In Western
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
and
music theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
, augmentation (from
Late Latin
Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...
''augmentare'', to increase) is the lengthening of a
note
Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to:
Music and entertainment
* Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music
* ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian
* ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened version ...
or the widening of an
interval.
Augmentation is a compositional device where a
melody
A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
, theme or motif is presented in longer note-values than were previously used. Augmentation is also the term for the proportional lengthening of the value of individual note-shapes in older notation by coloration, by use of a sign of proportion, or by a notational symbol such as the modern dot. A major or perfect
interval that is widened by a chromatic semitone is an augmented interval, and the process may be called augmentation.
Augmentation in composition
A melody or series of
note
Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to:
Music and entertainment
* Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music
* ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian
* ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened version ...
s is ''augmented'' if the lengths of the notes are prolonged; augmentation is thus the opposite of
diminution
In Western music and music theory, diminution (from Medieval Latin ''diminutio'', alteration of Latin ''deminutio'', decrease) has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which a long note is divided into a series of ...
, where note values are shortened. A melody originally consisting of four quavers (
eighth note
180px, Figure 1. An eighth note with stem extending up, an eighth note with stem extending down, and an eighth rest.
180px, Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together.
An eighth note (American) or a quaver (British) is a musical note play ...
s) for example, is augmented if it later appears with four crotchets (
quarter note
A quarter note (American) or crotchet ( ) (British) is a musical note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). Quarter notes are notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight, flagless stem. The stem ...
s) instead. This technique is often used in
contrapuntal
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
music, as in the "
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
by augmentation" ("''per augmentationem''"), in which the notes in the following voice or voices are longer than those in the leading voice, usually twice the original length.
The music of
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
provides examples of this application:
Other ratios of augmentation, such as 1:3 (tripled note values) and 1:4 (quadrupled note values), are also possible.
A
motif is also augmented through expanding its
duration
Duration may refer to:
* The amount of time elapsed between two events
* Duration (music) – an amount of time or a particular time interval, often cited as one of the fundamental aspects of music
* Duration (philosophy) – a theory of time and ...
.
Augmentation may also be found in later, non-contrapuntal pieces, such as the
Pastoral Symphony
The Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, also known as the ''Pastoral Symphony'' (German: ''Pastorale''), is a symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and completed in 1808. One of Beethoven's few works containing explicitly programmatic con ...
(Symphony No. 6) of
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
, where the melodic figure first heard in the second violins at the start of the "Storm" movement ("''Die Sturm''"):
[
-is heard again in an augmented and transposed version in the same movement’s closing ten bars:
Examples of augmentation may be found in the development sections of ]sonata form
Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th c ...
movements, particularly in the symphonies of Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
and Bruckner
Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germa ...
and in the protean leitmotifs
A leitmotif or leitmotiv () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is an anglici ...
in Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
’s operas, which undergo all kinds of transformation as the characters change and develop through the unfolding drama. "Leitmotifs accumulate meaning, through expanding and fulfilling their musical potential."[Scruton, R. (2016, p.204) the Ring of Truth: The Wisdom of Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung." London, Allen Lane.]
In “Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum”, the first movement of his ''Children’s Corner'' Suite, Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
exploits augmentation in a humorous vein. It opens with a vigorous parody of a technical study by a pedagogical composer such as Clementi Clementi may refer to:
People
* Aldo Clementi (1925–2011), Italian composer
* Cecil Clementi (1875–1947), British colonial administrator and Governor of Hong Kong
* Cecilia Clementi, Italian-American scientist
* David Clementi (born 1949), B ...
,[Dawes, F. (1969, p34) Debussy Piano Music. London, BBC publications.] involving a seemingly perpetual stream of fast semiquavers:
In bar 33, this energetic movement subsides, leading to a dreamy passage in the key of D flat, where the opening figures of the piece move at half speed:
According to Frank Dawes, in this piece “An amusing picture of a child practising is conjured up, beginning with the best of intentions, growing weary and plainly yawning with boredom in the D flat section.” [Listen.]
Augmentation in notation
Augmentation of intervals
An augmented interval is an interval obtained from a major interval or perfect interval by widening it by a chromatic semitone
In modern Western tonal music theory an augmented unison or augmented prime is the interval between two notes on the same staff position, or denoted by the same note letter, whose alterations cause them, in ordinary equal temperament, to be one ...
, meaning that the interval is widened by a semitone, but the staff positions are not changed (only an accidental is changed). For example, an augmented fifth
In classical music from Western culture, an augmented fifth () is an interval produced by widening a perfect fifth by a chromatic semitone.Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. . For instance, the interval ...
is a chromatic semitone wider than the perfect fifth
In music theory, a perfect fifth is the Interval (music), musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitch (music), pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so.
In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval fro ...
: starting with the interval from C to G, which is a perfect fifth, seven semitones wide, both the intervals from C to G, and from C to G are augmented fifths, spanning eight semitones, but the same staff lines. By contrast, the interval from B to G is not an augmented fifth (it is a minor sixth): even though it is eight semitones wide, it spans six staff positions, and is thus a sixth, not a fifth; it is a diatonic semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest interval (music), musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most Consonance and dissonance#Dissonance, dissonant when sounded harmonically ...
wider than a perfect fifth. The augmented fourth (A4) is the only augmented interval that appears in diatonic scales (in C major it occurs between F and B). The standard abbreviations for augmented intervals are AX, such that an augmented third = A3.
A good example of this can be seen in the left hand part of Chopin's famous E minor prelude Op. 28, No. 4. Many of the chord sequences change with the top or bottom note augmenting or diminishing the next chord as the music progresses.
An augmented chord is one which contains an augmented interval, almost invariably the 5th of the chord. An augmented triad
Augment or augmentation may refer to:
Language
* Augment (Indo-European), a syllable added to the beginning of the word in certain Indo-European languages
*Augment (Bantu languages), a morpheme that is prefixed to the noun class prefix of nouns ...
is a major triad
In music theory, a major chord is a chord that has a root, a major third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord comprises only these three notes, it is called a major triad. For example, the major triad built on C, called a C major triad, has pitch ...
whose fifth has been raised by a chromatic semitone; it is the principal harmony of the whole tone scale
In music, a whole-tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole tone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, there are only two complementary whole-tone scales, both six-note or '' hexatonic' ...
.
See also
* List of musical intervals
* List of pitch intervals
Below is a list of intervals expressible in terms of a prime limit (see Terminology), completed by a choice of intervals in various equal subdivisions of the octave or of other intervals.
For commonly encountered harmonic or melodic intervals ...
References
{{reflist, refs=
[Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. {{ISBN, 978-0-07-294262-0.]
[Forte, Allen (1979/1962). ''Tonal Harmony in Concept & Practice'', p.391. Third edition. {{ISBN, 0-03-020756-8.]
[{{cite web, last=Bullivant, first=Roger, title=Augmentation (ii), url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/53687, work=Grove Music Online, publisher=Oxford Music Online, access-date=21 August 2011 (subscription needed)]
["Augmentation and diminution" in the ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'', 2nd ed. rev. and enlarged (1969). Willi Apel, ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press]
[Jeppesen, Knud. ''Counterpoint: The Polyphonic Vocal Style of the Sixteenth Century''. trans. Glen Haydon. New York: Dover Publications. 1992. {{ISBN, 978-0-486-27036-4. p. 235]
External links
Prelude in E minor, Op. 28, No. 4
at The Mutopia Project.
Music theory
Jazz terminology
Musical terminology