As I have been considering the matter,
in anticipation of sketching out some more
notes regarding same,
I begin to realize just how complex
this matter really is.

I have been debating
whether I should discuss
the concept of tonality,
and tonal centers,
or motifs and
the use of
motive
in music

(think
Pierre et le Loup,
uhhh, I mean
Peter and the Wolf;

one theme for
Peter,
another for
Grandfather,
another for
the little bird,
another for
the duck,
and finally,
der Wolfe,
or is it
das Wolfe?

you know ---

THE WOLF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, did I forget
the hunters?

And the incredible
final procession
where all of the motifs
are interwoven into
one musical fabric.

Or think
Beethoven's 5th Symphony,
1st movement,

da da da   daaaa.

From two notes
stated with
four "da"s 
Beethoven will build
an enormous architectural
structure which can only
serve to astound
any who have brains enough
to understand just what it is
that he is doing.


As you can see,
I am rapidly drifting
toward motifs,
rather than tonality.

But, I am not sure that
I am in the right order.

It seems to me that 
tonal center
should precede
the actual melody making.


But that be as it may,
let's take a closer look
at motive.

(not the kind
you are thinking of)

A melody is
fundamentally composed
of
pitch and rhythm.

When we speak of a melody
we automatically think in
terms of musical tones.

It is from the physics of sound
that these various tones (or notes)
arise.

It is from the underlying
physics of sound waves
that you believe that you
are hearing a
harmonious sound,
or a
disharmonious sound.

Typically known as
concordance
and discordance.

In the underlying sound waves
there will be a unity
or a clashing
of the various waves
against one another.

The unity
is considered
pleasurable.

It is said to
sound
"good".

When the soundwaves
are crashing wildly
into one another
on such a wide scale
that it has become
audible,
the listener
will say that
the sound is
"bad".

As you may have
already guessed,
there is no such thing
as a
"good" or "bad"
sound.

It is fully dependent
upon the subjective evaluation
of any given listener.

What I love,
you may hate.

What I hate,
may be your favorite
"music".

I think that the wind
and the waves
and the birds
are music,
and that
the noises of
the innermost city
are as a wild
cacophany of sound,
neither good nor bad.

So, in the science of sound
we speak of so many frequencies
per second,
and how many kilohertz,
and how many
peaks and troughs,
and what shape the wave is.

Yes,
we pull out an oscilloscope
and get very specific about
just what it is we are
intending to be talking about,
when we communicate
with one another in a
common language.

No "good" or "bad".

Just,
"good".

But, good for what,
exactly?

So,
now we have
one single tone
at so many frequencies
or beats
per second,
or minute,
or millisecond,
or whatever.

Now,
in order to make melody
I will need a succession
of these "tones".

I will also need units
of time.

That is the "rhythm"
part of
"pitch and rhythm".

When we say
rhythm
we are really saying
"spatial relations in time".

(remember,
no more
time
and space;
but, rather,
space/time,
to be entirely accurate
as possible
about such matters).

It is not until you start
to read or write
rhythms
and rhythmic units
on paper
that you will
fully understand
just what it is I just said.

Each note of the paper
has "space"
between it
and the next note.

Each note itself
is a representation
of an amount of time.

As you can see
time
is intextricably woven
into the very fabric
of melody.

We can now understand
that pitch and rhythm
are, in actuality,

notes taking place in time
and space between notes (i.e. silence)
also taking place in time.

So, pitch/notes and time and space/time.


I want to make perfectly clear
that this is no exaggeration
or some kind of fancy talk.

There is an actual
physics of sound
underlying
every single melody.

And the laws of physics
will repeatedly come into play,
until it becomes
the constant companion
and playmate
of the master composer
who is knowledgeable
in such matters.

Now that we have
the constituent components
of melody,
what shall we now do?

Motifs.

So, just what is this thing
I am calling a
"motif",
anyway.

It is the smallest recognizable unit
of melody.

It could be two notes
going back and forth
with a certain very specific rhythm.

It could be a rapidly ascending scale.

It could be any recognizable series of notes.

This is the next level of building block
following the individual tones/notes.

Putting two or more together
in a recognizable form.

So that the listener can hum it
and know it when it is heard.

Certain chord patterns
could be motifs,
as is very common
in "popular" music.

Nearly every chorus
ever written
consists of some snappy little
fragment of melody,
easily memorizable,
and easily singable.

That is,
motif.

I used the example
of
Pierre et le Loup,
above.

In this piece,
the great master orchestrator,
Rimsky Korsakov
teaches music students
a wonderful lesson
in the use of motive.

One can immediately
recognize which melody

(melody as motif,
in this case)

represents
Peter
Grandfather
the little bird
the duck
the wolf
and the hunters.

Even when all of the various
themes (motifs)
are woven together in the finale
each character's motif
is easily distinguishable from
one another.

Think of the spooky music
in the horror movies
which cues you that
something really horrible
is about to happen
(time to close your eyes
and hold your ears).

That almost always consists
of a motif
or a group of motifs.

You are watching a play
and "the villian"
is about to step forward,
the piano will play wildly,
once again, cueing,
that the villian is about
to take stage center,
so it is time to listen up.

Operas are full of various motifs
as are most oratorios.

You are listening to them all the time
without even being aware of their existence
or of their importance to the composer.

For it is out of these elements
that
RECOGNITION
comes into being.

I hear a snatch of melody,
and then as it continues on
I hear a familiar refrain,
but different, somehow.

It is that "recognizability"
(and comprehendability)
that has been created,
without you, the listener,
ever truly realizing it,
by the use of
motif.



(as a note:
I am using the words
motif,
motifs, as plural of motif,
and motive
as the all-encompassing
word for the entire subject,
because motifs is just not broad enough
to describe the many other elements
that are involved aside from the specific
motif itself).


Well,
I know YOU must be tired,
because I KNOW that I am.

Must go get some coffee,
pronto!

as in right away.

signing off,

for now.


w/love to all

vw

11:24 a.m.
5-21-13
Tuesday
Ventura, California, USA



p.s.

happy b-day

sw, yesterday
and
le, today.

Let's rock the place extra hard
this next year.

Wadda you say?