MUSIC. Music Conversation. Level 1

Music conversations 

1. Do you play any instruments?

Yes, I play ______.

No, I do not play any instruments. I would like to play the __________.

(piano, trumpet, saxophone, drums, violin, clarinet, flute, trombone, guitar, etc)

2. Do you attend classes at a music conservatory?

            Yes, I attend classes at a music conservatory.

No, I do not attend classes at a music conservatory.

3. Do you like to sing?

            Yes, I like to sing _______ songs.

            No, I do not like to sing because ___________.

(opera, pop songs, rap, etc)

4. Do you like to dance?

            Yes, I like to dance to _______ music.

            No, I do not like to dance because __________.

(salsa, flamenco, pop, house, etc)

5. What is your favorite song? Why?

            My favorite song is _________ because ___________.

MUSIC. Exercises about music periods. Level 2

Exercises about the Historical Music Periods (English)

1. What did the Greek buildings look like? Draw them.
2. How did the Greeks dress? Draw their clothes.
3. Write the name of a very important temple. By who were they directed?
4. In what ways were Greek sculptures different from Egyptian sculptures?
5. Were sports important? What were the games that they played called?
6. Where did they play music? Draw how these places looked.
7. Was music important?
8. What three other cultures belong to the Old Age?
9. What centuries are we talking about?
10. Why did the Old Age end?
11. What is the second period?
12. During which centuries did it last?
13. What does the social or feudal pyramid consist of? Draw the four classes that we see in it.
14. What were the peasants’ homes like?
15. Where did the kings and nobles live?
16. Where were the monks or the clergy? What were the names of the two styles of churches?
17. What does the Roman church consist of? What form did it have?
18. What does the Gothic church consist of? What was it like?
19. What appeared at the end of the Middle Ages? Why?
20. Give an example of a medieval king.
21. What did men wear to fight and not get hurt?
22. What was the name of the Spanish king?
23. Why is he famous in the music world?
24. What was the name of the uncultured people who brought music to the cities?
25. What was the name of the greatest poets, noblemen, and kings?
26. What music did the peasants listen to?
27. What wars occurred between the Arabs and the Christians? Write its name.
28. What is the third period called?
29. During which centuries did it last?
30. What is the word that describes a new man who is interested in the sciences and the arts?
31. In what country was there marvelous art?
32. What two cities in this country stand out from the rest?
33. Write the names of three artists.
34. What did people such as Leonardo and Michelangelo do?
35. Who were the king and queen of Spain during this period?
36. What was their son, who had a palace in Granada next to the Alhambra, named?
37. What problem kept the king and queen occupied during this time?
38. In what year were they able to resolve this problem?
39. What great discovery happened?
40. Who made this discovery and during which year?
41. Which four, great musicians worked as chapel teachers for the king and queen?
42. What is a chapel and why did the king and queen want one?
43. What was the white, pleated garment that people wore on their necks called? Draw one.
44. Which two great writers wore this garment and where were they from?
45. Write the name of the fourth period.
46. During what centuries did this period occur?
47. What does it mean for a king to have absolute power?
48. Which French king was the best example of someone who oppressed the peasants with taxes?
49. What did the peasants call him? Why?
50. What was the super palace that he built called?
51. What was the name of the Spanish king who also ruled strictly?
52. And what was the name of his palace?
53. What was Baroque fashion like as concerns hair?
54. And what were the clothes like that women wore?
55. Which three great composers do you know from this period?
56. What keyboard instrument did they usually play?
57. Was Bach very famous at the end of his life?
58. Which great Spanish painter made portraits of Baroque princesses with mesa-camilla skirts?
59. What is the name of the fifth period?
60. During which centuries did it last?
61. What ended the abuse of the French king and queen?
62. What did towns get?
63. What three, great musicians do we know from this period?
64. What was the wig fashion like now?
65. Was Mozart very stupid? Why?
66. What work did he create at the end of his life that he was unable to finish?
67. Give the name of an opera.
68. What instrument did Beethoven play?
69. How did people style their hair during this period?
70. In which musical genre was Beethoven best known?
71. What is the next period?
72. What century does it belong to?
73. Explain one aspect of the clothing.
74. Write the name of one pianist and one opera composer.
75. Are passions important during this period?
76. What great military personality do we meet during this period?
77. What did he do when he conquered many territories?
78. Which Spanish painter was very rebellious?
79. What was the last period?
80. During which centuries did it last?
81. What is the most terrible event that happened during this period?
82. Name a dictator.
83. What new technologies or inventions were made during this time?
84. Write the name of a Spanish musician.
85. Write the name of a Spanish poet.

MUSIC. Brief History of Music - from the social-political and cultural perspective. Level III

Brief History of Music - from the social-political and cultural perspective

1. Old Ages (from thousands of years ago to the 5^th century A.D.): it is not known very well when everything began.  The first cultures you have to remember date back to the 30^th century B.C.  I’m talking about the Egyptian and Mesopatamic cultures.  Other important cultures to remember are after this date and are the Iberian (in Spain), Greek, and Roman cultures.  Musically speaking, the Greek culture was the most important because it contributed to the bases of musical notation.  Invented in Greek ways, the

2. Middle Ages (6^th – 14^th centuries): the music here should be studied in three groups of people.  In first place, one must talk about monasteries.  Nuns prayed singing.  Saint Gregorio Magno was a man that gathered together all Christian music chants between the 6^th and 7^th centuries and for this reason the music in this era is known as Gregorian.  An example of this music can be found in the monastery of the Burgos Strikes.  A second group was the peasant population.  The peasants liked to dance and so the music they listened to was mainly dance music.  One example is the codex or book of Llivre Vermell.  The music was disseminated by people that knew how to sing, recite, dance, and jump.   I’m talking about jugglers, however, that weren’t very cultured.  Lastly, the nobles in their castles organized parties where they also sang.  They composed songs, they played instruments and they recited.  I’m talking about troubadors that, contrary to the jugglers, were very cultured people.  In this third group one must talk about a Spanish court were a very wise king lived.  His name was Alfonso the 10^th the Wise and he composed a very important codex.

3. Renaissance (15^th – 16^th centuries): this era is characterized by the development of art throughout Italy.  Surely you´ve heard of Leonardop da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Rafael.  They were very important painters.  Some were also sculptors and architects.  This developmental movement was called Humanism and it thought that man was at the center of the world.  They also looked to the past because they like the Greeks a lot.  On the religious front appeared Luther, a priest that adored music and that did not agree with the Catholic church’s abuses of power.  Thus, he established a religious reformation, establishing Lutheranism.  In music one must talk about the development of Polyphony, that is, the appearance of distinct melodies at the same time.  All these melodies are equally important and they are produced at the same time.  For this reason we talk about Counterpoint.  The most important composers of the Counterpoint Renaissance Polyphony are Palestrina (Italian) and, in Spain, Tomás Luís de Victoria and Morales.

4. Baroque (17^th century – the first half of the 18^th century): this era is characterized by the word “exaggeration.” Art becomes very overdone (with a lot of decoration), kings have an exaggerated amount of power and are almost considered to be like gods.  They live very wealthy lives at the cost of peasants who are dying of hunger.  This will provoke the famous French Revolution in 1789.  The Catholic Church continues to abuse their power and German Lutheranism becomes more powerful.  The most important composers of this period are in the 18^th century Vivaldi, Haendel (both Italian that will work for the monarchy) and Bach (a German that will compose music for the Lutheran Church – also of German origin).

5. Classical (second half of the 18^th century): in this short period, the French Revolution takes place.  The peasants show themselves to be against the monarchs and they begin to establish Constitutions.  The most important composers are Mozart (Austrian) and Haydn (German).

6. Romanticism (19^th century): the revolutions continue in this period.  Many countries want to unify their territories, liberating them from other nations.  On the other hand, during this period feelings become more valued, especially romantic, exalted, and passionate feelings.  The principal figure in this Romantic period is Beethoven (German).  This great artist initiates the movement from the Classical period to the Romantic period.  We stress his new symphonies.  Along with him, one must talk about Schubert, a very good artist when it comes to writing songs.  In opera one must talk about the Italians Rossini and above all Verdi.  On the other hand, the piano is the king of all instruments in Romanticism with two other great musicians: Chopin and Schumann.  There are more artists, but we will look at them later.

7. 20^th Century: this period is characterized by two horrible world wars and a Spanish civil war.  All this produces protest music.  In France one must talk about Impressionism that, like in painting, tried to create suggestive music, aimed at one’s feelings.  In music there is a French artist who is called Debussy.  Strawinsky is a very important artist.  In Spain it is fundamental to talk about Manuel de Falla that combines modern technique with Spanish popular music.