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252.563 0.253475 253.041 0.15797C253.519 0.0529708 253.958 1.99446e-05 254.359 0Z\"\n    fill=\"currentColor\" />\u003C/g>",{"id":13,"data":14,"type":15,"maxContentLevel":27,"version":25,"tiles":28},"847132c5-1eea-4b1f-9803-4543b4be81f8",{"type":15,"title":16,"tagline":17,"description":17,"featureImageSquare":18,"baseColor":19,"emoji":20,"shapePreference":4,"allowContentSuspension":21,"allowContentEdits":21,"editorsChoice":6,"accreditations":22,"certificatePriceLevel":25,"certificationTitle":26},8,"The Science of Music","Journey through the inner workings of melody, harmony & rhythm","7ae51546-cacb-4b91-927c-8cedeb547523","#58AE70","🎧",true,[23],{"authority":24},1,2,"How Music Works",9,[29,201,460,696,880,1042,1181,1285],{"id":30,"data":31,"type":27,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"orbs":35},"86164edf-be4a-41b5-a133-f7c77e4b4f11",{"type":27,"title":32,"tagline":33},"The Magic of Music","Where does sound come from, and how does it become music in our minds?",3,[36,126],{"id":37,"data":38,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":40},"5ce5f631-0513-43ac-8a1c-40413eb04224",{"type":25,"title":39},"The Nature of Music",[41,69,92,110],{"id":42,"data":43,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":47},"2f332cdc-998b-445c-a92b-0675d2690f8d",{"type":24,"title":44,"markdownContent":45,"audioMediaId":46},"Music all around us","Whether we’re belting out power ballads in the shower, tapping our fingers to the radio while waiting for the traffic light to turn green, or jogging to the beat of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” on the treadmill, we have music to thank for being a constant companion in our lives. In 2021, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry reported that the average person listens to 18.4 hours of music weekly. \n\n![Graph](image://3fd2d8d7-a3d0-4a4c-ae15-851e626530b5 \"A smartphone playing music\")\n\nNowadays, music is highly portable and personal. With a few gestures on a smartphone, we can listen to most songs on demand, thanks to music streaming services like Spotify. For some, it may even be as simple as saying, “Alexa, play this song.” \n\nTechnology has greatly changed the way we engage with music. Our ancestors weren't quite as spoiled, though. Before Thomas Alva Edison and his team invented the phonograph in 1877 – and as an extension, recorded music – music was exclusively consumed live. The only way fans could listen to their favorite musicians was through live performances with families gathered around a piano, one person on the keys and the rest singing along. ","dfa890fa-2c0f-431a-a0ea-11631b8e1708",[48,58],{"id":49,"data":50,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"09c5462b-51a7-4455-a883-a080b0ca6ce7",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":52,"binaryCorrect":54,"binaryIncorrect":56},11,[53],"What's the average number of hours we listen to music each week?",[55],"18.4 hours",[57],"10.3 hours",{"id":59,"data":60,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"eab9fa6b-6c60-4fb4-bb58-f2e49ba0b00b",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":61,"multiChoiceCorrect":63,"multiChoiceIncorrect":65},[62],"Who is associated with the invention of the phonograph in 1877, meaning that people could now listen to music that wasn't live?",[64],"Thomas Edison",[66,67,68],"James Watt","Benjamin Franklin","Charles Babbage",{"id":70,"data":71,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":75},"13ca1c1e-5ef0-421c-964c-cadb24a3690d",{"type":24,"title":72,"markdownContent":73,"audioMediaId":74},"A long history of music-making","Just as the ways in which we listen to music have evolved, so too have the tools and instruments used to create and compose it. The earliest musical instrument we have evidence for dates as far back as 60,000 years when Neanderthals in the caves of Slovenia carved flutes out of the thighbones of cave bears. \n\n ![Graph](image://de33c40f-3ef8-4c0e-bd15-394d8337c68c \"Ancient cave paintings\")\n\n\nBut our earliest ancestors didn't have to look far to produce music. They carried with them the very same instrument each of us carries day-to-day – the human voice. In fact, sociologists say that our ancestors created music in the form of vocalization – singing without using words – long before they began using speech. This shows how far back music-making goes in our history as a species. \n\nWhat's also remarkable is how universal music is. It exists in every society, even in the most remote corners of the world. Though music may sound different across cultures, studies show that we can infer a song’s purpose – whether for healing or dancing, as a lullaby or a love song – just by listening to short snippets of it.\n","f886049c-771f-446c-9155-32656a03ec1f",[76,85],{"id":77,"data":78,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"5f59590e-92d5-4715-a17e-98bd3944160c",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":80,"clozeWords":82},4,[81],"Neanderthals were carving flutes in the caves of Slovenia 60,000 years ago",[83,84],"Neanderthals","flutes",{"id":86,"data":87,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"9c6f9d82-569a-4b6d-8e0c-e7657e51bc75",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":88,"activeRecallAnswers":90},[89],"What was the first instrument that humans used even before speech had fully evolved?",[91],"Vocalization",{"id":93,"data":94,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":98},"f3bfcc88-3050-4ccb-b229-12379ce92817",{"type":24,"title":95,"markdownContent":96,"audioMediaId":97},"Why do we like music?","What is it about music that appeals to us? Music activates the brain’s limbic system, which is responsible for emotion processing. Songs that reach an emotional peak, like Coldplay’s “Fix You,” might give us the chills, what researchers call ‘frisson.’ When we like what we’re listening to, our brain releases dopamine, a feel-good chemical also triggered by eating good food or enjoying a workout. \n\n ![Graph](image://a8e67f77-0230-4a5a-b5d0-963dcb7a9c49 \"The Limbic System (in blue and purple)\")\n\nBesides giving us pleasure, music has the ability to soothe, energize, inspire, and bring about any number of emotions in us. Sad songs comfort us when we’re down, helping us feel a bit less lonely. Upbeat music gets us grooving, a fitting soundtrack for moments of celebration.\n\nMusic also plays to humans’ pattern-seeking behavior. When we tap our feet to the beat of a song, we’re anticipating what's coming next. When we listen to an unfamiliar tune, our brain is subconsciously trying to create a pattern, to figure out which notes are next to come. This is a game many of us find enjoyable, whether we do it consciously or not.","9c7c6ee3-703a-4a17-a306-e1104f708ce2",[99],{"id":100,"data":101,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"4b4a2b51-5415-43bd-9a5c-a64c3daf3571",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":102,"multiChoiceCorrect":104,"multiChoiceIncorrect":106},[103],"The ability for music to engage with us emotionally is the result of what part of the brain?",[105],"Limbic system",[107,108,109],"Hypothalamus","Cerebellum","Parietal Lobe",{"id":111,"data":112,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":116},"740e20a2-65bd-4a24-b830-527928ec0f82",{"type":24,"title":113,"markdownContent":114,"audioMediaId":115},"What is music anyway?","Though we know music when we hear it, most people would be hard-pressed to provide a definition of it. French composer Edgard Varèse defined it as “organized sound.” By singing or playing a musical instrument, we create a combination of rhythms and melodies distinct from the noise of everyday life – the pitter-patter of rain on the window or the low hum of a washing machine. \n\nBut Varèse’s vague definition leaves more questions in its wake. What is meant by ‘organized?’ Death metal features heavily distorted guitars, accelerated drumming, and growling. Listeners new to the genre may find it highly uncomfortable to hear, but it's still music all the same. Whether something is ‘organized’ is a judgment made by each listener, making for quite a tricky definition. \n\n ![Graph](image://9e413513-040d-463d-a45e-5d21e1747fa2 \"David Bowie\")\n\nOn the flip side, most people find birdsong pleasant to hear. But some scientists argue that birdsong doesn’t conform to the musical conventions humans follow and hence does not qualify as music. Yet, we still celebrate certain songs that rebel against musical norms – David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” is considered a great piece of music despite challenging existing musical rules.","171d8451-5397-4b84-934a-1fc6b45159cd",[117],{"id":118,"data":119,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"03914090-9b1b-4261-a289-6ecd56376ab3",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":120,"binaryCorrect":122,"binaryIncorrect":124},[121],"It can be hard to explain what we mean by 'music.' Edgard Varèse defined it as what?",[123],"Organized sound",[125],"Patterns of rhythm",{"id":127,"data":128,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":130},"1255eceb-e300-4bd3-aef8-9cf9f5ae57ad",{"type":25,"title":129},"The Science of Sound",[131,153,174],{"id":132,"data":133,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":137},"7e8b548e-6f6f-4bbd-85f3-320212e06540",{"type":24,"title":134,"markdownContent":135,"audioMediaId":136},"The physics of sound","Music is an art form that tugs at our emotions exceptionally well. But if we pick apart the different elements that make up music, we’ll find it rooted in cold, hard science. \n\nAt the heart of music are vibrations, sound waves that travel through a medium, like air or water. Sound relies on the chain reaction of vibrations set off by surrounding molecules to carry vibrations into our ears. In a vacuum, the absence of matter means there are no particles to vibrate, preventing us from hearing anything.\n\nOne important aspect of sound is ‘frequency,’ the number of waves passing through a place within a period of time. Higher frequencies produce higher-pitched sounds, while lower frequencies produce lower-pitched sounds. We measure frequency in 'Hertz (Hz),’ or waves per second. ‘Amplitude’ refers to the loudness of a sound and is reflected by the magnitude of a sound wave. Taller waves indicate a louder sound. \n\nThe image below shows a lower-pitched sound for wave one (1) and a higher-pitched, louder sound for wave two (2). A shorter distance between waves means that cycles repeat more frequently, hence a higher frequency and higher pitch.\n\n ![Graph](image://2bbf22ec-7eb2-4f6d-8d90-89a4746f2c48 \"Different frequencies of sound waves\")\n\n","e6e631a5-1b8a-4390-b9ec-6d285ec2638f",[138,146],{"id":139,"data":140,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"c5ada05b-67fc-408b-bd67-efabc8821a8c",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":141,"clozeWords":143},[142],"Music relies on sound waves involving molecules carrying vibrations from their source into our ears",[144,145],"molecules","vibrations",{"id":147,"data":148,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"cd5224d9-2b81-462f-aa21-5a24254dd85f",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":149,"clozeWords":151},[150],"Higher frequency sound waves mean a higher pitch",[152],"higher pitch",{"id":154,"data":155,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":159},"5b7584d1-a79d-4af8-99f8-373e0f1cc808",{"type":24,"title":156,"markdownContent":157,"audioMediaId":158},"How do we perceive sound?","Sound waves travel across space before eventually reaching our ears. For instance, when we pluck a guitar string, we set off a series of vibrations. The movement of the string causes surrounding air particles to vibrate in a similar way. These sound waves eventually reach our ears. \n\nPerceiving and processing sound relies on two main parts of the body. The ear converts sound energy into signals, and the brain – specifically the auditory cortex – receives these signals and processes them into information we understand.\n\nIn addition to identifying what we’re hearing, the brain is able to identify where a sound comes from by comparing the signals from both ears.\n\nIf a sound comes from one side, it will reach the nearer ear slightly earlier and with greater intensity than it reaches the farther ear. The brain processes these subtle differences in timing and intensity to help localize the source of the sound.\n\nThis ability to detect the direction of a sound source based on auditory cues is known as \"binaural hearing\".\n\nCertain songs take advantage of this ability. Songs like The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” feed certain instruments and vocals into either the left or right channel of the stereo. This produces a dynamic and layered sound, especially when using headphones.\n","c460d5c3-85e8-4f87-b0aa-bd481b62d087",[160,167],{"id":161,"data":162,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"6a49ee23-50de-4e14-9f69-165c86c5e49d",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":163,"activeRecallAnswers":165},[164],"Perceiving and processing sound relies on two critical parts of our anatomy: the ear and which organ?",[166],"The brain",{"id":168,"data":169,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"92ffe043-c1bf-496c-964f-06a73e752ac2",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":170,"activeRecallAnswers":172},[171],"As well as making sense of a sound, the brain can compare input from both ears to determine what?",[173],"Where a sound is coming from",{"id":175,"data":176,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":180},"86e96bdc-162d-42a1-8fc1-22324296becb",{"type":24,"title":177,"markdownContent":178,"audioMediaId":179},"The brain on music","Processing sound, especially music, involves a complex set of processes across different parts of the brain. It begins with the cochlear nuclei, where the brain subconsciously processes elements of sound like loudness and pitch. \n\nThe signals then travel to the auditory cortex, where processing becomes conscious. The auditory cortex performs many functions, including but not limited to determining the source of a sound, identifying frequency changes, and picking out certain sounds from a noisy backdrop.\n\n ![Graph](image://16cda44e-bdd8-4bdb-ba2c-588b12a66260 \"A traditional marching band\")\n\nFor the brain to appreciate sound as music, auditory signals need to make several more stops throughout the brain. These signals bounce through different pathways, each with its own specialties in processing various musical elements. \n\nThe brain processes rhythm in the motor area, meaning and structure in the language area, and other elements through areas related to attention and memory. All these processes occur simultaneously, and within microseconds, our bodies will have converted vibrations in the air into something as wondrous as music in our minds.","131fc157-0108-443b-bdb3-08d8b2e0b90f",[181,193],{"id":182,"data":183,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"21b6845b-59e0-49f0-a6a1-1d34b5408fde",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":184,"multiChoiceCorrect":186,"multiChoiceIncorrect":188},[185],"The meaning and structure of sound is processed in the language part of the brain, but in which area does rhythm get processed?",[187],"Motor",[189,190,191,192],"Speech","Memory","Emotions","Organ regulation",{"id":194,"data":195,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"7f85bdcc-bc6c-477d-98a5-fb8e8c6e18a7",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":196,"clozeWords":198},[197],"Sound processing begins with the cochlear nuclei unconsciously interpreting loudness and pitch. Next, the auditory cortex consciously identifies specific sounds, frequency changes, and their source",[199,200],"cochlear nuclei","auditory cortex ",{"id":202,"data":203,"type":27,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"orbs":206},"b166c8e0-4776-465f-ae91-9941274725c4",{"type":27,"title":204,"tagline":205},"The Building Blocks of Music","What elements do we need to make music?",[207,330,413],{"id":208,"data":209,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":211},"576dbded-6d94-49c9-8477-103a3563fb4d",{"type":25,"title":210},"Understanding Sound and Pitch",[212,228,251,274,307],{"id":213,"data":214,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":218},"8e73c25f-deaf-4c35-8235-86da986403e4",{"type":24,"title":215,"markdownContent":216,"audioMediaId":217},"Frequency and pitch","When a cat purrs in delight, the vibrations in its vocal folds produce sound waves that travel through the air at a certain frequency. These vibrations enter the brain as signals, which are then perceived as sounds of a specific pitch. In this case, it's likely to be a high-pitched sound, in contrast to the low growl of a tiger.\n\n ![Graph](image://f30976f1-4f4f-4455-987e-6c388a041ac3 \"Indonesian percussionists playing gamelan\")\n\nThough frequency and pitch are closely related, they are distinct from each other. Frequency is a physical characteristic that is measured objectively. Pitch is a subjective perception, a mental representation in our mind, similar to how color is our perception of different wavelengths of light.\n\nIn any case, the pitch we perceive from a sound wave is primarily dependent on its frequency. For example, the note C4, which is the middle C key on a piano, has a corresponding frequency of 261.6 Hz. The key to its left, B3, has a frequency of 246.9 Hz.","8e78d182-0a12-4e60-955b-5fe8a206f710",[219],{"id":220,"data":221,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"a982e668-c712-46e0-a0a1-4ab5cbf2f993",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":222,"binaryCorrect":224,"binaryIncorrect":226},[223],"What is it about the sound of a cat purring that means we don't perceive it as the low growl of a tiger?",[225],"Its pitch",[227],"Its loudness",{"id":229,"data":230,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":234},"ddcbf63d-738f-42db-88ab-a462643b3fad",{"type":24,"title":231,"markdownContent":232,"audioMediaId":233},"A range of sound","When we play instruments, we produce different pitches to create interesting sounds. After all, hearing the same note on repeat gets boring after a while. \n\nWe vary the notes played on a recorder by pressing onto one or more of the instrument’s tone holes. By enclosing part of a recorder’s tube, we slow down the vibrations produced when we blow into it. \n\nThe slower the vibration, the lower the frequency and the lower the frequency, the lower the pitch that we hear. By controlling vibrations, we are able to play different notes or different pitches on an instrument.\n\n ![Graph](image://303d9b0b-7182-463f-8f5f-4043b757ef01 \"Holes on a recorder\")\n\nJust as there is an infinite range of colors in the light spectrum, there is an infinite range of frequencies and pitches in the sound spectrum. The human ear can detect frequencies between 20–20,000 Hz. \n\nWe are physiologically incapable of hearing beyond this range, similar to how we cannot see beyond a visible light spectrum. For instance, dog whistles usually emit frequencies above 20,000 Hz. Since dogs have a wider range of hearing than humans, they can hear the sounds made by dog whistles while we cannot.","ccd2c37b-5ecc-463d-b90e-8e675cec9a8c",[235,244],{"id":236,"data":237,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"66d80eb1-00c4-4218-83a7-a5b486d141d1",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":238,"binaryCorrect":240,"binaryIncorrect":242},[239],"Why is a frequency of 20,000 Hz so important?",[241],"We can't hear beyond it",[243],"It can burst our eardrums",{"id":245,"data":246,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"c3588391-54cb-4eae-a451-4af0cb375b8e",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":247,"activeRecallAnswers":249},[248],"How does blocking one of the holes on a recorder change the note that we hear?",[250],"It slows down the vibrations produced when we blow it",{"id":252,"data":253,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":257},"7b627c6c-591b-42eb-8d6e-3387ca92b1cd",{"type":24,"title":254,"markdownContent":255,"audioMediaId":256},"The alphabet of music","Given the sheer number of frequencies and pitches detectable by the human ear, it’s important to have a system, or at least a common language, for identifying distinct pitches. The Ancient Greeks had their own musical system, but the system we know today, called ‘solfège,’ commonly referred to as ‘do-re-me,’ was developed in 1000 AD by Guido of Arezzo, an Italian music theorist, and Benedictine monk.\n\n ![Graph](image://03f0d1ea-15d0-479a-b8dc-60492e43d46f \"A full octave\")\n\nWestern music is rooted in twelve notes – seven note names, plus five sharps or flats in between. This is best illustrated on a piano keyboard. The white keys represent the seven note names – C, D, E, F, G, A, B or do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si in some European countries. The sequence repeats as we go from left to right on a piano, each key representing a letter in the musical alphabet.","a9884338-4a69-4977-8149-e80862dac8f1",[258,265],{"id":259,"data":260,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"b370ca70-be8a-41ea-aa45-33f4dd574b40",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":261,"activeRecallAnswers":263},[262],"Who developed the musical system 'solfège,' more commonly known as 'do-re-me'?",[264],"Guido of Arrezzo",{"id":266,"data":267,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"f18f921e-54ca-47c1-b90f-376cb4a4cfb1",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":268,"binaryCorrect":270,"binaryIncorrect":272},[269],"The Western system of music is rooted in how many note names, typically reflected by letters of the alphabet?",[271],"7",[273],"10",{"id":275,"data":276,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":280},"42f27dcc-acac-4849-a31d-3836e0ea2132",{"type":24,"title":277,"markdownContent":278,"audioMediaId":279},"The duality of black keys","In music, the term \"sharp\" (#) means to raise a pitch by a half-step, and \"flat\" (b) means to lower a pitch by a half-step. On a keyboard or piano, these half steps are typically represented by the black keys.\n\nThe identity of a black key is tied to the white keys on either side of it. It is half a note higher than the white key to its left, which is why it is considered a ‘sharpened’ version - pitch is slightly higher. For example, the black key to the right of C is a half a note higher, so it’s a sharpened version of C. In musical notation, we’d label it C♯, read as ‘C-sharp.’\n\nThe same black key we know as C♯ is also half a note lower than the white key to its right, which is D. As such, it is considered a ‘flattened’ version of D and is thus equivalent to D♭ or ‘D-flat.’ It is half a note lower, registering a lower pitch than the natural D.\n\nIt is important to note that, in certain keys, a white key may be also notated as a sharp or flat depending on the context of the music.\n\nFor instance:\n\nThe note E (which has no black key to the right) can be called Fb (F flat) in some contexts, even though it's a white key.\n\nThe note F (which has no black key to the left) can be called E# (E sharp) in some contexts, even though it's a white key.\n\n ![Graph](image://ddd13b87-d28f-42d0-b348-c6942f6a72c8 \"A labelled diagram of piano keys\")\n\n\n","b2961e8c-73c7-40d8-84f6-138fba89b05d",[281,288,300],{"id":282,"data":283,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"2e34e762-ba10-44a5-895b-e9ec8d7ad724",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":284,"activeRecallAnswers":286},[285],"On a piano keyboard, the black key is half a note higher than what?",[287],"The white key to its left",{"id":289,"data":290,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"48374be3-a713-4508-bc01-8121109926a7",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":291,"multiChoiceCorrect":293,"multiChoiceIncorrect":295},[292],"The black keys on a piano keyboard are either sharps or flat, but what are the white keys called?",[294],"Natural",[296,297,298,299],"Pure","Dynamics","Harmony","Chords",{"id":301,"data":302,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"8ec022e5-9a45-47a1-8d09-da3a47d4cb3c",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":303,"activeRecallAnswers":305},[304],"A black C-sharp, or C♯, has a white 'D' to its right and is therefore also considered a what?",[306],"D♭ or ‘D-flat’ ",{"id":308,"data":309,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":313},"89248bcd-45d8-4279-83f9-f3800fc2317a",{"type":24,"title":310,"markdownContent":311,"audioMediaId":312},"Why 12 notes?","How can Western music have only twelve notes when the human ear can detect an infinite number of pitches? A standard piano has 88 keys, far more than twelve! The keys of a piano show a recurring pattern of white and black keys. The twelve musical notes repeat themselves throughout the 88 keys – just as different versions. So, if you start on a C and keep moving right, every 13th key will also be a C.\n\n\n ![Graph](image://3b1dacea-24cd-4dad-9014-e0d1f175f511 \"The spacing of octaves on a piano\")\n\nThe distance between two notes is called an ‘interval.' When you go from one key to the next on a piano, you move by a semitone, the smallest interval in Western music. Of course, there are more frequencies and pitches in between, but these ‘microtones’ are not officially recognized.\n\nEach interval in music has a corresponding name. A common interval you may have heard of is an ‘octave.’ An octave is an interval made up of twelve semitones, like the distance between one note and its next iteration twelve keys to the right, which we would say is an octave higher.\n","12ba86f7-8a09-407e-bbd3-a7f1da69e1b0",[314,321],{"id":315,"data":316,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"194a087c-b889-4016-8b60-ffad65c42e92",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":317,"clozeWords":319},[318],"A standard piano has 88 keys. It consists of a recurring pattern of 12 black and white keys",[320],"88",{"id":322,"data":323,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"5bc1d15e-2df1-4319-a18b-c18499680ff3",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":324,"binaryCorrect":326,"binaryIncorrect":328},[325],"The distance between two notes of the same name on a piano keyboard is called …?",[327],"An interval or octave",[329],"A chord or progression",{"id":331,"data":332,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":334},"54ac9686-ac9e-4e09-8d2d-892a865bf315",{"type":25,"title":333},"The Structure of Western Music",[335,349,363,381,395],{"id":336,"data":337,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":341},"e0f57df2-94c0-4567-ae59-7ac797a432b6",{"type":24,"title":338,"markdownContent":339,"audioMediaId":340},"What’s so special about an octave?\t","Curious music students, especially as they're starting out, may find music arbitrary. Natural notes are notes that are neither flat nor sharp. Why do we use seven letters to represent them? Why are there twelve notes in an octave? The simple explanation is that, perhaps, it is arbitrary - that it’s just how music has evolved over centuries of refinement.\n\n ![Graph](image://444031dd-f37a-4ea5-945d-dc11f76c6a80 \"A traditional octave\")\n\nExcept, when we hear two notes an octave apart, they sound similar. This part of music is not arbitrary. Instead, it comes down to the relationship between pitch and frequency. A note one octave above another has twice the frequency of the lower note. Another octave higher, and the third note has twice the frequency of the middle note. Middle C has a frequency of 261.63 Hz. The C an octave above is 523.25 Hz, while High C is 1046.50 Hz. \n\nThis 2:1 ratio underpins the octave. Pitches separated by octaves sound similar because they are. Their sound waves fit together because of their mathematical relationship. Music “just works” because of these underlying mathematical concepts. Part of the magic is seeing how these numbers come together to create a system; the other part is listening to the resulting beauty we call music.\n\n","c7ea6e06-2eac-4544-9610-b2f007409493",[342],{"id":343,"data":344,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"6cea79cd-e911-40d1-86f3-780534afbc2a",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":345,"activeRecallAnswers":347},[346],"Why do two notes separated by an octave sound similar?",[348],"Because the one in the higher octave has exactly twice the frequency of the one in the lower",{"id":350,"data":351,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":355},"8645f210-53a2-4126-bd84-a40d8cf70fbd",{"type":24,"title":352,"markdownContent":353,"audioMediaId":354},"Finding E♯ and B♯","Why are B♯ and E♯ not black keys? If an octave has twelve notes, why not just use six musical letters instead of seven so each letter has its equivalent half-note, represented consistently on the keyboard?\n\n ![Graph](image://0bf4b459-e32d-441d-ada7-aa2674e1abfe \"A transitional octave\")\n\nThe answer to this question takes us back to music history. Plainchant or Gregorian chants, the earliest form of church music, used the seven white notes exclusively. There was no need for sharps, flats, or black keys. Over time, B♭ became necessary to resolve what is called a ‘dissonant interval,' or a pair of notes that sound inharmonious when played together. Placing a B beside an F created an unpleasant sound because the notes clashed. Adjusting the B note down to a B♭ solved this auditory tension, and thus B♭ came to be used as an alternative version of B whenever played with an F. \n\nAs music evolved, four more alternative versions, or ‘flats,’ were used to resolve the same issue of the dissonant interval. But because of how the math worked out, there was never a need for keys between B and C or E and F. Thus, we only have five black keys in each octave.","db4b2d67-af1a-470e-b231-ea1e30db1373",[356],{"id":357,"data":358,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"03cc9c92-fde9-4b5a-8324-f525247376a7",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":359,"clozeWords":361},[360],"Black notes were created to overcome the issue of a 'dissonant interval' but it doesn't happen for all notes",[362],"dissonant interval",{"id":364,"data":365,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":369},"685e9d52-4542-430c-9a3c-d4e5f0b4d5cd",{"type":24,"title":366,"markdownContent":367,"audioMediaId":368},"Arranging notes into a melody","Stringing together different pitches into a melodic sequence creates a certain magic. Take notes C, D, and E. With just three pitches, we have a tune universally recognized, the popular nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”\n\n‘Melody’ is one of the most identifiable parts of a song. It’s what we usually pick up first when hearing a new song, and it's often what lingers in our memory. When asked to sing a particular song, we usually hum or sing its melody. The way notes are arranged conveys a story, even without the accompaniment of lyrics. When music tugs at our emotions, we have a melody to thank. \n\nMelodies consist of varying pitches, but it's not just the specific pitches chosen by the songwriter that matter. For instance, we can hum “Mary Had a Little Lamb” two whole notes higher, starting at E and continuing the song with F♯ and G♯. While the individual notes have changed, the relative pattern remains the same, and we still recognize it as the original melody. After all, the essence of melodies isn't about the specific notes used, but their arrangement in relation to one another.","1a52690a-a0bb-4e2d-9a0a-67f2f6739036",[370],{"id":371,"data":372,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"48398021-6125-4983-9b8e-781894af8ca2",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":373,"multiChoiceCorrect":375,"multiChoiceIncorrect":377},[374],"What aspect of a song usually lingers in our memory and is the first thing we typically pick up on hearing something new?",[376],"Its melody",[378,379,380],"Its chorus","Its ending","Its crescendo",{"id":382,"data":383,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":387},"b571aef4-ce9e-4a41-b297-f77453becee2",{"type":24,"title":384,"markdownContent":385,"audioMediaId":386},"Grooving to the music","At its base, songs are built on an evenly-paced ‘beat,’ which forms the music’s pulse. This beat keeps the song moving forward, like a clock going tick-tock. When we tap our feet to a song, we’re often tapping in time to the beat. When we sing the letters “L-M-N-O-P” just a bit more quickly than the rest of the letters in the alphabet song, it’s because it’s a part of the song’s ‘rhythm.’\n\nRhythm provides a richness to music by adding a temporal aspect to the pattern of notes in a melody. Some notes linger, others skip across lightly, and sometimes, notes give way to a purposeful silence. \n\nRhythm transforms sound into music by spelling out the relationship between the lengths of two notes within a tune. A regular rhythm provides a structure to songs, a pattern that listeners can anticipate. Meanwhile, creating a break in this pattern adds an element of surprise and prevents a song from diving into monotony.\n","0abf894e-d0b6-4bd5-938f-aeb905eb5f7f",[388],{"id":389,"data":390,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"c8af7db8-3c5d-49ce-a9a4-d8053b96f5c5",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":391,"clozeWords":393},[392],"Rhythm is important to any song because it adds a temporal element",[394],"temporal",{"id":396,"data":397,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":401},"47cbc8ce-7004-46ca-acd9-bf845e1f652f",{"type":24,"title":398,"markdownContent":399,"audioMediaId":400},"A widely underappreciated skill ","There is a common misconception that hitting all the right notes creates a perfect run of a musical piece. After all, misplaced notes can make a melody sound awkward or, worse, painful to hear. Just as important but often overlooked, however, is the skill of timing notes correctly. Sadly, some students may rush through a piece, ignoring its rhythm, with the idea that speed indicates skill.\n\nRhythm organizes notes into a temporal pattern. A lack of rhythm may not seem like a big deal when playing solo, but it's a huge barrier to playing music properly with other musicians. Imagine listening to an orchestra where everyone is keeping perfect time, when all of a sudden, the tuba player goes rogue and zooms through the rest of the piece, leaving everyone else behind.\n\nDeveloping a good sense of rhythm entails practice. This starts with counting beats out loud – “ONE-two-three-four, TWO-two-three-four” – and progresses into counting the beats in one’s head while playing a musical piece. Most musicians also practice with a metronome, a device that makes clicking sounds based on a set interval.\n","714328fd-b2fa-4474-81a9-63e5b4964726",[402],{"id":403,"data":404,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"65fde461-f886-4f86-8b5c-b9a6479913f8",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":405,"multiChoiceCorrect":407,"multiChoiceIncorrect":409},[406],"Getting a piece of music just perfect is not only about hitting all the right notes; it requires you to hit the notes with what?",[408],"Timing",[410,411,412],"Pitch","Timbre","Symphony",{"id":414,"data":415,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":417},"88e6d7b2-0d6a-43ab-83f4-91279eb00b1f",{"type":25,"title":416},"Musical Notation and Rhythm",[418,440,446],{"id":419,"data":420,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":424},"6a4b3bf4-5ab6-499f-82b7-dbfb463f7df1",{"type":24,"title":421,"markdownContent":422,"audioMediaId":423},"Finding rhythm in musical notation"," ![Graph](image://cd264a4d-68d1-4c60-95af-e5ed4a9e8930 \"Standard music notation\")\n\nWhen performing, how do musicians know which notes to play, and for how long? Classically trained musicians, especially those in orchestras, rely on sheet music. These printouts use musical notation, a visual way of marking down how music is intended to be played. Musical notation includes a range of symbols, like a language of its own.\n\nA key piece of information musical notation provides is a song’s ‘rhythm.’ Each note in the sheet has a relative time value or duration indicated by its shape. In between the notes, we might also find rest symbols. Notes and rests throughout the piece are separated by bar lines into smaller groups called measures. These vertical lines serve as visual aids for keeping pace with the song’s beat.\n\nStandard musical notation allows classical musicians to play music together, even songs they're unfamiliar with. Indeed, the ability to read sheet music is an important skill – essential, in some cases – but it's not a requirement for all musicians. Many rock bands succeed without knowledge of standard musical notation. Their music tends to be simpler, so they can get by practicing the same set of songs as a group.","e9401865-1fe1-4651-8a1d-575e1eb839cd",[425,432],{"id":426,"data":427,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"25fbee69-7474-481c-89d8-914eb200b134",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":428,"activeRecallAnswers":430},[429],"What does the shape of each note tell the musician?",[431],"The relative time value and duration of the note",{"id":433,"data":434,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"b1e1916d-459f-4bf7-aa86-bff20f0d9abc",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":435,"clozeWords":437},[436],"Sheet music contains musical notation that tells the musician how the music is intended to be played",[438,439],"notation","musician",{"id":441,"data":442,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24},"b7fe0f92-66c7-4918-b464-4ab09d49000e",{"type":24,"title":443,"markdownContent":444,"audioMediaId":445},"Stacking notes into harmony","Performed by a single vocalist, the song “Amazing Grace” sounds beautiful. But when several vocalists come together as a choir, the resulting harmony, produced by notes layered atop one another, adds color and mood to the piece and lends complexity to the song. \n\n\n ![Graph](image://a27e3e02-c616-42cb-8fc8-b120f8053872 \"A gospel choir\")\n\nThink of harmony as placing garnish on a chocolate cake. The cake is delicious alone, but adding whipped cream and strawberries elevates it. You can’t just add any topping to a chocolate cake on a whim, though. Some flavors won’t go well with it, like a lemon glaze. Likewise, with musical notes, some combinations may not work. You’d need either an exceptionally skilled composer to make it sound good, or additional elements to make it palatable.\n\nThat said, what sounds good is influenced by cultural factors. If we’re not used to hearing a certain combination of notes, it may sound odd at first. As it becomes familiar, it starts sounding more harmonious. Likewise, chocolate cake and matcha might taste odd initially, but with repeated exposure, we might learn to enjoy it as an acquired taste.","c4b84042-b0cb-40a9-b0d0-df9f29b56b9c",{"id":447,"data":448,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":452},"61816dd1-b9c6-444f-b87f-edc28308cee8",{"type":24,"title":449,"markdownContent":450,"audioMediaId":451},"Texture, dynamics, and form","The way melody, rhythm, and harmony come together in a song produces another ingredient of music - ‘texture.’ Texture describes the overall sound quality of a musical piece. When instruments and notes overlap in several layers, we say their texture is “thick.” When the overall sound is sparse, and we can identify and distinguish individual instruments or melodies, the texture is “thin.”\n\nThe loudness or softness of music, called ‘dynamics,’ also adds a type of flavor. “Fix You” by Coldplay starts out soft but builds up, creating a climax that brings great satisfaction to the listener. In classical music, composers use Italian words like pianissimo (very soft), forte (loud), and crescendo (gradually increasing in loudness) to convey specific instructions to musicians on sheet music.\n\nThough most pop songs these days seemingly follow a structure of intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge, songwriters can arrange different parts or sections of a song however they choose. Take Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a sweeping six-minute musical journey that’s part piano ballad and part operatic masterpiece. In contrast to modern popular music, six minutes is short for classical music standards. Songs can be hours-long and take on a range of forms, including arias, concertos, sonatas, and symphonies.\n","1c035e3b-b509-4943-81b5-b41477bd9ce8",[453],{"id":454,"data":455,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"2663d8c3-740f-4888-8b1e-da9ce4908642",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":456,"activeRecallAnswers":458},[457],"When combined, harmony, melody, and rhythm produce the overall sound quality of music, known as its …?",[459],"Texture",{"id":461,"data":462,"type":27,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"orbs":465},"af17187b-467f-4e5e-b460-c1ec186c7554",{"type":27,"title":463,"tagline":464},"Musical Instruments and How They Work","How do different musical instruments produce sound?",[466,532,597,634],{"id":467,"data":468,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":470},"a31950b5-bc1e-4da0-8a93-fee7fa1b1be6",{"type":25,"title":469},"The Human Voice as an Instrument",[471,487,505],{"id":472,"data":473,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":477},"84d758e1-dec6-4e42-a3e4-5c4b205db02a",{"type":24,"title":474,"markdownContent":475,"audioMediaId":476},"The voice as an instrument","Long before guitars and pianos, there was the human voice. Singing goes far back in human history – as early as the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans. And, though not everyone is blessed with a golden voice, most of us would’ve made our first attempts at singing as toddlers, mimicking the nursery rhymes we were taught.\n\n ![Graph](image://0b9e3f58-79e9-4d88-a9a5-782367484353 \"A young child singing\")\n\nThe voice as an instrument varies in range and quality depending on several factors. Sound is created through vibrations that travel through our windpipes and vocal cords, so the pitch we create is greatly affected by our anatomy – including the shape and size of our mouth. \n\nAs children, our smaller larynxes are thinner and shorter, and so our vocal cords produce higher-pitched sounds. This changes during puberty, when our voice deepens, and then again in old age, when we revert back to a higher pitch. \n\nOur vocal range is also partially determined by our physical characteristics. The average human has a range of two to three octaves depending on their level of vocal training. That said, we have outliers like singer Mariah Carey, who is famous for her five-octave range.","e80d5264-9e88-4af2-94bd-6e6685133c0d",[478],{"id":479,"data":480,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"6739b739-8356-447f-ad5f-e73716869bc9",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":481,"binaryCorrect":483,"binaryIncorrect":485},[482],"During puberty, larger larynxes and vocal cords mean our voices deepen, but what happens to our pitch in old age?",[484],"It gets higher again",[486],"It deepens further",{"id":488,"data":489,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":493},"9515436b-2822-4269-b403-52554be30f31",{"type":24,"title":490,"markdownContent":491,"audioMediaId":492},"A range of vocal styles and skills","The human voice is highly versatile. Just as there are innumerable sound patterns across different languages around the globe, there are also many ways in which we can manipulate and control our voice in music. \n\nIn opera, singers use a technique called vibrato, partly to add flavor and partly to ensure that their voice carries through to the end of the opera house. This involves tightening and loosening the vocal cords so that the resulting sound fluctuates between two pitches very close to each other.\n\n ![Graph](image://af4d9222-cf79-4d8d-a3a7-0989620a664c \"A punk\")\n\nOutside the opera house, we see performers making percussive sounds through beatboxing, mimicking jazz instrumentation while scat singing, or fusing rhymes with rhythm when rapping. Genres like punk and death metal involve scream-singing, which seems easy for an untrained listener but requires skill and practice to protect one’s vocal cords. Other musical traditions have their own distinct singing styles as well, like yodeling in the Alps, throat singing in Mongolia, and ululation in some African countries.\n","41484b3c-d7aa-4071-85d9-e3b0a4a47d30",[494],{"id":495,"data":496,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"f99e42d8-d572-48ce-8460-1c77357214c2",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":497,"multiChoiceCorrect":499,"multiChoiceIncorrect":501},[498],"What technique do opera singers use that alternates tightening and loosening vocal cords to ensure their voice carries to the back of the opera house?",[500],"Adding vibrato",[502,503,504],"Including tremolo","Singing falsetto","Belting out the highest notes ",{"id":506,"data":507,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":511},"218596a5-4026-4251-893b-0cc2b735ca87",{"type":24,"title":508,"markdownContent":509,"audioMediaId":510},"Blowing through the wind","Most musicians classify the voice as a wind instrument because we produce sound using air from the lungs. However, all other wind instruments belong to either woodwind or brass families. \n\n\n ![Graph](image://203d5607-ec58-413c-9641-17d7a44c56db \"A clarinet\")\n\nWoodwind instruments usually have a tubular body through which air moves. The length of the air column influences the resulting pitch. A longer column allows for longer sound waves, associated with a lower pitch. Shortening the air column limits the length of sound waves, resulting in a higher pitch. \n\nWith many such instruments, the musician’s fingers alter the pitch by covering keys or holes found along the tube. Something we find in many woodwind instruments is a strip of material, usually made of wood or metal, called a reed. With reeded instruments, sound waves come from the vibrations produced by blowing through the reed.\n\n","53640e69-af59-4cd1-aaa2-520b26aabc99",[512,520],{"id":513,"data":514,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"01814c43-8c8c-4512-a444-e4ec82e7d373",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":515,"clozeWords":517},[516],"Musicians typically classify the voice as a wind instrument, and like others, its pitch is affected by the length of its air column",[518,519],"wind","pitch",{"id":521,"data":522,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"74428390-ea3b-490e-a2d5-e27fb715baa3",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":523,"multiChoiceCorrect":525,"multiChoiceIncorrect":527},[524],"Many woodwind instruments rely on a thin strip of wood that vibrates to produce sound waves. What is it called?",[526],"A reed",[528,529,530,531],"A damper","A bridge","A bell","A tube",{"id":533,"data":534,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":536},"6a289579-01ba-44e4-85a3-ac75a96ce595",{"type":25,"title":535},"Wind and Brass Instruments",[537,551,576],{"id":538,"data":539,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":543},"bd489371-00b6-4243-9e86-42d7564f46fc",{"type":24,"title":540,"markdownContent":541,"audioMediaId":542},"Woodwind instruments","Initially made out of hollow reeds, flutes are now mostly made of plastic or metal. They create high-pitched tones. Their shorter cousin, the piccolo, produces even higher-pitched tones, but with a narrower range of sound. Since they’re just half the size of a flute, a piccolo is even more limited in terms of the lengths of sound waves it can create.\n\nClarinets feature heavily in orchestras since they produce a clear, bright sound suitable for melodies. They aren't to be mistaken for oboes, which look similar but sound more nasally. \n\nThis difference in sound is primarily due to their construction. The clarinet is a single-reed instrument, the oboe is double-reed. With the clarinet, the air coming from the musician’s mouth vibrates against the mouthpiece to produce a sound. With the oboe, the two reeds vibrate against each other to create sound. \n\nThough made of metal, saxophones also produce music through a reed and are thus considered woodwind instruments. Their dynamic and flexible sound make them popular in jazz music and marching bands.\n","4c983f77-6b96-4d23-9abc-4eee2bbb68a5",[544],{"id":545,"data":546,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"62d656e4-820f-419f-a1d6-87cd446b057f",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":547,"activeRecallAnswers":549},[548],"Which woodwind instrument is often mistaken for the more nasal oboe and yet produces a clear, bright sound in orchestras?",[550],"Clarinet",{"id":552,"data":553,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":557},"5f4c144b-3eba-4fdc-bfe1-8b99991a912d",{"type":24,"title":554,"markdownContent":555,"audioMediaId":556},"Bold as brass","Whereas woodwind instruments rely on a reed to produce sound, brass instruments rely on vibrations that come directly from a musician’s mouth. The player holds their lips tightly against the mouthpiece, blowing air through to create a buzz which travels through the instrument’s air column. This vibration resonates through the body before it emerges as sound at the other end, also called the ‘bell.’\n\n\n ![Graph](image://44eb00d1-635d-4a11-b448-2871b77683a4 \"A trumpet\")\n\nWith brass instruments, controlling one’s breathing is crucial. Musicians alter loudness and pitch by the force of their breath and the positioning of their lips. A slower breath out produces a lower pitch, for example. In addition, some instruments have valves, which provide access to a wider range of pitches when adjusted. The trombone is unique in that it uses a slide, which lowers the pitch when extended.\n\nBecause of their construction, brass instruments can produce sounds much louder than most instruments. They can be heard from far away and are a mainstay in marching bands for this reason. Historically, trumpets have been used during wartime and hunting. Other popular brass instruments include the French horn, the trombone, and the tuba.\n\n","221d7e11-1c91-46c2-9f88-0d0dd2ad0236",[558,567],{"id":559,"data":560,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"65d0506c-0ec2-491f-bb93-c746b12f8410",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":561,"binaryCorrect":563,"binaryIncorrect":565},[562],"Using a slower breath when playing a brass instrument produces what?",[564],"A lower pitch",[566],"A higher pitch",{"id":568,"data":569,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"f42d21db-60ea-4d34-9116-5abef8f1cb26",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":570,"binaryCorrect":572,"binaryIncorrect":574},[571],"Woodwind instruments produce sounds through the vibration of a reed, but what do players of brass instruments use?",[573],"Their mouths",[575],"A bow",{"id":577,"data":578,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":582},"e980df52-8f01-4f68-b3ff-e4f36b0a2124",{"type":24,"title":579,"markdownContent":580,"audioMediaId":581},"From ritual to battle without missing a beat","Among the oldest group of musical instruments humans would have used is the family of percussion instruments. History shows us how important drums are in the African tradition. Drums were used for religious ceremonies, and were considered sacred because they symbolized protection for royalty. Outside of rituals, drums were used to send messages to neighboring towns.\n\nAcross the world, drums have also been widely used in battle. The steady pulse kept soldiers marching and motivated while the thunderous beat intimidated the opposing side, warning them of impending danger.\n\n\n ![Graph](image://a4fa3b11-2d3c-43df-9f39-f84472b9ca8a \"Various percussion instruments\")\n\n\nDrawing its name from the Latin word meaning ‘to strike forcibly,’ percussion instruments encompass anything that creates music when struck, shaken, or scraped against something else. A baby rattle can be used as percussion. So can a baby’s tiny hands when they clap to a rhythm, or a toddler’s stomping feet – as long as they do it with enough rhythm.\n\n","8a46ba1f-bf9b-4610-81f6-4d4d9b08dd22",[583,590],{"id":584,"data":585,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"c9e0b466-5b90-49d6-9aa8-e4affa8c0487",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":586,"activeRecallAnswers":588},[587],"Which powerful instrument formed part of the African tradition and was used for religious ceremonies, symbolizing protection for royalty?",[589],"Drums",{"id":591,"data":592,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"ed61e10d-c19b-49f7-b98f-68aa16776501",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":593,"activeRecallAnswers":595},[594],"What term comes from the Latin to 'strike forcibly' and refers to any instrument that can be struck, scraped, or shaken?",[596],"Percussion",{"id":598,"data":599,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":601},"496ab072-68db-4e66-a7df-7ef861906525",{"type":25,"title":600},"Percussion Instruments",[602,618],{"id":603,"data":604,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":608},"33bb70d8-6270-42f3-94c5-1127c5424ef8",{"type":24,"title":605,"markdownContent":606,"audioMediaId":607},"How do percussion instruments work?","At its most basic, a drum is just a hollow body, usually a cylinder, with a piece of skin or other material tightly stretched over it. Striking its top produces vibrations that carry through to its interior. This chain reaction results in sound waves that reach our ears. \n\nPercussion instruments can be either pitched or unpitched. For example, cymbals and gongs are unpitched because they have no definite pitch and do not require tuning. \n\n ![Graph](image://25104969-ae1c-49da-a405-0f5c9a6a908a \" A gong\")\n\nRather than contributing to the melody or harmony of a song, these instruments are used to provide a sense of rhythm. In contrast, xylophones and marimbas are pitched. The length of their wooden bars or keys determines the pitch created. As such, they support a song’s melody and harmony in addition to the rhythm.\n\nThough some percussion instruments may seem deceptively simple to operate, playing these instruments skillfully requires a good sense of rhythm. Anyone who hopes to play a full drum kit as part of a band also needs good motor skills and coordination. \n\nDrummers may go unnoticed performing behind their kits, but they play a crucial role as the band’s timekeeper. Percussionists set the vibe and energy of a band and can spell the difference between a good performance and a bad one.","e24691ed-5fe3-4f21-8a7a-667b40c77fbf",[609],{"id":610,"data":611,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"9bda29a0-dde0-40fb-b919-f4512c9e2d78",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":612,"binaryCorrect":614,"binaryIncorrect":616},[613],"What determines the pitch of a xylophone and a marimba?",[615],"The length of the wooden bar",[617],"The strength with which it is hit",{"id":619,"data":620,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":624},"b07e6f18-9cf4-4e09-ac74-cd2132cbcc78",{"type":24,"title":621,"markdownContent":622,"audioMediaId":623},"Playing on the (harp) strings","String instruments use different lengths and thicknesses of string to produce sound. Players pluck, strum, or draw a bow across an instrument’s strings to make them vibrate. \n\n ![Graph](image://f94a9d1a-d3e7-4b96-ab46-3ed6c78641fb \" A harp being played\")\n\nThese vibrations create sound waves that reach our ears as music. The pitch produced depends on the thickness, length, and tightness of the instrument’s strings. Thicker strings vibrate more slowly, resulting in lower frequencies and thus lower pitches. Shorter strings contain less material, and as such produce higher pitches. Pressing down on a string along a guitar’s neck effectively ‘shortens’ the string, creating a higher pitch.\n\nUnder this family of instruments, we find the guitar, violin, viola, cello, and double bass. The harp transports us to an ethereal ambiance, though if we were feeling a bit bluesy, we could pick up the banjo or the ukulele. Elsewhere across the globe, Russia has the balalaika, India has its sitar, and China has the guzheng. \n\nA controversial half-member of this family is the piano, which straddles the line between a string and a percussion instrument. Pianos produce sound when their strings vibrate, but what sets off these vibrations is a percussive motion – pressing on a piano key triggers a mechanism in which a piano hammer strikes its corresponding string.","aa3bfac3-cdd0-4a08-9c2f-710a13dded71",[625],{"id":626,"data":627,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"6f132089-2306-4e82-975c-6cee08685e17",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":628,"binaryCorrect":630,"binaryIncorrect":632},[629],"What widely played instrument is sometimes referred to as percussion and yet is also a string instrument?",[631],"A piano",[633],"A cajon",{"id":635,"data":636,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":638},"c854cbdb-d7c0-4900-85fd-5cc63f24ef30",{"type":25,"title":637},"String and Electronic Instruments",[639,662,681],{"id":640,"data":641,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":645},"5019b2d1-63b5-450a-96cb-12f01790d9f0",{"type":24,"title":642,"markdownContent":643,"audioMediaId":644},"That music sounds electric!"," ![Graph](image://cbfea215-2b57-4980-bde5-30026d6c5407 \"Someone playing a theremin\")\n\nUnlike wind, string, and percussion instruments, electronic musical instruments do not produce sounds conventionally, with physical vibrations. Instead, they produce and transmit signals electronically that are then converted into music. \n\nSome electronic musical instruments serve as alternative versions of analog instruments. A keyboard works like a regular piano, except it makes sound using electricity. Many keyboards offer the added functionality of a synthesizer, which adds patterns, filters, and other effects to the music created. Likewise, the electric guitar is played through strumming or plucking, but its vibrations are amplified, and musicians can add effects to the final sound. \n\nThe theremin has the distinction of being the first musical instrument to be played without touch. It uses a magnetic field to detect the player’s hand movements. On one side, a vertical antenna adjusts the pitch created. On the other, a loop antenna controls the loudness. The instrument may come across as an oddity to some, but since its invention in the 1920s, it has been used for sci-fi movie soundtracks and pop songs alike, as in The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations.”","5424182f-28d3-49b7-99f9-b06ff89603d2",[646,655],{"id":647,"data":648,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"085b55c7-4221-4041-bb47-4fc71a87b5ac",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":649,"binaryCorrect":651,"binaryIncorrect":653},[650],"The theremin is an electronic instrument that uses magnetic fields and a vertical antenna to adjust pitch, but why is it unique?",[652],"It produces sounds without being touched",[654],"It produces high-frequency sounds that cannot be heard",{"id":656,"data":657,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"a89e2678-91a0-4673-8dd3-ba0eee7d9e12",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":658,"activeRecallAnswers":660},[659],"Which sort of keyboard instrument is like a piano yet produces sound electronically, sometimes adding filters and other sound effects?",[661],"A synthesizer",{"id":663,"data":664,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":668},"d4bac3bc-53a8-4f77-85ea-de452f645f2c",{"type":24,"title":665,"markdownContent":666,"audioMediaId":667},"Hitting several notes with one pluck"," ![Graph](image://21822ed3-aa63-4555-81a5-91a00878d4ab \"a guitar string being plucked\")\n\nWith wind and string instruments, hitting one note involves more than just one note. Say we pluck a guitar at A2. The guitar string vibrates at 110 Hz, and we perceive the resulting sound waves as A2. \n\nBesides vibrating as its entire length at 110 Hz, the string also vibrates as two halves of its length, at a frequency twice as fast, 220 Hz. This secondary vibration produces another tone one octave higher, A3. We call this A3 a ‘harmonic’ or an ‘overtone.’ It’s essentially the same note – an A – just higher in pitch.\n\nStrings also divide themselves into thirds, quarters, or fifths, producing overtones other than A. \n\nGiven all the notes created by one pluck of a guitar string, how do we still perceive the sound as originally intended, as A2? The fundamental frequency, A2, produces a much louder sound than the secondary tones. Overtones add flavor to the overall sound, but fundamentally, what we hear above the noise is still the original A2 that was plucked.","0e2eb367-112b-4856-a2d2-c9c680bc5d34",[669],{"id":670,"data":671,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"6bf89267-78a0-4f63-87bc-a66a9de9b862",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":672,"multiChoiceCorrect":674,"multiChoiceIncorrect":676},[673],"When a guitar string is plucked, it produces a secondary tone, an octave higher known as an 'overtone' or a what?",[675],"Harmonic",[677,678,679,680],"Symphonic","Melodic","Concordant","Dulcet",{"id":682,"data":683,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":687},"57ffc0db-f4cb-49e7-8b94-26a5aea08866",{"type":24,"title":684,"markdownContent":685,"audioMediaId":686},"Why do instruments sound different?","When we play the note C4 on a piano, why does it sound different from the C4 on a guitar or a clarinet? Why can we identify the same pitch as being played on a piano and not a guitar? Shouldn’t both sounds reach our ears as exactly the same? \n\nThe reason why we can distinguish between sounds coming from two different instruments is because of a quality called ‘timbre,’ pronounced TAM-bər, unlike the ‘timber’ one yells out when chopping down a tree. \n\nInstruments differ in construction and material, resulting in different sets of frequencies when a single note is played. Timbre refers to the overall sound quality of a musical instrument as a result of the different overtones the instrument produces. Since different instruments produce different sets of frequencies, they don’t all sound alike, even when the same note is being played.\n\nWhen we say an oboe sounds nasally, an electric guitar sounds distorted, or a tuba has a deep, rich sound, we’re referring to these instruments’ timbres. Different instruments have different mechanisms for creating sound, especially across instrument families. This affects their sound quality. \n\nInstruments in the same family vary in size and shape, and might even be made from slightly different materials. These variations contribute to the array of sounds produced by the different instruments.\n","01c522d6-840b-4efd-a4ed-48a4e3f68789",[688],{"id":689,"data":690,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"24125875-a9f1-4e65-a129-25719063deb8",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":691,"binaryCorrect":693,"binaryIncorrect":695},[692],"The same note played on a guitar sounds different if played on a piano, because of what?",[694],"Its timbre",[225],{"id":697,"data":698,"type":27,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"orbs":701},"c7f31c8e-0a71-4859-a3b3-d4ed83bb7019",{"type":27,"title":699,"tagline":700},"The Journey of a Song","From an idea to potential profit, let's trace the steps musicians take to make a song.",[702,770,836],{"id":703,"data":704,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":706},"cd81dc57-cb36-409b-9f45-41048da6a32b",{"type":25,"title":705},"The Foundations of Music Creation",[707,713,727,741,756],{"id":708,"data":709,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24},"920be506-df9a-4b21-a1dd-17d6da7edfb4",{"type":24,"title":710,"markdownContent":711,"audioMediaId":712},"Good to have, but not required","Some people learn how to cook, maybe by following a recipe or having a family member teach them. More adventurous folks might decide that they can just ‘wing it’ and start by using whatever’s in the pantry, relying on their culinary intuition. While both methods can eventually lead to fairly decent home cooking, learning from recipes might get you there faster. This is because you’re able to develop correct techniques without going through rounds of experimentation. \n\n ![Graph](image://4f36cde2-6caf-4931-a0f6-f5f9f29f2a8b \"Sheets of musical notation\")\n\nSimilarly, music has its own set of rules, but we can still appreciate it without any conscious awareness of what these rules are. We can even play an instrument or write a song without learning music theory. But, as with cooking, learning the rules provides us with a structured approach to understanding the principles of music. It gives us a more straightforward pathway to becoming experts in the field. Lastly, knowing the rules makes it easier to determine when we can break them to produce unexpectedly pleasant results.\n","f0de4818-216e-42f9-b0e8-7050f3fac140",{"id":714,"data":715,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":719},"2cc589e0-48e1-4c18-9d48-c01508d35c42",{"type":24,"title":716,"markdownContent":717,"audioMediaId":718},"Guidelines, not restrictions ","Music theory is not so much a set of hard and fast rules as it is an articulation of what humans have observed in relation to music over time. It applies what we know about vibrations, frequencies, and sound waves in explaining why we interpret certain combinations of sound as pleasant, and others as not. \n\nThat said, the rules of music are by no means universal. We often hear that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Likewise, ‘good’ music is subjective. Whether or not we enjoy a song is partially influenced by our culture and environment. Exposure to certain musical patterns – including the music our mothers listened to while we were in their womb – creates familiarity and, more often than not, preference.\n\nAs a whole, the conventions and common practices we find in Western music theory apply across all genres. These fundamentals serve as a helpful foundation and take a lot of guesswork out of the process of creating music.\n","94eaf897-d362-46ae-8757-2e9b75c6cc5c",[720],{"id":721,"data":722,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"91c1e2bc-6af7-4404-89d5-d8af4ab52e9e",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":723,"activeRecallAnswers":725},[724],"Music rules are not hard and fast. Instead, they offer what?",[726],"Guidelines",{"id":728,"data":729,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":733},"20ba6247-abbd-4765-9ce2-1172e153960d",{"type":24,"title":730,"markdownContent":731,"audioMediaId":732},"Expectation and familiarity","What makes a good song? As much as music preference can be subjective, research shows that familiarity plays a big role in our enjoyment of music. When listening to a new song, our brain looks for elements we can relate to, like a familiar pattern of chords. \n\n ![Graph](image://f586d534-a019-4901-9419-d6a3d760567f \"A young girl listens to music\")\n\nBeing able to anticipate what's next helps us engage with and find meaning in music. When we successfully ‘predict’ the future – even if it's just the next note or lyric in a song – it fulfills an evolutionary desire to prepare for the future, something we inherited from our ancestors.\n\nAt the same time, slight variations from our expectations make a song more intriguing, and thus more appealing. When music violates our expectations, it creates a sense of tension, keeping us on edge. When our expectations are finally met, we feel a sense of release and satisfaction, making it worth our while.\n\nSo, songwriters tend to strike a balance between following tried and true combinations and keeping things fresh by adding some novelty into their songs. In doing so, an understanding of even basic music theory can prove to be a helpful starting point since music theory attempts to explain why we like certain musical patterns.","85f7feaf-af51-4a84-95e6-89ecf50f1cae",[734],{"id":735,"data":736,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"8fe283a4-3183-4223-a27c-387e9a0dd00f",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":737,"activeRecallAnswers":739},[738],"Being able to predict what comes next in music can increase our enjoyment of it, and is the result of which evolutionary desire?",[740],"Our wish to prepare for the future",{"id":742,"data":743,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":747},"c294488a-c916-4f08-b7ca-0b70668abb1b",{"type":24,"title":744,"markdownContent":745,"audioMediaId":746},"Starting with a key","In some ways, we can say that a good song starts with an understanding of musical conventions. Breaking a rule or two doesn't make a song bad, but it can be off-putting to the listener. A song that strays too far from common practice might be perceived as too experimental, thus lying beyond the boundaries of what constitutes good music.\n\nSongs are written in a certain key that guides the composer to understanding which notes will go well with the key center. By choosing to write a song in the key of C major, a songwriter with music theory knowledge now has a blueprint for the rest of the song’s notes. They're not restricted from using notes that don’t fall under the key of C major – in fact, an occasional departure from the key signature adds an element of surprise - but using too many of such notes could distract or confuse the listener.\n","9a43ec03-dc25-4d60-ba2c-4efc5b121d78",[748],{"id":749,"data":750,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"e480d93a-5bca-4049-a931-83484bfe6d7c",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":751,"clozeWords":753},[752],"It's important that songs don't stray too far from musical convention as breaking too many rules can be off-putting to the listener",[754,755],"musical convention","rules",{"id":757,"data":758,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":762},"3017b205-e2c2-4777-a52d-c33fc86c9859",{"type":24,"title":759,"markdownContent":760,"audioMediaId":761},"The safety of form and structure","As researchers deepen our understanding of music, making a hit song has become both easier and more challenging. On the one hand, songwriters have a laundry list of elements they need in their masterpiece - but so does every other songwriter. When hit songs follow a prescribed formula, it’s a challenge to stand out and to push the envelope in making beautiful, fresh music.\n\n ![Graph](image://bb1f9566-ab6d-4fbb-b17d-600c9789bddd \"An audience singing along at a concert\")\n\nAs we go through the structure of a song, we’ll encounter some of the basic rules for hit songs. For example, an intro with a good hook, well, hooks listeners in and piques their interest. Many great songs are famous for their intros. Within the first few beats of Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” fans know what they're in for and are ready to sing along.\n\nThe first verse presents the song’s story. Here, the lyrics must pack a punch, delivering substance without lingering too long. We need to get to the chorus soon, either directly or through a pre-chorus transition. Otherwise, we run the risk of losing the listener’s attention.\n","e869e5de-d330-4e6b-b40d-10ba84e03b3d",[763],{"id":764,"data":765,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"eda3e539-34f3-4e4c-a04a-96e8b880b0d6",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":766,"clozeWords":768},[767],"The first verse sets out the song's story, but we must get to the chorus before too long, or we risk losing the listener's attention.",[769],"chorus",{"id":771,"data":772,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":774},"56096eaf-4689-4e7b-8c18-240854e2512c",{"type":25,"title":773},"Crafting a Hit Song",[775,788,807,821],{"id":776,"data":777,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":781},"c4ecf03f-9137-4e99-8880-caa6207a463a",{"type":24,"title":778,"markdownContent":779,"audioMediaId":780},"It’s all about the chorus","As the main highlight of a song, the chorus is the catchiest part of the piece. It’s what we hope gets stuck in people’s heads! It contains the melody we want people to hum as they go about their daily lives. As such, we want the chorus to be the focus of the song – for example, by making the notes higher or louder.\n\nFollowing the excitement of the chorus, we transition back to the verse. Typically, the second verse is similar to the first, but with different lyrics. It adds more detail to the story before we’re brought back to the chorus. After all, repetition and familiarity help drill the song’s message into listeners’ heads.\n\nSongwriters usually insert a bridge after the second chorus. The bridge introduces a new pattern of chords and a slightly different feel to the music. It breaks the monotony and adds a fresh contrast before looping back into a third instance of the chorus – and sometimes a fourth – before the song bids the listener goodbye with a short outro.\n","f0f8665a-4ed4-4385-8569-ff7cf9b945a3",[782],{"id":783,"data":784,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"5e360184-a1f3-44f4-a761-01d8c81dc759",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":785,"activeRecallAnswers":787},[786],"What do songwriters often introduce after a second chorus that includes new chords to add a different feel to the music?",[529],{"id":789,"data":790,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":794},"892c0d3a-04c7-4118-9eee-e98969c216b3",{"type":24,"title":791,"markdownContent":792,"audioMediaId":793},"It starts with an idea","While the journey to a hit song begins with writing it, there aren't any clear-cut or specific instructions that magically produce a well-written song beyond that. One might begin with a simple tune, an interesting rhythm, or just a germ of an idea, and use that as a starting point. If a songwriter is lucky, inspiration may strike from the depths of the subconscious. Paul McCartney, for example, woke up from sleep to write the popular Beatles hit “Yesterday.”\n\n ![Graph](image://cac19ea5-93ae-4fa6-9f69-bae95a18afa8 \"The Beatles singing together\")\n\nMost ideas stay as they are, a forgotten recording or just another page in a songwriter’s notebook waiting to be rediscovered. But the lucky ones will get built on. The songwriter might send them in to a producer, who adds a beat, finds a suitable chord progression, and layers the track on a bassline. Lyrics are composed to fit the song’s rhythm and a demo track will be recorded, though at this point, the song is still very much a work in progress.","a543cf03-26aa-4ceb-9d58-f30012de29a2",[795],{"id":796,"data":797,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"b22aec74-1246-415e-bc2e-4e7d84e7868e",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":798,"multiChoiceCorrect":800,"multiChoiceIncorrect":802},[799],"Paul McCartney came up with which well-known song in his sleep?",[801],"Yesterday",[803,804,805,806],"Hey Jude","Let it be","Come together","Here comes the sun",{"id":808,"data":809,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":813},"9c1d319f-0ebb-4c1c-acb6-de9a6fa4647a",{"type":24,"title":810,"markdownContent":811,"audioMediaId":812},"From idea to reality","Some musicians write their own songs, in which case they’ll continue collaborating with the producer to refine the demo track. But many songwriters work professionally as just songwriters, composing for other musical acts or artists. So, if the song has yet to be earmarked for a musical artist, the producer may send the demo track to several artists to see who might be interested, or one they have in mind.\n\n ![Graph](image://b0fab0cc-e99c-40a4-afa5-e8957f606ed9 \"A mixing desk at a recording studio\")\n\nOnce an artist comes on board, they work over the song’s lyrics with the songwriter. They spend a few days in the recording studio re-recording the vocals, making sure they get the melody just right, and putting everything together.\n\nAfter all the recordings have been made, both vocal and instrumentation, it’s the sound engineers responsibility to mix the track. They adjust the volume of certain tracks, add in effects, and ensure everything fits together perfectly. When everyone is happy with the output, they submit it to the record label.\n\n","de1f4f1c-d4ce-4f0b-9e50-b22bc3fbc318",[814],{"id":815,"data":816,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"e48a46f5-7d8b-4d3a-ae90-2df454bc8a5f",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":817,"activeRecallAnswers":819},[818],"Once all the vocals and instruments have been recorded, who mixes the track, adjusting volumes and adding sound effects?",[820],"The sound engineer",{"id":822,"data":823,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":827},"bda66ed9-5ab7-4520-a4d2-c1796c8b2c43",{"type":24,"title":824,"markdownContent":825,"audioMediaId":826},"It takes a village","Transforming a song from an idea into a finished product entails many skills – songwriting, playing and arranging multiple instruments, recording high-quality audio, and mixing tracks. Even after the song has been mastered and produced, the work is yet to be finished. The song needs to be distributed and promoted. To sell records, there needs to be accompanying artwork, record sleeve designs, and a music video if we’re talking about a major recording artist.\n\n ![Graph](image://12052dfa-5711-4e71-8350-1b4a8c57cfce \"A band trying to make it\")\n\nStarting musicians don’t have the same resources that major artists do. To be cost-efficient, they often play multiple roles, hiring professionals only where necessary and possible. Artists with deeper pockets, however, have the luxury of bringing more specialists on board – a songwriter, a song producer, session musicians, a recording engineer, and a mixing engineer.\n\nThis entire process is pre-funded by the record label, which is also responsible for promoting the artist and their music. Part of this promotion might be sending the recording artist on tour, which again entails a whole set of hands to help with scheduling, lighting, sounds, and logistics.","d98113ba-e9f1-4fcd-9778-32c097561a0c",[828],{"id":829,"data":830,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"d54d2ace-08fa-48dd-b89c-7ad1cebf5060",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":831,"clozeWords":833},[832],"After a song has been produced, it needs to be distributed and promoted, along with artwork and a music video",[834,835],"artwork","music video",{"id":837,"data":838,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":840},"cbc82da3-f33f-49a8-bfd7-092b37ae30d4",{"type":25,"title":839},"The Business of Music",[841,865],{"id":842,"data":843,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":847},"cbf893e6-6779-4f18-9e32-038aa74970b8",{"type":24,"title":844,"markdownContent":845,"audioMediaId":846},"Who owns a song?","Considering the resources that go into producing a song, at the end of the day, who profits from it? There are two types of ownership of a song, rights to the actual recording – that is, a specific recorded version of the song – and rights to the composition. For major recording artists, ownership depends on their contract with the record label. Generally, however, the record label owns the rights to the sound recording, while the recording artist or their publishing company owns the rights to the composition. \n\nWhereas record labels pay for production expenses in advance, some contracts stipulate these as ‘recoupable costs.’ As the song starts making money, the record label withholds the artist’s royalties for the amount of recoupable costs before the artist begins to receive their share of earnings.\n\nMore often than not, record labels take a lion’s share of earnings. Depending on the terms of the contract and the negotiating power of the artist, a record label can take around 50 to 80%. Labels can earn absurd amounts of money on a hit song. On the flip side, they shoulder large upfront expenses and take on the risk of a record falling flat.\n","9665a4d4-3846-4438-b390-05d98329a064",[848,856],{"id":849,"data":850,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"6562a1da-1137-4f15-a522-6e44a4930545",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":851,"clozeWords":853},[852],"Usually, the record label owns the rights to the specific recorded version of the song, but the artist owns the rights to the composition",[854,855],"record label","composition",{"id":857,"data":858,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"d3491cbe-337a-458b-bdcc-8c164aaec4f1",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":859,"binaryCorrect":861,"binaryIncorrect":863},[860],"Record labels have considerable upfront costs, so they recoup what they've spent by?",[862],"Withholding royalties from the sale of songs",[864],"Charging artists a fixed fee",{"id":866,"data":867,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":871},"0369d0d3-132d-4fbc-979c-12ee5b1b4bd8",{"type":24,"title":868,"markdownContent":869,"audioMediaId":870},"Show me the money","Hand in hand with song ownership is the question of how a song makes money. Royalties from music come from different sources and go to all parties involved in the production of a track. First, we have mechanical royalties. These are paid out to songwriters and publishers each time a copy of the track is reproduced, including printed physical copies and online streaming.\n\nMeanwhile, performance royalties are collected whenever a recording of the song is played in public, whether in a restaurant, a mall, or on television. These are collected by performing rights organizations, which distribute these earnings to both songwriters and publishers.\n\nFor most artists, however, mechanical and performance royalties aren't enough to get by. Besides these income streams, musicians can license their songs for TV, advertisements, or video games. In exchange, they receive synchronization, or ‘sync,’ royalties. That said, many artists make the most money by touring and selling merchandise. This includes big musical acts like U2 and Metallica.","06d46b69-83f1-4604-afad-c3cd7a26365e",[872],{"id":873,"data":874,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"03f2aec5-640f-4078-8f8b-98486b2a5754",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":875,"clozeWords":877},[876],"Royalties aren't always enough for an artist; they also make money from live performances and licensing their song for use in adverts and video games",[878,879],"live","video games",{"id":881,"data":882,"type":27,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"orbs":885},"4bd2abd1-a53a-44f8-8863-112e6e006cc8",{"type":27,"title":883,"tagline":884},"Chasing Talent, Developing Skill","What defines musical ability, and how is it attained?",[886,947,1003],{"id":887,"data":888,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":890},"684c35b2-2d26-40bf-bd30-3e4b31a88c53",{"type":25,"title":889},"The Value of Musical Ability",[891,910,933],{"id":892,"data":893,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":897},"66ed929c-5688-4721-b155-264976b7ea87",{"type":24,"title":894,"markdownContent":895,"audioMediaId":896},"Why do we value musical ability?","In 1997, cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker ruffled many music scholars’ feathers. From an evolutionary perspective, he claimed, music was the auditory equivalent of cheesecake – enjoyable but useless. In the years since, researchers have come to music’s defense, suggesting how music, more than a mere by-product of evolution, must have played a role in the survival of our species. \n\n\n ![Graph](image://43529af6-0c3a-4cb3-9a3d-399b964bd6de \"Steven Pinker\")\n\nIn fact, long before Pinker made his claim, Charles Darwin suggested that musical ability was related to sexual selection and communication. Studies have also shown that women at peak fertility were more attracted to partners who exhibited creativity. This suggests that musicality, as an indicator of cognitive and language abilities, is widely considered a desirable genetic quality. Perhaps it is no coincidence that music is often used in courtship.\n\nScholars are nowhere near reaching a consensus about the role of music in human evolution. But, the fact is, we have still managed to pass musicality on throughout generations. How could something supposedly ‘worthless’ be valued for so long?","e54cab42-43ca-40ee-a8c6-e3622ae4d660",[898],{"id":899,"data":900,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"66789ab5-5aed-4626-8583-ebcac7f3ff22",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":901,"multiChoiceCorrect":903,"multiChoiceIncorrect":905},[902],"Which well-known psychologist upset musicians by suggesting that music was the equivalent of cheesecake - enjoyable but useless?",[904],"Steven Pinker",[906,907,908,909],"Brené Brown","John Anderson","Albert Bandura","Leda Cosmides",{"id":911,"data":912,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":916},"03592944-4c0a-410c-b58f-e679f22e8ca3",{"type":24,"title":913,"markdownContent":914,"audioMediaId":915},"A rare gift","When it comes to ear training, a fortunate few have it easier due to an innate ability to identify musical notes without any reference point. Someone with absolute or perfect pitch can tell identify a sound as a specific note on the scale. On the flip side, this level of detail and accuracy renders every note that’s out of tune distracting at best and unbearable at worst.\n\n ![Graph](image://e551ad90-5eb9-426d-8443-a13d75014858 \"A tuning fork\")\n\nA rare skill possessed by 1 in every 10,000, absolute pitch has been the subject of music research, including possible differences in brain structure for those with the ability. Individuals who have it exhibited larger auditory cortices than those without, though which came first – the skill or the enlarged cortex – is uncertain. Statistics also show that absolute pitch is more common among cultures that use tonal dialects, like the Chinese and Vietnamese. \n\nIs it possible to develop perfect pitch? Researchers have yet to reach a consensus, though a relative pitch is certainly attainable. With relative pitch, one relies on a starting pitch as a reference point. It’s not quite the same skill, but it is valuable in mastering the language of music, and is certainly a welcome treat for those who weren't born with perfect pitch.","758c76b9-9570-4a6c-a5ed-d6750ef725b7",[917,924],{"id":918,"data":919,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"2ca6b4ed-6100-4279-8570-9497d5ef12df",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":920,"activeRecallAnswers":922},[921],"Having 'absolute pitch' is a gift that few possess, and yet for the rest of us, it is possible to learn a note and use it as a reference point. This is known as what?",[923],"Relative pitch",{"id":925,"data":926,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"3759a5df-dd15-491e-a995-acf332fe72fb",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":927,"binaryCorrect":929,"binaryIncorrect":931},[928],"When someone is instantly able to identify a sound as a specific note on a scale, what skill do they possess? ",[930],"Perfect pitch",[932],"Calibrated pitch",{"id":934,"data":935,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":939},"469ff94d-50ea-4c4d-9d76-bca1d4eca731",{"type":24,"title":936,"markdownContent":937,"audioMediaId":938},"A mysterious quirk","Another condition people may be born with is synesthesia, where someone’s sensory experience overlaps with or stimulates another part of their body. Researchers largely believe it to be neurological, suggesting that the condition arises due to crossed wires in the brain. If listening to music triggers a vision of colors in someone with synesthesia, it might be because the sound triggers two areas of the brain – one responsible for processing sound and the other for processing color.\n\n ![Graph](image://9e5fb74d-5cd4-4352-8c0b-00dc87a498ac \"Random color explosion\")\n\nThere are many types of synesthesia, but among musicians, the more common ones seem to be sound-to-color and grapheme-color. With the former, certain sounds produce specific colors in a synesthete’s mind. Singer-songwriter Lorde has the latter, so certain words trigger equivalent colors and textures in her mind. Because of her condition, some music can overwhelm her visually. This has affected how she makes music, as she edits her songs down to a level palatable to her type of synesthesia.","572eb48d-b3fa-4184-afdd-f509e9b9aeb0",[940],{"id":941,"data":942,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"9fa56189-d901-4f77-8b7c-8d61ab2820f5",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":943,"activeRecallAnswers":945},[944],"A neurological condition known as 'synesthesia' seems to involve the overlap of sensory stimuli, but what actually happens?",[946],"Sound triggers other areas of the brain, resulting in a powerful experience of something else, like color",{"id":948,"data":949,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":951},"c871434c-52bf-4c5d-88c8-5b8b50659246",{"type":25,"title":950},"Musical Skills and Techniques",[952,970,989],{"id":953,"data":954,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":958},"6d1887e3-c6c8-4e31-ba76-3d2b18099479",{"type":24,"title":955,"markdownContent":956,"audioMediaId":957},"No practice and no retakes","Arguably one of the most important skills when playing an instrument is the ability to refer to written pages of music and play a song one hasn’t played before. Sight reading is especially important for session musicians and orchestral musicians. \n\n ![Graph](image://b00341a1-c524-4b88-b84c-4496065ead8f \"A complex piece of music\")\n\nOften, these musicians are hired to play for a recording or a performance without receiving the sheet music in advance. To save on cost, there are no practice sessions. The first take is often the final take, so playing the piece convincingly well on the first try is crucial.\n\nA complementary skill to sight reading, sight singing involves briefly reviewing sheet music before a performance and singing the piece, whether aloud or silently in one’s head. In doing so, the musician maps out the piece in their mind, storing in their short-term memory details like rhythm, dynamics, and tempo.\n\nThere are no shortcuts to sight reading and sight singing; the only way to improve and excel at these is to practice. Exposing oneself to unfamiliar music can help too, as it broadens one’s knowledge of various notations and patterns.\n","5052243a-1b23-4ce7-ae77-b0ccc9464683",[959],{"id":960,"data":961,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"51a4692d-db56-413c-97e4-23b3aefb866e",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":962,"multiChoiceCorrect":964,"multiChoiceIncorrect":966},[963],"Playing a previously unplayed song simply by reading pages of music is an impressive skill. What is it called?",[965],"Sight reading",[967,968,969],"Music scanning","Notation checking","Score reading",{"id":971,"data":972,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":976},"accbfa37-b03b-4638-a06c-bb9ff6474753",{"type":24,"title":973,"markdownContent":974,"audioMediaId":975},"So many songs, so little memory","Yet another awe-striking skill some musicians seem to possess is an unlimited memory bank containing all the songs they've encountered in their lifetime. How can the random pianist at the shopping center possibly take everyone’s song requests without breaking a sweat? The short answer is musical memory – but not in the way a reluctant eight-year-old piano student might memorize a sequence to get their teacher off their back. Rote memorization has its limits, after all. \n\nWhen musicians memorize pieces of music, they might use a technique called chunking. By grouping bits of information into chunks, musicians reduce the number of ‘units’ to store in memory. Instead of individual notes, they might remember a sequence of chords, similar to how we might memorize statements as phrases or sentences, rather than individual words.\n\nMuscle memory from repeated practice works too, especially when combined with a higher-level understanding of a musical piece. When we know the message and feel of a song, it's easier to draw from the big picture than to recall every single detail from memory.\n","de3589ad-69dd-427d-8fb7-3bdd14194b6d",[977],{"id":978,"data":979,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"59fe5bcb-b875-49eb-907a-fa449efe4513",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":980,"multiChoiceCorrect":982,"multiChoiceIncorrect":984},[981],"Some musicians have the impressive ability to hear a piece of music once and then replay it later. What brain process reduces the amount of information they commit to memory?",[983],"Chunking",[985,986,987,988],"Rote learning","Mind maps","Mnemonics","Loci technique",{"id":990,"data":991,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":995},"b27f8029-4b43-40dc-a061-46545ab07807",{"type":24,"title":992,"markdownContent":993,"audioMediaId":994},"A classic debate","According to psychologist Daniel Levitin, the distinction in music between experts and ‘everyone else’ has become increasingly prevalent. Society places professional performers on a pedestal, relegating everyone else to an admiring audience. This supposed gulf begs the question: what makes an expert? It opens up the classic debate of nature versus nurture, as well: are gifted musicians born or made?\n\n ![Graph](image://3b08f1d7-ec62-4039-b36c-2b3bf8df7e6f \"A young violinist\")\n\nSome studies show that certain genetic structures predispose individuals toward being musically gifted. Absolute pitch, for example, is innate. But absolute pitch does not make a musician, just as extraordinary height does not make a gifted basketball player. \n\nLevitin cites research conducted with conservatory students in which teachers secretly identified a certain group as ‘talented.’ Subsequently, this same group paled against the ‘non-talented’ group upon reassessment. The defining factor – was practice.\n\nAs with many things in life, natural ability provides the lucky ones with a quick boost, but achieving mastery and developing true skill requires much more than luck. There is no shortcut, only dedication, hard work, and determination.","897d8323-5e85-46b4-8db0-c102e9d05d44",[996],{"id":997,"data":998,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"435e337d-a993-4862-9704-dee83e25ca22",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":999,"activeRecallAnswers":1001},[1000],"Which psychologist has suggested that the distinction between music experts and 'everyone else' has become increasingly prevalent?",[1002],"Daniel Levitin",{"id":1004,"data":1005,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":1007},"508ff6f8-fd20-4084-9998-3df50827c174",{"type":25,"title":1006},"The Essence of Music",[1008,1023],{"id":1009,"data":1010,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1014},"203292ba-0a0b-4849-b5b5-468135c226a8",{"type":24,"title":1011,"markdownContent":1012,"audioMediaId":1013},"Beyond technique","The way music circles emphasize the importance of practice opens up another question. Is flawless technique the end game? If I hit every note accurately and with perfect timing, following every detail as the composer intended, will I have hit peak performance? \n\n ![Graph](image://6f693cd2-e187-419c-86f6-790cf6506de2 \"An arena show\")\n\nOne could argue that excellent technique is not the most important thing in music. We see examples of famous performers, celebrated and well-loved, whose technical skills do not necessarily match up to their peers. As a vocal artist, Taylor Swift is plain and unpolished, yet she has a massive fan base and is far more successful than other vocalists who might be technically superior. What gives?\n\nAt the end of the day, music is a form of communication. Musicians perform songs to convey emotion, and listeners enjoy music because it elicits an emotional reaction. Insofar as a musician can artistically relay a song’s message to listeners, minor mistakes are forgivable, granted they do not distract from the musical experience. Now, the secret ingredient talented musicians possess that allows them to convey emotions through song, research has yet to discover.\n","09c419b9-dac3-4007-8625-2a3a9c9e2b71",[1015],{"id":1016,"data":1017,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"b2431789-2f40-43a0-a27b-582c1583e477",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":1018,"clozeWords":1020},[1019],"Being technically perfect may be the goal for many musicians but it does not guarantee success or a large fan base",[1021,1022],"technically perfect","fan base",{"id":1024,"data":1025,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1029},"a5e82238-846b-41a0-8b34-961a86ecd928",{"type":24,"title":1026,"markdownContent":1027,"audioMediaId":1028},"Taking back hearing"," ![Graph](image://2fcf8c78-2919-486f-9f59-f02c0498f7e8 \"Ludwig Van Beethoven\")\n\nDeaf people may not hear music in precisely the same way hearing people do, but they definitely ‘hear’ music in one way or another. Sound is a by-product of vibrations. Deaf people may not perceive sound waves like hearing people do, but their brains can process vibrations, activating the auditory cortex. \n\nInterestingly, the auditory cortex is not triggered by signals sent from the ear, as one might expect. The brain of a deaf person would have repurposed this previously unutilized part to process touch and visual stimuli. \n\n\nThis means that a deaf person’s hearing is closely tied to the feeling of vibration. Beethoven, for example, was said to have played the piano on the floor after losing his hearing. Doing so gave him a better sense of the vibrations produced by the instrument, allowing him to continue composing music.","8c28ac8e-19da-4cd6-be95-b24b5d6b6b5c",[1030],{"id":1031,"data":1032,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"7e7c8178-6d82-4db8-9505-fb30d47bccf3",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":1033,"multiChoiceCorrect":1035,"multiChoiceIncorrect":1037},[1034],"One of the greatest classical composers played the piano on the floor after losing his hearing. Who was it?",[1036],"Beethoven",[1038,1039,1040,1041],"Mozart","Elgar","Strauss","Brahms",{"id":1043,"data":1044,"type":27,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"orbs":1047},"a776e46f-8a5f-422c-9662-ebf653f304d9",{"type":27,"title":1045,"tagline":1046},"Beyond Pleasure","Besides enjoyment, do we stand to gain anything else from music? A resounding YES, according to science.",[1048,1101,1144],{"id":1049,"data":1050,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":1052},"fd35cefb-59c7-4238-880e-07cc439cc89e",{"type":25,"title":1051},"The Emotional Power of Music",[1053,1067,1083],{"id":1054,"data":1055,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1059},"380d2734-2948-4d0a-9faa-53407c09324b",{"type":24,"title":1056,"markdownContent":1057,"audioMediaId":1058},"Play me a sad song","There are two groups of sad music listeners. First, the kind that tunes in to snappy, sunny melodies to mask what they’re feeling, in the hopes that the happy vibes will catch on sooner or later. The other chooses to find comfort in sad music, knowing they’ll feel better after a few cathartic moments. \n\nWhat is it about humans enjoying sad songs, and why are sad songs so polarizing? From a biological perspective, research suggests that hormones may play a hand. Music stimulates the release of hormones like oxytocin, dopamine, and prolactin. The level of prolactin produced from listening to music may contribute to our preference for sad music.\n\nFor some, it's as simple as the fact that sad music “moves” them, releasing a flood of emotions and allowing them to empathize with others. In some ways, sad songs function like “emotional gyms” for listeners. They provide a safe space to feel strong emotions, in which the simulated sadness presents lower stakes. In this space, we learn to deal with difficult feelings and explore the perspectives of others, in turn preparing ourselves for the real thing when it hits us.","5d3e9ae8-97ea-47c6-8625-52d9417e7761",[1060],{"id":1061,"data":1062,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"73ad6241-d36f-4712-9e7a-6797313eaec9",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":1063,"activeRecallAnswers":1065},[1064],"What does music stimulate the release of that may cause us to seek out sad songs?",[1066],"Hormones, including oxytocin, dopamine, and prolactin",{"id":1068,"data":1069,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1073},"219bc079-8d5e-4f37-a76f-03beb0362d6c",{"type":24,"title":1070,"markdownContent":1071,"audioMediaId":1072},"Music as medicine","Beyond a self-medicated pick-me-up, music has also found a place in progressive health institutions. Doctors at Zurich University use music therapy on premature babies to improve brain development, with a focus on outcomes like oxygen saturation. With the help of a specialized instrument producing vibrations similar to what they would have experienced in their mother’s womb, the baby feels calmer and more reassured.\n\nShifting from the young ones to an advanced age, music therapy has also been the subject of much research in elderly patients. In South Korea, researchers provided Argentine tango therapy to Parkinson’s disease patients and found a dramatic improvement in patients’ ability to perform activities of daily living. The rhythm of the music helped patients keep their pace, starting with simply walking to the music before learning to dance with self-confidence. In turn, the physical activity improved their stance and posture.\n\nMusic is also widely used as a therapeutic intervention for patients with neurodegenerative disease. By stimulating nerves in the brain, music is said to stimulate the generation of new nerve cells and slow down the neurodegenerative process in early-stage patients. As well, patient well-being can improve greatly. The nostalgic aspects of music reconnects patients with their self-identity, enhancing their engagement in everyday life.\n","73c47999-9089-425e-a4e4-1ac897d97871",[1074],{"id":1075,"data":1076,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"c0faac5f-c104-4b8c-92e2-abc80f2abda0",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":1077,"binaryCorrect":1079,"binaryIncorrect":1081},[1078],"Doctors use music therapy at Zurich University with which patients to improve brain development and leave patients feeling calmer and reassured?",[1080],"Premature babies",[1082],"Alzheimer patients",{"id":1084,"data":1085,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1089},"c7e57a5f-751e-4dc6-b7c6-8e90041c52c1",{"type":24,"title":1086,"markdownContent":1087,"audioMediaId":1088},"Connections made in song","Before music became personal with the advent of headphones and portable music players, it was a communal event. We dance in nightclubs, sing in choirs, and greet birthday celebrants by gathering around a cake and singing “Happy Birthday.”\n\nSinging and moving to the same beat entails coordination and cooperation, even more so when we perform as part of a band or orchestra. In groups of strangers, shared musical activities are said to have an ice-breaking effect. Researchers suggest two possible explanations. In ‘self-other merging,’ we cease to see ourselves as separate from the others in the group, gaining a newfound empathy and concern for others. The other explanation has to do with the endorphins music releases, which promote social bonding.\n\nAt the height of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, heartwarming musical moments were found across pockets of Italy. Individuals stuck at home convened in their respective balconies, playing instruments for and with their neighbors to keep each other company and boost morale. This sense of community was invaluable to those who lived in isolation through uncertain times.\n","25529667-688a-41d6-b5d0-809b4e093692",[1090],{"id":1091,"data":1092,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"1e5e41b7-84e7-418f-9405-267f0397cbe1",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":1093,"multiChoiceCorrect":1095,"multiChoiceIncorrect":1097},[1094],"Music is often experienced communally and can act as a valuable ice-breaker. When we cease to see ourselves as separate from others in a group, it is sometimes described as…?",[1096],"Self-other merging",[1098,1099,1100],"Losing oneness","Tribal gathering","Community",{"id":1102,"data":1103,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":1105},"df1dfa3a-29ec-4581-bf01-8bc2b4392c6d",{"type":25,"title":1104},"Music and Cognitive Performance",[1106,1120,1126],{"id":1107,"data":1108,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1112},"7d7d14f3-dd45-450e-92ae-5ee250f530b7",{"type":24,"title":1109,"markdownContent":1110,"audioMediaId":1111},"Debunking the Mozart effect","\n ![Graph](image://ab4bb684-9199-44ae-9fdc-0b4bea00d471 \"Children learning math\")\n\nAt one point in time, expecting mothers fed their babies a healthy dose of Mozart through headphones placed over their bellies, hopeful this would make geniuses of their babies. This misconception has since been debunked, but it's worth settling the score: can music really make a person smarter? \n\nAs with many things in science, there’s no straightforward answer. Music can help with cognitive performance, but it doesn't necessarily affect one’s intelligence directly. Research does show improved performance on IQ tests – and paper folding tests – for participants who listened to classical music before taking their exams. However, the Mozart effect was a hasty assumption off the backs of these results. \n\nSubsequent studies later explained that the correlation may have been caused by a mitigating factor. Listening to classical music alleviates stress and increases enjoyment. Thus, participants scored better not so much because they were smarter but because they were in a better frame of mind.","464bf8d6-674e-42dd-9589-607367998d15",[1113],{"id":1114,"data":1115,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"c15766ed-5127-4008-a192-cd953e52af94",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":1116,"activeRecallAnswers":1118},[1117],"While listening to music may not make you smarter, it can help with what?",[1119],"Cognitive performance",{"id":1121,"data":1122,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24},"95b376f9-0c36-4eb4-b57c-3b3f77d984fc",{"type":24,"title":1123,"markdownContent":1124,"audioMediaId":1125},"A welcome distraction","What about listening to relaxing music while studying or doing other cognitive tasks? Does sustained exposure provide enhanced benefits? Again, there’s no straightforward answer. According to research, it depends on a few factors: the task itself, the type of music, and the personality of the individual. \n\n\n ![Graph](image://201f53fa-e145-4a5f-88dd-2eacefdf8652 \"A guitarist practising\")\n\nComplex tasks require more cognitive load. Since music presents additional stimulation to the brain, it can be distracting in most circumstances. The same line of thinking applies to the type of music being played in the background. Loud, intricate music competes with the task at hand for our brain’s cognitive load, whereas soft, relaxing music can provide just the right amount of stimulation without being distracting.\n\nFinally, an individual’s need for external stimulation, whether high or low, impacts the scenario, as well. For someone with a need for external stimulation, listening to music while studying will almost always be unhelpful. On the opposite end, those who require low external stimulation may find they benefit from listening to soft, simple music for most tasks.","fd321fcb-a85d-49a3-9ec7-9b03e472dc69",{"id":1127,"data":1128,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1132},"f24cab04-fc19-4e40-a2e8-1d886ce7b529",{"type":24,"title":1129,"markdownContent":1130,"audioMediaId":1131},"A full-brain workout","More than listening to music, experts recommend playing an instrument. Just as watching a sports game provides excitement and mental stimulation, being a spectator pales in comparison to actually being out on the field – that’s how you get a workout. \n\nPlaying a musical instrument is the equivalent of giving your brain a full-brain workout. When you pick up a guitar, you engage multiple areas of your brain. Pressing on the correct frets while also watching out for your plucking technique on your other hand requires fine motor skills and good coordination. With every moment of guitar playing, you're engaging your visual, auditory, and motor cortices.\n\nPlaying an instrument uses both hemispheres of the brain more equally than listening to music. As a result, the corpus callosum, or the bridge between the two hemispheres, is more developed among instrumentalists. With disciplined, structured practice, instrumentalists gain problem-solving, planning, cognitive, and memory skills. If you've spent your life without having ever played an instrument, there’s good news. Experts say it's never too late to start.","eb51cdb6-d7a8-4a31-9b1e-97e0f46702e2",[1133],{"id":1134,"data":1135,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"3c1ca03d-6d77-4383-9b5a-e956ecdee1da",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":1136,"multiChoiceCorrect":1138,"multiChoiceIncorrect":1140},[1137],"What is one of the most effective workouts we can do for our brain to engage multiple areas of the brain at once?",[1139],"Playing an instrument",[1141,1142,1143],"Listening to techno","Dancing","Singing in a choir",{"id":1145,"data":1146,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":1148},"7fdf3852-f6ff-474c-8ce9-0f864b4b4caf",{"type":25,"title":1147},"Music and Memory",[1149,1165],{"id":1150,"data":1151,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1155},"f75e37da-3200-4dbc-b875-d6b09da41513",{"type":24,"title":1152,"markdownContent":1153,"audioMediaId":1154},"Forged in memory","Why does music hold such a special place in our hearts and memories? Studies conducted on people who suffer from memory loss explain why music is often the last to go, even when someone struggles to remember who they are or how to function in daily life. Thanks to brain imaging technology, neuroscientists discovered that musical data is special in that it's stored in a different part of the brain, what we call the “musical memory area” or MMA.\n\n ![Graph](image://ae1c0613-7357-4b86-9987-cfff60dfd747 \"The MMA (in orange)\")\n\nBecause the MMA is separate from other parts of the brain responsible for long-term memory, damage to one does not affect the other. In fact, with Alzheimer’s patients, research has found that the MMA is often the last to degenerate. For this reason, music therapy is often effective at helping dementia and Alzheimer’s patients regain a sense of self. They’re able to tap into memories related to music from their youth.\n","85f6d951-d885-4468-9ca4-0d9b0f31a64d",[1156],{"id":1157,"data":1158,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"07912e3d-b7f3-4b52-b485-23e090a0d7f4",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":1159,"binaryCorrect":1161,"binaryIncorrect":1163},[1160],"Researchers have found that when patients with brain degenerative conditions start to lose their memory, music is the last to go, but why?",[1162],"The musical memory area is separate and unaffected by damage to other brain areas",[1164],"It is more easily excited and activated by music",{"id":1166,"data":1167,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1171},"ef16b079-bb5f-41ef-8a9d-e0c963c66d92",{"type":24,"title":1168,"markdownContent":1169,"audioMediaId":1170},"Memory tricks","Even for healthy, young brains, music is usually easier to remember than anything else. You might still remember the lyrics from a song you haven't heard in years, even as you struggle to remember what you studied last night for today’s exam, or where you left your phone a few moments ago. \n\nMusic uses the power of rhyme, rhythm, and melody to be memorable, and it helps that it’s built on repetition and pattern. Songs become even more powerful when we attach meaning and emotion to them. That's why, for a large part of human history, many cultures relied on folk music and oral tradition to pass on the important parts of their heritage. It's also why some teachers use music to help students memorize otherwise boring topics, like history dates or the periodic table. A rhyme and a catchy tune do more than make studying fun; they also make content stick better.\n","d6021eef-f94b-489c-8b84-11a8042e3ea3",[1172],{"id":1173,"data":1174,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"86e50e90-467c-44a5-a04d-a5c6eeb6aa62",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":1175,"activeRecallAnswers":1177},[1176],"What is it about music that makes lyrics easier to remember than answers to exam questions?",[1178,1179,1180],"Rhyme and rhythm","Repetition","Melody and musical pattern",{"id":1182,"data":1183,"type":27,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"orbs":1186},"97aaf9c4-ae68-4f57-8123-2a25ddfd421b",{"type":27,"title":1184,"tagline":1185},"Demystifying Sound","What does science have to say about noisy neighbors, outrageously priced violins, and earworms?",[1187],{"id":1188,"data":1189,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":1191},"1de983d0-faee-4419-8694-a7bb25ba070c",{"type":25,"title":1190},"The Science of Sound Perception",[1192,1208,1222,1236,1255,1269],{"id":1193,"data":1194,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1198},"cdd805e1-eb3c-443d-8c1f-dbf27caafff2",{"type":24,"title":1195,"markdownContent":1196,"audioMediaId":1197},"It’s all about the bass","Most people who find their noisy neighbor’s music troublesome complain specifically about the bass. When you’re waiting at the stoplight and some cool guy in his sports car has his music on blast beside you, it's also inevitably the bass pumping into your ears. Do people who enjoy loud music have a healthy appetite for bass?\n\n\n\n ![Graph](image://76e2378b-c273-4857-afd6-4fed8bb6ee52 \"A sports car\")\n\nChances are that a noisy neighbor hasn’t adjusted their speakers’ bass levels just to annoy you. Rather, the bass elements in a song travel farther than treble sounds. Bass is made up of lower frequencies, which have longer wavelengths. In contrast, high-frequency sounds, or treble, have shorter wavelengths. \n\nSound decays as it travels across distances. Sound waves encounter obstructions that absorb the vibrations, like walls, curtains, and rugs in an apartment. High-frequency sounds are more easily absorbed by smaller, less dense objects. Lower frequencies, on the other hand, are less prone to losing their energy to solid objects, therefore their longer wavelengths allow them to travel farther. By the time the loud music reaches your apartment unit, the higher frequencies will have decayed, leaving you to enjoy – or not – just the bass.","d260af56-ad47-4cf7-85fe-77463571ce26",[1199],{"id":1200,"data":1201,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"59f4dbf7-fa49-40af-b91a-8b994b711f2b",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":1202,"binaryCorrect":1204,"binaryIncorrect":1206},[1203],"What happens to high-frequency sound waves when they encounter obstructions, such as carpet, curtains, and other soft furnishings?",[1205],"They decay",[1207],"They amplify",{"id":1209,"data":1210,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1214},"f3ad05f7-0dab-4050-bc0c-824e70998ec6",{"type":24,"title":1211,"markdownContent":1212,"audioMediaId":1213},"Your personal concert hall","The shower is a magical place. Here, not only can you scrub yourself clean in minutes, you also transform into an impressive vocalist upon entry. If you've ever admired your singing voice in the shower, you're not alone. And you're not entirely wrong either.\n\nBut why do we sound better in the shower? It has to do with the way shower enclosures are made. Their relatively small size allows our voice to bounce against shower walls without traveling far. In turn, the walls’ smooth, hard tiles effectively reflect the sound waves we make when singing. The sound waves bounce around quickly before reaching our ears, producing a fuller, more powerful sound.\n\nWhen sound waves bounce off walls in quick succession, numerous echoes are created. This blurs and prolongs sounds, smoothing out variations in our voice and correcting the notes where we sang slightly off-tune. Unfortunately, these effects are only perceived by whoever is in the shower. Everyone else just hears our normal voice, without the assistance of a shower’s acoustics.","9c63cc21-97c8-40a8-85f6-99887dc03b5e",[1215],{"id":1216,"data":1217,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"57489897-61b5-42c6-907b-37dfc0e3d13b",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":1218,"activeRecallAnswers":1220},[1219],"Why is it that we really do sound better when we sing in the shower?",[1221],"The small size of the room and the smooth, hard tiles means that the sound bounces back more quickly, leaving our voices sounding fuller",{"id":1223,"data":1224,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1228},"2fbee2b1-1cd4-4369-8476-99953d4f5834",{"type":24,"title":1225,"markdownContent":1226,"audioMediaId":1227},"What makes a bad singer?","Have you ever wondered why some people can’t seem to hold a tune? Apparently, some music researchers have sought to answer this question. Studies have ruled out poor vocal cords as the culprit. We also know that perception is not usually the problem, as most of us appreciate good music even though we’re not expert musicians.\n\n ![Graph](image://a2eccb32-f39f-4e28-9914-4891ca800714 \"A competitor singing in a talent show\")\n\nThe leading theory at the moment has to do with ‘imitative deficit.’ Our brain knows the correct pitch we should be singing, but somehow, it's instructing our voice to produce a different note. Our ears can detect that we’re off-key, but a mismatch in the brain prevents it from getting to the right note.\n\nPoor singing goes beyond pitch. In 2004, William Hung joined the singing competition American Idol and was immediately dismissed as a poor singer. In fact, Hung hit the right notes from his chosen song, Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs.” But his thin voice didn't pair well with the song, and having an accent meant that he enunciated words differently.","4cb94e89-59ec-42ac-82c5-2c9e27951623",[1229],{"id":1230,"data":1231,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"720c1084-a54c-4554-b031-30c4b1104e20",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":1232,"clozeWords":1234},[1233],"Imitative deficit is the theory behind how we can instantly recognize a bad singer.",[1235],"Imitative deficit",{"id":1237,"data":1238,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1242},"0cd8573d-3326-42d9-985c-e06d03a3fb8a",{"type":24,"title":1239,"markdownContent":1240,"audioMediaId":1241},"The million-dollar violin","Among musicians, Stradivarius violins are in a league of their own. First, there remain only a few hundred of these violins. Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari made them between the late 1600s and early 1700s, especially for royalty. One can only imagine the meticulousness and dedication the luthier would have poured into his craft. \n\n ![Graph](image://0b1f92bd-44ea-4b99-89aa-50776338a096 \"A Stradivarius Violin\")\n\nStradivari was said to tweak different elements of his violins, like their shape and size, in his constant quest for improvement. Experts agree that the elite craftsmanship that went into these instruments paid off – Stradivarius violins respond to the slightest touch, producing elegant, precise sounds. Due in part to their rarity and incomparable quality, these instruments sell for millions of dollars nowadays.\n\nWhy can’t modern-day manufacturers replicate Stradivarius violins? Scientists have suggested that the renowned luthier may have used a special ‘secret’ varnish to treat the wood he used, though others have debunked this claim. Yet, there are theories that perhaps it was the wood itself that was special. Since temperatures during Stradivari’s time were much cooler, tree barks were denser, allowing for higher-quality sounds when the same wood was used for violins. If proven true, this might just make Stradivarius violins even more valuable.","e16a09a9-b904-423f-9432-a0fe005e74d6",[1243],{"id":1244,"data":1245,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"20b09e2f-64f6-4c8e-bea3-1b87199b3748",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":1246,"multiChoiceCorrect":1248,"multiChoiceIncorrect":1250},[1247],"What instruments did Antonio Stradivari make in the late 1600s and early 1700s that are now scarce and worth millions of dollars?",[1249],"Violins",[1251,1252,1253,1254,550],"Pianos","Oboes","Flutes","Harpsichords",{"id":1256,"data":1257,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1261},"7eb50c91-9ca9-46a9-bbdd-04df66347a79",{"type":24,"title":1258,"markdownContent":1259,"audioMediaId":1260},"Surprised by the sound of your own voice","People often cringe when they hear themselves on a recording, not so much because of what they're saying, but because of how they sound. This experience is so common that there’s a name for it. ‘Voice confrontation’ occurs when you hear the sound of your own voice and dislike it. Scientists have an explanation for this.\n\n\n ![Graph](image://e1617d81-f3ed-411d-a959-77a91c5ec2cd \"A man talking into a microphone\")\n\nWe most often hear our voices straight from our mouths when we talk. And it's this voice that we associate with ourselves. But due to the way this voice is transmitted to our brains, what we perceive differs from what other people hear. \n\nOther people hear the sound waves our vocal cords produce once transmitted through the air. In contrast, when we hear our speaking voice, this sound is transmitted in two ways – first by air, but also internally, through our bones. \n\nBecause of the way our bones transmit vibrations throughout our body, the sounds delivered to our ears and brains are rich in low-frequency signals. What we hear is a fuller voice, lower in pitch than it actually is. So, when we hear our voice on a recording, it comes across as unusually high-pitched, making us cringe because it doesn't align with our self-identity.","10ed78b8-7b7e-4e42-94dd-5ddd1873fba9",[1262],{"id":1263,"data":1264,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"6014c455-6e6e-4e9c-9487-218e78e98219",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":1265,"activeRecallAnswers":1267},[1266],"When we listen to a recording of our voice, we often cringe because we don't sound the way we expect. What is this called?",[1268],"Voice confrontation",{"id":1270,"data":1271,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1275},"a38a03c3-4239-41ab-93f4-25a7abd6f0f8",{"type":24,"title":1272,"markdownContent":1273,"audioMediaId":1274},"Can’t get you out of my head","Perhaps the least enjoyable music-related experience is having a song stuck in your head. It remains on repeat, regardless of how hard you try to shake it off. This is especially annoying when it’s a song you don’t even like. Scientists call this ‘stuck tone syndrome,’ but it's more widely known as an earworm. \n\nThough the phenomenon is well-researched, experts still aren't sure why it happens. We do know that catchier songs are more prone to become earworms, and we know that hearing the song or a snippet of it can trigger the event. Earworms tend to appear when we let our guard down – when we’re feeling good, being nostalgic, or are otherwise inattentive. \n\nBut what's happening in the brain while this happens is a mystery. Experts suggest that perhaps neural circuits related to the song may be stuck on playback mode in our brain.\n\nUntil researchers find an explanation, what can you do to get that earworm out of your head? Well, don’t resist it. The more you do, the stickier it gets. Instead, listen to the song or sing it in its entirety to shake off the itch. If this doesn't work, an activity that requires concentration might help distract your brain.\n","3145f62f-8bf0-4a0e-8f26-14eacc37b54e",[1276],{"id":1277,"data":1278,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"2621a770-009a-4dac-be6b-6737a0380e31",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":1279,"binaryCorrect":1281,"binaryIncorrect":1283},[1280],"'Stuck tone syndrome' is that annoying experience of not being able to get a song out of our head. What is it more widely known as?",[1282],"An earworm",[1284],"An earwig",{"id":1286,"data":1287,"type":27,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"orbs":1290},"82ecdd86-5df1-49be-832c-35f26d908fc2",{"type":27,"title":1288,"tagline":1289},"Toward New Heights","Music continues to evolve as with us. What have been the most notable changes in music so far?",[1291,1384,1451],{"id":1292,"data":1293,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":1295},"50c1590c-6a81-465e-8f1e-4a376b995aec",{"type":25,"title":1294},"The Evolution of Music Notation",[1296,1312,1326,1341,1360],{"id":1297,"data":1298,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1302},"b66df431-3f3f-4151-8bf6-cd6442e35343",{"type":24,"title":1299,"markdownContent":1300,"audioMediaId":1301},"Written music and its origins","Before written music, people learned songs through memorization, which of course had its disadvantages - musical knowledge could only be passed on from person to person, face-to-face. \n\n\n ![Graph](image://58449d72-4a22-44d8-9c12-5a6f05da6d78 \"Neumes on parchment\")\n\nThe 9th century saw the first iteration of written music. ‘Neumes’ were marks written on top of lyrics to show how a song’s melody moved. This system was crude, a basic reminder of the details one already knew about the song. \n\nBut neumes served their purpose. At the time, only a small portion of the population knew how to read, and musical knowledge was still passed on through oral tradition. Additionally, most songs of the day were sacred chants, which used simple melodies that moved in a stepwise style, employing only a narrow range of pitches.\n\nOver time, music evolved, and notation changed alongside it. Guido d’Arezzo is credited for the creation of the next major development in music notation. The introduction of musical staves – a set of parallel horizontal lines – took out the guesswork in determining note pitches. Further changes would refine this notation system, including the addition of rhythmic details, the use of accidentals, and the concept of clefs and key signatures.","6a9df41a-d43a-48cd-8fe6-48250988d8f0",[1303],{"id":1304,"data":1305,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"19591c08-f18d-4730-b217-3efcfe0e9a2c",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":1306,"binaryCorrect":1308,"binaryIncorrect":1310},[1307],"Before 'Neumes' in the 9th century, no written music existed. How was it passed on?",[1309],"Oral tradition",[1311],"Through pictures",{"id":1313,"data":1314,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1318},"cacc922f-225d-403e-bcc9-81ec99d3b18b",{"type":24,"title":1315,"markdownContent":1316,"audioMediaId":1317},"The impact of musical notation","In a world without musical notation, you could only learn how to play new songs by listening to them. But imagine a time in history when there was no musical notation or recorded music. The only way you could listen to a song was if it was played in front of you. Everything was based on memory, and some great songs may have been lost in time simply because they weren't passed on to someone else. A big part of why we could listen to the songs of great classical musicians like Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart is because of musical notation.\n\nEven with recorded music, musical notation still plays an important role today. It’s still a convenient way for composers to document their work without actually recording it, and likewise, it allows musicians to play songs they've never encountered before. Sight-reading sheet music allows musicians to get a feel for a piece of music down to its finest details. This is because musical notation provides a common language for musicians. With musical notation, music can be preserved, learned, and shared by different people who play different instruments.\n","ef02007a-d3e0-4c45-bcca-4d295aa3cd7f",[1319],{"id":1320,"data":1321,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"8fde0eb3-01ea-454a-b2af-2849bbf8e59c",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":1322,"activeRecallAnswers":1324},[1323],"Before written or recorded music, why might some great songs have been lost?",[1325],"They weren't passed on to other people and so were forgotten",{"id":1327,"data":1328,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1332},"b454da76-2231-4355-ac50-501f6a88347f",{"type":24,"title":1329,"markdownContent":1330,"audioMediaId":1331},"When the ratios wouldn’t line up","‘Equal temperament’ refers to the widely used tuning system of dividing an octave into twelve equally sized steps. Though imperfect – and a contentious topic in some music circles – equal temperament resolves a handful of problems musicians had grappled with long before Vincenzo Galilei advocated for it in the 16th century.\n\n\n ![Graph](image://24cef633-63a2-45d7-ba5b-bcb0188f875f \"A piano tuner at work\")\n\nTo understand why equal temperament matters, let’s go back in time to Pythagoras, who translated musical intervals into mathematical ratios of sound frequencies. Pythagorean tuning highlighted the pure, clean sound of the ‘perfect fifth’ musical interval, but it wasn’t all that perfect. By favoring the 3:2 ratio of a perfect fifth, other ratios, like the major third, sounded awful.\n\nAt the time, musicians skirted around the issue by simply avoiding the major third. But over time, they began experimenting with different tuning systems to find a workaround for the out-of-tune notes. At some point, keyboards with split black keys were created to reflect the difference in frequencies of an enharmonic pair, like a G♯ and an A♭, for example. If this tuning system prevailed, we’d have 31 notes in an octave instead of the standard 12!","8e47ebdf-ec57-46b4-978c-d4ee91fa0a84",[1333],{"id":1334,"data":1335,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"0a1f3050-b45b-402b-ba17-81f6c5a1dbf9",{"type":51,"reviewType":79,"spacingBehaviour":24,"clozeQuestion":1336,"clozeWords":1338},[1337],"'Equal temperament' divides each octave into twelve equally sized steps and is used for tuning pianos",[1339,1340],"octave","tuning",{"id":1342,"data":1343,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1347},"b3dbdda3-d1b2-4c98-aa41-43d9a08f5298",{"type":24,"title":1344,"markdownContent":1345,"audioMediaId":1346},"Twelve evenly-spaced notes","A standard piano octave nowadays has the same keys for G♯ and an A♭, thanks to equal temperament. And it's not just a manageable number of pitches we have to be grateful for. The various tuning systems musicians experimented with before equal temperament all sought to address the issue of ‘wolf tones.’ These were the undesirable or dissonant tones and intervals instrumentalists avoided. \n\nBy avoiding one wolf tone, a new scale might produce another in its stead. The systems inevitably favored certain keys over others, thus compromising the overall sound. Regardless of the tuning system used, there was always a set of combinations or notes that composers had to avoid.\n\nWith equal temperament, all intervals became equally spaced. This meant that most tones were no longer perfect because intervals had to become narrower or wider to adjust for the system. Using equal temperament sacrificed the pure tones we would have heard from previous systems. At the same time, however, composers no longer had to avoid certain intervals like the plague because wolf tones had been greatly reduced.\n","ac3dfedc-ebab-454e-a53b-541356c83788",[1348],{"id":1349,"data":1350,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"e93bb930-4e31-4df1-9906-ca0b51885351",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":1351,"multiChoiceCorrect":1353,"multiChoiceIncorrect":1355},[1352],"What name is given to dissonant, undesirable tones that early musicians sought to avoid?",[1354],"Wolf tones",[1356,1357,1358,1359],"Fox tones","Bear tones","Snake tones","Dog tones",{"id":1361,"data":1362,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1366},"8214efff-ff80-4c22-ba81-2d6fca757963",{"type":24,"title":1363,"markdownContent":1364,"audioMediaId":1365},"An easy favorite","In 1709, Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the piano. Originally named gravicèmbalo col pian e forte (\"harpsichord with soft and loud\") before being shortened to “piano,” the instrument would replace the harpsichord and clavichord. \n\n ![Graph](image://e875d85c-2a38-4b8f-96fe-5ab5b5bb93b8 \"A clavichord\")\n\nWhat set the piano apart from its predecessors was its ability to play both soft and loud sounds at the instrumentalist’s will, while the other two produced sound at a set volume. The piano’s construction used a hammer-and-lever mechanism that struck the corresponding string as softly or as forcefully as the instrumentalist’s finger hit the piano key. In this regard, it is considered a percussive instrument. This versatility would pave the way for the use of dynamics in music.\n\nAnother unique feature of the piano is its impressive range, seven octaves on average. Access to a wide range of notes on a single instrument meant that composers could write for various instruments using just the piano.\n\nThe invention of the piano also impacted hobbyists and beginning musicians. As the piano became a staple in many Western households, it was an easy and popular choice for young children as a first instrument.","431329e7-a61a-42d3-97ac-3b2056357b87",[1367,1375],{"id":1368,"data":1369,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"2a6786f2-31b0-4cf9-8f97-eb182c9fd252",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":1370,"activeRecallAnswers":1372},[1371],"Which piano features led to it replacing the harpsichord and the clavichord?",[1373,1374],"Its ability to play soft and loud sounds","The impressive range of octaves",{"id":1376,"data":1377,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"7931ea45-708a-47de-9b60-8ead1e4d818f",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":1378,"binaryCorrect":1380,"binaryIncorrect":1382},[1379],"Bartolomeo Cristofori invented which instrument in 1709 that is still popular today?",[1381],"The piano",[1383],"The guitar",{"id":1385,"data":1386,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":1388},"845799b7-4293-4ba9-9414-7691e4ecfc51",{"type":25,"title":1387},"The Birth of Recorded Music",[1389,1405,1421,1435],{"id":1390,"data":1391,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1395},"9759edfa-f84d-49b2-83ef-41ab7ffaa9b2",{"type":24,"title":1392,"markdownContent":1393,"audioMediaId":1394},"The beginnings of music on record","It’s hard to imagine a world without recorded music, but that was a reality, at least until 1877, when Thomas Edison revealed the phonograph to the public. Using a thin sheet of foil, a needle, and a horn, sound was recorded by etching grooves onto a cylinder. The cylinder was placed onto a carriage, which moved it forward as the music played. The patterns found on the cylinder were converted into vibrations as the phonograph’s needle or stylus touched it. These vibrations then exited the phonograph’s horn as sound or music.\n\nThe phonograph would change both the ways in which musicians made music and how the rest of the world listened to it. The advent of recorded music meant many things. First, it gave people control over what they listened to. No longer restricted to just live music, they could buy a record and play a song on repeat if they wanted to – “The music you want, whenever you want it,” as the Victor Talking Machine Company claimed in its ads. The ability to listen to music on demand allowed fans to study music in detail, and also to listen to it alone, whereas before, it was solely a social activity.\n\n ![Graph](image://717268b7-fa89-4884-a171-f6ca0172b09f \"Thomas Edison's phonograph\")","0308907a-379b-4660-9f32-b6f7f516b1ac",[1396],{"id":1397,"data":1398,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"c7ccca4c-afce-48e9-a1dc-bd9a2becd4db",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":1399,"binaryCorrect":1401,"binaryIncorrect":1403},[1400],"What was it that Thomas Edison shared with the public in 1877 that changed how we appreciate music?",[1402],"Phonograph",[1404],"Electricity",{"id":1406,"data":1407,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1411},"f18ad3aa-a979-48af-a8e3-9ffb5c1a3fa3",{"type":24,"title":1408,"markdownContent":1409,"audioMediaId":1410},"The burgeoning of an industry","The public quickly embraced the phonograph and the concept of recorded music, and the music industry was happy to oblige this fervent demand. By 1915, Americans spent a whopping $60 million each year on phonographs and records. \n\nAs much as the phonograph changed how listeners interacted with music, it also shook the industry. Early records could only fit around three minutes of audio, so musicians adjusted. These days, popular music averages three minutes, a holdover from the days of the phonograph.\n\nInsofar as people were happy to splurge on records, they also wanted an idea of what they were buying – a reasonable request, one the industry accommodated with the creation of music genres. Categorizing records into distinct styles helped the industry market its artists effectively and efficiently. In turn, music fans welcomed the idea, forming their identities as fans of their chosen genre.\n\nThe phonograph was far from perfect. It accommodated a mere three minutes of audio, and its quality was wanting. But one cannot deny that it was a pioneer in many ways, and that we music fans are better for it.\n","45b8a76a-f546-423f-add7-95c0ad8f1f8b",[1412],{"id":1413,"data":1414,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"f0865f85-1772-46ad-bdac-7af84d50f0a7",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":1415,"binaryCorrect":1417,"binaryIncorrect":1419},[1416],"By 1915, Americans were spending $60 million per year on phonographs and recordings, but what was limiting about them? ",[1418],"They could only contain three minutes of audio",[1420],"They couldn't amplify the sound",{"id":1422,"data":1423,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1427},"b0ff164c-6090-44ec-a886-a798842d3461",{"type":24,"title":1424,"markdownContent":1425,"audioMediaId":1426},"Soaring through the airwaves","Within roughly a decade of the phonograph’s release, inventor Guglielmo Marconi developed a device that could transmit electromagnetic waves across large distances. In November 1920, the first commercial broadcast was made from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, announcing the presidential election results in its inaugural show and beating the news cycle of traditional print media. Since then, radio has evolved as a source not just of live news and commentary, but of entertainment for the masses.\n\nMany predicted that radio would kill the phonograph, and for a time, the record industry seemed to think it would. Record labels kept their stars’ music off the air – that is, until the music industry found a way to appease both parties by updating copyright laws and funneling licensing fees from radio stations to copyright owners.\n\nAs a free medium readily accessible to most American households, radio provided recording artists with exposure to a wider audience, especially as they were starting out. In time, airplay became an integral part of a record’s success. Billboard would acknowledge this in 1958, when it consolidated airplay data into its Billboard Hot 100 chart metrics.\n\n ![Graph](image://4077dfc3-48b1-44a9-9d3f-262d1b2c1a5e \"Guglielmo Marconi's radio\")","721ff558-2386-4994-9525-d9b357140480",[1428],{"id":1429,"data":1430,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"e3be0d4d-7f69-4c74-a607-91f141273d41",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":1431,"activeRecallAnswers":1433},[1432],"Record labels kept their music off the radio, until the introduction of what?",[1434],"Updated copyright laws and licensing fees",{"id":1436,"data":1437,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1441},"87facb2f-e8c5-4b17-9a73-344454fc5594",{"type":24,"title":1438,"markdownContent":1439,"audioMediaId":1440},"It’s how you use it","Transformative innovations often draw flak for supposedly “ruining” entire industries. Auto-Tune has not been exempt from this. Created by Andy Hildebrand, Auto-Tune compares vocals against a reference point to identify where a singer is off-tune. It then digitally corrects off-key singing into the right key, resulting in “polished” vocals.\n\nThe technology has received vitriol for allowing second-class vocalists to “cheat” on records by making artists sound better than they are – at least that’s what critics say. To them, the performance feels fake, and the voice sounds robotic, a product of a machine and not actual talent.\n\nDespite all the hate it gets, Auto-Tune has endured. Cher’s “Believe” placed it in producers’ radars in 1998. Most pop music we hear today will have used Auto-Tune in some way, shape, or form, whether we notice it or not. \n\nSome of the best records to have come out in the decades since Auto-Tune launched make use of the effect – Rihanna’s “Diamonds,” Kanye’s “Heartless,” and Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek.” Auto-Tune suffers in the hands of a subpar producer, making way for songs that sound trite and packaged. But to the geniuses who understand it, music becomes fresh and exciting.\n","93215d43-b565-46d3-aea3-ce1f634bec3f",[1442],{"id":1443,"data":1444,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"ab97c626-edee-4e08-abdb-12eeb57fa994",{"type":51,"reviewType":25,"spacingBehaviour":24,"binaryQuestion":1445,"binaryCorrect":1447,"binaryIncorrect":1449},[1446],"Which invention by Andy Hildebrand compares vocals against a reference point to correct off-key singing?",[1448],"Auto-tune",[1450],"Graphic equalizer",{"id":1452,"data":1453,"type":25,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"pages":1455},"4555c59b-050a-4ec3-ae97-8e05bda8cdde",{"type":25,"title":1454},"Modern Music Consumption",[1456,1474],{"id":1457,"data":1458,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1462},"0212dd1f-5fd3-4f0e-9573-3be0b4710b04",{"type":24,"title":1459,"markdownContent":1460,"audioMediaId":1461},"In our pockets and straight to our ears","The phonograph drew horrified comments about how it allowed individuals to listen to music alone. Imagine the reactions when, in 1891, the French engineer Ernest Mercadier invented the earliest version of headphones. With headphones, not only could we enjoy music solo, we also had “absolute control over our audio-environment, allowing us to privatize our public spaces.” \n\nBesides blocking out distractions from the outside world, headphones enhance our enjoyment of music. It allows us to hear the finer details and textures of a song, as the sounds play directly into our ears, minimizing any influence from our surroundings.\n\nIndeed, recent technology has dramatically changed the way we consume music. In 1963, Philips developed the cassette tape. In 1979, Sony’s Walkman allowed us to listen to the tapes wherever we went. Not only could we enjoy music in our private worlds, we could now choose where that would be. \n\nSince then, technology has progressed rapidly. Compact discs overtook cassette tapes, only to be replaced by MP3 files. MP3 players – most famously, the iPod – condensed far more songs into a palm-sized format. Nowadays, even those are near-obsolete. Our songs live in our phones now, if not on the Cloud.\n","d0c53dfd-d5d2-4c65-aedf-51e9448cff6f",[1463],{"id":1464,"data":1465,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"8cb80a30-323e-4e3f-8853-b8cf0ad524b8",{"type":51,"reviewType":34,"spacingBehaviour":24,"multiChoiceQuestion":1466,"multiChoiceCorrect":1468,"multiChoiceIncorrect":1470},[1467],"What invention by Ernest Mercadier led the way for us all to listen to music as a private experience?",[1469],"Headphones",[1471,1472,1473],"MP3 players","Sony Walkman","Streaming music",{"id":1475,"data":1476,"type":24,"maxContentLevel":34,"version":24,"reviews":1480},"cdb2d31e-7c4a-4ad3-bcc1-969ae6e1e8f1",{"type":24,"title":1477,"markdownContent":1478,"audioMediaId":1479},"The Internet and its disruptions","In the early 2000s, the rise of peer-to-peer file-sharing platforms like Napster posed a big threat to record sales as online music piracy grew. The Internet was both a bane and a boon to the music industry, though. Alongside music piracy, information sharing thrived, providing record labels with more avenues to promote their artists to an ever-wider audience. The Internet also provided a space for fans to build a community around their favorite musicians, strengthening their fandoms.\n\nAs the early Internet gave way to Web 2.0, social media prevailed, empowering aspiring musicians to share their music through platforms like YouTube and SoundCloud. In response, the music industry kept a close watch, “discovering,” and signing on, stars like Justin Bieber and Billie Eilish.\n\nBeyond new promotional channels and talent pools, widespread access to stable Internet has also made streaming music the norm. Casual fans no longer purchase records. They pay a monthly subscription to Spotify for access to a library of over 80 million songs. As the world evolves, so too shall music. But where exactly it's headed, the industry will have to play it by ear.\n","fc1cdb13-40e6-4159-9658-0985c31fb8dd",[1481],{"id":1482,"data":1483,"type":51,"version":24,"maxContentLevel":34},"1598afc8-8d11-4efb-a0e3-96ee1dad64d0",{"type":51,"reviewType":24,"spacingBehaviour":24,"activeRecallQuestion":1484,"activeRecallAnswers":1486},[1485],"While the internet and file sharing initially put the music industry's income at risk, it ultimately led to the rise of what subscription services?",[1487],"Streaming music and vast libraries of music",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":1489,"height":1489,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1490},24,"\u003Cpath fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"m9 18l6-6l-6-6\"/>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":1489,"height":1489,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":1492},"\u003Cg fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\">\u003Cpath d=\"M12.586 2.586A2 2 0 0 0 11.172 2H4a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v7.172a2 2 0 0 0 .586 1.414l8.704 8.704a2.426 2.426 0 0 0 3.42 0l6.58-6.58a2.426 2.426 0 0 0 0-3.42z\"/>\u003Ccircle cx=\"7.5\" cy=\"7.5\" r=\".5\" fill=\"currentColor\"/>\u003C/g>",1778228399776]