Serialism facts for kids

Serialism is a special way of creating music. It uses a set pattern of notes, almost like a secret code, to build a whole song. Imagine you have a specific order of notes, and you use that order over and over, but in different ways, to make the music. This idea of using patterns can also be applied to other parts of music, like how loud or soft the notes are, or how long they last.

Understanding Music Patterns

Let's try a simple example to see how serialism works. Imagine we use just five notes: A, B, C, D, and E. We'll make a short musical pattern using these notes. The rule is that we use each note once before repeating any of them. (You can repeat the very last note you played, though!)

For example, our pattern could be: D, C, A, B, E. This is called a "row" or "series." Usually, composers use all twelve notes in music, but this five-note example helps us learn. This first pattern is our main "tone row."

Changing the Pattern

Once we have our main pattern, we can change it in cool ways:

• Playing it Backwards: This is called retrograde. If our row is D, C, A, B, E, playing it backwards would be E, B, A, C, D.
• Playing it Upside Down: This is called inversion. Imagine if you went up a step in the original pattern, you now go down a step. If you went up two steps, you go down two steps. If our original row started on D and went to C (down one step), the inverted version would start on D and go to E (up one step).
• Playing it Backwards and Upside Down: This is called retrograde inversion. It's a combination of both!

So, from one simple pattern, we can create four different versions: the original tone row, retrograde, inversion, and retrograde inversion. Composers can then move these patterns up or down the musical scale to create even more options!

Schoenberg and Twelve-Tone Music

In 1923, a composer named Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) created a system called the "twelve-tone system." Instead of just five notes, he used all 12 notes found in an octave (the 7 white and 5 black keys on a piano).

Most music you hear is in a specific "key" (tonality). This means it sounds like it has a main note that the music always wants to return to. Think of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" – it starts and ends on the same note, making it sound complete.

In twelve-tone music, all 12 notes are equally important. There isn't one "key note" that stands out. This makes the music sound very different from what most people were used to. It took time for listeners to get used to Schoenberg's new sound.

Other Composers Using Serialism

Schoenberg wasn't the only one to use this style. His students, Alban Berg (1885-1935) and Anton Webern (1883-1945), also wrote twelve-tone music. These three composers are sometimes called the "Second Viennese School."

Later, famous composers like Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) and Aaron Copland (1900-1990) started using twelve-tone music when they were older. Sometimes, composers like Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) would use serialism only occasionally, mixing it with more traditional, "tonal" music. When used this way, the contrast can be very interesting and beautiful.

Total Serialism

In the 1950s and 1960s, some composers, such as Pierre Boulez (born 1925) and Karlheinz Stockhausen (born 1928), took serialism even further. They didn't just organize notes in a series. They also organized other parts of music, like:

• Dynamics: How loud or soft the music is.
• Note Lengths: How long or short each note lasts.
• Timbre: The unique sound quality of an instrument.

When composers used these patterns for all parts of a piece, it was called "total serialism." Boulez's Structures I is a famous example of this. This kind of music became very complex. Some people felt it was too mathematical and not expressive enough, making it hard to understand.

Images for kids

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  This image shows a pattern of rhythmic values used in a piece by Luigi Nono.

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  This shows a series of notes, durations, and dynamics from a piece by Olivier Messiaen, which Pierre Boulez later used for his Structures I.

See also

In Spanish: Serialismo para niños