we will not study. First: What Makes Music “Western Culture”? After many centuries of different tuning systems was finally agreed upon by most European nations and cultures but not until closer to the mid-17th to early 18th centuries. At this juncture, even harmonies began to sound uniform. This video is based on the math of the equal-tempered scale system. Watch and follow. Keep your attention not just on harmony but on harmonic rhythm.
Western music from the 17th 18th century to the present, has relied on harmony and music form. The standard song form: Verse, Verse, chorus, and verse, or AABA form: A great amount of world music does not have a harmonic system/harmony or the song form format. Traditional Carnatic Music of India and many other nations and cultures is not harmonically based. It has a“drone” sound of two notes: Notes 1 and 5 of their scale as its foundation. Western music has harmony as its foundation: Many cultures have adopted our musical system realizing that their music will be more readily accepted by the West hence gaining far more revenue $$$$ for the non-west music groups. In part, tradition is spread to the Western culture world but also weakens compromises and marginalizes its true tradition. It’s all about the money!!
Answer this: What part or parts did you find most informative from the video?
4. (12 pt.) https://www.dropbox.com/s/6j9rx5op6x4mznj/Intro%20to%20India.mp4?dl=0S A short intro to Indian music (Simoncic video): Answer this: Reflect and write a short survey for the following timestamps: 00:43 to 2:09 featuring the drone; and 2:19 to 3:33discussing more on the subject of Indian music with a little pentatonic scale.
5. (12 pt.) Write a Conclusion: What are some things that you have discovered from the above videos that demonstrate the major difference between Western culture music compared to many other cultures, and what are the non-Western culture (younger musicians) doing to their music to reach Western audiences?
7.
2. Part II: (10 pt.) Youtube Title: 14 Songs that rip off classical music David Bennett piano https://www.youtube.com/watch/yknBXOSlFQs&t=7shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yknBXOSlFQs&t=7s
When you read some of the comments below the video, other composers have been listed that pop artist ripped off over the decades. This type of plagiarism can be traced back to early 20th century of American pop music. The idea is, to find a good piece of music from hopefully dead composers and slap some new words to it. It is easier to rip off composers when the large majority of Americans are not familiar with the music of classical composers. More recently people with music knowledge expose these frauds.
Personally: A music studio plagiarized one of my radio station music logos by simply replacing other 4-letter radio station identifiers each time they sold it to another station. My family and I lost $$$$. The music studio claimed it as theirs just because they changed the 4-letter logo. The music and lyrics that I wrote remained the same except for the 4-letter logo. A crime is a crime, or is it that newer artists are just too lazy to come up with their own actual music? My only desire was to get my hands on the thief, but my lovely wife talked me out of it.
Answer this: The songs on the video represent only a smattering of music stolen from classical composers. There are dozens upon dozens that were not included. What is your reaction to this type of intellectual property theft? PS Wait until we see what happens in the movie music industry and music theft.
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