Generalizing European Music

            The general categories that were seen in the Worlds of Music European Chapter were things that I had heard many times before.These generalizations are used because to begin describing European music in a more specific way it would take a book as big as our A History of Western Music text. The general idea for rhythm and meter found in the book Worlds of Music states that the most common metrical structure of European music is duple meter in 4- bar phrases. The next most common is triple meter. With regards to pitches and scales this book says that the most common scale used in European music is a major scale the next most common is the minor scale. When looking at harmony the book states that harmony in European music relies heavily on chords. The basic chords used are usually built on the 1^st, 4^th, and 5^th scale degrees.

When I think of all of these criteria the first songs that came to mind were children’s songs like Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Hot Cross Buns. Both of these songs fit into a major scale and they have a duple meter. It also only takes the I, IV, and V chords to play both songs. These songs are usually used to teach kids about music. They are used when exposing beginners to instruments or to singing; I suppose to build up confidence in ability. They are easy to sing along with and they are catchy.

There are many songs that don’t fit the criteria that Cooley mentions. When I read the statement about scales for instance I remembered that for a long time in European music scales weren’t used, they didn’t exist in the way we think of them today. Europeans used modes. I found a Madrigal Solo e pensoso by Luca Marenzion in Norton Anthology of Western Music that perfectly illustrates this point. This Madrigal is in the mode of G or Mixolydian or 7. These modes are usually uncovered by looking at the range of notes played and the notes played most often. Another way this Madrigal differs from the image Cooley painted about European music is that it uses word painting. This is a device used to literally paint the image of a certain text, usually poems, into the music. So it begins on this rising chromatic line using whole notes that, according to the text, is supposed to represent the first line of the poem; which describes a pensive person, on deserted fields, alone, taking slow deliberate steps. This chromatic line would definitely not fit into the major or minor scales.

Solo e pensoso by Luca Marenzion on youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_0NvmgW2h8

Most people know how Mary Had a Little Lamb goes but here is a link anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqwWXpdiQp0