Area of Study 2: Music for Ensemble
What's covered
Key facts
Chamber, musical theatre, jazz and blues styles
Blue notes are slightly flattened notes that give blues its sound.
Instrumental and vocal groupings
Backing vocals add harmony or repeated phrases behind a lead singer.
Texture in ensemble music
Call and response, where one part answers another, is common in jazz and blues ensembles.
Chamber, musical theatre, jazz and blues styles
Blues often uses the 12-bar blues pattern and blue notes.
Instrumental and vocal groupings
Basso continuo is usually played by cello and harpsichord in Baroque ensembles.
Texture in ensemble music
A countermelody is a second tune played against the main melody.
Chamber, musical theatre, jazz and blues styles
Chamber music is for a small ensemble, one player per part.
Instrumental and vocal groupings
The cello is the lowest-pitched instrument in a string quartet.
Texture in ensemble music
A homophonic ensemble has one part with the tune and others accompanying.
Chamber, musical theatre, jazz and blues styles
Jazz features improvisation over a chord sequence.
Sample questions
A taste of the 27 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What does musical theatre combine?
- •Only orchestral instruments
- •Only spoken word poetry
- •Only unaccompanied singing
- ✓Songs, dialogue, acting and dance
A typical jazz or blues trio consists of?
- •Flute, oboe and bassoon
- ✓Piano, double bass and drums
- •Three trumpets together
- •Violin, viola and cello
An ensemble texture with several independent melodic lines is?
- •Chordal
- •Monophonic
- ✓Polyphonic
- •Unison
Which feature is central to jazz?
- ✓Improvisation over a chord sequence
- •No harmony of any kind
- •Silent rests all the way through
- •Strictly fixed written notation
What is the job of a band's rhythm section?
- •To conduct the orchestra
- ✓To keep the time and harmony
- •To sing the lead melody
- •To write all the lyrics
What is a countermelody in an ensemble?
- •A repeated drum pattern
- ✓A second tune against the main one
- •A single unaccompanied line
- •The lowest bass note held
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