Random: Musical Notations

These look a bit weird?


Yes, they are legit.

Chart of Musical Notations

The Saxophone

There are several different types of saxophones and they are:

• Soprano in E flat
  
• Soprano in B flat
  
• Alto in E flat
  
• Tenor in B flat
  
• Baritone in E flat
  
• Bass in B flat
  

The first saxphone was made by Adolphe Sax in 1841 and resembled an Ophicleide except with a metal body. It was called a saxphone basse en cuivre until 1842 when it obtained the name saxophone.

The first saxophone, the bass sax, was not performed in a piece until December 1, 1844 in Kastner's opera Le dernier roi de Juda.

Adolphe Sax did not get a patent for the new instrument family until March 21, 1846.

French composers praised the invention of the saxphone because its wealth of sound placed it beyond comparison with other musical instruments in use at the time.

Kastner said that Adolphe Sax had created "an instrument with an entirely new sound-powerful, far-reaching, expressive and beautiful. With its unique tonal quality, it offers the best imaginable link between the very high voices of the orchestra and the very weak ones or those with a very uneven timbre... Uniting strength and charm, it does not drown out the one kind and cannot be drowned out by the other-it is a perfect instrument.

The instrument was free to general development in 1866.

The saxophone has grown in popularity since the 1960s and has been included in pop and rock music.

Flute and Family

What is a flute?
In its simplest form, a flute is an instrument with a hollow body into which air is blown. The airstream then strikes the edge of an opening at an end or side of the instrument. A specific pitch is created by the shape of the flute, the length of the tube or the volume of the vessel, and any open holes. They can be made out of a variety of materials, the most common being metal and wood. The (transverse) flute we are used to and most popular in Western music is actually the least commonly known/used flute worldwide.

History

The flute has had quite the evolution over time.

• Varying forms of flutes are found in almost every region the world except Australia and Greenland.
• Many early flutes looked more like modern recorders.
• Different styles of flutes and variations in material and size appeared over time.
• Music of any time period was created to include the popular flute of the day.
  

More and more keys were added to the flute:

• 1722 - Famous flutist and composer Quantz adds tuning cork in headjoint and C# key on footjoint
• 1726 - E-flat & D-sharp keys added on footjoint (two separate keys) by Quantz while he was in Paris
  
• 1760 - G#, B-flat, & F keys added by London makers Florio, Gedney, & Potter
• 1782 - Maker J.H. Ribock adds closed C key
• 1838 - Buffet and collaborator Coche, add D# trill key and "Dorus" G# key
• and more...

For more history, see http://www.jlpublishing.com/FluteHistory.htm

Ethnic Relative
One of the most widely used instruments of the flute family is the panpipe. It is made of many tubes/pipes of individual pitch grouped together in a clump or "raft". Each pipe is stopped at one end and blown over the other; there is no mouthpiece. They are used worldwide, though they are most popular in countries in the Pacific region.



Types of Modern Flutes
bass flute in C


alto flute in G



concert flute in C



tenor flute (in B flat)



soprano flute in E flat


treble flute in G


piccolo


Examples of Flute Music
flute choir at Wartburg

jazz:

classical:

The Clarinet!

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et (meaning little) to the Italian word clarino (meaning a type of trumpet), as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet.

Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest such woodwind family, with more than a dozen types, ranging from the BB flat contrabass to the A flat soprano.

A person who plays the clarinet is called a clarinetist. The clarinet was invented in Germany by Johann Christoph Denner around the turn of the 18th century, by adding a register key to the earlier chalumeau. Over time, additional keywork and airtight pads were added to improve tone and playability. Today, the clarinet is used in both jazz and classical ensembles, as well as in chamber groups and as a solo instrument.



Materials
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Clarinet bodies have been made from a variety of materials including wood, plastic, hard rubber, metal, resin, and ivory. The vast majority of clarinets used by professional musicians are made from African hardwood, mpingo (African Blackwood) or grenadilla.
Mouthpieces are generally made of hard rubber, although some inexpensive mouthpieces may be made of plastic. Other materials such as crystal/glass, wood, ivory, and metal have also been used. Ligatures are commonly made out of metal and plated in nickel, silver or gold. Other ligature materials include wire, wire mesh, plastic, naugahyde, string, or leather.


The instrument uses a single reed made from the cane of Arundo donax, a type of grass. Reeds may also be manufactured from synthetic materials. The ligature fastens the reed to the mouthpiece. When air is blown through the opening between the reed and the mouthpiece facing, the reed vibrates and produces the instrument's sound.
The reed is on the underside of the mouthpiece, pressing against the player's bottom lip, while the top teeth normally contact the top of the mouthpiece.


History
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The clarinet has its roots in the early single-reed instruments or hornpipes used in the Middle East and Europe since the Middle Ages, such as the albogue, alboka, and double clarinet.





The modern clarinet developed from a Baroque instrument called the chalumeau. This instrument was similar to a recorder, but with a single-reed mouthpiece and a cylindrical bore. Lacking a register key, it was played mainly in its fundamental register, with a limited range of about one and a half octaves. It had eight finger holes, like a recorder, and two keys for its two highest notes. At this time, contrary to modern practice, the reed was placed in contact with the upper lip.

Around the turn of the 18th century, the chalumeau was modified by converting one of its keys into a register key to produce the first clarinet. This development is usually attributed to German instrument maker Johann Christoph Denner, though some have suggested his son Jacob Denner was the inventor. Early clarinets did not play well in the lower register, so chalumeau continued to be made to play the low notes. As clarinets improved, the chalumeau fell into disuse and these notes became known as the chalumeau register. The original Denner clarinets had two keys, and could play a chromatic scale, but various makers added more keys to get improved tuning, easier fingerings, and a slightly larger range. The classical clarinet of Mozart's day typically had eight finger holes and five keys.

Clarinets were soon accepted into orchestras. Later models had a mellower tone than the originals. Mozart (d. 1791) liked the sound of the clarinet (he considered its tone the closest in quality to the human voice) and wrote much music for it, and by the time of Beethoven (c. 1800–1820), the clarinet was a standard fixture in the orchestra.


Pads
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The next major development in the history of clarinet was the invention of the modern pad. Early clarinets covered the tone holes with felt pads. Because these leaked air, the number of pads had to be kept to a minimum, so the clarinet was severely restricted in what notes could be played with good tone. In 1812, Iwan Müller, a Russian-born clarinetist and inventor, developed a new type of pad which was covered in leather or fish bladder. This was completely airtight, so the number of keys could be increased enormously. He designed a new type of clarinet with seven finger holes and thirteen keys. This allowed the clarinet to play in any key with near-equal ease. Over the course of the 19th century, many enhancements were made to Mueller's clarinet, such as the Albert system and the Baermann system, all keeping the same basic design.


Arrangement of keys and holes
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The final development in the modern design of the clarinet used in most of the world today was introduced by Hyacinthe Klosé in 1839. He devised a different arrangement of keys and finger holes which allow simpler fingering. It was inspired by the Boehm System developed for flutes by Theobald Boehm. Klosé was so impressed by Boehm's invention that he named his own system for clarinets the Boehm system, although it is different from the one used on flutes. This new system was slow to gain popularity because it meant the player had to relearn how to play the instrument. To ease this transition, Klose wrote a series of exercises for the clarinet, designed to teach his fingering system. Gradually it became the standard, and today the Boehm system is used everywhere in the world except Germany and Austria. These countries still use a direct descendant of the Mueller clarinet known as the Öhler system clarinet. Also, some contemporary Dixieland and Klezmer players continue to use Albert system clarinets, as the simpler fingering system can allow for easier slurring of notes. At one time the reed was held on using string, but now the practice exists primarily in Germany and Austria.


Repertoire
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The Clarinet is used in classical music, jazz, and even rock and pop.

Jazz
The clarinet was a central instrument in early jazz starting in the 1910s and remained popular in the United States through the big band era into the 1940s. Larry Shields, Ted Lewis, Jimmie Noone and Sidney Bechet were influential in early jazz. The B flat soprano was the most common instrument, but a few early jazz musicians such as Louis Nelson Delisle and Alcide Nunez preferred the C soprano, and many New Orleans jazz brass bands have used E flat soprano.

Swing clarinetists such as Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and Woody Herman led successful and popular big bands and smaller groups from the 1930s onward. With the decline of the big bands' popularity in the late 1940s, the clarinet faded from its prominent position in jazz, though a few players (John Carter, Buddy DeFranco, Eric Dolphy, Jimmy Giuffre, Perry Robinson, Theo Jorgensmann and others) used clarinet in bebop and free jazz.

Rock and Pop
In rock and pop music, the clarinet is used very rarely. Some examples of its use are:
• Pink Floyd used a clarinet as the melody for the song "Outside the Wall"
• The Beatles used a clarinet trio on their song "When I'm Sixty-Four", from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
• Radiohead used a clarinet for "Life in a Glasshouse" from the album Amnesiac.

Wartburg Community Symphony

The Wartburg Community Symphony, founded in 1952, is made up of college students, community members, and professionals. Dr. Wade has been directing the ensemble since 1987, and performances are held in Neumann Auditorium. Student members of the symphony rehearse on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons, and the full ensemble meets once a week on Monday evenings. It is a unique entity in that it is both Wartburg affiliated and its own organization; there is a symphony board, season tickets are available. The organization relies almost exclusively on community and business sponsorship as well as memberships and ticket sales to fund its work which includes not only concerts but also scholarships for the student musicians.

Typically there are four or five concerts in a season, each with a different special feature. The WCS brings in many guest soloists of very high quality and a variety of specialties, including most recently pianists Frank Weins and Daria Rabotkina, double bassist Diana Gannett in the 2008-2009 season and violinist Jessica Lee and bassoonist Peter Kolkay in the 2009-2010 season. Waverly dance studio Kinetic Energy has been part of a few concerts as well. This December, they will be dancing to the symphony’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. The annual December kid-friendly matinee concert includes Christmas favorites along with popular classical literature. For the few years and continuing at this year’s December concert, Cedar Valley radio personality Jacqueline Halbloom provides narration for one of the pieces; last year, she accompanied Dr. Brian Pfaltzgraff in narrating Robert Kapilow’s The Polar Express, and this year will be retelling The Night Before Christmas.

The membership of an ensemble of the WCS’s caliber is not the only non-traditional aspect of the group. Often, the symphony’s opening concert is a silent movie accompanied by its original music; this ensemble is one of the few in the country who performs such works. Also, in April of 1996, the WCS traveled on a Caribbean cruise on The Norway performing two Charlie Chaplin silent films.

As conductor, Dr. Wade has led the Wartburg Community Symphony to unprecedented success including six world, national, and state premieres.

The WCS’s goals are to offer innovative programs, higher professional musicians to provide top-quality performances, feature outstanding soloists, enrich the cultural life of Waverly and the Cedar Valley, and enable talented student musicians to continue private study through scholarships.

The ensemble was also mentioned in a recent issue of Midwest Living magazine.

The next concert is December 12 at 2 PM in Neumann Auditorium.

For current season information, visit http://www.wartburg.edu/symphony/

For information on conductor Dr. Janice Wade, visit http://www.wartburg.edu/music/wade.html

For a rave review of the WCS from one of its guest soloists from the 2005-2006 season, visit http://henrydoktorski.com/misc/wartburg.html

Wartburg Choir

Directors: Ernst Heist 35-37

Dr. Edwin Liemohn 37-68

Dr. James Fritschel 68-84

Dr. Paul Torkelson 84-09
Dr. Lee Nelson 09-present

The Wartburg Choir was founded by Ernst Heist in 1935. Under Dr. Edwin Liemohn’s direction, the choir became one of the first American College choirs to perform on a European tour.

Dr. James Fritschel continued the tradition of excellence from 68-84 by increasing their international exposure. While under the direction of Dr. Fritschel, the choir became the only American choir to win the International Trophy Competition in Cork, Ireland. Fritschel was also a nationally known composer and had been published by many companies. After leaving Wartburg, he became the director of the California Lutheran University Choir.

Under Dr. Paul Torkelson’s direction, he led the choir at two solo concerts in New York City’s Carnegie Hall, two concerts at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, a concert in Orchestra hall in Minneapolis and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Beginning in 2009, Dr. Lee Nelson will become the director of the choir. In 2005, he won the first-place award in the graduate division of the American Choral Directors Association National Conducting Competition.

Choir performance highlights can be found at this link: http://www.wartburg.edu/choir/highlights.html

Castle Singers

Directors: Dr. E. Arne Hovdesven 50-59

Dr. James Fritschel 59-71

Franklin Williams 71-78, 81-84

Kristi Becker 78-80

Eugene T. Wilson 80-81

Gayle Hartwig 84-87

Dr. Paul Torkelson 87-01

Dr. Jane Andrews 01-present

The group founded by Dr. E. Arne Hovdesven, was created in 1950 carrying the name of the Chapel Choir. During Dr. James Fritschel’s tenure, the group’s name changed to Wartburg Castle Singers, and the focus of the group became music and drama. During Franklin William’s tenure, the group traveled to the former U.S.S.R.

In 1987, Dr. Paul Torkelson helped give the group stability and built on its traditions and performance experiences. During his tenure the group made several trips abroad including Western Europe and Australia.

Since Dr. Jane Andrews tenure beginning in 2001, she has brought the group to new levels of jazz performance. She started the Wartburg Vocal Jazz Festival. During her time at Wartburg, she has led the group at numerous local, state, and regional events.

Castle singer performance highlights can be found at http://www.wartburg.edu/singers/history.html.

St. Elizabeth’s Chorale

Directors: Matthew Armstrong 97-98

Eileen Farrell 98-00

Kathleen Osburn 00-01

Dr. Jane Andrews 01-present

The St. Elizabeth Chorale takes its name from a famous resident of the college's namesake, the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Germany. Elizabeth (1207-1231) lived at the castle as the wife of a Thuringian landgrave. Inspired by the teachings of her contemporary, St. Francis, she left the castle after her husband's death and became Germany's first female Franciscan. She was canonized in 1235.

During Elizabeth's time at the castle, she carried on an active ministry to the less fortunate. According to legend, she smuggled bread from the castle kitchen for the poor. Because the practice was forbidden, she hid the food in her robe. On one such trip, suspicious courtiers accosted Elizabeth and demanded that she open her robe. When she complied, roses had appeared in place of the bread. Today, Wartburg College hosts a service week dedicated to her memory, and roses are a college symbol of service and faith.

Ritterchor

The Ritterchor (Knight's Choir) honors the Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther once lived disguised as a knight.

Founded in 1997 by professor Matthew Armstrong, Ritterchor is open by audition to all men on the Wartburg College campus. The group performs a variety of literature for events on and off campus.

From 1998-2003 and again from 2007 to the present the group has performed in Wartburg's annual holiday festival, Christmas with Wartburg. Dr. Paul Torkelson was conductor of the group from 2002-2009. Dr. Lee Nelson is now the current director.

CHRISTMAS WITH WARTBURG!

CWW: the Beginning
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Christmas with Wartburg began in 1947 under the direction of Dr. Edwin Liemohn and Edfield Odegard. Although both the college and the program have grown considerably since then, the 1947 program was remarkably similar in format to the current production. This performance was done in the Waverly High school gymnasium.
Enrollment in 1947 was 632, compared with today's total of 1,810. The numbers reflected a growing postwar influx of men—144 in the freshman class compared with 37 in the senior class.

CWW in 1949
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When Knights Gymnasium opened on the Wartburg campus, its stage became the Christmas concert venue, beginning in December 1949. The 1951 program was the first to use the title "Christmas at Wartburg." By that time, the Wartburg Band and the Castle Singers were included.

Dr. Warren Schmidt joined the music faculty in 1950 and subsequently became Christmas with Wartburg organist for the next 40 years. He recalls moving a portative pipe organ to Knights Gym for the annual program, which by 1953 was attracting an audience of more than 1,500.




1968 to 1973
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In 1968, the Wartburg Community Symphony Orchestra, an oratorio chorus, and the Wartburg Choir and Castle Singers performed Handel’s Messiah in the gym, followed the next year by Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, which included the local high school chamber choir and a sixth-grade select choir.

CWW in 1974
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Christmas at Wartburg returned to its more traditional format in 1974, featuring the Wartburg Concert Band, Castle Singers, Wartburg women’s chorus and chamber choir, faculty women’s chorus and flute choir.




2007 performances
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The 2007 program included approximately 350 student musicians and is viewed by nearly 7,000 people. Christmas with Wartburg has been featured on public television stations around the United States and in Midwest Living magazine.



Christmas with Wartburg Today
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The 2009 performance will be the 62 anniversary.

This year’s performances will be on:
Friday, December 4th (Neumann) 7:30 PM
Saturday, December 5th (Lutheran Church of Hope, Des Moines) 7:30 PM
Sunday, December 6th (Neumann) 2:00 PM
(Neumann) 7:00 PM

Genres of Vocal Music

Genres of Vocal Music

Medieval and Renaissance
c. 900—Gregorian chants
--used for liturgical purposes

17th-19th Centuries
Art song
--music and literature combined
--Sir Hubert Perry, Frederick Delius,
Concert
--Aria
--Henry Purcell’s “Ye Gentle Spirits of the Air, Appear”, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
Opera
--means “little book”
--The Magic Flute, Carmen
Folk—Scottish, Irish, Welsh




20th-21st centuries*

Gospel
Pop
Examples: Madonna, Britney Spears
Rock
Examples: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Aerosmith, Blink-182, The Killers
Country
Examples: Johnny Cash, Keith Urban
Rap
Examples: Eminem, LL Cool J
Characteristics: rhythmic rhyming
Blues
Examples: Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington
Characteristics: blues notes—lowering notes
Metal
Examples: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Kiss
Characteristics: harsh vocals, screaming, growling
Sub Genres:
--thrash metal --doom/gothic metal --black metal
--groove metal --Viking metal --power metal
--symphonic metal --death metal
--glam metal --progressive metal
Electro/Electronic/Electronica/Techno
Examples: Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, Ratatat, The Chemical Brothers, MSTRKRFT, The Faint
Characterizations: Vocal distortions, computerized vocals, repetition
Indie
Examples: The Decemberists, Eisley, Franz Ferdinand, Tegan & Sara, Yo La Tenga


*Note: I have not included every genre (or sub genres) in existence--just the most common and well known

A Cappella and SATB

A Cappella Music
 … is vocal music sung without instrumental accompaniment
 The Gregorian Chant is a type of a cappella
 Originally formed to differentiate Renaissance polyphony from Baroque concertato
 Now can be included in many styles such as barbershop, doo wop, and modern pop or rock
 Originally was used in church music
 All madrigal music is a cappella
 Made popular in the US with the founding of the Northwestern A Cappella Choir in 1906
 A 1950s R&B group the Nutmegs are also known as the “Rajahs of a cappella” and were the first group to showcase a cappella format
 Earliest documented quartets began in barbershops
 









SATB Music
 Initialism for soprano, alto, tenor and bass
 Refers to a common scoring for choruses and choirs
 Also has been notated as SCTB with the C standing for contralto
 Can be sung with mixed genders, choirs with men and boys, or four soloists
 Can be used to notate in instrument ensembles
 Non-choral pieces, mainly fugues, have also been written using SATB

How Singing Works

Plain and simple, singing is the production of musical sounds using one’s voice, going beyond speaking by utilizing specific tones and rhythms.

Anatomically, there are five components that allow singing to occur:
1) Air supply coming from the lungs
2) The larynx (or voicebox) where the vocal folds/cords are located and vibrate, creating sounds
3) The head and chest cavities that amplify the sounds
4) The tongue and other parts of the mouth that put consonants and vowels with the sound created
5) The abdominal muscular structure, especially the diaphragm

These five parts work together to help a person sing. Here’s basically how it works:
- Air is taken in by the lungs
- That air is then compressed and has force put behind it by the diaphragm and other muscles
- The air travels through the larynx and causes the vocal cords to vibrate
- These vibrations are amplified and resonate in various cavities and tubes in the body (see the picture below) and exit the body, creating a musical sound

Vocal Warmups

You can use almost any sound to warm your voice up. You should do many different types of sounds and start in the middle of your range moving up and down very slowly. It is important to not just warm up the high part or just the low part of your voice. You should move up and down by half or whole steps so that you do not harm your voice.

Pre-Warm Ups
Before you start to sing or even talk it is important to be completely relaxed. First thing to do is to warm up your body.

• Bend at the waist and touch your toes
• Slowly roll up
• Allow your head to be the last thing to straighten out completely
• Carefully and slowly lean your head back and roll from side to side
• Repeat in the front

• Hunch your shoulders up to your ears (count to ten)
• Let them fall
• Repeat several times
• Last time hunch your shoulders up to your ears and bring them back

• Breathe in slowly for 10 counts (puckered lips)
• Breathe out slowly for 10 counts (snake sound)
• Repeat

You can even give yourself or if there is someone else singing with you a massage.

Here are some easy exercises

stretch and yawn; hold the ending "ah" sound; relax your throat and jaws

say and then sing

• SOL FA MI RE DO

You can sing the rest of these in place of SOL FA MI RE DO

• MMMMMMMMMMMMMM...
• ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...
• EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...
• NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN...
• VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV...
• ThThThThThThThThThThTh...
• Mum Mum Mum Mum Mum Mum

(If you know how to play the piano you can start on the G and then play F, E, D, C) G-Sol, F-Fa, E-Mi, D-Re, C-Do

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9pwK21LJOo

You could also make siren sounds (Like a fire truck)

Here are some fun exercises
Each phrase features different difficult consonant combinations. Start slow, over-articulating and then increase speed.

• Red letter, yellow letter
• Good blood, bad blood
• Eleven benevolent elephants
• The big, black-backed bumblebee
• Selfish shellfish
• Really rural
• Unique New York
• The tip of the tongue, the lips, the teeth
• To titillate your tastebuds, we've got these tasty tidbits

Posture

Posture
The ability to move air in and out of the body freely and to obtain the needed quantity of air can be affected by posture. A sunken chest position will limit the capacity of the lungs, and a tense abdominal wall will inhibit the downward travel of the diaphragm. Good posture allows the breathing mechanism to fulfill its basic function efficiently without any undue expenditure of energy. Some believe that when singers assume good posture it often provides them with a greater sense of self assurance and poise while performing. Audiences also tend to respond better to singers with good posture.

There are eight components of the ideal singing posture:
1. Feet slightly apart
2. Knees bent
3. Hips rotated forward
4. Spine aligned
5. Abdomen flat
6. Chest comfortably raised
7. Shoulders down and back
8. Head straight ahead

Proper Breathing

Singing requires more thought to breathing than normal. A “deep” sort of breath from the lower abdominal or diaphragmatic area is necessary. A person’s shoulders should not move when breathing in this manner. One’s whole lower abdominal area should expand when breathing, including the diaphragm, rib cage, and back; muscles in all these areas are used when one inhales and exhales.

To ensure correct breathing for singing, try these steps:
1) Lay flat on your back on a firm surface (i.e. the floor) and place a book on your lower abdomen. Breathe deeply in and out. If the book rises and falls with your breathing, you are taking breaths from the proper area.
2) Look at yourself in a mirror. Breathe in and out. If you see your shoulders move up and down with your breaths, you are probably not breathing from the proper area.

Proper Breathing Technique

Unrelated musical fun

Batter Percussion

Djembe

• Dates back to the early 1100s
• Originally belonged to the Mandinka Tribe in Africa
• Goatskin is best when used for djembe head

Snare Drum

• Dates back to the Tabor in Medieval Europe in 1300
• Became popular in the 1400s with the fife-and-drum corps of Swiss mercenary foot soldiers
• Military snares came from the Ottoman Empire in 1500
• The European version of the snare drum became popular in the 1500s and spread to other countries
• In the 1900s, the marching snare was created and took the place of the other snare drums

Tabor

Djembe