week01_lecture01 - 21M011(spring 2006 Ellen T Harris...

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21M011 (spring, 2006)
Ellen T. Harris
Lecture I
Introduction (with in-class examples)
Music exists in time and is notated on a vertical and horizontal axis. The vertical axis
represents sounds heard simultaneously. The horizontal axis consists of the unfolding of
music over time, as a melodic, harmonic and rhythmic progression. The vertical and
horizontal can be easily grasped in terms of a simple round, like “Row, row, row your
boat.” If everyone sings the tune together, the resultant melody represents a horizontal
line. If sung as a four-part round, a distinct vertical element is created by the
simultaneities as the different voices enter in delayed sequence. This can be graphed as
follows. The tune itself has four parts:
A Row, row, row your boat,
B Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
D Life is but a dream.
As a melody, this reads: ABCD. Once the melody is sung as a round, the vertical
element begins to appear:
A B C D A B C D A …
A B C D A B C D A…
A B C D A B C D A…
A B C D A B C D A…
Note that once all the voices enter, the vertical column becomes: A
B
C
D,
which repeats over and over again. This sound can be duplicated by having each of the
four sections sing only one phrase over and over again, such as AAAA, or BBBB. The
sound columns remain the same. The reason a round works is that each of the phrases
“works” with the others over a repeating harmonic pattern. In “Row, row, row your
boat,” the pattern essentially consists of the repetition of a single chord (with an upbeat
leading into it to provide rhythmic and harmonic impetus). That is, each phrase (giving
an Arabic number to each chord) is simply: 1 1 . Or, possibly 1 (2)-1 (2)- .
A longer pattern exists in the familiar “Heart and Soul,” based on four chords. This four-
chord pattern is frequently used: its four “vertical columns” also support such familiar
songs as “Blue Moon” and “Santa Catalina” (“Twenty-six miles across the sea”)
originally sung by the Four Preps in 1958. What does this shared bass mean? First, it
means that all these songs can be sung together (which is a lot of fun).
Heart and soul, I fell in love with you. Heart and soul, …
Twenty-six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina
Blue moon I saw you standing alone, …
1 2 3 4 1 2
1

Secondly, like “Row, row, row your boat,” it means that any of these songs can be sung
as a round over the repeating four chords—or, if you have enough people, all of the
songs can be sung as rounds together.