PRAXIS Music, Content Knowledge
(5113)
List the first Broadway songwriters of the 1920s. - answer Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern,
the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, Oscar Hammerstein, Richard Rodgers, Cole Parker
Discuss the different traditions that contributed to early jazz music. - answerNew
Orleans Jazz (borrowed from black and creole musicians), the black church, the
American marching band, Debussy and Ravel (claves and syncopation)
Describe the bossa nova movement and representative composers. - answer Originated
in Rio in the late 1950s and combined elements of Brazilian samba with American jazz.
It is characterized by a laid-back singing style, complex harmonies, and a distinctive
rhythmic pattern (bossa nova clave). Composers include Jobin, Gilberto, Moraes, and
Mendes. "Girl from Ipanema."
Describe the origin of the blues - answerOriginated through African work songs in the
19th/20th century. 12 bar progression (I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-V-IV-I-I). Blues scale (lowered 3rd
and dominant 7th). B. B. King, T-Bone Walker.
Describe the origin and characteristics of Latin Jazz - answerOriginated in late 1940s
and merged the rhythms and instruments of Afro-Latin music with American jazz. 2 sub-
genres included Afro-Cuban (mambo/habanera/bebop/claves) and Afro-Brazilian
(samba/Europe/bossa nova).
Name 3 authoritative encyclopedias and dictionaries of music. - answerThe New Grove
Dictionary (part of Oxford Music Online), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians (1879, reference for Western music), The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
(1989).
Name 3 periodical databases. - answerJSTOR (Journal Storage, 32 scholarly journals),
The Music Index Online (1973, 655 international music journals), International Index of
Music Periodicals (425 music periodicals).
What resources do the RILM Abstracts of Music Literature provide? -
answerInternational database focused on scholarship from around the world relating to
any aspect of the musical discipline.
What resources do the Repertoire International des Sources Musicales Online provide
(RISM)? - answerMusical database founded in Paris in 1952. One of the largest non-
profits of its kind
,Uses of the nose flute in Polynesia - answerSoft and gentle sound for courtship and
intimacy, also used to gently awaken the chief of a tribe, believed to have magical and
spiritual qualities
Describe kabuki - answerForm of Japanese theater from the Edo period of the 1600s.
Originally performed by females only. 3 different types with 4 parts in each.
2 Australian Aboriginal musical instruments - answerDidgeridoo (flared wooden tube,
buzz) and the gum leaf (leaf of Eucalyptus tree held taut against the lip)
What was the role of music in Australian Aboriginal culture? - answerStorytelling,
preserving history, and leading ceremonies
3 traditional Chinese musical instruments - answerPipa (pear shaped lute), Erhu
(another lute), Dizi (transverse flute)
Describe the use of dialogue in African musical form and rhythm - answerCall and
response
Unique musical elements of traditional African music - answerCall and response,
polyrhythms, syncopation, offbeat phrasing, cyclic form, instruments that
jingle/buzz/rattle
Describe the maqam system of melodic organization used in Middle Eastern music -
answerResembles the Western mode, but is distinctively confined to the lower tetra-
chord. 30 different types with different tuning systems.
Describe the role of the djembe and its role in traditional African ensembles -
answerRope-tunes, skin-covered drum dating back to the Mali Empire around 1230 AD
Importance of Arab culture in the development of North African music? -
answerElements of influence include Quranic chant, poetry/harp/lute, gimbri, drums,
metal castanets
Style, origin, and instruments of Appalachian music - answerFolk traditions of the
Eastern US. Influenced by Irish, Scottish, and English emigrants of the 18th century.
Banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar.
Musical traditions of West Africa - answerPraise singing, ceremonies, work activities,
national identities.
Describe the Pre-Colombian indigenous musical culture of South America -
answerRevolved around the Inca of Peru and the Aztecs of Mexico. Standards of music
were high. Little is known about style and notation. Instruments included clay jingles,
conch shell trumpets, flutes
, 2 African song and dance influences on Latin American music. - answerLarge African
population in the Caribbean region, Calypso and rumba
Style and origin of the mambo - answerSong and dance genre from the Afro-cuban
movement of the 1940s. Moderate to fast rhythms, double bass, trumpets, guitar,
tumbadora, voices, cowbells, strong syncopations, accents
Authentic musical modes - answerIonian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian,
Locrian (I do pot, leave me alone. Locrian)
Elements of a classic Greek tragedy - answerPlot, character, thought, diction, melody,
spectacle. Melody is subservient to words.
Classic symphonic form - answerFast (sonata allegro)-slow (lyrical ABA)-dance
(minuet/trio or scherzo)-fast (rondo/sonata rondo)
Classical sonata form - answerExposition, development, recapitulation
Exposition: initial subject in tonic key, second subject in relative minor or dominant key
Development: exposition material altered, tension
Recapitulation: resolved tension
Opera seria - answerTragic and serious subjects that were historical rather than
mythical. 3 acts. Alternating aria and recitatives. Structures.
Opera buffa - answerHumorous and lighthearted. Spoken dialogue replaced recitative.
Less structured.
Importance of organum in the development of polyphony - answerOne of the earliest
forms of polyphony and appeared in the Medieval period. Based on cantus firmus and
began as improvised voices that duplicated the original melody. Parallel voices at the
octave and 5th below. Discant became more complex. Replaced by motet in 13th
century.
Leitmotif - answerUsed to identify a reoccurring motivic fragment that musically
represents a part of musical drama (person, place, or idea). Can be modified or
combined. Associated with Wagner.
Significance of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde - answerChromaticism led to the dissolution
of typical harmonic expectation. Tristan chord (tritone). Suspension, full chromaticism,
polyphony, and range of colors paved a collapse of traditional tonal writing.
Waltz form - answerDance form popular since the 18th century that features triple meter
in a lively tempo. "To turn about." Composers include Lanner, Strauss, Schubert
Nationalism - answerMovement during the Romantic era in which music evoked the
national or regional character of a place. Folk music.
(5113)
List the first Broadway songwriters of the 1920s. - answer Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern,
the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, Oscar Hammerstein, Richard Rodgers, Cole Parker
Discuss the different traditions that contributed to early jazz music. - answerNew
Orleans Jazz (borrowed from black and creole musicians), the black church, the
American marching band, Debussy and Ravel (claves and syncopation)
Describe the bossa nova movement and representative composers. - answer Originated
in Rio in the late 1950s and combined elements of Brazilian samba with American jazz.
It is characterized by a laid-back singing style, complex harmonies, and a distinctive
rhythmic pattern (bossa nova clave). Composers include Jobin, Gilberto, Moraes, and
Mendes. "Girl from Ipanema."
Describe the origin of the blues - answerOriginated through African work songs in the
19th/20th century. 12 bar progression (I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-V-IV-I-I). Blues scale (lowered 3rd
and dominant 7th). B. B. King, T-Bone Walker.
Describe the origin and characteristics of Latin Jazz - answerOriginated in late 1940s
and merged the rhythms and instruments of Afro-Latin music with American jazz. 2 sub-
genres included Afro-Cuban (mambo/habanera/bebop/claves) and Afro-Brazilian
(samba/Europe/bossa nova).
Name 3 authoritative encyclopedias and dictionaries of music. - answerThe New Grove
Dictionary (part of Oxford Music Online), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians (1879, reference for Western music), The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
(1989).
Name 3 periodical databases. - answerJSTOR (Journal Storage, 32 scholarly journals),
The Music Index Online (1973, 655 international music journals), International Index of
Music Periodicals (425 music periodicals).
What resources do the RILM Abstracts of Music Literature provide? -
answerInternational database focused on scholarship from around the world relating to
any aspect of the musical discipline.
What resources do the Repertoire International des Sources Musicales Online provide
(RISM)? - answerMusical database founded in Paris in 1952. One of the largest non-
profits of its kind
,Uses of the nose flute in Polynesia - answerSoft and gentle sound for courtship and
intimacy, also used to gently awaken the chief of a tribe, believed to have magical and
spiritual qualities
Describe kabuki - answerForm of Japanese theater from the Edo period of the 1600s.
Originally performed by females only. 3 different types with 4 parts in each.
2 Australian Aboriginal musical instruments - answerDidgeridoo (flared wooden tube,
buzz) and the gum leaf (leaf of Eucalyptus tree held taut against the lip)
What was the role of music in Australian Aboriginal culture? - answerStorytelling,
preserving history, and leading ceremonies
3 traditional Chinese musical instruments - answerPipa (pear shaped lute), Erhu
(another lute), Dizi (transverse flute)
Describe the use of dialogue in African musical form and rhythm - answerCall and
response
Unique musical elements of traditional African music - answerCall and response,
polyrhythms, syncopation, offbeat phrasing, cyclic form, instruments that
jingle/buzz/rattle
Describe the maqam system of melodic organization used in Middle Eastern music -
answerResembles the Western mode, but is distinctively confined to the lower tetra-
chord. 30 different types with different tuning systems.
Describe the role of the djembe and its role in traditional African ensembles -
answerRope-tunes, skin-covered drum dating back to the Mali Empire around 1230 AD
Importance of Arab culture in the development of North African music? -
answerElements of influence include Quranic chant, poetry/harp/lute, gimbri, drums,
metal castanets
Style, origin, and instruments of Appalachian music - answerFolk traditions of the
Eastern US. Influenced by Irish, Scottish, and English emigrants of the 18th century.
Banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar.
Musical traditions of West Africa - answerPraise singing, ceremonies, work activities,
national identities.
Describe the Pre-Colombian indigenous musical culture of South America -
answerRevolved around the Inca of Peru and the Aztecs of Mexico. Standards of music
were high. Little is known about style and notation. Instruments included clay jingles,
conch shell trumpets, flutes
, 2 African song and dance influences on Latin American music. - answerLarge African
population in the Caribbean region, Calypso and rumba
Style and origin of the mambo - answerSong and dance genre from the Afro-cuban
movement of the 1940s. Moderate to fast rhythms, double bass, trumpets, guitar,
tumbadora, voices, cowbells, strong syncopations, accents
Authentic musical modes - answerIonian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian,
Locrian (I do pot, leave me alone. Locrian)
Elements of a classic Greek tragedy - answerPlot, character, thought, diction, melody,
spectacle. Melody is subservient to words.
Classic symphonic form - answerFast (sonata allegro)-slow (lyrical ABA)-dance
(minuet/trio or scherzo)-fast (rondo/sonata rondo)
Classical sonata form - answerExposition, development, recapitulation
Exposition: initial subject in tonic key, second subject in relative minor or dominant key
Development: exposition material altered, tension
Recapitulation: resolved tension
Opera seria - answerTragic and serious subjects that were historical rather than
mythical. 3 acts. Alternating aria and recitatives. Structures.
Opera buffa - answerHumorous and lighthearted. Spoken dialogue replaced recitative.
Less structured.
Importance of organum in the development of polyphony - answerOne of the earliest
forms of polyphony and appeared in the Medieval period. Based on cantus firmus and
began as improvised voices that duplicated the original melody. Parallel voices at the
octave and 5th below. Discant became more complex. Replaced by motet in 13th
century.
Leitmotif - answerUsed to identify a reoccurring motivic fragment that musically
represents a part of musical drama (person, place, or idea). Can be modified or
combined. Associated with Wagner.
Significance of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde - answerChromaticism led to the dissolution
of typical harmonic expectation. Tristan chord (tritone). Suspension, full chromaticism,
polyphony, and range of colors paved a collapse of traditional tonal writing.
Waltz form - answerDance form popular since the 18th century that features triple meter
in a lively tempo. "To turn about." Composers include Lanner, Strauss, Schubert
Nationalism - answerMovement during the Romantic era in which music evoked the
national or regional character of a place. Folk music.
