Sam Meredith Mckinney Ch. 2

What are the four elements essential to the existence of sound? (20) 1. a vibrating object 2. a power source to make the object vibrate 3. a medium through which the vibrations are transmitted 4. an apparatus to receive the vibrations

How fast does sound travel? (20) 750 miles per hour

Explain elasticity (as applied to air molecules). (20) Although air molecules all move independently, they tend to stay a certain distance apart. Therefore, when a force causes two air molecules closer together, they will separate and return to their original position. The opposite is true when two molecules are forced apart.

Explain compression/rarefaction waves. (20) When air molecules are forced in a certain direction by a vibrating object, they run into the molecules that surround them. This causes a chain reaction until all the energy created by the vibration has been used up.

Does the air actually move at 750 mph? (20) No. A sound wave is merely transported by the collective movement of individual molecules, not by a large number of air molecules moving all at once.

Describe the two basic categories into which sounds are divided. The first category is noise. Noise is classified by its irregular, asymmetrical sound wave. The second category is musical tone. Musical tone, in contrast to noise, has a sound wave pattern that repeats itself regularly.

List and describe the five characteristic properties or essential elements of musical tone. (21-25) duration, intensity, pitch, sonance, and timbre

What are the three essential parts of a musical instrument? What is the function of each?(25) 1. An actuator whose role is to provide the energy needed to set the vibrator in motion 2. A vibrator, which is used to create the sound waves 3. A resonator, which is used to influence the intensity and timbre of the sound

What are the four physical processes required for producing vocal sound? (27) 1. respiration 2. phonation 3. resonation 4. articulation

Define vowel. (29) A vowel is a speech sound which may constitute a syllable or the nucleus of a syllable. It is a speech sound whose articulation is characterized by the absence of friction-causing obstruction in the vocal tract, allowing the breath stream free passage.

Define consonant. (30) A speech sound that is used marginally with a vowel or diphthong to constitute a syllable; a sound subordinated to another sound that has greater sonority; a sound made with more or less obstruction of the breath stream in its passage outward

What are the three main reasons that describing vocal sound is problematic? First, the singer can only use physical sensations as a means of evaluating the quality of his/her singing. In addition, many of these sensory cues can be difficult to perceive and interpret since the voice is a self-contained instrument. Second, describing vocal sound with understandable vocabulary can be difficult. For example, some terms may be easily understood by one student and incomprehensible for another. Thirdly, there are both mechanical and psychological matters involved in singing. There are some who claim that the mechanical aspects are far more important than the psychological and emotional factors. There are also teachers who claim the opposite. In reality, the truth lies somewhere in between the two extremes. Finding the proper balance between the two is very challenging.