Music theory and Talk:The Years of Rice and Salt: Difference between pages

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'''Music theory''' is a field of study that investigates the nature or mechanics of [[music]]. Music theory breaks music down into its elements and identifies rules and patterns that govern composers' techniques, specifically the techniques of composers in the Western classical tradition. It relies on traditional music notation to show how music is assembled.

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:Not only because of the long time scale, but also because of its realistic-utopian elements, and because of the frequent reflections about human nature, ''The Years of Rice and Salt'' resembles Robinson's Mars trilogy, a [[utopia]] brought to Earth.

I don't understand this: is it trying to say the Mars trilogy is "a [[utopia]] brought to Earth"? --[[User:Sam Francis|Sam]]

No. I tried to say that there are similarities between Robinsons utopian Mars trilogy and ''The Years of Rice and Salt'' in the points of:

*long time scale

== Pitch ==

*realistisc-utopian elements (i.e. ambivalence of utopia)

*reflections about human nature

So, YRC is the Mars utopia brought to earth. -- [[User:Tillwe|till we *)]] 22:07, Dec 7, 2003 (UTC)

Musical sounds are composed of [[pitch (music)|pitch]], duration, and [[timbre]]. Pitch is determined by the sound's frequency of vibration, such as the note A which at modern concert pitch is defined to be 440 Hz. [[Musical tuning|Tuning]] is the process of assigning pitches to [[note]]s. The difference in pitch between two notes is called an [[interval (music)|interval]]. The most basic interval is the [[octave]]; a note and another note with twice its frequency form an octave, and if the pitch with frequency 440 Hz is A, then the pitches with frequency 880 Hz, 1760 Hz as well as 220 Hz, 110 Hz, and 55 Hz are also A's. Notes can be arranged into different [[scale_(music)|scale]]s and [[musical mode|modes]]. In western music theory, the [[octave]] is divided into 12 notes, each called a half-step or ''semitone''. Patterns of half and whole steps (2 half steps, or a ''tone'') make up a scale in that [[octave]]. The scales most commonly encountered are the major, the harmonic minor, the melodic minor, and the natural minor.

== Chronology ==

In music written using the system of major-minor [[tonality]], the '''key''' of a piece determines the scale used. Transposing a piece from C major to D major will make all the notes two semitones higher. Even in modern [[equal temperament]], changing the key can change the feel of a piece of music, because it changes the relationship of the composition's pitches to the pitch range of the instruments on which the piece is being performed. This often affects the music's timbre, as well as having technical implications for the performers. However, changing the key in which a piece is performed may go unrecognized by the listener, since changing the key does not change the relationship of the individual pitches to each other. Therefore, different keys are often considered equivalent and a matter of choice on the part of performers. This is especially true for popular and folk songs.

KSR seems to have written much of this book (excluding the Chronology at the beginning) without knowing that the Muslim calendar is lunar, and consequently he starts his story, which begins in AD 1405, in "AH 783". (The correct year 1405 can be deduced from where he diverges from actual history, having [[Timur]] travel in a different direction. The sickness that's affecting him in this book is what in fact kills him in our history.)

== Rhythm ==

Later -- and this was corrected in the British paperback -- he calls the present year 2002 "AH 1381", and there are a few other places where he seems to be using solar (Persian) Muslim years. He should have gone back and corrected the entire text. I've replaced "ca. 1400" for Chapter 1 with "1405". --[[User:Heian-794]] 0:01, Jan 11, 2005

[[Rhythm]] is the arrangement of sounds in [[time]]. [[Metre (music)|Meter]] animates time in regular pulse groupings, called [[measures]] or bars. The [[time signature]] or meter signature specifies how many [[beat (music)|beat]]s are in a measure, and which value of written note is counted and felt as a single beat. Through increased stress and attack (and subtle variations in duration), particular tones may be accented. There are conventions in most musical traditions for a regular and hierarchical accentuation of beats to reinforce the meter. [[Syncopation|Syncopated]] rhythms are rhythms that accent unexpected parts of the beat. Playing simultaneous rhythms in more than one time signature is called [[polymeter]]. See also [[polyrhythm]].

:[[User:Ericg]], Zheng He doesn't figure in part three at all. I've taken the liberty of editing your revision and putting him back in the first chapter. -- [[User:Heian-794]] 23:08, Apr 19, 2005

In recent years, rhythm and meter have become an important area of research among music scholars. Recent work in these areas includes books by [[Fred Lerdahl]] and [[Ray Jackendoff]], [[Jonathan Kramer]], Christopher Hasty, William Rothstein, and Joel Lester.

== MelodyUtopian? ==

As someone who hasn't read this, I'm a bit confused. Is Robinson suggesting with this book that we would have utopia if all Europeans had died? And this is supposed to somehow be realistic? He seemed to touch on themes of this in the ''Mars'' Trilogy as I recall, but it sounds like this book was an off-the-deep-end bashing of all things Western. Perhaps not...? [[User:RobertM525|RobertM525]] 06:56, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

A [[Melody]] is a series of pitches sounding in succession. A melody heard only by itself is called monophony. It can also be accompanied by [[chords]], known as homophony, where it is usually (but not always) present in the highest notes. A third texture, called polyphony, consists of several simultaneous melodies of equal importance. [[Counterpoint]] is the study of combining such independent melodies. The ''Gradus ad Parnassum'' by [[Johann Fux|Johann Joseph Fux]] is a distillation of the principles of counterpoint and was used as an instructional manual for many composers, including [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]], [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] and [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]].

: Robert, I think the "utopian" label is not necessarily ''because of'' the death of the Europeans, but rather referring to the hopeful tone of the last chapter, where a world that has endured a horrific multi-generational war between two throroughly opposed ideologies has still managed to recover and progress towards the same positive future that we see coming about at the end of the Mars trilogy.

Melodic rhythm is often rooted in the accent patterns of language or the animating rhythms of dance.

This book is not at all a bashing of all things western. Give it a try; you'll enjoy it! [[User:Heian-794|Heian-794]] 07:36, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Melody is often the most identifiable element in Western music. Melodies often imply specific [[Musical_scale|scales]] or [[Mode (music)|modes]].

::It's not a utopian novel in the traditional sense, i.e. if the world was organised in such and such a way , and people made to do this and that, than we would have a paradise on Earth, far from it. The characters find themselves re-incarnated more often than not into lives ruled by political despots, but also despotisms of the mind and imagination. Despotisms that are the children of radical Islam, and the bureaucratic traditionalism of China. Nor is the novel religously utopian, the protaganists find no relief or reward from the pain of rebirth, from a life lived well or badly. There is no paradise or bliss following death, only rebirth, all one's hard won achievements, wisdom and insights lost, to be learnt again from the start.

== Harmony, consonance, & dissonance ==

::It is utopian in its belief in the fundamental goodness of individual human beings despite circumstances, the belief that the human spirit can be unbroken by setbacks even when cast against providence itself. The belief thatat no life is wasted even if it ends seemingly in failure; as do the majority of the individual incarnations. The "utopian" world at the end of the novel, is only possible because of the un-recorded eforts of those who went before, the acumulated toil of the untold billions who never made it into a history book "..the nameless actions of people who are never written down, the good they do for others passed on like a blessing...".

[[Harmony]] occurs when two or more pitches are sounded simultaneously, although harmony can be implied when pitches are sounded successively rather than simultaneously (as in [[Arpeggio|arpeggiation]]). Two simultaneous pitches form a diad. Three or more pitches sounded simultaneously are called chords, though the term is often used to indicate a particular organization of pitches, such as the triad, rather than just any three or more pitches.

::Actually you might not enjoy this book, it might frustrate and irritate you, for example when favourite characters get no respite with neat easy resolutions; but if you persevere with this book and do so with an open mind, you'll be the richer for having read it.[[User:KTo288|Koonan the almost civilised]] 20:03, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

[[consonance and dissonance|Consonance]] can be roughly defined as harmonies whose tones complement and augment each others' resonance, and dissonance as those which create more complex acoustical interactions (called 'beats'). A simplistic example is that of "pleasant" sounds versus "unpleasant" ones. Another manner of thinking about the relationship regards stability; dissonant harmonies are sometimes considered to be unstable and to "want to move" or "resolve" toward consonance. However, this is not to say that dissonance is undesirable. A composition made entirely of consonant harmonies may be pleasing to the ear and yet boring because there are no instabilities to be resolved.

==Fair use rationale for Image:Cover YearsOfRiceAndSalt.jpg==

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Brief audio ([[MIDI]]) musical examples of the interaction and effect of consonance and dissonance upon each other can be found here: [http://www.greenwych.ca/example.htm "The effect of context on dissonance"] and here: [http://www.greenwych.ca/melody.htm "The role of harmony in music"]

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on [[Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#Images.2FMedia|criteria for speedy deletion]]. If you have any questions please ask them at the [[Wikipedia:Media copyright questions|Media copyright questions page]]. Thank you.<!-- Template:Missing rationale2 -->[[User:BetacommandBot|BetacommandBot]] 21:17, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Melody is often organized so as to interact with changing harmonies (sometimes called a [[chord progression]]) that accompany it, setting up consonance and dissonance. The art of melody writing depends heavily upon the choices of tones for their nonharmonic or harmonic character.

== A minor question... ==

"Harmony" as used by music theorists can refer to any kind of simultaneity without a value judgment, in contrast with a more common usage of "in harmony" or "harmonious", which in technical language might be described as [[consonance and dissonance|consonance]].

"In the last chapters the book becomes increasingly '''reflexive''', citing fictional scientists and philosophers introduced in previous chapters as well as referring to Old Red Ink, who wrote a biography about a reincarnating jati group."

=== Four-part writing===

An exercise often set to develop and test a student's grasp of the workings of harmonic conventions is the writing of four-part harmony, often to a given bass line or a given melody.

Four-part writing can be used to write for vocalists, or for a quartet of instuments. Vocal four-part harmonies usually consist of a soprano, an alto, a tenor, and a bass. The soprano and alto are female parts and the tenor and bass are male.

Other common four-part writings consist of a brass quartet with trombones, French horns, and tubas, or a string quartet consiting of two violin parts, a viola part, and a cello part.

Shouldn't that be 'reflective'? If it's referring back to itself, that would be reflecting on itself, wheras 'reflexive' would be, well, 'a reflex'.

==Texture==

[[Musical texture]] is the overall sound of a piece of music commonly described according to the number and relationship between parts or lines of music: [[monophony]], [[heterophony]], [[polyphony]], [[homophony]], or [[monody]]. The perceived texture of a piece may also be affected by the timbre of the instruments playing these parts and the harmony and rhythms used, among other things.

:Nope. Check your dictionary. "Reflexive" means operating upon oneself. It's a term borrowed from grammar, to describe works which self-reference. --[[User:Orangemike|<font color="darkorange">Orange Mike</font>]] 13:39, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

== Notation ==

[[Music notation]] is the graphical representation of music. In standard Western notation, pitches are represented on the horizontal axis and time is represented by notation symbols on the vertical axis. Thus, [[notes]] are properly placed on the musical staff with appropriate time values to show musicians what note to play and when to play it.

Such notation makes up the contents of the [[musical staff]], along with directions indicating the [[key (music)|key]], [[tempo]], [[dynamics (music)|dynamics]], etc....

== Music and mathematics ==

{{main|Music and mathematics}}

Music has been susceptible to analysis by mathematics, ever since [[Pythagoras]] noticed the relationships between the frequencies of different pitches.

== Analysis ==

{{main|Musical analysis|Schenkerian analysis}}

Analysis attempts to answer the question "how does this music ''work''".

It has been proven that student involved in music in high school, score a certain percentage higher on the math section on the SAT's.

== Music perception and cognition ==

{{see|Fred Lerdahl|Ray Jackendoff}}

== 12-tone and set theory ==

{{see|serialism|set theory (music)|Arnold Schoenberg|Milton Babbitt|David Lewin|Allen Forte}}

== Musical semiotics ==

{{see|music semiology|Jean-Jacques Nattiez}}

== Ear training==

{{main|ear training}}

Aural skills — the ability to identify musical patterns by ear, as opposed to by the reading of notation — form a key part of a musician's craft and are usually taught alongside music theory. Most aural skills courses train the perception of [[Relative pitch|relative pitch]] (the ability to determine pitch in an established context) and rhythm. Sight-singing — the ability to sing unfamiliar music without assistance — is generally an important component of aural skills courses.

==Source==

*[[Benjamin Boretz|Boretz, Benjamin]] (1995) ''Meta-Variations: Studies in the Foundations of Musical Thought''. Red Hook, New York: Open Space.

== Further reading ==

*Taylor, Eric. ''AB Guide to Music''. Vol 1. England. Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, 1989. ISBN 1-85472-446-0

*Taylor, Eric. ''AB Guide to Music''. Vol 2. England. Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, 1991. ISBN 1-85472-447-9

== External links ==

{{wikiquote}}

* [http://www.ilearnmusic.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=106&Itemid=65 Music Theory Basics] Free Music Theory Basics and more --including Free Instrument Lessons for Guitar and Piano, Guitar Tablature, original songs, chords, and more...

* [http://www.dolmetsch.com/theoryintro.htm Music Theory & History Online]

* [http://www.societymusictheory.org/mto/ Music Theory Online]

* [http://www.guitar-school-online.com/lesson20.html Music theory lesson for the guitar]

* [http://www.ccarh.org/publications/books/cm/ Computing in Musicology]

* [http://musictheory.net/ Ricci Adams' Free Online Music Theory Lessons.]

* [http://www3.oup.co.uk/roymus/ Journal of the Royal Musical Association]

* [http://www.newmusicbox.org/ar_issue.nmbx?id=48 NewMusicBox.org Theory] Issue 48 - Vol.4, No.12, featuring an interview with [[Edward Cone]]

* [http://tonalsoft.com/enc/encyclopedia.aspx Tonalsoft: Encyclopedia of Microtonal Music Theory]

* [http://www.teoria.com/ '''''teoría''''' - a music theory web]

* [http://www.greenwych.ca/natbasis.htm Natural Bases of Scales] and [http://www.greenwych.ca/cycl-5-2.htm The 7-Note Solution] -- Why so many 5 & 7-note scales are found in ancient writings and artifacts.

* [http://ninagilbert.googlepages.com/British.html Glossary of US and British English musical terms]

* [http://www.rowy.net/ RowyNet] Advanced online music glossary of Italian musical terms in four languages: EN DE FR NL

* [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.music.theory Music Theory Newsgroup On Google Groups] - rec.music.theory Usenet Newsgroup

*[http://www.lamadeguido.com/morphogenesis.htm Morphogenesis of chords and scales] Chords and scales classification

*[http://www.lamadeguido.com/artangles.pdf Application of virtual pitch theory in music analysis (PDF)]

*[http://ogdenian.com/music_theory_composition.html Contemporary Impressionalistic Music Theory and Composition]

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