NEWS FOR THIS WEEKTrinity College London is a leading international examinations board with a difference. Our reputation rests on our continuing ability to provide respected qualifications both in the English language and across a growing range of disciplines in the performing arts. Our exams and assessments are designed to help students and trainees progress; to mark an achievement at each stage of their development, and at all levels of competence, on a journey towards fulfillment of their own individual talents and abilities. Today we deliver 500,000 assessments each year worldwide. Our international network is growing and our educational role in the UK community is deepening. Through Trinity Guildhall we focus on the performing arts in music and drama, and now deliver an enhanced range of syllabuses and local services to teachers, tailored to allow flexible styles of learning and teaching. We emphasize overall performance rather than a prescriptive formula. With expert examiners and the backing of leading specialists and academics, the quality of our productand our enduring relationships and approachable style give Trinity College Londonthe human touch, designed to encourage and motivate all students to achieve their personal, vocational and professional goals.

The earliest form of musical notation can be found in a cuneiform tablet that was created at Nippur, Iraq in about 2000 B.C. The tablet represents fragmentary instructions for performing music, that the music was composed in harmonies of thirds, and that it was written using a diatonic scale. Modern music notation originated in European classical music and is now used by musicians of many different genres throughout the world. The system uses a five-line staff. Pitch is shown by placement of notes on the staff and duration is shown with different note values and additional symbols such as dots and ties. Notation is read from left to right, which makes setting music for right-to-left scripts difficult.Guitar is considered as a European-invented instrument that first appeared during the medievel period. The form of the modern classical guitar is credited to Spanish guitar maker Antonio Torres circa 1850.A pitch in music is best described as the frequency of the tone or note. It is determined by the amount of vibrations needed to produce the sound.Music theory is defined as a subject that discusses how music actually works by defining music's language, notion, and what kind of musical pattern a composer use when composing a piece.The violin was born in Italy during the 16th century. Andrea Amati (1511-1577), an Italian that lived during this time, was perhaps the inventor of the violin. This man was commissioned by the French king Charles IX to create these instruments. In the 16th century, violins looked very different -- they were covered with ornate drawings and paintings. Very few violins from this era still exist today, and they are considered priceless artifacts.The violin was born in Italy during the 16th century. Andrea Amati (1511-1577), an Italian that lived during this time, was perhaps the inventor of the violin. This man was commissioned by the French king Charles IX to create these instruments. In the 16th century, violins looked very different -- they were covered with ornate drawings and paintings. Very few violins from this era still exist today, and they are considered priceless artifacts.The first drum sets were put together in the late 1800s sometime after the invention of the bass drum pedal. This invention made it possible for one person to play several percussion instruments (snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals) at one time. The set developed as it was used to accompany jazz musicians in New Orleans during the 1920s.The earliest form of musical notation can be found in a cuneiform tablet that was created at Nippur, Iraq in about 2000 B.C. The tablet represents fragmentary instructions for performing music, that the music was composed in harmonies of thirds, and that it was written using a diatonic scale.] A tablet from about 1250 B.C. shows a more developed form of notation. Modern music notation originated in European classical music and is now used by musicians of many different genres throughout the world. The system uses a five-line staff. Pitch is shown by placement of notes on the staff (sometimes modified by accidentals), and duration is shown with different note values and additional symbols such as dots and ties. Notation is read from left to right, which makes setting music for right-to-left scripts difficult. NEWS FOR THIS WEEKKeyboard instrument is a musical instrument on which different notes can be sounded by pressing a series of keys, push buttons, or parallel levers. In nearly all cases in Western music the keys correspond to consecutive notes in the chromatic scale, and they run from the bass at the left to the treble at the right.This large group of instruments has assumed great importance because the keyboard enables a performer to play many notes at once as well as in close succession. This versatility enables the modern pianist or organist to play, in transcription, any work of Western music, whether it involves chordal harmonies, independent contrapuntal parts, or only a single melody. The capabilities of keyboard instruments have influenced the composition of music for other media, because virtually every major composer from William Byrd (c. 15431623) to Igor Stravinsky (18821971) and beyond has been at least an accomplished keyboard performer, if not a renowned virtuoso.NEWS FOR THIS WEEKThe term western music might refer to Classical music, music from the western world as opposed to the eastern world or music from cowboy movies. Classical music is an art music that appeared in the 10th century as a result of the western secular and liturgical music. European classical western music is different than the other non-European and popular genres because it uses a specific stuff notion system since the 16th century. The term classical music was not used until the beginning of the 19th century and it came to existence in order to establish the period from J.S Bach to Beethoven as a golden age. This genre of music is still widely performed in front of its specific audience.When the term western music refers to the music of the western world, it is referred to European western music styles like folk, country, choral, rock and roll and many others. Symphony is a typical western music style that appeared in Italy. The ball room dances are also important part of the western music variety. This music includes polka, square dance and other dances which were treated as the dances for the elites.The western music seen as music used in the cowboy movies derived from the folk music. It is originally composed by the immigrants who settled in America and Canada. The term western music was connected to the term country music because the Billboard chart was using it for classification. Country music is a mix from folk and modern music from America and Canada. The term gained popularity in 1940 when the hillbilly music, a type of music from the rural, mountain areas in America was declared as degradation. Country music was very popular in the 1970s and although in the rest of the world its popularity has declined, it is still used in UK and Ireland. The music genres like hip hop, heavy metal, rock and roll, disco, funk, and nowadays the modern electronic music are all treated as western music styles when opposed to the music from the East. These genres appeared as a result of different social and political reasons. People form different ethnicity and social background created these genres to express their feelings or revolt against the society. For example hip-hop is a typical Afro-American music that appeared in the 1970s in New York in South Bronx among the Afro-American youngsters. Since than this music has become very popular, and excelled the boundaries of the Afro-American communities. Nowadays it is widely listened to by all people around the world. No matter if it is western music or music from the East, music is the best way to express peoples feelings, opinions and in the same time to bring people together no matter the colour, ethnicity or social background. Music does not recognise borders or political systems. Music is a good vibration of energy that travels around the globe.

NEWS FOR THIS WEEKLester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 August 12, 2009) known as Les Paul was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which "made the sound of rock and roll possible". He is credited with many recording innovations. His innovative talents extended into his playing style, including licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of the present day. Paul's innovative guitar, "The Log", built after-hours in the Epiphone guitar factory in 1940, was one of the first solid-body electric guitars. NEWS FOR THIS WEEKMusic is entertaining most especially to children. Thus, even at the very young age they must be exposed to music. By doing so, kids develop their sense of adventure and discovery. Children's music can be treated as therapy. Application of children's music can treat some physiological and psychosocial elements of illness. Studies have proven that children with developmental delays and learning disabilities like Down's syndrome respond to music. Thus, exposure to music can boost response and expression. Children's music treats developmental delays and learning disabilities by drawing out movements. The latter develops self-awareness which can easily be manifested. Aside from entertainment and therapy, children's music is also a special kind of education. It develops the cognitive skills of children. Exposure to music stimulates learning about colors, numbers, shapes and parts of the body. As a consequence, though may not be the primary goal, it increases the child's intelligence. Stimulation of cognitive abilities leads to multi-sensory development. The latter contributes to the ability of a child to retail information and be attentive to detail. As a result, the child becomes confident and clever. Children's music can also develop the child's social skills. Children's music can be so powerful that it can develop both the intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects of a child. It simultaneously augments functional abilities at the same time the expressive and creative capacities of a child.

NEWS FOR THIS WEEKThe Fte de la Musique, also known as World Music Day, is a music festival taking place on June 21. The idea was first broached in 1976 by American musician Joel Cohen, then employed by the national French radio station France Musique. Cohen proposed an all-night music celebration at the moment of the summer solstice. The idea was taken up by French Music and Dance director Maurice Fleuret for Minister of Culture Jack Lang in 1981 and first took place in 1982.Its purpose is to promote music in two ways:Amateur and professional musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets. The slogan Faites de la musique (Make music), a homophone of Fte de la Musique, is used to promote this goal. Many free concerts are organized, making all genres of music accessible to the public. Two of the caveats to being sanctioned by the official Fte de la Musique organization in Paris are that all concerts must be free to the public, and all performers donate their time for free. In 2011, the festival utilized online booking site Gigmaven to organize its performers.NEWS FOR THIS WEEKWestern music might refer to Classical music, music from the western world as opposed to the eastern world or music from cowboy movies. Classical music is an art music that appeared in the 10th century as a result of the western secular and liturgical music. European classical western music is different than the other non-European and popular genres because it uses a specific stuff notion system since the 16th century. The term classical music was not used until the beginning of the 19th century and it came to existence in order to establish the period from J.S Bach to Beethoven as a golden age. This genre of music is still widely performed in front of its specific audience. When the term western music refers to the music of the western world, it is referred to European western music styles like folk, country, choral, rock and roll and many others. Symphony is a typical western music style that appeared in Italy. The term western music was connected to the term country music because the Billboard chart was using it for classification. Country music is a mix from folk and modern music from America and Canada. The term gained popularity in 1940 when the hillbilly music, a type of music from the rural, mountain areas in America was declared as degradation. Country music was very popular in the 1970s and although in the rest of the world its popularity has declined, it is still used in UK and Ireland. The music genres like hip hop, heavy metal, rock and roll, disco, funk, and nowadays the modern electronic music are all treated as western music styles when opposed to the music from the East. These genres appeared as a result of different social and political reasons. For example hip-hop is a typical Afro-American music that appeared in the 1970s in New York in South Bronx among the Afro-American youngsters. Since than this music has become very popular, and excelled the boundaries of the Afro-American communities. Nowadays it is widely listened to by all people around the world. No matter if it is western music or music from the East, music is the best way to express peoples feelings, opinions and in the same time to bring people together no matter the colour, ethnicity or social background. Music does not recognise borders or political systems. Music is a good vibration of energy that travels around the globe. Jazz is a musical tradition and style of music that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th century American popular music. Its West African pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythm, syncopation, and the swung note. The word "jazz" (in early years also spelled "jass") began as a West Coast slang term and was first used to refer to music in Chicago at about 1915. From its beginnings in the early 20th century jazz has spawned a variety of subgenres: New Orleans Dixieland dating from the early 1910s, big band-style swing from the 1930s and 1940s, bebop from the mid-1940s, a variety of Latin jazz fusions such as Afro-Cuban and , free jazz from the 1950s and 1960s, jazz fusion from the 1970s, acid jazz from the 1980s (which added funk and hip-hop influences), and nu jazz in the 1990s. As the music has spread around the world it has drawn on local, national, and regional musical cultures, its aesthetics being adapted to its varied eThe term NOTICE:NEWS FOR THIS WEEKThis manuscript is Mozarts record of his compositions in the last seven years of his life, and thus is a uniquely important document. During this period, from Feb 1784 until December 1791, he composed many operas, several of his most beautiful piano sonatas and his last 3 great symphonies as well as several famous lesser works. Mozart organized the entries in the order in which they were completed on the left hand page he entered five compositions, each with its date, title and often its instrumentation

Musee Musical School of Music News for This Week 22/08/2011The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ,[1] is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country music, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes (reed chambers) or multiple holes. The pressure caused by blowing or drawing air into the reed chambers causes a reed or multiple reeds to vibrate up and down creating sound. Each chamber has multiple, variable-tuned brass or bronze reeds, which are secured at one end and loose on the other end, with the loose end vibrating and creating sound.Reeds are pre-tuned to individual tones, and each tone is determined according to the size of reed. Longer reeds make deep, low sounds and short reeds make higher-pitched sounds. On certain types of harmonica the pre-tuned reed can be changed (bending a note) to another note by redirecting air flow into the chamber. There are many types of harmonicas, including diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, orchestral, and bass versions.The high-energy beats of Western and African drums can reduce stress in younger people as they battle to make headway in the academic or professional world, says British music therapist Eleanor Richards. Lot of young people, who face stress in relationships and suffer from depression, tries to heal with music. Most of these youngsters are studying and at the same time are trying to be successful in their first job. They are prone to low spells, Richards said. Underlying the depression, there might be very angry feelings which get suppressed. Playing an instrument like an African drum or Western percussion instrument can release some of the anger and the negative energy, she explained. If a patient is passionate about music, the therapy works faster, she said. Richards, who teaches at Anglia Ruskin University in Britain and works with students at Cambridge University, was in New Delhi to address a session on the healing power of music at the International Ancient Arts Festival.The rhythms of the drums mean different things to different people and produce different reactions, she said. Her way of treating psychological maladies in youngsters with music is interactive. Drums are not the only instrument she uses in her therapy and she also works with the piano, cymbals, metal instruments and the zylophone. Noting music is being increasingly used to treat patients with severe mental disabilities, illnesses like AIDS (to address the patients emotional turmoil), autism and Alzheimers disease,The ancient gamelan instruments large wooden and metal contraptions use a mix of percussion beats, rhythm and melody and can make up an entire orchestra. She also said music was being used as a healing device in two special prison hospitals, housing criminals with serious records and also among young offenders. In Africa, there is wide belief that African drums heal relationships when played together and teach harmony and help one attune to the invisible world of mutual energy.How is it possible to be a composer - and that is all you can be - and to discover that you are slowly going deaf? That was the starting point for my research into Beethoven's life. Beethoven's triumph over his deafness - his ability to compose even though he could not hear his own music - is one of the great miracles of art.Beethoven's relatively small output - just nine symphonies, five piano concertos, one violin concerto, sixteen string quartets, one opera....... - I would argue that piece for piece he has more devotees than Mozart, or indeed his other great contemporary, Haydn.Beethoven lived for fifty-six years and three months. His childhood was spent in his home town of Bonn; his entire adult life in the great musical city of Vienna.Beethoven had one great piece of good fortune often denied to composers: he was recognized as a prodigy from his earliest years.His first public recital took place in Cologne on 26 March 1778, when he was seven years old. His father, who arranged the concert, advertised the recital by "his little son of six years". It was almost certainly a deliberate falsification of Beethoven's age, so his father could proceed to earn money through his son - as Mozart's father had so successfully done.From that moment on, first in Bonn, and then later in Vienna, Beethoven's extraordinary virtuosity gained him easy entry to the highest and most aristocratic salons in the land.

MUSEE MUSICAL SCHOOL OF MUSIC NEWS FOR THIS WEEK 03/10/2011The SymphoniesThe former British Prime Minister James Callaghan was asked late in his long life whether there was anything he regretted not achieving. He replied that he wished he could have written Beethovens nine symphonies. Beethovens customary to dismiss the first two symphonies they owe too much to Mozart, Beethoven had not yet found his style then say of the remaining seven that the odd numbers are important, the even ones less so.Beethoven was nearly 30 years of age before he completed his First Symphony. He clearly thought about it long and hard; he knew he would be judged on it. Sure enough, from the very first note, it is pure Beethoven. He begins it in a totally unconventional way three sets of rising chords. Hello? Im here. Already he is breaking the rules.He breaks them still further in the Second Symphony. He calls the third movement a Scherzo (literally, a Joke), the first time any movement of any symphony had been thus labelled. The normal title was Minuet, clearly an old-fashioned concept for Beethoven. The opening of the final movement, like a succession of coiled springs, must have stunned his first audience, and still brings us up short today.And so we come to the Third Symphony, the Eroica. It begins with two massive chords, a call to attention. Beethoven grabs you in bar one, and does not let you go. Already in the third bar the violins descend to a totally wrong note wrong key, wrong everything, it shouldnt be there but almost in the nature of a crime writer laying clues, it is resolved much later in the work.Halfway through the first movement the first horn comes in a bar early. At rehearsal Ferdinand Ries, hearing this, called the player a dolt and told Beethoven he would deal with him afterwards; Beethoven, to Riess mortification, told him that was how it was meant to be. The first movement is the longest movement of any symphony to date.The second movement is a funeral march. When, years later, Beethoven was told Napoleon Bonaparte had died on St Helena and it was suggested he might like to compose a funeral march, Beethoven replied he already had. He was referring to this movement. Go to a performance of this Symphony, and in the middle of the third movement watch the three horn players grow visibly pale as their great solo passage looms then imagine what it must have been like to horn players in Beethovens day, playing natural horns with no valves, just their lips and right fist in the bell allowing them to change pitch.The huge fourth movement begins with a flourish, then resorts almost to a joke, single notes plucked on the strings, fragmented, varied, before the glorious main theme finally comes in. In performance, check that the first violins play the two unexpected grace notes at the beginning of the first bar. They are often dropped. Black mark to any conductor who discards them.This was the symphony Beethoven recognising its sheer size and quality originally intended dedicating to Napoleon, angrily scratching his name off the title page when Napoleon declared himself Emperor.The Eroica, written in 1803, was the single most important work Beethoven had composed to date. It revolutionised not just the symphony, but music itself, moving it into a new century. It is like a novel in the form of notes. Years later Beethoven was asked which of his symphonies was his favourite: Eh! Eh! the Eroica. And yes, it is my favourite of the nine.The Fourth has suffered from being wedged, as it were, between the monumental Third and the mighty Fifth. It is perhaps the least heard of the nine. So treat yourself, enjoy the gallop of the first movement, wonder at the harsh chords of descent into despair in the second movement, the syncopated rhythms of the third movement, and try to keep your hands and feet still in the impossibly lively fourth movement.The Fifth Symphony someone really said to me once: I know Beethoven. Didnt he write Beethovens Fifth? is the most famous symphony in the history of music, with the best known opening bars in all music. Yet try humming them and the bars that follow. Impossible. A motif rather than a theme, and so compressed and full of such energy that they are universally known. Used by the BBC to tap out of the theme of radio broadcasts to the Free French during the Second World War. Dot-dot-dot-dash. Morse code for V. V for Victory.For the first time in any symphony by any composer, the three-note theme is carried through the whole work. At the opening of the final movement, after a mysterious passage of ghostliness, an orchestral sound so rousing that at the first performance in Paris, an old soldier in uniform rose to his feet and cried out Vive lEmpereur!The Sixth, the Pastoral, Beethovens evocation of the countryside, and the only time Beethoven ever wrote down on paper exactly what it was he was trying to represent. Joyful feelings on being in the countryside. Bird calls, a running stream, a peasant dance, a storm, the shepherds hymn of thanks after the storm has passed.Check out the second bassoon in the middle of the country dance section. Three isolated notes, then four. Repeated. Why? Because Beethoven had seen a bassoonist playing like that in a band in a tavern in one of the villages dotting the Vienna Woods, seeming to fall asleep between the notes, then waking up just in time to play them. And the country dance itself? Again, Beethoven had witnessed country folk swirling round to infectious rhythms, and he recreated them in this symphony. Beethoven loved nature: this is his homage to it.Those bird calls, by the way, represent the nightingale, the cuckoo, and (the one you always forget) the quail. You can be forgiven for getting it wrong. Beethoven himself wasnt so sure. Years later, walking along the brook with his helper Schindler, he pointed to the spot where he had sat and composed the Pastoral. He then pointed up to a tree and told Schindler that was where he had heard the yellowhammer, which inspired him to include it in the symphony. A yellowhammers song rises like a broken chord nothing remotely similar is in the symphony. True, there is some doubt over the translation of the word Beethoven used, but still no possible interpretation of it accords with what he actually composed!The Seventh, described by Wagner who used to play a piano version of it as the apotheosis of the dance, does not let up in its intensity. Another funeral march, and given that Beethoven composed this in 1812, I can never listen to it without imagining the dispirited and broken soldiers of Napoleons Grande Arme trudging home from Moscow in the snow. Beethoven conducted the first performance of this symphony, and an eye witness described him as crouching below the rostrum in the quiet passages, then leaping so high in the loud passages that his feet left the floor.If the Eighth, like the Fourth, suffers from being wedged between two mighty works, listen to Toscaninis 1939 recording of it, and you will hear in the build-up to the first movement climax music that catches fire. Marvel too at Beethovens audacity in the deliberate discords in the slow movement.The Ninth, the Choral. Greatest Symphony ever written. Voices and music. New. Revolutionary. A theme adopted by the European Union as its anthem. The piece chosen by Leonard Bernstein to conduct after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, substituting the word Freiheit (freedom) for Freude (joy) in the final movement. (Beethoven would surely have approved.) A slow movement of such beauty time seems to stand still. And in an outrageously audacious passage, in the white heat of the final movement the music really does stand still, as Beethoven puts on the brake and literally stops everything. Whole chapters of books, whole books, have been written about this symphony. Just listen to it.By the way, Beethoven carried a book of Schillers poetry with him from his student days, always intending one day to set the poem An die Freude to music. The edition he carried contained the line: Bettler werden Frstenbrder [Beggars will become the Brothers of Princes]. In 1803 Schiller published a new edition of his poetry, substituting the line Beethoven used in his Ninth Symphony: Alle Menschen werden Brder [All Mankind Will Become Brothers].The Nine. Interesting that Beethoven composed the first eight in around 13 years. There was then a gap of 12 years, before he composed the Ninth. He was working on sketches for the Tenth three years after that. It was not that after the Eighth he felt he had said it all, then changed his mind: he had had the idea for a Choral Symphony years before. Why the long gap between numbers Eight and Nine? More than likely just the sheer difficulty of raising an orchestra sufficiently accomplished to play his music (remember the disastrous concert on 22 December 1808 at which the Fifth and Sixth were premiered).Beethovens Nine Symphonies. The most important such body of work in all music.This manuscrient.During this period, from February 1784 until December 1791, he composed many of his best-known works, iThis manuscript is Mozarts record of his compositions in the last seven years of his life, and thus is a uniquely important document.During this period, from February 1784 uperas, several of his most beautiful piano sonatas, and his NEWS FOR THIS WEEKMusee Musical School of Music News for This Week 16/08/2011 SEJohann Sebastian Bach was better known as a virtuoso organist than as a composer in his day. His sacred music, organ and choral works, and other instrumental music had an enthusiasm and seeming freedom that concealed immense rigor. Bach was born in Eisenach in 1685. He was taught to play the violin and harpsichord by his father,The six Brandenburg Concertos among many other secular works date from his Cthen years. Bach became Kantor of the Thomas School in Leipzig in May 1723 and held the post until his death. It was in May 1747, the composer was warmly received by King Frederick II of Prussia, for whom he wrote the gloriously abstruse Musical Offering (BWV 1079). It was in Leipzig that he composed the bulk of his religious and secular cantatas. Among Bachs last works was his 1749 Mass in B minor. Besieged by diabetes, he died on 28th July 1750.

MUSEE Musee Musical School of Music News for This Week Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:Composer

1756Born in Salzburg, Austria

1762-1765Goes on European concert tour, performs for Queen Marie Antoinette of France, and King George III of England.

1779Becomes court and church organist for the Archbishop of Salzburg

1781Moves to Vienna, marries Constanze Weber

1791Dies in Vienna, at age 35

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (born in Salzburg, Austria, on January 27, 1756 - died in Vienna, Austria, on December 5, 1791) was a great composer. Mozart wrote some of the most beautiful pieces ever written. Mozart's Early Life:Mozart's father, Leopold, was a musician. Wolfgang was a child prodigy; at the age of five he composed a minuet, and played both the harpsichord and the violin. He performed for the Viennese Royal court when he was six years old. From the age of 7 to 10, Wolfgang and his older sister toured Europe, playing for kings, emperors, and other royalty. Mozart wrote his first symphony at nine years old. A Life of Composing:During his short but very productive life, Mozart wrote over 600 pieces, including symphonies, sonatas, concertos, operas, dance music, and masses. Some of his most famous pieces are Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music, 1787) and the operas Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro, 1786), Don Giovanni (1787) and Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute, 1791). Mozart married Constanze Weber in 1781; they had six children but only two survived to become adults. Mozart's popularity with the public went up and down, and he had continuous financial problems. Mozart's Death:Mozart was only 35 years old when he died on December 5, 1791. He had been ill for some time, often with rheumatic fever. Because he was penniless when he died, Mozart was buried in a pauper's grave in Vienna, Austria. Musee Musical School of Music 09/09/2011News for This Week The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist. It is played by compressing or expanding a bellows whilst pressing buttons or keys, causing valves, called pallets, to open, which allow air to flow across strips of brass or steel, called reeds, that vibrate to produce sound inside the body. The instrument is sometimes considered a one-man-band as it needs no accompanying instrument. The performer normally plays the melody on buttons or keys on the right-hand manual, and the accompaniment, consisting of bass and pre-set chord buttons, on the left-hand manual. The accordion is often used in folk music in Europe, North America and South America. It is commonly associated with busking. Some popular music acts also make use of the instrument. Additionally, the accordion is sometimes used in both solo and orchestra performances of classical music. Some accordions are bisonoric, meaning they produce different pitches depending on the direction of bellows movement. Others are unisonoric and produce the same pitch regardless of the direction of bellows movement. Some accordions use a chromatic button board for the right-hand manual Others use a diatonic button board for the right-hand manual Yet others use a piano-style musical keyboard for the right-hand manual Additionally, different accordion craftsmen and technicians may tune the same registers in a slightly different manner, essentially "personalizing" the end result, such as an organ technician might voice a particular instrumentarpBack

Mus Musee Musical School of Music New News for This Week 16/09/2011The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. All harps have a neck, resonator and strings. Some, known as frame harps, also have a forepillar; those lacking the forepillar are referred to as open harps. Depending on its size (which varies considerably), a harp may be played while held in the lap or while stood on the floor. Harp strings can be made of nylon (sometimes wound around copper), gut (more commonly used than nylon), wire, or silk. A person who plays the harp is called a harpist or a harper. Folk and Celtic musicians often use the term "harper," whereas classical/pedal musicians use "harpist."

he electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; pronounced /bes/, as in "base") is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb (either by plucking, slapping, popping, tapping, or thumping), or by using a pick. The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, which also corresponds to one octave lower in pitch than the four lower strings of a guitar (E, A, D, and G).

The double bass or ontrabass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra. It is a standard member of the string section of the symphony orchestra and smaller string ensembles in Western classical music. In addition, it is used in other genres such as jazz, 1950s-style blues and rock and roll, rockabilly/psychobilly, bluegrass, and tango.

The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello.

Musee Musical School of Music News for This Week Date: 23/09/2011

The cello is a bowed string instrument. A person who plays a cello is called a cellist. The cello is used as a solo instrument, in chamber music, and as a member of the string section of an orchestra. The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello.

Violin

Musee Musical School of Music News for This Week Date: 23/09/2011 Brahms' Hungarian Dance NO.5 - This is the most famous of his twenty-one Hungarian Dances. The piece is based on Kler Bla's folk dance Brtfai Emlk, which Brahms mistakenly thought was a traditional folksong.Completed in 1869 and among Brahms' most popular works, the twenty-one (German: Hungarian DancesUngarische Tnze) are lively dance tunes based mostly on Hungarian themes. Brahms originally wrote these pieces for piano four-hands, and later arranged the first ten for solo piano. Only numbers 11, 14 and 16 are entirely original compositions. Brahms' Hungarian Dances have been arranged for a wide variety of instruments and ensembles, and they were influential in the development of ragtime.Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), was a great German composer, virtuoso pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. He wrote for piano, chamber ensemble, symphony orchestra, and for voice and chorus. He was a traditionalist and an innovator, as well as an inspiration for subsequent composers. His output includes masterpieces of Beethovenian power, of subtle emotion, and of great beauty. The music of Johannes Brahms is one of humanity's greatest treasures. Musee Musical School of Music News for This Week 10/10/2011 DefinitionA musical instrument can be broadly defined as any device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. Once humans moved from making sounds with their bodiesfor example, by clappingto using objects to create music from sounds, musical instruments were bornArchaeologyResearchers have discovered archaeological evidence of musical instruments in many parts of the world. Some finds are 67,000 years old; however their status as musical instruments is often in dispute. In July 1995, Slovenian archaeologist Ivan Turk discovered a bone carving in the northwest region of Slovenia. The carving, named the Divje Babe flute, features four holes that Canadian musicologist Bob Fink determined could have been used to play four notes of a diatonic scale. Researchers estimate the flute's age to be between 43,400 and 67,000 years, making it the oldest known musical instrument and the only musical instrument associated with the Neanderthal culture. Archaeological evidence of musical instruments was discovered in excavations at the Royal Cemetery in the Sumerian city of Ur (see Lyres of Ur). These instruments include nine lyres, two harps, a silver double flute, sistra and cymbals. Archaeologists in the Jiahu site of central Henan province of China, has found flutes made of bones that dates back to 7,000 and 9,000 years old,[ and they represent some of the "earliest complete, playable, tightly-dated, multinote musical instruments" ever found. A cuneiform tablet from Nippur in Mesopotamia dated to 2000 BCE indicates the names of strings on the lyre and represents the earliest known example of music notation. MUSIC QUOTES

Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. ~Charlie Parker

Without music, life would be a mistake. ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Music is what life sounds like. ~Eric Olson

Music expresses feeling and thought, without language; it was below and before speech, and it is above and beyond all words. ~Robert G. Ingersoll

Play the music, not the instrument. ~Author UnknownMusic is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. ~Ludwig van BeethovenHotel California" is the title song from the Eagles' album of the same name and was released as a single in February 1977. It is one of the best-known songs of the album-oriented rock era. Writing credits for the song are shared by Don Felder, Don Henley and Glenn Frey. The Eagles' original recording of the song features Henley singing the lead vocals and concludes with an extended section of electric guitar interplay between Felder and Joe Walsh. "Hotel California" topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for one week in May 1977. Three months after its release, the single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America representing 1,000,000 records shipped. The Eagles also won the 1977 Grammy Award for Record of the Year for "Hotel California" at the 20th Annual Grammy Awards in 1978.[1]In 2009, the song "Hotel California" was certified Platinum (Digital Sales Award) by the RIAA for sales of 1,000,000 digital downloads.[2]The song is rated highly in many rock music lists and polls. Rolling Stone magazine, for example, placed it as the 49th greatest song of all time.[3] It is also one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The song's guitar solo is ranked 8th on Guitar Magazine's Top 100 Guitar Solos and was voted the best solo of all time by readers of Guitarist magazine.[4]As one of the group's most popular and well-known songs, "Hotel California" has been a concert staple for the band since its release; performances of the song appear on the Eagles' 1980 live album simply called "Live", and, in an acoustic version, on the 1994 Hell Freezes Over reunion concert CD and video release. The "Hell Freezes Over" version is performed using eight guitars in total, and has a decidedly Spanish feel to it - with Don Felder playing a flamenco-inspired intro. During the band's Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne the song was performed in a manner closer to the original album version, but with a trumpet interlude in the beginning.The song is a playable track on the video game Guitar Hero World Tour.[5]Glenn Frey described the origins of the song:The song began as a demo tape, an instrumental by Don Felder. Hed been submitting tapes and song ideas to us since hed joined the band, always instrumentals, since he didnt sing. But this particular demo, unlike many of the others, had room for singing. It immediately got our attention. The first working title, the name we gave it, was Mexican Reggae'.[6]"Love Story" is a country pop song performed by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The song was written by Swift and produced by Nathan Chapman, alongside Swift. It was released on September 12, 2008 by Big Machine Records, as the lead single from Swift's second studio album Fearless. The song was written about a love interest of Swift's who was not popular among Swift's family and friends. Because of the scenario, Swift related to the plot of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1597) and used it as a source of inspiration to compose the song. However, she replaced Romeo and Juliet's original tragic conclusion with a happy ending. It is a midtempo song with a dreamy tenor, while the melody continually builds up. The lyrics have Swift narrating from the perspective of Juliet Capulet.The song was a critical success with critics complimenting Swift's writing style and the song's plot. It was also a commercial success, selling over 6.5 million copies worldwide since January 2010, therefore establishing itself among of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, the song peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 5 million digital downloads, becoming Swift's best-selling single to date. It was also deemed one of the best-selling singles in the United States and was once the best-selling country single of all time. The single was certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Internationally, "Love Story" became Swift's first and only number one single in Australia thus far and certified triple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).The song's accompanying music video was directed by Trey Fanjoy, who directed all of Swift's prior videos. The video is a period piece that drew influences from Medieval, Renaissance, and Pride and Prejudice (1813) eras. It follows Swift and model Justin Gaston as they meet in a university campus and imagine themselves in a prior era. "Love Story" was promoted through numerous live performances. The song was included on Swift's first and second headlining tours, the Fearless Tour (200910) and the Speak Now World Tour (2011), respectively; the song was used as the final performance on the latter. "Love Story" has been covered by several artists, including Joe McElderry and Forever the Sickest Kids.El Mariachi is a 1992 Mexican-American action film that is the debut of writer/director Robert Rodriguez. The Spanish language film was shot in the northern Mexican bordertown of Ciudad Acua with a mainly amateur cast. The US$7,000 production was originally intended for the Mexican home video market, but executives at Columbia Pictures liked the film so much that they bought the American distribution rights. Columbia eventually spent several times more than the 16mm film's original budget on 35mm transfers, promotion, marketing and distribution.[ The success of Rodriguez's directorial debut led him to create two further entries, Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), in what came to be known as the Mariachi Trilogy.Shout to the Lord" is a popular worship anthem, written by singer/songwriter Darlene Zschech in 1993, published by Hillsong Music Australia.It has also been covered by many other CCM artists including Kevin Jonas/Christ for the Nations, Carman, Don Moen, Rich Mullins, Matt Redman, Michael W. Smith, John Tesh and Diante do Trono (portuguese version "Aclame ao Senhor")It was the closing song on Idol Gives Back on 9 April 2008, sung by the remaining 8 contestants of American Idol and a gospel choir. The lyrics of the song were altered, changing the word "Jesus" to "Shepherd" in the first line. The song was performed again at the opening of the next show the following night, this time using the original lyrics. Due to strong download sales through iTunes Store, the studio version of the performance charted at number 43 in the Billboard Hot 100, based on digital download sales alone.Musee Musical School of Music News for This Week 04/11/2011 Gypsy jazz (also known as "Gypsy Swing") is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources. Django was foremost among a group of Gypsy guitarists working in and around Paris in the 1930s through the 1950s, a group which also included the brothers Baro, Sarane, and Matelo Ferret and Reinhardt's brother Joseph "Nin-Nin" Reinhardt.Many of the musicians in this style worked in Paris in various popular Musette ensembles. The Musette style waltz remains an important component in the Gypsy jazz repertoire. Reinhardt was noted for combining a dark, chromatic Gypsy flavor with the swing articulation of the period. This combination is critical to this style of jazz. In addition to this his approach continues to form the basis for contemporary Gypsy jazz guitar. Reinhardt's most famous group, the Quintette du Hot Club de France, also brought fame to jazz violinist Stphane Grappelli.Yanni Live at the Acropolis, is the name of both an album and video by contemporary instrumental musician Yanni, recorded live at the Herodes Atticus Theatre, Athens, Greece, on September 25, 1993, and released in 1994. (see 1994 in music and 1994 in film). This album peaked at #1 on "Billboard's "Top New Age Albums" chart and at #5 on the "Billboard 200" chart in the same year.[2] The film spent 229 weeks on Billboard's "Top Music Video" charts and "Top VHS sales" charts,[3] and received an Emmy nomination in 1994 for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Lighting Direction (Electronic) for a Drama Series, Variety Series, Miniseries or a Special".[4]In a three-year television deal with PBS, the live television special was one of the top fundraising subjects for PBS,[5] raising $13 million, with more than 750,000 home videos and more than 7 million albums sold worldwide.[6] It has been seen in 65 countries by half a billion people, has almost continuously remained on the charts since its release, and is the second best-selling music video of all time,[7][8] (behind Michael Jackson's video for Thriller with nine million units).The composition, Acroyali/Standing in Motion, from this album, was determined to have the "Mozart Effect", by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine because it was similar to Mozart's K 448 in tempo, structure, melodic and harmonic consonance and predictability.[9][10]The corresponding concert tour of the year was "Yanni Live, The Symphony Concerts 1994Musee Musical School of Music News for This Week 24/10/2011Oscar Lopez (born 1954 in Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean-Canadian folk and nouveau flamenco guitarist. He has won many awards from the Latino community. Lopez moved to Canada in 1979 and settled in Calgary, Alberta. He began pursuing music as a career, becoming a popular draw on the Canadian folk festival circuit, and released his debut album, Hola, in 1989. Several of his albums have been nominated for Canada's Juno Awards, and 2000's Armando's Fire was his first Juno win, for Best Instrumental Album. He has recorded on the Narada label. He was also named instrumentalist of the year by the Prairie Music Awards. Classical Soul broke the Latin Charts during the first few weeks. Although he has continued recording, Lopez had not toured or performed in several years due to a battle with depression. As a result, Spirit of the West recorded a tribute song to Lopez, "Come Back Oscar", on their 2004 album Star Trails. On July 24, Lopez appeared on stage with Spirit of the West at the Calgary Folk Music Festival to perform the song. In 1997 Lopez began playing with James Keelaghan in a group known as The Compadres. In 1998, he co-produced the album, "Volcn: Tributo a Jos Jos", a tribute album dedicated to the iconic Mexican singer Jose Jose. Musee Musical School of MusicNews for This Week 11/11/2011Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) Polish Romantic Era Composer

Frederic Chopin was born on March 1, 1810 in Poland. His father was French and his mother was Polish. In his future the music of both of these nations would influence his compositions. Some of his works for piano are called mazurkas and polonaises, which are polish dances.As a child he showed an intelligence that allowed him to absorb everything. As he grew older, so did his abilities of observation, drawing, and his uncommon ability to imitate what he observed.Frederic's first professional piano teacher was the respected Wojciech Zywny. He was devoted to the piano and his skills soon surpassed those of his teacher. At the age of seven, his public performances began to be compared to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a child, and to his contemporary, Ludwig van Beethoven.No other composer could play the piano like Chopin. His performances showed exceptional tenderness, happiness and boldness.Chopins love of Poland is captured in a small silver box filled with Polish earth which he carried with him when he left Poland at the age of 21. The silver box was buried with him when he died in Paris on October 17, 1849 at the age of 38.

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times.[1] The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period.European music is largely distinguished from many other non-European and popular musical forms by its system of staff notation, in use since about the 16th century.[2] Western staff notation is used by composers to prescribe to the performer the pitch, speed, meter, individual rhythms and exact execution of a piece of music. This leaves less room for practices such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation, that are frequently heard in non-European art music and popular music.[3][4][5]The term "classical music" did not appear until the early 19th century, in an attempt to "canonize" the period from Johann Sebastian Bach to Beethoven as a golden age.[6] The earliest reference to "classical music" recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836.[1

Montage of great classical music composers. From left to right:Top row Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven;second row Gioachino Rossini, Felix Mendelssohn, Frdric Chopin, Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi;third row Johann Strauss II, Johannes Brahms, Georges Bizet, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Antonn Dvok;bottom row Edvard Grieg, Edward Elgar, Sergei Rachmaninoff, George Gershwin, Aram KhachaturianThis article is about Western art music from 1000 AD to the present. CharacteristicsGiven the extremely broad variety of forms, styles, genres, and historical periods generally perceived as being described by the term "classical music," it is difficult to list characteristics that can be attributed to all works of that type. Vague descriptions are plentiful, such as describing classical music as anything that "lasts a long time," a statement made rather moot when one considers contemporary composers who are described as classical; or music that has certain instruments like violins, which are also found in other genres. However, there are characteristics that classical music contains that few or no other genres of music contain.[8][edit] LiteratureThe most outstanding and particular characteristic of classical music is that the repertoire tends to be written down. Composers and performers alike are typically highly literate in understanding notation and the written quality of the music has, in addition to preserving the works, led to a high level of complexity within them.

Musee Musical School of MusicNews for This Week 11/11/2011Musee Musical School of MusicNews for This Week 11/11/2011

Instrumentation Musee Musical School of Music News for This Week 18/11/2011The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra performs Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. The instruments used in most classical music were largely invented before the mid-19th century (often much earlier), and codified in the 18th and 19th centuries. They consist of the instruments found in an orchestra, together with a few other solo instruments (such as the piano, harpsichord, and organ). The symphony orchestra is the most widely known medium for classical music. The orchestra includes members of the string, woodwind, brass, and percussion families. Electric instruments such as the electric guitar appear occasionally in the classical music of the 20th and 21st centuries. and popular musicians have experimented in recent decades with electronic instruments such as the synthesizer, electric and digital techniques such as the use of sampled or computer-generated sounds, and the sounds of instruments from other cultures such as the gamelan.None of the bass instruments existed until the Renaissance. In Medieval music, instruments are divided in two categories: loud instruments for use outdoors or in church, and quieter instruments for indoor use. The Baroque orchestra consisted of flutes, oboes, horns and violins, occasionally with trumpets and timpani.[9] Many instruments which are associated today with popular music used to have important roles in early classical music, such as bagpipes, vihuelas, hurdy-gurdies and some woodwind instruments. On the other hand, instruments such as the acoustic guitar, which used to be associated mainly with popular music, have gained prominence in classical music through the 19th and 20th centuries.While equal temperament became gradually accepted as the dominant musical temperament during the 19th century, different historical temperaments are often used for music from earlier periods. For instance, music of the English Renaissance is often performed in mean tone temperament. Keyboards almost all share a common layout (often called the piano keyboard).[edit] FormWhereas the majority of popular styles lend themselves to the song form, classical music can also take on the form of the concerto, symphony, sonata, opera, dance music, suite, tude, symphonic poem, and others.Classical composers often aspire to imbue their music with a very complex relationship between its affective (emotional) content and the intellectual means by which it is achieved. Many of the most esteemed works of classical music make use of musical development, the process by which a musical idea or motif is repeated in different contexts or in altered form. The sonata form and fugue employ rigorous forms of musical development.[edit] Technical executionAlong with a desire for composers to attain high technical achievement in writing their music, performers of classical music are faced with similar goals of technical mastery, as demonstrated by the proportionately high amount of schooling and private study most successful classical musicians have had when compared to "popular" genre musicians, and the large number of secondary schools, including conservatories, dedicated to the study of classical music. The only other genre in the Western world with comparable secondary education opportunities is jazz.[edit] ComplexityPerformance of classical music repertoire demands a significant level of technical mastery on the part of the musician; proficiency in sight-reading and ensemble playing, thorough understanding of tonal and harmonic principles, knowledge of performance practice, and a familiarity with the style/musical idiom inherent to a given period, composer or musical work are among the most essential of skills for the classically trained musician.Works of classical repertoire often exhibit artistic complexity through the use of thematic development, phrasing, harmonization, modulation (change of key), texture, and, of course, musical form itself. Larger-scale compositional forms (such as that of the symphony, concerto, opera or oratorio, for example) usually represent a hierarchy of smaller units consisting of phrases, periods, sections, and movements. Musical analysis of a composition aims at achieving greater understanding of it, leading to more meaningful hearing and a greater appreciation of the composer's style.[edit] SocietyClassical music is often perceived as opulent or signifying some aspect of upper-level society. However, the traditional perception that only upper-class society has access to and appreciation for classical music, or even that classical music represents the upper-class society, may not be true, given that many working classical musicians fall somewhere in the middle-class income range in the United States,[10] and that classical concertgoers and CD buyers are not necessarily upper class. Even in the Classical era, Mozart's opere buffe such as Cos fan tutte were popular with the general public.Classical music regularly features in pop culture, forming background music for movies, television programs and advertisements. As a result most people in the Western World regularly and often unknowingly listen to classical music; thus, it can be argued that the relatively low levels of recorded music sales may not be a good indicator of its actual popularity. In more recent times the association of certain classical pieces with major events has led to brief upsurges in interest in particular classical genres. A good example of this was the choice of Nessun dorma from Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot as the theme tune for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which led to a noticeable increase in popular interest in opera and in particular in tenor arias, which led to the huge sellout concerts by The Three Tenors. Such events are often cited as helping to drive increases in the audiences at many classical concerts that have been observed in recent times.[edit] HistoryPeriods of Western art music

Early

Medieval(5001400)

Renaissance(14001600)

Baroque(16001760)

Common practice

Baroque(16001760)

Classical(17501830)

Romantic(18151910)

Modern and contemporary

20th century(19002000)

Contemporary(1975present)

21st century(2000present)

Main article: History of musicThe major time divisions of classical music are the early music period, which includes Medieval (5001400) and Renaissance (14001600), the Common practice period, which includes the Baroque (16001750), Classical (17501830) and Romantic (18151910) periods, and the modern and contemporary period, which includes 20th century (19002000) and contemporary (1975current).The dates are generalizations, since the periods overlapped and the categories are somewhat arbitrary. For example, the use of counterpoint and fugue, which is considered characteristic of the Baroque era, was continued by Haydn, who is classified as typical of the Classical period. Beethoven, who is often described as a founder of the Romantic period, and Brahms, who is classified as Romantic, also used counterpoint and fugue, but other characteristics of their music define their period.The prefix neo is used to describe a 20th century or contemporary composition written in the style of an earlier period, such as Classical or Romantic. Stravinsky's Pulcinella, for example, is a neoclassical composition because it is stylistically similar to works of the Classical period.[edit] RootsMain article: Ancient musicThe roots of Western classical music lie in early Christian liturgical music, and its influences date back to the Ancient Greeks. Development of individual tones and scales was done by ancient Greeks such as Aristoxenus and Pythagoras.[11] Pythagoras created a tuning system and helped to codify musical notation. Ancient Greek instruments such as the aulos (a reed instrument) and the lyre (a stringed instrument similar to a small harp) eventually led to the modern-day instruments of a classical orchestra.[12] The antecedent to the early period was the era of ancient music from before the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD). Very little music survives from this time, most of it from Ancient Greece.[edit] Early Period

A musician plays the vielle in a fourteenth-century Medieval manuscript.

The chanson Belle, bonne, sage by Baude Cordier, an ars subtilior piece included in the Chantilly Codex.

Johannes Ockeghem, Kyrie "Au travail suis," excerpt.Main articles: Medieval music and Renaissance musicSee also: List of Medieval composersand List of Renaissance composersThe Medieval period includes music from after the fall of Rome to about 1400. Monophonic chant, also called plainsong or Gregorian Chant, was the dominant form until about 1100.[13] Polyphonic (multi-voiced) music developed from monophonic chant throughout the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, including the more complex voicings of motets. The Renaissance period was from 1400 to 1600. It was characterized by greater use of instrumentation, multiple interweaving melodic lines, and the use of the first bass instruments. Social dancing became more widespread, so musical forms appropriate to accompanying dance began to standardize.It is in this time that the notation of music on a staff and other elements of musical notation began to take shape.[14] This invention made possible the separation of the composition of a piece of music from its transmission; without written music, transmission was oral, and subject to change every time it was transmitted. With a musical score, a work of music could be performed without the composer's presence.[13] The invention of the movable-type printing press in the 15th century had far-reaching consequences on the preservation and transmission of music.[15]Typical stringed instruments of the Early Period include the harp, lute, vielle, and psaltery, while wind instruments included the flute family (including recorder), shawm (an early member of the oboe family), trumpet, and the bagpipe. Simple pipe organs existed, but were largely confined to churches, although there were portable varieties.[16] Later in the period, early versions of keyboard instruments like the clavichord and harpsichord began to appear. Stringed instruments such as the viol had emerged by the 16th century, as had a wider variety of brass and reed instruments. Printing enabled the standardization of descriptions and specifications of instruments, as well as instruction in their use.[17][edit] Common Practice PeriodThe Common Practice Period is when many of the ideas that make up western classical music took shape, standardized, or were codified. It began with the Baroque era, running from roughly 1600 to the middle of the 18th century. The Classical era followed, ending roughly around 1820. The Romantic era ran through the 19th century, ending about 1910.[edit] Baroque music

Baroque instruments including hurdy gurdy, harpsichord, bass viol, lute, violin, and baroque guitar.Main article: Baroque musicSee also: List of Baroque composersMusee Musical School of Music News for This Week 16/12/2011Baroque music is characterized by the use of complex tonal counterpoint and the use of a basso continuo, a continuous bass line. Music became more complex in comparison with the songs of earlier periods. The beginnings of the sonata form took shape in the canzona, as did a more formalized notion of theme and variations. The tonalities of major and minor as means for managing dissonance and chromaticism in music took full shape.[ During the Baroque era, keyboard music played on the harpsichord and pipe organ became increasingly popular, and the violin family of stringed instruments took the form generally seen today. Vocalists began adding embellishments to melodies. Instrumental ensembles began to distinguish and standardize by size, giving rise to the early orchestra for larger ensembles, with chamber music being written for smaller groups of instruments where parts are played by individual instruments. The theories surrounding equal temperament began to be put in wider practice, especially as it enabled a wider range of chromatic possibilities in hard-to-tune keyboard instruments. Although Bach did not use equal temperament, as a modern piano is generally tuned, changes in the temperaments from the mean tone system, common at the time, to various temperaments that made modulation between all keys musically acceptable, made possible Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.[edit] Classical period music

Joseph Haydn (17321809) ca. 1770.Main article: Classical period (music)See also: List of Classical era composersThe Classical period, from about 1750 to 1820, established many of the norms of composition, presentation, and style, and was also when the piano became the predominant keyboard instrument. The basic forces required for an orchestra became somewhat standardized (although they would grow as the potential of a wider array of instruments was developed in the following centuries). Chamber music grew to include ensembles with as many as 810 performers for serenades. Opera continued to develop, with regional styles in Italy, France, and German-speaking lands. The opera buffa, a form of comic opera, rose in popularity. The symphony came into its own as a musical form, and the concerto was developed as a vehicle for displays of virtuoso playing skill. Orchestras no longer required a harpsichord (which had been part of the traditional continuo in the Baroque style), and were often led by the lead violinist (now called the concertmaster).[21]Wind instruments became more refined in the Classical period. While double reeded instruments like the oboe and bassoon became somewhat standardized in the Baroque, the clarinet family of single reeds was not widely used until Mozart expanded its role in orchestral, chamber, and concerto settings.[edit] Romantic era musicMain article: Romantic musicSee also: List of Romantic composersThe music of the Romantic era, from roughly the second decade of the 19th century to the early 20th century, was characterized by increased attention to an extended melodic line, as well as expressive and emotional elements, paralleling romanticism in other art forms. Musical forms began to break from the Classical era forms (even as those were being codified), with free-form pieces like nocturnes, fantasias, and preludes being written where accepted ideas about the exposition and development of themes were ignored or minimized.[22] The music became more chromatic, dissonant, and tonally colorful, with tensions (with respect to accepted norms of the older forms) about key signatures increasing.[23] The art song (or Lied) came to maturity in this era, as did the epic scales of grand opera, ultimately transcended by Richard Wagner's Ring cycle.[24]In the 19th century, musical institutions emerged from the control of wealthy patrons, as composers and musicians could construct lives independent of the nobility. Increasing interest in music by the growing middle classes throughout western Europe spurred the creation of organizations for the teaching, performance, and preservation of music. The piano, which achieved its modern construction in this era (in part due to industrial advances in metallurgy) became widely popular with the middle class, whose demands for the instrument spurred a large number of piano builders. Many symphony orchestras date their founding to this era.[23] Some musicians and composers were the stars of the day; some, like Franz Liszt and Niccol Paganini, fulfilled both roles.[25]The family of instruments used, especially in orchestras, grew. A wider array of percussion instruments began to appear. Brass instruments took on larger roles, as the introduction of rotary valves made it possible for them to play a wider range of notes. The size of the orchestra (typically around 40 in the Classical era) grew to be over 100.[23] Gustav Mahler's 1906 Symphony No. 8, for example, has been performed with over 150 instrumentalists and choirs of over 400.European cultural ideas and institutions began to follow colonial expansion into other parts of the world. There was also a rise, especially toward the end of the era, of nationalism in music (echoing, in some cases, political sentiments of the time), as composers such as Edvard Grieg, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Antonn Dvok echoed traditional music of their homelands in their compositions.[26][edit] 20th century, modern, and contemporary music

Igor Stravinsky and Pablo Picasso collaborated on Pulcinella in 1920.Main articles: 20th-century classical music, Contemporary classical music, and 21st-century classical musicSee also: List of 20th-century classical composers by birth dateand List of 21st-century classical composersModernism (19051985) marked a period when many composers rejected certain values of the common practice period, such as traditional tonality, melody, instrumentation, and structure. Composers, academics, and musicians developed extensions of music theory and technique.[citation needed] 20th century classical music, encompassing a wide variety of post-Romantic styles composed through the year 1999, includes late Romantic, Modern and Postmodern styles of composition. The term "contemporary music" is sometimes used to describe music composed in the late 20th century through to the present day.[edit] Significance of written notation[edit] Modernist view of the significance of the scoreThe modernist views hold that Classical music is considered primarily a written musical tradition, preserved in music notation, as opposed to being transmitted orally, by rote, or by recordings of particular performances. While there are differences between particular performances of a classical work, a piece of classical music is generally held to transcend any interpretation of it. The use of musical notation is an effective method for transmitting classical music, since the written music contains the technical instructions for performing the work. The written score, however, does not usually contain explicit instructions as to how to interpret the piece in terms of production or performance, apart from directions for dynamics, tempo and expression (to a certain extent). This is left to the discretion of the performers, who are guided by their personal experience and musical education, their knowledge of the work's idiom, their personal artistic tastes, and the accumulated body of historic performance practices.[edit] Criticism of the modernist viewSome critics express the opinion that it is only from the mid 19th century, and especially in the 20th century, that the score began to hold such a high significance. Previously, improvisation, rhythmic flexibility, improvisatory deviation from the score and oral tradition of playing was integral to style of music. Yet in the 20th century, this oral tradition and passing on of stylistic features within classical music disappeared. Instead, musicians use the score to play music, yet even given the score, there is considerable controversy about how to perform the works. Some of this controversy relates to the fact that this score-centric approach has led to performing styles that emphasize metrically strict block-rhythms (just as the music is notated in the score).Some quotes that highlight this criticism of modernist overvaluing of the score: [...]one of the most stubborn modern misconceptions concerning baroque music is that a metronomic regularity was intended (Baroque Interpretation in Grove 5th edition by Robert Donington) Too many teachers, conditioned to 20th Century ideas, teach Bach and other Baroque music exactly the wrong way. This leads to what musicologist Sol Babitz calls "sewing machine Bach."[27] [...] tendency to look alike, sound alike and think alike. The conservatories are at fault and they have been at fault for many years now. Any sensitive musician going around the World has noted the same thing. The conservatories, from Moscow and Leningrad to Juilliard, Curtis and Indiana, are producing a standardized product.[...] clarity, undeviating rhythm, easy technique, "musicianship". I put the word musicianship in quotes, because as often as not, it is a false kind of musicianship a musicianship that sees the tree and not the forest, that takes care of the detail but ignores the big picture; a musicianship that is tied to the printed note rather than to emotional meaning of a piece.The fact remains that there is a dreadful uniformity today and also an appalling lack of knowledge about the culture and performance traditions of the past. (Music Schools Turning out Robots?[27] by Harold C. Schonberg)[edit] ImprovisationImprovisation once played an important role in classical music. A remnant of this improvisatory tradition in classical music can be heard in the cadenza, a passage found mostly in concertos and solo works, designed to allow skilled performers to exhibit their virtuoso skills on the instrument. Traditionally this was improvised by the performer; however, it is often written for (or occasionally by) the performer beforehand. Improvisation is also an important aspect in authentic performances of operas of Baroque era and of bel canto (especially operas of Vincenzo Bellini), and is best exemplified by the da capo aria, a form by which famous singers typically perform variations of the thematic matter of the aria in the recapitulation section ('B section' / the 'da capo' part). An example is Beverly Sills' complex, albeit pre-written, variation of Da tempeste il legno infranto from Hndel's Giulio Cesare.Its written transmission, along with the veneration bestowed on certain classical works, has led to the expectation that performers will play a work in a way that realizes in detail the original intentions of the composer. During the 19th century the details that composers put in their scores generally increased. Yet the opposite trend admiration of performers for new "interpretations" of the composer's work can be seen, and it is not unknown for a composer to praise a performer for achieving a better realization of the original intent than the composer was able to imagine. Thus, classical performers often achieve very high reputations for their musicianship, even if they do not compose themselves. Generally however, it is the composers who are remembered more than the performers.Another consequence of the primacy of the composer's written score is that this has led to the state, where today improvisation plays a relatively minor role in classical music, in sharp contrast to musicians who lived during the baroque, classical and romantic era. Improvisation in classical music performance was common during both the Baroque era and in the nineteenth, yet lessened strongly during the 2nd half of the 19th and in the 20th centuries. Recently the performance of such music by modern classical musicians has been enriched by a revival of the old improvisational practices. During the classical period, Mozart and Beethoven often improvised the cadenzas to their piano concertos (and thereby encouraged others to do so), but they also provided written cadenzas for use by other soloists. In opera, the practice of singing strictly by the score i.e. come scritto, is famously propagated by Maria Callas, who called this practice 'straitjacketing' and implied that it allows the intention of the composer to be understood better, especially during studying the music for the first time.Relationship to other music traditionsClassical music has often incorporated elements or material from popular music of the composer's time. Examples include occasional music such as Brahms' use of student drinking songs in his Academic Festival Overture, genres exemplified by Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera, and the influence of jazz on early- and mid-20th century composers including Maurice Ravel, exemplified by the movement entitled "Blues" in his sonata for violin and piano.[28] Certain postmodern, minimalist and postminimalist classical composers acknowledge a debt to popular music.[29]There are numerous examples of influence in the opposite direction, including popular songs based on classical music, the use to which Pachelbel's Canon has been put since the 1970s, and the musical crossover phenomenon, where classical musicians have achieved success in the popular music arena.[30][edit] Folk musicComposers of classical music have often made use of folk music (music created by musicians who are commonly not classically trained, often from a purely oral tradition). Some composers, like Dvok and Smetana,[31] have used folk themes to impart a nationalist flavor to their work, while others (like Bartk) have used specific themes lifted whole from their folk-music origins.[32][edit] CommercialismCertain staples of classical music are often used commercially (either in advertising or in movie soundtracks). In television commercials, several passages have become clichd, particularly the opening of Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra (made famous in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey) and the opening section "O Fortuna" of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana; other examples include the Dies Irae from the Verdi Requiem, Edvard Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt, the opening bars of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walkre, Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee", and excerpts of Aaron Copland's Rodeo.Similarly, movies and television often revert to standard, clichd snatches of classical music to convey refinement or opulence: some of the most-often heard pieces in this category include Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain (as orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov), and Rossini's William Tell Overture.[edit] EducationMain article: Music educationThroughout history, parents have often made sure that their children receive classical music training from a young age. Some parents pursue music lessons for their children for social reasons or in an effort to instill a sense of self-discipline.[citation needed] Some believe that knowledge of important works of classical music is part of a good general education.During the 1990s, several research papers and popular books wrote on what came to be called the "Mozart effect": an observed temporary, small elevation of scores on certain tests as a result of listening to Mozart's works. The approach has been popularized in a book by Don Campbell, and is based on an experiment published in Nature suggesting that listening to Mozart temporarily boosted students' IQ by 8 to 9 points.[33] This popularized version of the theory was expressed succinctly by a New York Times music columnist: "researchers... have determined that listening to Mozart actually makes you smarter."[34] Promoters marketed CDs claimed to induce the effect. Florida passed a law requiring toddlers in state-run schools to listen to classical music every day, and in 1998 the governor of Georgia budgeted $105,000 per year to provide every child born in Georgia with a tape or CD of classical music. One of the co-authors of the original studies of the Mozart effect commented "I don't think it can hurt. I'm all for exposing children to wonderful cultural experiences. But I do think the money could be better spent on music education programs."[35]Medieval History (Plainchant through Machaut) Musee Musical School of Music News for This Week 09/12/2011Western classical music history is traditionally understood as beginning with plainchant the vocal religious practice of the Roman Catholic Church. Plainchant was transmitted by memory until the early 9th century, when the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne arranged for it to be notated, and for standardized plainchant books to be distributed to churches and monasteries across Europe. Limited in pitch range and monophonic (i.e., composed of a single melody with no accompaniment), plainchant was sung largely by monks, nuns, and clerics rather than by professional singers. Plainchant was sung in the Divine Offices, eight daily prayer services using Old Testament texts, and in the Mass, a midmorning celebration of the life and death of Jesus Christ. In the 10th and 11th centuries, composers began setting sacred texts polyphonically (i.e., with more than one melody at the same time). Leonin wrote polyphonic settings of the texts sung on the most important occasions of the Christian year, such as Christmas and Easter. Some sections of Leonin's polyphony were sped up and rhythmicized; later composers added the words of devotional poems to Leonin's notes. This example uses the Alleluia pascha nostrum plainchant as its tenor; it was sung as part of Easter services at the spectacular Gothic cathedral Notre Dame of Paris.Musee Musical School of Music News for This Week 26/11/2011Julian Pavone (USA) breaks the Guinness World Record as The Youngest Professional Drummer as of March 21, 2010 when he was 5 years 10 months and 3 days old. Previously, the record had been held by Tiger Onitsuka (Japan), who was 9 years 289 days old.Julian is considered a drumming prodigy. He began playing the drums while sitting on his father's lap at the age of three months. At 15 months-old, he was offered a contract to be a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers' drumline, making him the youngest member by 16 years! He is currently 7 years-old and plays a 22-piece custom drum set with 17 cymbals. He has appeared on more than 150 television and news shows. Julian has performed live on numerous radio stations around the world and for many concert venues. He has received numerous honors and awards, including "Maury's Most Talented Kid" of 2009, "The 2007 Rock and Roll Lifetime Achievement Award", and at age 3, was one of "Oprah's Most Talented Kids. He invented and received a patent for "Abracadabra" Stain Cover-up at age 4. His SECOND invention, "Julian's Drum Gloves" is patent pending. Julian is currently working on his sophomore CD with Michael J. Powell, a four-time Grammy Award inning producer who has also produced such legends as Aretha Franklin and Anita Baker.Musee Musical School of Music News for This Week 02/12/2011NEWS TIP : Monster Guitarist Randall Padilla is the fastest guitarist in the world and currently under Guinness record Richard Jarnefelt is a professional pianist with un - comparable music repertoire. His achievement was certified and honored by Guinness World Record in 1999 when he played 3000 songs from memory. The former British Prime Minister James Callaghan was asked in his last days whether there was anything he regretted not achieving. He replied that he wished he could have written Beethovens 9 symphonies. His symphonies are famous and the odd numbered symphonies are v.famous and important.Julian Pavone of USA is the youngest professional Drummer. He was 5yrs and 10 months old when he broke the record in 2010. He is considered as a drumming prodigy. Twelve-string guitars. The twelve-string guitar usually has steel strings and is widely used in folk music, blues, and rock and roll. Rather than having only six strings, the 12-string guitar has six courses made up of two strings each, like a mandolin or lute. When baking cakes, cookies, breads or pies, ensure that the oven is preheated to the correct temperature as the recipe demands. It is the simplest rule for getting perfect results. When baking, use the setting that gives both top and bottom heat.Musee Musical School of Music - News for This Week 10/01/2012Top Five Classical Record Holders Music aficionados can argue for days over which pianist employs the best technique to play Chopin, which conductors interpretation of Mahler is truest, or which house has the most glorious acoustics without coming to a resolution. Some claims, thanks to the Guinness World Record Book keepers, are incontrovertible. Weve compiled our five favorite record holders:1. Best-Selling Classical Album : When two Guinness Record HoldersLuciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo (who would go on to receive the longest amount of applause, 80 minutes, following his 1991 performance of Otello in Vienna)joined a third tenor, Jos Carreras, for a concert on the eve of the 1990 World Cup Final, the trio was destined to make history. The resulting album, The Three Tenors in Concert, still holds the record for the best-selling classical album with more than 12 million copies purchased.2. Longest Career as a Professional Clarinetist : Stanley Drucker, the much beloved former principal clarinetist at the New York Philharmonic, had an illustrious career, premiering both Aaron Coplands and John Coriglianos concertos for the instrument. His tenure also garnered the notice of the Guinness officials who presented him with the record for the longest career as a professional clarinetist. Drucker performed for 62 years, seven months and one day (60 of those years were with the Philharmonic). Said the Phils chairman, Paul B. Guenther: Not only is he is a true treasure, but he is also a really nice guy.

3. Fastest Fingers: The flashy Hungarian pianist Balazs Havasi, is known for pushing limits. He has produced crossover albums with pop stars, spoken at TED conferences, and on November 29, 2009 attempted to set the world record for the fastest fingers on a keyboard. The nimble pianist was able to play a single note 498 times in one minute (thats faster than eight times per second) to capture the record for most key hits in 60 seconds.

4. Fastest Violinist: Eight notes per second is nothing for the classically trained crossover violinist David Garrett. The worlds fastest violin player raced through Rimsky-Korsakovs Flight of the Bumblebee at a blazing 13 notes per secondamazingly, the well-known tune is still recognizableduring a BBC program.

5. Most Pianists Playing One Piece at the Same