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Instruments and how they are played
Ostinato
A short musical idea or rhythm which is repeated over and over again. Listen to this excerpt and notice the ostinato played by instruments in the background while mixed voices sing a melody in octaves.
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Sustained/Legato
Smooth, sustained-sounding music. In this example which has been used before, the solo violin plays arco and legato over an accompaniment that is plucked, pizzicato.
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Sequence
A musical idea or pattern which is immediately repeated, moving either up or down in pitch. Listen to this excerpt and notice that a phrase is repeated twice and rises in sequence.You don't have the latest version of Adobe Flash Player.
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Staccato
If someone plays staccato they are asked to make the notes very short and detached to create a ‘jumpy’ effect. Listen to this example in which the whole Baroque orchestra plays staccato throughout the example.You don't have the latest version of Adobe Flash Player.
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Repetition
Something in the music is repeated. It could be the tune, or some other part of the music, like the bass part or just a short musical idea. In this excerpt you will clearly hear a phrase played by an orchestra, repeated.
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Blowing
The method by which woodwind, brass and pipe instruments are played by blowing across or into a mouthpiece. Listen to an example played by a two French horns.
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Bowing
The method used to play certain string instruments, including the string instruments of the orchestra, by drawing a bow across the string. Listen to this example of a string orchestra playing arco, bowing, and also listen to the difference in the phrases, the first one loud, the second one soft.You don't have the latest version of Adobe Flash Player.
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Playing a note of a string instrument by pulling or ‘plucking’ the string with a finger. Now concentrate on the accompaniment to the melody you heard above.
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Striking
The method mainly used to play percussion instruments. As mentioned before, few percussion instruments are used in the Baroque period so listen again for the timpani in this excerpt.
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Different types of timpani.
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