ABSTRACT
Some music terms are notoriously difficult to define, but the terms “new” and “experimental” yield an especially wide range of definitions, since they describe art music that frequently changes. Still, both “experimental” and “new” music are commonly understood to have twentieth-century roots. The experimental music label first came into use in the early decades of the twentieth century, when composers in Europe and America began to explore elements of music using new notation, techniques, and resources. When electricity became available, for example, experimental composers explored its musical possibilities. Other “experiments” included creation of new instruments as well as development of extended techniques that drew new timbres from old sources. (For example, rather than performing the piano in the traditional manner, an extended technique would be to reach inside the instrument and strum the strings.) Similarly, a vocalist might growl, or sing in extreme ranges. Experimental structures were diverse too. On one end of the spectrum was the strictest of formal designs, with musical elements such as melody and rhythm mathematically manipulated using set theory. On the other end was an absence of strict form, where works of chance were left to random procedures such as coin tossing. Tonality was often abandoned in favor of atonal and polytonal styles.
