Music Listening
A pedal point holds its note while the harmony moves around it
A pedal point keeps a pitch in place through changing harmony. Try a short keyboard example and listen for how a stable bass can create changing tension.
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Listening Details
Hearing a hemiola: six steady pulses, a different musical stride
Hear a simple hemiola by keeping six pulses steady and changing their grouping. Try an accent exercise before following the effect in a performance.
Listening More Closely
Rubato reshapes a phrase without losing the music’s larger pulse
Rubato allows expressive flexibility in musical time. Try a focused listening exercise that separates a shaped phrase from a simple permanent change of tempo.
Instruments and Listening
Sul ponticello changes a bowed string sound by moving towards the bridge
Hear how sul ponticello changes a bowed string’s colour near the bridge, and compare it with ordinary bowing without confusing brightness with loudness.
Listening to instruments
A viola’s strings sit a fifth below the violin’s
Listen for the viola’s lower string range and middle voice, and discover why it is more useful to follow its musical role than call it a large violin.
Music Listening
A trill and a tremolo ask a musician to repeat different things
Trills alternate neighbouring notes, while tremolo can describe repeated notes, chords or other effects. Read the musical context before deciding how to play.