Year 8 Knowledge Book

Term 1 World Music – Term 2 Baroque and Classical Music – Term 3 Blues and Jazz

Term 1 (Advent Term)

In the World Music unit, we will learn the importance of music in each culture from around
the globe

African Music

Djembe Drums Talking Drums

Goat skin is tightened with cords The skin of the drum is tightend by the
elbow, which changes the pitch,
mimicking the changing tones of the
spoken voice.
The key features of African drummung that we will learn are;
Polyrhythms – 4 beat/5 beat and more patterns at the same time. This is very complex.
POLY means many and RHYTHM means beats. Put them together and you have
POLYRHYTHMS. This is not used in European music which uses regular beats and gives
African music its unique flavour.

Master drummer – The leader of the group. They set the speeds and indicate when to
change patterns, as well as starting and stopping the music. The Master Drummer has a
series of signals which indicate tio the other players that the music will change or stop.
Cyclic patterns – Repeated drum rhythms over and over. This format will later be adopted
by popular music which uses cyclic patterns.
Layered – Each Player has a different rhythmic pattern to play, which adds their own layer
to the music.
Now listen to some examples of African drumming;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOS0kA_O6IQ
 Gaelic Music
Jigs and reels – 2 styles of Irish Music. Pupils will learn to identify the difference, which is;
A jig works in triplets and fits the word “Strawberry” said repeatedly.
A Reel uses couplets and fit the word “ Bruderbecker” said repeatedly.
Here are the main instruments used in Irish Music;
Tin Whistles Bodhrans Accordions Fiddles Uilleann Pipes

Students learn the following features of Gaelic Music;

Pentatonic based (5 note scale)
Drones (Continuous note played by the pipes)
Broken into 4 bar phrases (Sections)
Now listen to some traditional reels;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcVD-6w4A8k
…and here are some Jigs;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6ICnU37BGk

Spanish Music

Flamenco Guitar Castanets

Students will learn the following features of Spanish Music;
The scale used for Spanish music is called the “Phrygian Mode”. This is made from all the
white notes on the piano from E to E. It give Spanish Music its flavour.
The guitar is strummed downwards very percussively and the player taps the wood, to give
a strong rhythmic feel. He uses his nails and plays near the bridge (back of the guitar) to
make a rasping sound from the strings.
We will look at (not do!) the dancing briefly. The Flamenco dancer stamps and uses
castanets again to enhance the strong rhythm. Hands are often above the head and the
female dancer uses a long dress which often has a train that impedes her steps. Very
difficult.
Now listen to some Flamenco Guitar playing;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTbT7-OiaBQ

Indian Music
Sitar plays the melody Tambura plays the backing Tabla plays the rhythm
Called RAGA Drone (continuous note) called TALA

Students will learn the complexity and many varieties of the Raga (Indian Scales)

Raga Scale = SA RE GA MA PA DA NI SA (This works like the Doe Rae Me Fa So La Ti scale) Each notes
has a syllable.

The Tala works in cycles, not beats in the bar as western music does. Here is the 16 beat cycle we
will study

Tintal Tala = Dha Dhin Dhin Dha Dha Dhin Dhin Dha Dha Tin Tin Ta Ta Tin Tin Ta (Each of these words
represents a different way of striking the Tabla)

The drone is a continuous note which is used as backing to the music.

All Indian Classical Music is improvised and handed down from one generation to the next. It is
never written down or planned.
Now listen to some Indian Classical Music;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCsmvK06SCA

Here is a Tambura drone;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plhiDYRwb78

Now a Sitar solo;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLAXfkK-DPg

Finally a Tabla solo;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=movVOFdA2KA

Latin American Music

Here are the instrument we will use and learn about;

Surdos (Bass Drums) Agogos (bells) Tamborims

Repinique (lead Drum) Ganzas (shakers) Caixa (snare drum)

Below is a picture of Samba Drumming at the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

We will focus on the annual carnival in Rio Di Janeiro and its cultural and social importance.

Latin American music is a mixture of European, African and tribal Amazonian styles, due to
colonisation.

Carnival is directly linked to the Catholic calendar and is celebrated in February, before the reflective
season of Lent.

Now listen to some Samba drumming;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wunq6YlcSX0

Indonesian Gamelan
Gamelan originated from the islands of Java and Bali.

Gamelan relies on;

• Large groups of players (around 20)

• Cyclic patterns (repeated over and over again)
• Percussion instruments (shown below)
• Based on pentatonic patterns (5 notes)
• Aural tradition (never notated or written down)
 Gamelan Orchestra

Kempul (Gong) Kenong

Now listen to a Gamelan Orchestra;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEWCCSuHsuQ
 Caribbean Music
Steel Pans were originally made from oil drums from military ships that were washed up on the
shores of Trinidad and Tobago.

There are 3 groups of instruments in a Steel Pan Orchestra;

Guitar Pans (play chords) Bass Pans (Low notes) Ping Pongs (Play Melody)

Calypso is the name for the traditional music of the Caribbean. Influenced by the African and
European cultures, due to the slave trade. It went on to influence Ska and reggae in West Indies.

Now listen to some Calypso steel pans;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ642zSpQgc
 Term 2 (Lent Term)
Baroque Music
The Baroque Period of music was roughly from 1600 – 1750. At this time the music had a
distinctive style. Here are the main features that we will learn;

• Instruments – Harpsichord (predecessor to the piano, where strings are plucked with
jacks instead of hammers inside the case)
• Ornamentation – Highly decorated melodies. (Trills and extra notes)
• Polyphonic – Parts which have differing rhythms fitting together to make a whole
Poly = many, phonic = sounds
Here is some Baroque Music;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjPpe1JzRBE

We will perform a ‘Ground Bass’, which is a repeated pattern of notes in the bass part. (low
pitch)
Here is an example of a Ground Bass;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGQWHafmIFo

The Baroque Trumpet did not have valves (Buttons on the top) and was limited to a narrow
range of note known as the ‘Harmonic Series’
Here are examples of a Baroque and modern valve Trumpet;

Baroque trumpets were often used for fanfares (Loud flourish which announces the entry of
someone important)

Antiphony is a technique where two trumpets would stand in different parts of a hall or Church and
create echo effects. Anit = opposite Phony = sounds.

Here are 2 Baroque trumpets playing antiphony;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2CciXojQmo
 Classical Music
The Classical Period of music was roughly from 1750 – 1820. This music also had a
distinctive style. Here are the main features that we will learn;

Baroque Period music like the architecture, was ornate and decorated
Classical Period music was also like the architecture, simple and functional

Features of the Classical style we will learn are;

• The piano – Successor of the Harpsichord (Uses hammers to strike the keys and can
create dynamic variety which the Harpsichord could not create
• Homophonic – Parts mainly use same rhythms, which puts importance on melodies,
which moved away from the more complex polyphonic Baroque style
Here is some Classical period music;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNeirjA65Dk

We will study ‘Theme and Variation’ form, which was popular in the Classical era. (This is
were a musical idea or tune is deveoped using differing compositional techniques)
Here is a Classical Period Theme & Variations;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0DZARmcRso
 Romantic Music

Fortepiano Hammer Action Cast Iron framed Romantic piano

In the Romantic period, the piano developed into the same piano we use today. A much wider range
and more powerful, with 3 strings per note. It could play louder because the iron frame made it
stronger.

Chromatic Scale (with all the notes of the piano)

This gave more options for different chords to be used and for the music to travel through
more keys giving much richer harmony.

Wide range piano and big chords, gave the Romantic piano a whole new sound.
Larger Orchestras (sometimes 70 players) meant a wider range of timbres could be used as
well as the much thicher texture.

Rubato (always changing the speed, not a strict beat) was a big feature, which helped
express emotion. The idea of not having to stick to strict beats would have made the music
harder to portray the moods.
Here is a good video explaining Romantic Music with some nice examples;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2PDr4mmsIg

Programme Music
Programme music is a type of art music intended to evoke extra-musical ideas, images in
the mind of the listener by musically representing a scene, image or mood.

By contrast, absolute music stands for itself and is intended to be appreciated without any
particular reference to the outside world. The term is almost exclusively applied to works
from the Romantic music period of the 19th century, during which the concept was popular,
but pieces which fit the description have long been a part of music.

Composers believed that the dynamics of sound that were newly possible in the Romantic
orchestra of the era allowed them to focus on emotions and other intangible aspects of life
much more than during the Baroque or Classical eras.
Danse Macabre is a good example of Programme Music, with its representation of the
creepy graveyard coming to life after dark and then falling silent as day breaks.
Why not listen to Danse Macabre here;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71fZhMXlGT4

Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens – This is the picture that the music tries to create.
 Term 3 (Pentecost term)
We will look at the origins of modern Popular Music. Starting with ‘The Blues’

We will look at its origins in the Slave trade and its influences, namely;

• African rhythms – Influenced the syncopation

• Military Marching Bands – Influenced the instruments used and chorus structure
• European Music – Influenced chords and time signature
• Spirituals and Slave songs – Influenced the blues scale never used before
Here is some early 12 bar blues;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BATlJwKB8ts
Blues is the reason other styles developed later;

• Jazz
• Gospel
• Motown
• Disco
 • Hip-Hop
• etc etc etc

Here is the 12 bar Blues grid. (A bar is 4 beats or counts) This pattern of chords is what all
blues is based upon.
Each of these 12 boxes represents a bar in music.

Each bar has one of the 3 chords used for Blues C F and G. Here they are on the piano;

Try to follow the 12 bar pattern in this example;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqWl2Zxs2es
The bass part is very important in the Blues and we will learn how it fits the chords. Here is
the pattern;
1. C E G A 2. Bb A G E 3. CEGA 4. Bb A G E
5. F A C D 6. Eb D C A 7. CEGA 8. Bb A G E
9. G B D B 10. FACA 11. CEGA 12. Bb A G E
Here are some Blues walking bass lines to listen to;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GI7T3XwKUg

Blues Riffs
A RIFF is a melodic phrase, often constantly repeated, forming an accompaniment or part of an
accompaniment for a soloist.

Here are some blues riffs to listen to;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhkJ57Qm1Co
 Jazz

We will study 4 features of Jazz;

• Improvisation – Playing without prepared music (making it up as you go along)

• Swing Rhythm – Triplets with no middle note (Long-Short Long-Short Long-Short Long-Short)
• Walking Bass – Continuous line, every beat (Crotchet) on the beat
• Syncopation – Playing off beat (This is what makes it ‘Jazzy’)

Hope this gets you “In the Mood” for Jazz;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CI-0E_jses

Jazz Structure – Most Jazz songs have this format;

There are 2 Sections, (A and B) A is the main tune and B provides variety.
It is also known as 32 bar song structure. Each of the 4 sections is 8 bars long. (Making 32
bars altogether)
Here is a great explanation of AABA form;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGV7Gmnpvv0

Hope you enjoyed your Music lessons in Year 8 and best of luck with your end of year exam.

Mr. Carter