List some of the conclusions about European music in general presented throughout this section in WOM. (Answers may vary.)

What will be an ideal response?

• "Compared with music throughout the rest of the world, most music in Europe has relatively simple symmetrical structures in rhythm and overall form."


• "European music tends towards rhythmic organization of even pulses in repeating groups of two or three beats."


• ". . . [M]elodic structures tend toward pairs of melodic ideas (A and B phrases) and repeating structures (such as the strophic song form, i.e., verses with the same repeating melody, as is common in many hymns).


• Melodies tend to be based mostly on a major scale or less commonly on a minor scale and their associated harmonies.


• The concept of independent harmony and harmonic rhythm is a unique European contribution in world music.


• European musics represent a vast diversity and variety of music styles, genres, and associated cultural practices shaped in some degree by common religious and political institutions.