My First Blog Post

Hello, my name is Courtney Sexton. This is my first blog post for music appreciation. We listened and discussed many time periods of music such as: 
Ancient Greek and Roman, 
Medieval (900-1450), 
Renniassance (1450-1600), 
Baroque Period (1600-1750), 
Classical Period (1750-1825),   
Romantic/Impressionistic/Nationalistic (1825-1900), 
Early 20th Century (Jazz, etc.), 
and Late 20th Century's popular music (1950's-present).

We also studied a few key terms in music. We learned the meanings of the words monophonic, polyphonic, and homophonic.  
Monophonic means one sound. Polyphonic means multiple melodies at once    Homophonic is a primary melody with a supporting background. We learned of the elements of music which we had to speak about every time we listened to a new song or genre. 

We learned about rhythm, melody, harmony, and texture. 
Rhythm is a unit or "beat" repeating itself in a piece of music. The melody is the arrangement of sounds. A harmony is any combination of notes sounded or occurring at the same time. Texture is the way several voices or instruments interact with each other in a piece of music. We described the music's texture by being either "thick" or "thin." Thick, in my own words, is having a lot going on in a piece of music, and thin is little going on and being able to pick out or name what you can hear. 


Classical Period

Classical is used to describe a variety of western musical styles. Some of the best known composers of this period are: Joseph Hadyn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. Beethoven is also sometimes considered as a Romantic composer.

Early 20th Century (Jazz)

Jazz was my favorite type of music we listened to in here. It originated in African American communities and influenced by African and European music traditions. Jazz has split into many different subgenres. Some of the instruments used in jazz music is:
Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Vibraphone, Trumpet, Piano, Guitar, Banjo, Tuba, Double Bass, Bass Guitar, Vocals, Trombone, and Drum Kit.

Overall I really enjoyed everything we listened to and I really enjoy 
this class.