A=440. All instruments/voices (incl. texted music) and levels of experience welcome, however prior knowledge of solmization and the hexachord system is a plus.
More musica practica: Seeing Renaissance Music through the Eyes of Renaissance Musicians
This three-week course will take participants through the main aspects of late Medieval and Renaissance “practical music” to help develop a better understanding of the way that fourteenth-, fifteenth-, and sixteenth-century musicians approached the music they performed. Topics will include musica recta and musica ficta, cadences, the musical modes (tones), and mensuration signs.
Class 2 (5/16): The Musical Tones (Modes)
Although the Greek modes were initially revived by Medieval music theorists to classify liturgical chants, they were soon applied to sacred and secular polyphonic compositions. This class will explore in detail what defines a musical tone/mode and how to identify the tone (or tones) of a composition.
Join the San Francisco Early Music Society for three months of virtual class offerings from our Baroque, Classical, Medieval/Renaissance, and Recorder Workshops! Whether you are a casual listener or a dedicated community player, we have over 100 lectures, demonstrations, and play-along sessions just for you.