Western Mindanao State University

IPIL EXTERNAL STUDIES UNIT

Purok Corazon, Ipil Heights, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay
HUMANITIES 102
Fundamentals Of Music

JOEMAR A. BAYUTAS
INSTRUCTOR
 Introduction
What is Fundamental?
- a central or primary rule or principle on
which something is based.
-relating to, or affecting the foundation or basis.
- being an original or primary source.
 Introduction
What is Music?
Music comes from the Greek word mousikē which means “the art of Muse”. Muse is one
of the nine sister goddesses of song and poetry and of the arts and sciences. She is the spirit
that gives the poet or composer his ideas and inspiration.
- vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce
beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.
- the written or printed signs representing vocal or instrumental sound.
- is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound organized in time.
- Music is a form of art; an expression of emotions through harmonic frequencies.
- Music is also a form of entertainment that puts sounds together in a way that
people like, find interesting or dance. Most music includes people singing with
their voices or playing musical instruments, such as the piano, guitar, drums or
violin.
 Introduction
What is Music?
Music is the finest of arts and sciences. To the scientist, it is a
system of vibrations which must be regular and systematic because, without
organization, music becomes mere noise. To the musician, music is the
relationship between the ear and the instrument or voice. It is the
organization of sounds towards beauty; it is the manipulation of three
individuals: the composer, the instrument maker, and the interpretative
musician.
Basically, music is the union of pitch, force, quality, and duration
arranged according to the laws of melody and harmony. It is the
combination and succession of tones following the recognized laws of
musical composition.
Why Do We Study Music?
There are several reasons why we study music. These are:

1. Music brings joy and satisfaction to all. Boys and girls learn to develop their aesthetic and spiritual
tastes for a better and noble life. It is a medium through which one’s mood is expressed: happiness
and sorrow, satisfaction and discontent, love and hate, anger and laughter.
2. Music is a vitalizing factor, for the other subjects in the school curriculum. It sharpens the mind to
understand and interpret its technical symbols and terms and to understand its special vocabulary.
3. Music supplies man’s potential power and energy for creative growth. It is stimulant to one’s
imagination and a strong force to invent.
4. Music enhances and improve human relationships and character building. It instills a sense of well-
being both physically and morally. It is an ideal form of play where one gets a definite and liberating
sense of freedom.
5. Music makes every picture and every sense of life appear significant.
6. Music is the panacea for all woes.
Brief History of Music

There is no recorded beginning of music. Discoveries of archaeologists in

the great cities of early civilization like Egypt, Greece, and Western Asia brought
about the existence of music through pictorial and architectural representations
found on the walls of houses, buildings, pyramids, tombs, temples, and
monuments.

Egypt
Greece
 Some educators and philosophers formulated
theories in music:

One of them was Darwin, who thought music was

developed to attract opposite sex. Another was Spencer
who thought music was developed to express emotions
just as language was developed to express ideas. Gurney
theorized that “music creates audible form, succession
and combinations of tones.
 Excavated tablets of clay gave a
vivid idea of the special and
religious esteem of the Babylonians
for music. They used music to give
signals to armies and to break
gatherings of people. The Egyptians
used string instruments such as
lyre, harp, guitar, and percussive
instruments such as the cymbals,
drums, and tambourines.
Lyre Harp Cymbals
The Importance of Music in one’s culture is illustrated below:
1. The Hindus
The Hindus, like the
Egyptians had their music
vested in the priest who ruled
the arts and sciences. Music
among Hindus and Egyptians
was interwoven with their
religious ceremonies and
festivities. Their oldest and
most important instrument
was the vina, a sort of strong
instrument.
The Importance of Music in one’s culture is illustrated below:
2. The Hebrews
The Hebrews, an intensely
religious people, considered music
as a spiritual gift of God, because
of them, music was a matter of
religion than art. Most favored Symphonia
Hebrew instrument was the harp
which was used to accompany the
chanting of the prophets. They
introduced the symphonia, a sort
of bagpipe particularly suited to Sambuca
the people of Palestine. Three
Assyrian instruments were the
symphonia, sambuca, and santir.
Santir
The Importance of Music in one’s culture is illustrated below: (cont…)
3. The Greeks
The Greeks, had their beginnings of
music from the Egyptian colony brought by
Cecrops. They had their music and myths
combined which gave us the mythical gods
and goddesses: Venus, Apollo, Athena, Pan,
Mercury and others as the patrons and
exemplars of music. Pythagoras, (585-505
B.C), the Greek Philosopher invented the
octave scale. He was also credited with the
invention of the canon or monochord
although he was more regarded as an
acoustician than a musician. Two early Greek
musicians were Terpander and Pythagoras.
Philosopher with treatise in music were
Aristotle, Plato, Euclid and Aristoxenus.
The Importance of Music in one’s culture is illustrated below: (cont…)
4. Gregorian chant
Gregory the Great, introduced the Gregorian
chant which is still used in religious ceremonies of the
Roman Catholic Church.

5. Southern Europe
Southern Europe had the French troubadours
(singers from nobility), trouveres (knightly singers)
and the minnesingers (love singers)who were
organized into a guild composed of traders,
engravers, physicians and other gentlemen of leisure.
One of the most celebrated troubadores was Richard I
of England. Best known trouveres was Adam de la
Hale. Most popular minnesinger was Hans Sachs.
The Importance of Music in one’s culture is illustrated below: (cont…)
6. Oriental Music
Oriental music existed long before the
development of music in Europe. Music had a
prominent niche among Chinese intellectuals.
Records showed that the Chinese wrote on the
science of music at about the time the
Pharaohs of Egypt were building the pyramids.
Confucius (551 B.C.) wrote books about music.
It is interesting to note that the Chinese
theorized that there are only eight sound-
giving bodies; bamboo, clay, gourd, metal, silk,
skin, stone and wood.
The Importance of Music in one’s culture is illustrated below: (cont…)
The Japanese and
the Chinese, used the
pentatonic (five notes)
scale. The national
instrument of the
Japanese, was the Koto,
while the Chinese had
the Sheng which was
the most important and
indispensable
instrument in their
temple rituals.
The Importance of Music in one’s culture is illustrated below: (cont…)
7. The Romans
After the fall of Greece as a political
center, Greek musicians moved over to Rome.
The clapping of the hands and the stamping of
the feet exemplified the first and crudest
attempts of man at rhythm and music. Whistling
with the human lips was a form of music. The
leaves of certain plants when applied to the lips
and blown with air produce a sound like that of
a clarinet. The earliest system of notation was
attributed to Boethius, a Roman philosopher
who devised notation by placing letters over the
syllables. The next attempt at notation was the
placing of signs (called neumes) over the words.
The Importance of Music in one’s culture is illustrated below: (cont…)
8. The Italian
The art of singing came to
perfection with the development of the
opera in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries
largely due to the development of a new
vocal composition, “the art song”. The
Italians wanted beautiful singing in their
operas, Peri Jacobo, (1561-1633), an Italian
composer wrote the first opera known as
music drama in 1600. Richard Wagner, a
German opera composer insisted that
opera was more of drama than song. The
idea of drama and art song brought about
a great change in modern operatic singing
so that the present day vocalist must
produce beautiful melodies and at the
same time faithfully interpret the message
of his song. Vienna then was the musical
center of Europe.
The Importance of Music in one’s culture is illustrated below: (cont…)
9. The Filipinos
When the Spaniards came
to the Philippines, the early
Filipinos already had musical
instruments. According to
Pigafetta, it was amazing to see
the Filipinos having a common
thread of identity, an established
culture in the line of music. They
had their share of cross-cultural
heritage brought about by trade
contacts with the Chinese, Hindus,
Japanese, and Malaysians.
Significance of Music Education

Music is an integral part of society. Robert Nye believes that in

a democracy, music education is a must for all, not only because
democratic heritage insists that every child shall have education in
music as part of his rightful general education, but also because in a
democracy, education provides for the fullest possible development
of its people.
The great German composer George Handel said, “if my music
gave up people only pleasure, that would not be enough for me. I
wish it would make people better and kinder,” Johann Wolfgang Von
Goethe, a German poet, dramatist, and scientist, regarded music as
a decisive means to form man’s character, placing music as the
center of all educational endeavors.
Significance of Music Education (cont…)

“We believe the skills the arts teach creative thinking, problem-
solving, risk-taking, teamwork and communications – are precisely the tools
the workforce of tomorrow will need. If we don’t encourage students to
master these skills through quality arts instruction today, how can we ever
expect them to succeed in their highly competitive business careers
tomorrow?” -Richard Gurin Chief Executive Officer, maker of Crayola crayons.
Music is a part of our society and a part of all communities – every
human culture uses music to carry forward its ideas and ideals. A study of
the arts provides children with an internal glimpse of other cultures and
teaches them to be empathetic towards the people of these cultures. This
development of compassion and empathy, as opposed to developing greed
and a selfish attitude, provides bridges across different cultures that lead to
a respect of other races at an early age.
Significance of Music Education (cont…)

Music has a great value to our economy – it creates jobs, increase’s tax base,
boosts tourism and spurs growth in related businesses. Music study develops skills
that are necessary in the workplace such as teamwork skills and discipline – during
musical performances all members must work together to create the sounds they
wish to achieve and for this regular practice is also required.
Because of music’s ability to relax, calm and heal, and its optimal platform for
emotions, the involvement with music helps to carve brighter attitudes – more
optimism towards the future, less TV and non-productive activities, low use of
alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs and desire to develop individual abilities.
Music requires study skills, communication skills, and cognitive skills and as
these are learnt and developed they expand the student’s abilities in other academic
areas and help them become better students.
Significance of Music Education (cont…)

The increasing importance of music education is reflected in the passage of

the Music Education Law (R.A. 4723)- an act giving importance to the teaching of
music in the curricular of elementary and secondary schools in 1966, authored by
Congressman Manuel Concordia. For this, he won “Music Patron of the Year”
award.
With the enactment of the Music Education Law, music was taught, with
arts as a separate subject area, three times a week in the elementary schools, both
public and private, music was allotted at least one day a week.
Through the singing of folk songs and our soul-stirring kundimans, playing
native instruments, participating in bamboo ensembles and just listening as an
aficionado, the child demonstrates love of country, the primary aim of Article XV of
the Constitution, Sec. 8, No. 4.
Objectives of Music Education
1. Enrich life experiences through observation, exploration, discovery, cooperation and
participation.
2. Discover creative potentialities through singing, listening, playing, moving, reading and
creating.
3. Enhance visual and aural perception for aesthetic and intellectual value judgment.
4. Utilize music as an outlet for one’s feelings.
5. Gain acquaintance with music of different countries.
6. Develop fellowship for universal communication and social cohesion.
7. Awaken interest in global culture.
8. Develop nationalistic spirit in adapting Philippine music.
9. Gain familiarity with the different styles of Philippine songs, dances, festivals, musical
instruments.
10. Involve community participation for a harmonious school-community relationship.