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Anintroductiontomusictheory

IntroductionThisunitintroducesyoutothebasicconceptsofwesternmusicnotationandmusictheorythatyouneedtoknowbeforeyouembarkontheOpenUniversitycourseInsidemusic(A224).ItcoversgroundsimilartothatfoundinthesyllabusoftheAssociatedBoardTheoryGrades13(ABRSM,2011).

Commoncompatibility/technicalissueswhichstudentshaveencounteredwhenusingAnIntroductiontoMusicTheory

AllofthemusicnotationexamplesincludedwithinAnIntroductiontoMusicTheoryareprovidedwithinSibeliussScorchPlayer.Thisallowsyoutolistentotheexampleswhilstfollowingthenotation.

IfyoudonotalreadyhavetheScorchplugininstalledonyourcomputer,youwillbepromptedtodownloaditatthefirstexampleyouuse.YouwillneedtohavetheScorchplugininstalledtoplaythemusicnotationexamples.ScorchisnotcurrentlycompatiblewithGoogleChromeorFirefox4.

SomestudentshavereportedexperiencingcompatibilityandtechnicaldifficultieswhentryingtoviewandusepartsofAnIntroductiontoMusicTheorywithInternetExplorer9orGoogleChrome.ThematerialworksbestwhenviewedwithInternetExplorer8orFirefox3.6.

TheOpenUniversityisconductingasurveyinvestigatinghowpeopleusethefreeeducationalcontentonourOpenLearnwebsite.Theaimistoprovideabetterfreelearningexperienceforeveryone.SoifyourearegularuserofOpenLearnandhave10minutestospare,wedbedelightedifyoucouldtakepartandtelluswhatyouthink.PleasenotethiswilltakeyououtofOpenLearn,wesuggestyouopenthisinanewtabbyrightclickingonthelinkandchoosingopeninanewtab.

LearningoutcomesAfterstudyingthisunityoushouldhave:

asatisfactoryunderstandingofthebasicbuildingblocksofmusicaltheoryandnotation

anunderstandingofmusictheorycomparabletothatdemandedbyGrade3oftheAssociatedBoardoftheRoyalsSchoolsofMusictheorysyllabus

anunderstandingofmusictheorythatenablesyoutomoveontoOpenUniversityLevel2andLevel3Musiccourses,e.g.A224InsideMusic.

1ThecontentTheunitbeginswithabriefintroductiontothefundamentalelementsofwesternmusicnotationthestaff,clefsandnotenames.Itthenmovesontoconsiderthenotationofrhythmandofpitch.Inaddition,thebasicformofthechord(thetriad)isincluded,togetherwithalistofthemostfrequentlyusedperformancedirectionsthatyouwillfindonnotatedmusic(scores).Eachsectionendswithinteractiveactivitiesthatwillhelpyouassesshowfaryouunderstandindividualtopicsorconcepts.

Evenifyoufeelthatyouarealreadyfamiliarwiththeseconceptsitisworthwhilereadingthroughthesectionsofthisunitsystematicallytofindoutwhetherthereissomethingthatyouhadntcomeacrossbeforeorthatyouhadforgotten.

Anintroductiontomusictheory

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9G5JS2Yhttp://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/music/introduction-music-theory/content-section-0http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/a224.htm



1.1WorkingthroughtheunitIfyouarestartingthisunitcompletelyfromscratchwithnoknowledgeofmusictheory,tackleeachsectiononebyone,andspendaslongasyouneedworkingoneach.Bepreparedtoundertakealittlestudyeachdayoralternatedayalittleoftenisagoodguideline.Thiswillprovemuchmorebeneficialthanstudyinglargechunksatatime.

Inaddition,makesurethatyouunderstandeachofthetopicsyouhavestudiedbeforeyouattemptthefollowingone.Learningaboutstaffnotationandotherfacetsofmusictheoryisacumulativeprocess.Spendareasonableamountoftimeoneachtopicsothatyoucanmasteritbeforegoingontothenext.

Althoughthisunitcontainsinteractiveactivitiesthattestyourknowledge,itissuggestedthatyoureinforceyourknowledgewiththeuseofeartrainingactivities(oftencalledtrainers),wheremusicalsoundsarelinkedtovisualsymbols.Onceyoufeelyouhaveunderstoodatopic,youcouldtryusingatrainertoreinforceyourknowledgethroughpractice.Theirusewillcreateoasesinthelearningprocesswheredoingwillhelpfacilitateunderstanding,andwillalsoprovidefeedbackastohowyouaregettingon.

Thereareseveralsitesontheinternetthatprovidetrainers.Theseincludeactivitiessuchasinteractivedrillsthatfocusonspecificareasofstaffnotationrangingfromastraightforwardnamingofnotestorecognisingcomplexrhythmsandchords.AlistofeartrainersisprovidedattheendofthisunitinSection10.

HowtouseSibeliussScorchPlayer

AllofthemusicnotationexamplesforthisunitareprovidedwithinSibeliussScorchPlayer,allowingyoutolistentothemwhilefollowingalong.YouwillbepromptedtodownloadtheScorchpluginatthefirstexampleifyoudonothaveitinstalledalready.Usetheplay,stopandpausebuttonsonthetopbartolistentoeachexample.Youwillnotberequiredtouseanyoftheotherbuttons.

2Thebasics2.1ThestaffTheideaofplacingnotesonasetofhorizontallinesthestafftoshowtherelationshipofvariouspitcheswitheachotherstaffnotationemergedinwesternmusictowardstheendoftheninthcentury.Originally,eachpitchwasallocateditsownline,buttheItalianmusictheorist,GuidoofArezzo,wholivedduringtheearlyeleventhcentury,suggestedthatlinesshouldbedrawnforeveryotherpitch,sothatalternatepitchessatonthelinesandtheremainingpitcheswereplacedintheinterveningspacesbetweenthelines.

Thisprinciplewassoonadoptedandhasremainedinforceintraditionalwesternmusicnotationtothepresentday.Thenumberoflinesincludedinthestaffhasvarieddependingontherangeofthemusicbeingnotated.However,thenormhasevolvedasthefivelinestaff,showninExample1.

Example1

AsshowninExample2,ifweplacepitchesintheformofnoteheadsonthestaff,informationabouttherelationshipofthepitcheswitheachotherisproduced.



Example2

2.2ClefsAsitstands,thefirstnoteinExample2couldbeanypitchwecaretochoose.

Example2(repeated)

Soifwewishtospecifyaparticularpitchorseriesofpitchesweneedsomesortofguideasignthatwillenableustoindicatethespecificpitch.Thatsignissuppliedbyaclef(fromtheLatin,clavis,meaningkey).Fromtheeleventhcenturyonwards,severalRomanletters,includingcandf,wereusedsystematicallyforclefs,withgsubsequentlybecomingincreasinglycommon.Inastylisedform,g,withflamboyantcurlsandflourishes,isstillusedasthetreble orGclef,andsignifiesthatanoteplacedonthesecondlinefromthebottomisG(seeExample3).

Example3

Interactivecontentappearshere.Pleasevisitthewebsitetouseit.

AndthisisnotanyG,butspecificallytheoneabovemiddleC.(WellcometoanexplanationofmiddleCinamoment.)

AsExample4shows,theothernotesarenamedwithlettersfromthealphabet,AG,withAreturningafterGhasbeenreached.

Example4


Noticethatasthenotesareplacedhigherandhigherupthestaff,thepitchbecomeshigherandhigheraswell.Noticetoothatwereadmusicfromlefttoright,andwithawholepageofmusic,fromtoptobottom.Thisreflectsthewaywereadwordsinwesternculture.

Theletter,f,inastylisedformandinamirrorimage,isnowusedasthebassorFclef.ItsignifiesthatanoteplacedonthesecondlinefromthetopisF,andspecificallytheFbelowmiddleC(seeExample5).

Example5


2.3ThegreatstaffWecancallastaffwithatrebleclefatreblestaffforshort,andastaffwithabassclefabassstaff.Andifweplacetheformerabovethelatterandinsertanadditionallineinbetween,wecreatewhatiscalledthegreat(orgrand)staffasshowninExample6.

Example6

YouwillneedtodownloadScorchtoseeandheartheseexamples.



2.4MiddleCandledgerlinesSometimeskeyboardmusichasbeennotatedusingverylargestaves.However,ifyouhavetoomanylines,thestaffisnoteasytoread.Therefore,withkeyboardmusic,thetrebleandbassstavesareconventionallyseparatedoutthereisasubstantialgapbetweenthebottomlineofthetreblestaffandthetoplineofthebassstaffandthereisnomiddleCline.Instead,middleCisnotatedusingaledgerline .MiddleChasitsownlittlesectionofstaff,longenoughtomakethepositionofthenoteclear,andthishastobewritteninforeachofitsappearances.

Whilethisseparationoftheupperandlowerstavesisagoodideabecauseithelpsvisualorientation,ithasadrawback.AndthatisthatmiddleCcanbenotatedonbothstaves,indifferentpositionsoneachstaff.Example7showsthat(i)thedifferentvisualpositionsofmiddleConeachstaffrepresentoneandthesamesoundand(ii)thegradualinclineofthepatternofthenotesasthepitchrisesisfracturedtemporarily.

Example7


OthernotesclosetomiddleCcanalsobenotatedoneitherstaffbyusingmoreandmoreledgerlines(Example8).

Example8


Choosingwhichstafftousedependsonthecontext.Forinstance,ifyouwerenotatingaviolinpart,youwouldneedthetreblestaff.Soifyouwantedtowritethelowestnoteontheviolin,thelowerGonthetopstaffinExample8,youwouldneedtheGthatsitsbelowtheupperstaffandhastwoledgerlines.

Theconceptofledgerlinescanalsobeappliedatthetopofthetreblestaffandatthebottomofthebassstaff(Example9).

Example9


However,themoreledgerlinesyouuse,themoredifficultitistoreadthenotesataglance,andyouhavetocountuptheledgerlinestogetherwiththespacesbetweenthemtoworkoutwhatthenoteis,andthiscanbealaboriousprocess.

Example10showsallthenotenamesmentionedabove.

Example10


Therearetwopointsaboutthegreatstaff.Firstly,itdemonstratestherelationshipbetweenthebassandtreblestaves.Secondly,theadditionallineatthemidwaypointisthelineformiddleC.ThecentralimportanceinthegreatstaffofthemiddleClineisonereasonformiddleCsname,anditspositionroughlyhalfwayalongthekeyboardisanother.



2.5WritingnotesAlthoughmuchofthenotewritinginInsidemusicinvolvesusingthesoftwarepackage,SibeliusStudent,itisworthwhileconsideringbrieflytheconventionsusedwhenwritingstaffnotationbyhandonmanuscriptpaper(thenameforpageswithstavesprintedonthem).Fundamentally,whenwritingmusic,youaretryingtocommunicatewithareaderandlegibilityisthereforeimportant.

Youshouldbearinmindthefollowingguidelineswhenwritingnotesonpaper.

Noteheadsareovalinshape(someopen,somefilledinwellseethereasonforthislater)andshouldsitcentrallyonalineorinaspacesothatnoconfusioncanariseastothepitchnotated.Mostnotesalsoneedstems,andtheseshouldbeverticalandshouldberoughlythesameheightastheheightofthestaff.Inaddition,notestemsshouldgodownonthelefthandsidefornoteheadsonthetoptwolinesofthestaffandinthetoptwospaces,andupontherighthandsidefornoteheadsonthebottomtwolinesandinthebottomtwospaces.Stemsfornoteheadsonthemiddlelinecangoupordown.Ledgerlinesshouldrunparalleltothelinesofthestaff.

Example11providesexamplesofthesepoints.

Example11



2.6ReadingnotesHowdoyoubecomeproficientatreadingnotes?Thistakestimeandpractice.Youreallyneedtopractiseforafewminuteseachday,identifyingnotesonboththetrebleandbassstaves,includingnotesthatarewrittenbothaboveandbelowthesestaveswithuptothreeledgerlines.

However,thereisatraditionwithstaffnotationofusingmnemonicstorememberthenamesofthenotesonthestaves.Twooftheseareimpossibletobeat:FACEforthespacesonthetreblestafffrombottomtotop,andAllCowsEatGrassforthespacesonthebassstafffrombottomtotop(Example12).

Example12

Forthelinesonthestaves,frombottomtotop,perhapsyoucouldcreateyourownmnemonicbasedonthelettersEGBDFforthetreblestaffandGBDFAforthebass.

Mnemonicsareusefulandhelpacceleratethelearningprocess.

2.7Review1Onceyoufeelyouarefamiliarwiththepositionofthenotesonthetrebleandbassstaves,trythefollowingactivities.

Ifyoufindtheseactivitiesdifficult,donotbedisheartened.Rememberthatinordertobeabletoreadthe



namesofnotesataglancerequirespracticeoveraperiodoftime.Somepeoplefindreadingsymboliclanguageseasierthanothers,buteveryonehastospendsometimeinordertobecomefamiliarwithnotenames.Ofcourse,ifyouplayaninstrumentandreadnotationonadailybasis,thenthatisagreathelpwhenlearningnotenames.However,dontforgettheusefulnessofmnemonicsandtrainers(Section10).Inaddition,regularapplication,alittleatatime,isthebestapproach.

Group1testsyourknowledgeofwritingnotes,Groups24testyourreadingofnotenamesonthetrebleandbassstavesandGroups5and6testyourreadingofnoteswithuptothreeledgerlines.

Group1:writingnotes

Activity

Whichofthefollowingstatementsiscorrect?(Thereareseveralcorrectanswers.)

Group2:identifyingnotenamesonthetreblestaff

Activity1

WhichnoteisC?

Activity2

WhichnoteisD?

Activity3

WhichnoteisG?



Activity4

WhichnoteisF?

Group3:identifyingnotenamesonthebassstaff

Activity1

WhichnoteisE?

Activity2

WhichnoteisA?

Activity3

WhichnoteisD?

Activity4

WhichnoteisA?



Group4:identifyingclefsfornotesonboththetrebleandbassstaves

Activity1

MatchTrebleclefandBasscleftothenotestomakethemAandD.

Activity2

MatchTrebleclefandBasscleftothenotestomakethemCandF.

Activity3

MatchTrebleclefandBasscleftothenotestomakethemEandA.

Activity4

MatchTrebleclefandBasscleftothenotestomakethemGandF.

Group5:identifyingnotenamesofnoteswithledgerlines

Activity1

WhichnoteisA?

Activity2

WhichnoteisE?



Activity3

WhichnoteisD?

Group6:identifyingmorenotenamesofnoteswithledgerlines

Activity1

Arethetwonotesbelowatthesamesoundingpitch?

Activity2

Arethetwonotesbelowatthesamesoundingpitch?

3Rhythmandmetre3.1TimevaluesAswellasapitchname,eachnotehasarhythmicvalue,calledatimevalue,notevalueorduration.ThosemostcommonlyfoundinpresentdayusageareshowninExample13.

Example13



Noticethatinordertodifferentiatethesesymbolsfortimevalues:

allhavestemsapartfromthesemibrevethenoteheadsofthesemibreveandminimareopen,whereasthosefortheshortervaluesarefilledinthequaverhasaflag(ortail),alwaysdrawnontherighthandsideofthestem,thesemiquaverhastwoflagsandthedemisemiquaver,three.

Youwillprobablyhavenoticedtoothatthedurationofeachtimevalueishalfthatoftheoneabove.Thereforetwominimslastthesamedurationasasemibrevetwocrotchetslastthesamedurationasaminimandsoon.Thisalsomeansthatfourcrotchetslastthesamedurationasasemibreve,asdoeightquaversorsixteensemiquavers.Example14mapsouttheserelationships:

Example14

3.2TripletsInSection3.1,Example14,yousawthatasyoumovedownthelistoftimevaluesfromsemibrevetosemiquaver,eachsuccessivetimevalueishalfthelengthoftheoneabove(forexample,yousawthataquaverishalfthelengthofacrotchet).However,youcandivideatimevaluenotonlybytwobutbyanynumberyouwant.Themostfrequentdivisionyouwillcomeacross,thenextinfrequencytothedefaultdivisionoftwo,iswhereatimevalueisdividedintothreeequalcomponentssayacrotchetdividedinto



threequaversoraminimdividedintothreecrotchets.Thisiscalledatriplet.AsyoucanseeandhearinExample15,thecrotchetisdividedintothreetripletquavers,theminimintothreetripletcrotchets.

Example15


Atthisstage,youneedntworryaboutthisinanydetail.However,noticeinExample15howtripletsarenotatedwithafigurethreeoverorundertherelevantnotes,thefigureoftenbeingcombinedwitheitheracurvedlineorsquarebracket.

3.3TimesignaturesTherhythmofapieceofwesternmusicwhetheritissimpleorcomplexisunderpinnedbyasteadypulseorbeat,andthesebeatsaregroupedtogethertogivethemusicsmetre .Themostcommongroupingsareintwos,threesandfoursandthesegroupingsarecreatedbyapatternofstrongerandweakerstresses.Thus,athreebeatpatternwouldconsistofstrongweakweakbeats.Innotatedmusic,eachgroupismarkedoutbyabarline sofromnowonwewilltalkabouthowmanybeatsthereareineachbar.

Timesignatures,whichconsistoftwonumbersalignedvertically,areplacedattheopeningofapieceofmusictosignifywhichmetreisbeingused.(Thetimesignatureisthenomittedfortherestofthepiece,unlessitischangedtoanother.)Inthetimesignaturesdiscussedinthissection,thelowerfigurecanbeunderstoodasthevalueofeachbeatexpressedinrelationtoasemibreve(wholenote).Thenumber2representsaminim(halfnote),4representsacrotchet(quarternote),8representsaquaver(eighthnote),andsoon.Theupperfiguretellsyouthenumberofbeatsinthebar.

In2/4therearetwocrotchetsperbar.Thelowernumber,4,representsacrotchetbecausethereare4crotchets(quarternotes)inasemibreve(wholenote),andtheuppernumbertellsyouthatthereare2beats,i.e.twocrotchets,inabar.In3/2therearethreeminimsperbar.Thelowernumber,2,representsaminimbecausethereare2minims(halfnotes)inasemibreve,andtheuppernumbertellsyouthatthereare3beats,i.eminims,inabar.In3/8therearethreequaversperbar.Thelowernumber,8,representsaquaverbecausethereare8quavers(eighthnotes)inasemibreve,andtheuppernumbertellsyouthatthereare3beats,i.e.quavers,inabar.

Example16summarisesthemeaningofthesethreetimesignatures.

Example16

Example17showsvariousstraightforwardrhythmsindifferenttimesignatures.



Example17


NoticeinExample17that4/4canalsobewrittenasC(Commontime),and2/2asaCwithaverticalstrokethroughit(allabreve).Noticetoothateachbarincludesthecorrectnumberoftimevaluestomakeuptherequirednumberofbeatsshownbytheuppernumberofthetimesignature,andthateachbarsgroupofbeatsismarkedoffwithabarline foreaseofreading.Finally,theconcludingbarlineiswrittenasadoublebar.

ConsiderExample17carefully,spendingasmuchtimeasyouneedinordertobecomeproficientataddingtogetherthenumberofbeatsineachbar,assignifiedbythetopnumberofthetimesignature.(Payparticularattentionwhenthereareshortervaluespresentsuchasquaversandsemiquavers.)Additionally,makesurethatyouhaveidentifiedthebeatcorrectlyasshownbythebottomnumberinthetimesignatureisitaminim(2),acrotchet(4)oraquaver(8)?

3.4Review2ThefollowingactivitiesbeginwithGroup1aseriesofactivitiesthatasksyoutoidentifynotevalues.InGroup2,oneormoretimevaluesfromabarhasbeenomitted,andyouwillthereforehavetoworkoutwhattheyare.Youneedtobeabsolutelysureastothelengthofeachtimevalueandhoweachfitstogetherwiththeothertimevaluesineachbar.

Group1:timevalues

Activity1

Whichofthefollowingstatementsiscorrect?

Group2:identifyingomittedtimevalue(s)

Activity1

Whichsingletimevalueisrequiredattheplacemarkedwiththeasterisk?

Activity2




Activity3


Activity4

Whichsingletimevalueisrequiredateachoftheplacesmarkedwithasterisks?

Activity5


Activity6


Activity7

Whichsingletimevalueisrequiredattheplacemarkedwithanasterisk?

Activity8

Whichsingletimevalueisrequiredattheplacemarkedwithanasterisk?



3.5DotsandtiesInSection3.1,Example14weoutlinedthetimevaluesofeachtypeofnote.Hereisareminderofthosenotevalues:

Example14(repeated)

However,atimevalueofeachtypeofnotecanbelengthened(andthereforechanged)throughtheuseof:

adotoratie .

Adotafteranyvalueextendsthatvaluebyhalfasmuchagain.Thereforeadottedcrotchetlastsforacrotchetplusahalfacrotchet(i.e.aquaver).Inotherwords,asshowninExample18,itlastsforthedurationofthreequaversintotal.

Example18

Thedotisplacedtotherightofthenotehead,inthesamespaceifthenoteheadisinaspace,orabovethelineifanoteheadisonaline.Example19summarisestheseprinciples.

Example19

AsyoulearnedinSection3.3,barlinesmarkoffgroupsofbeatsaccordingtothetimesignature.In4/4time,therefore,therecannotbeanymorethanfourbeatsperbar.Ifwewanttoextendatimevaluewherethelengthenedvaluecrossesabarline,atiecanbeused,asshowninExample20.Inthisparticularexample,theeffectofthetieisthesameasifwehadusedadot:thevalueoftheminimisincreasedbya



half(becauseitisjoinedtoacrotchetwhichishalfthevalueofaminim).

Example20


However,asshowninExample21,atiecanalsobeusedtoincreaseavaluebyadifferentfraction.SoasExample21(a)shows,aminimcanbetiedtoaquaver,thequaverbeingaquarteroftheminimsvalueandasshowninExample21(b),acrotchetcanbetiedtoasemiquaver,thesemiquaverbeingaquarterofthecrotchetsvalue.Eithercantakeplacewithinabaroracrossabarline.

Example21


Youcantieanynumberofadjacentnotestogetherinthiswaybutthetiednotesmustalwayshavethesamepitch.ThetiesmustalsobeplacedontheoutsideofthenoteheadsasyoucanseeinExample21.

3.6GroupingandbeamingnotesSofar,whenwritingnoteswithflagssuchasquaversandsemiquavers,eachonehasbeenwrittenseparately.However,foreaseofreading,groupsofquaversandsemiquaversarejoinedorbeamedtogether.Thus,thepreviousexampleshouldmoreproperlybewrittenasshowninExample22.InExample22(a)thetwoquaversarebeamedtogetherwithasinglebeam,andinExample22(b)thefoursemiquaversarebeamedtogetherwithadoublebeam.(Demisemiquaverswouldneedatriplebeam.)

Example22


InExample22(a)and(b)thebeamingjoinstogethernotesthatbelongtoasinglebeat,andthisisausefulruleofthumbtofollowwhenbeamingnotestogether,especiallywithmorecomplexexamples,asdemonstratedinExample23,whichshowsonelineofmusictwiceonceunbeamed(Example23[a])andoncebeamed(Example23[b]).

Example23


However,thefollowinggroupingsshowninExample24arealsoused.Althoughthesegroupingsbreaktheshoweachbeatrule,theyaretreatedasconventions.

Conventionsthatbreaktheshoweachbeatrule

Example24(a)Wherethereisacompletesetofquaversinabarof2/4,thesecanbebeamedtogetherwithonebeamratherthanwithtwobeamsastwosetsoftwoquavers.Asimilarconventionisallowedforacompletesetofquaversinabarof3/4onlyonebeamisneeded.Example24(b)In3/4,wherefourquaversreplaceaminim,onlyonebeamisneededinsteadoftwo.Example24(c)Similarly,in4/4,wherefourquaversreplaceaminim,onlyonebeamisneededinsteadoftwo.However,in4/4,thebeamjoiningthefourquaverscannotextendacross



themiddleofthebar.Example24(d)In3/8,allquaversandsemiquaversinabarcanbebeamedtogether.

Example24

Thereareseveralexceptionstotheshoweachbeatrulehereanditwilltakeyoutimetoabsorbthem.PerhapsthebestwaytotacklethisistopauseforamomentortwoandexamineExamples23and24carefullyoncemoresothatyoubecomefamiliarwithhowthebeaminglooksvisually.Sometimesvisualinformationcanbeeasiertoaccessthanverbalinformation,particularlyifthelatterisextensiveanddetailed.Sopauseforalittlenow,andmakeanefforttofamiliariseyourselfvisuallywiththebeamingpatterns.

3.7Review3NowtrytheactivitiesinGroup1ontimesignaturesandbeamingcoveredsofarinthissection.Whatisthetimesignatureforeachofthefivebars?Firstofall,identifythebeatisitaminim,crotchetorquaver?Thencounthowmanybeatsthereareinthebar.Whererelevant,thinkingaboutthebeamingmighthelpyou.

Group1:identifyingtimesignatures

Activity

Matchthetimesignatures,3/2,2/4,3/4,4/4and3/8tobarnumbers15.



3.8Moretimesignatures:compoundtimeThetimesignaturesconsidereduptonow2/4,3/4,4/4,2/2,3/2and3/8areallexamplesofsimpletime .Insimpletime,eachbeatcanalwaysbedividedintotwos,ormultiplesoftwo.Andsimpletimesignaturesaredescribedfullyaccordingtohowmanybeatsinabarthereareasfollows:

2/4and2/2arecalledsimpledupletime sincetherearetwobeatstoeachbar3/8,3/4and3/2arecalledsimpletripletime sincetherearethreebeatstoeachbar,and4/4iscalledsimplequadrupletimesincetherearefourbeatstoeachbar.

Example25ashowsabarof3/4time,wheretherearethreebeatstothebar,andeachbeatisdividedintotwo.

Example25(a)


Whenthebeatisdividedintothrees,thetermcompoundtime isused.

Forexample:

in6/8,thereare6quaversperbar,butthese6quaversaregroupedintwogroupsofthreesoitiscalledcompounddupletime .6/4isalsocalledcompounddupletime,thereare6crotchetsperbarandthese6crotchetsaregroupedintwosetsofthree.In9/8thereare9quaversperbar,groupedinthreegroupsofthreesoitiscalledcompoundtripletime .In12/8timethereare12quaversperbar,groupedinfourgroupsofthreesoitiscalledcompoundquadrupletime .

Example25(b)showsabarof6/8time.Therearetwobeatstothebar,andeachbeatisdividedintothree.

Example25(b)


Butwhatisthereasonforthisdifferentwayofgroupingthenotesineachbeatincompoundtime?Thisisbecauseincompoundtimesignatures,thebeatisadottednotesuchasadottedminim(insay,6/4)oradottedcrotchet(in,say,6/8)ratherthanaminimoracrotchetinsimpletimesignaturessuchas3/2or3/4.Wecanseehowthisaffectsthebeatdivisionifweconsiderthebarsof3/4timeand6/8timetogether.

Examples25(a)and(b)


Ifwecountthenumberofquaversinabarof3/4andinabarof6/8,theansweristhesame,six.However,in3/4therearethreecrotchetbeatsperbar,eachbeatdividedintotwoquavers.In6/8therearetwodottedcrotchetbeatsperbar,eachbeatdividedintothreequavers.So3/4issimpletripletimeand6/8iscompounddupletime.Inbothartandpopularmusic,composershaveexploredthevariablebeatproducedbymovingbetweenthesetwotimesignatures.

3.9Groupingandbeamingnotesincompoundtime



Aswithgroupingnoteswithinasinglebeatinsimpletime,beamingtogetherquaversandsemiquaversthatbelongtoasinglebeatisausefulguidelinetofollowwhengroupingnotestogetherincompoundtime.Asyoulearnedintheprevioussection,thebeatinsuchcompoundtimesignaturesas6/8or9/8isthedottedcrotchet(equivalenttothreequavers),sowiththesetimesignaturesallquaversandsemiquaverswithinabeatmustbebeamedingroupsofthreequavers.Example26showshowseveralnotesthatcompriseasinglebeatarebeamedtogetherin6/8time.

Example26


AsyoucanseefromExample26,theextentofthebeatisalwaysshowninthebeamingeachgroupofbeamednotesaddsuptothreequavers(adottedcrotchet).Beamingtogetherquaversingroupswhichdonotadduptothreequaverswouldsuggestadifferenttimesignaturewheretheextentofthebeatisadifferenttimevalue.Thustherhythmin6/8inExample27(a)cannotbewrittenasinExample27(b),becauseExample27(b)suggests3/4time.InExample27(b)thequaversarebeamedtogetherintwosratherthanthrees,andthissignifiesacrotchetbeatandhence3/4.

Example27

Whenweconsidertimevaluesthatlastfortwobeatsratherthanasingleoneincompoundtime,theshowthedottedbeatrulenolongerapplies.Forinstance,timevaluesthatlastfortwobeatsin6/8,9/8and12/8arewrittenasExample28(a)ratherthanExample28(b).

Example28

Hence,anotelastingafullbarin6/8iswrittenasshowninExample29.

Example29


Finally,noticethatanotelastingafullbarin9/8timeiswrittenasshowninExample30,andin12/8timeasinExample31.

Example30



Example31

Aswithbeaminginsimpletime,youcanseethatthereisasetofconventionstofollowwhenbeamingincompoundtime.So,onceagain,takeafewmomentstostudycarefullythevisualpatternsinvolvedinExamples26and27.

3.10Review4Thefollowingthreegroupsofactivitiesfocusonidentifyingsimpleandcompoundtimesignatures,andtimevaluesincompoundtime.

Group1:identifyingcompoundtimesignatures

Activity1

Matchthetimesignatures,6/8,9/8and12/8tobarnumbers13.

Whenidentifyingcompoundtimesignatures,counthowmanydottedcrotchetbeatsthereareinabar.Dontforgetthatadottedcrotchetisequivalenttothreequaversandthatthinkingaboutthebeamingmighthelpyou.

Group2:identifyingsimpleandcompoundtimesignatures

Activity1

Whenidentifyingsimpleandcompoundtimesignatures,identifythebeatfirstisit,forexample,aminim?Thencounthowmanybeatsthereareinthebar.Remember,too,toconsiderthebeaming.

Matchthetimesignatures,3/2,2/4,3/4,4/4,6/8,9/8tobarnumbers16.

Group3:identifyingomittedtimevaluesincompoundtime

Activity1


Activity2




Activity3


4Rests

4.1ValuesanddotsJustassoundisimportantinmusic,soissilence,andthereforeeverytimevaluehasanequivalentsymbolforsilencearest.HeretheyareinExample32:

Example32

Noticethatthenumberofflagsonthequaver,semiquaveranddemisemiquaverrestsisthesameasthenumberofflagsfortheirrespectivetimevalues.Inaddition,thecrotchet,quaver,semiquaveranddemisemiquaverrestssitinthemiddleofthestaff.

Thesameprincipleregardingdotsappliestorestsaswellastotimevaluesthedotmakestheresthalf



aslongagain.Andthedotisplacedaftertherestinthethirdspacefromthebottom.Example33showstheseprinciplesinaction.

Example33

4.2GroupingrestsWhengroupingnotes,wesawthatthemainaimwastoachieveeaseofreading.Thesameapplieswhengroupingrests,althoughtherearesomeexceptionstothisrule,whichareexplainedbelow.Generally,however,theruleofshowingeachbeatstillapplies.Thus,inabarof3/4,acrotchetisnotfollowedbyaminimrest,butbytwocrotchetrests,asshowninExample34(a).Andacrotchetandquaverarefollowed,notbyadottedcrotchetrest,butbyaquaverandacrotchetrest,asshowninExample34(b).Eachbeatisshownclearly.

Example34


Groupingrests:theexceptionstotheshoweachbeatrule

Inabarof4/4,iftwocrotchetsareeitherprecededorfollowedbytwocrotchetsworthofrests,thenaminimrestcanbeusedasExample35(a)shows.Thisrulereflectstheruleforbeamingfourquaversin4/4,since,aswenotedinSection3.6,youcanbeamtogetheraminimsworthofquavers.

In4/4,youalsocannotgrouprestsacrossthemiddleofabar.Crotchetsateachendofa4/4barareseparatedbytwocrotchetrestsandnotaminimrest,asshowninExample35(b).Thisisasimilarconcepttotherulesforbeamingquaversin4/4youcannotbeamacrossthemiddleofabar.

Example35


Whererestsareincludedthattotallessthanabeat,youneedtogroupinhalfbeats.Therefore,twosemiquaversateachendofacrotchetbeatshouldbeseparatedbytwosemiquaverrests,notaquaverrest,asshowninExample36(a).Andasingleopeningsemiquavershouldbefollowedbyasemiquaverrestandthenaquaverrest,asshowninExample36(b).

Example36


Again,aswiththepreviousdiscussionsofgroupingnotevalues,thisgroupingofrestsmightseemunnecessarilycomplicated.Buttheoverallaimwithgroupingbothnotevaluesandrestsistotrytoensurethatthegraphiclayoutonthepageisaseasilyreadableaspossible(once,thatis,youhavelearnedtherulesandtheexceptionstotherules!).Therefore,thedesignofstaffnotationhasevolvedsothatthereadercanrecognisenotonlyeachindividualnote,butblocksofinformation,suchasthatcontainedin



eachbeat,orevenineachbar.Thishelpstofacilitatethereadingprocess,whichisparticularlyimportantinfasttempos.

4.3GroupingrestsincompoundtimeIncompoundtime,youshouldfollowtheshoweachbeatprincipleasinsimpletime.AsyoulearnedinSection3.8,whendealingwithsuchcompoundtimesignaturesas6/8,9/8and12/8,thebeatisadottedcrotchet,soeachbeatsrestcanbewritteneitherasadottedcrotchetrestorasacrotchetrestfollowedbyaquaverrest,asinExample37.

Example37


However,in12/8,whichhasfourbeatsperbarlike4/4,twodottedcrotchetbeatrestsateitherthebeginningortheendofthebarcanbewrittenasdottedminimrests,asinExample38.

Example38


Youcanseetheparallelwith4/4Example39showsthe4/4example(Example35)comparedwiththe12/8example.

Example39


4.4MoreongroupingrestsIngeneralitisbettertowriteasfewrestsaspossiblebearinginmindtheshoweachbeatrule(andwithsuchsmalltimevaluesassemiquaverrests,theshoweachhalfbeatruleshowninSection4.2inExample36).Whenyouhavetoreadmorethanthreeorfourquaverorsemiquaverrestsinarow,orindeedamixtureofthese,itisdifficulttoassessquicklyjusthowlongthecumulativelengthoftheserestsshouldbe.Therefore,providingyoufollowtherulesforgroupingandtheexceptionstothese,useasfewrestsaspossible.

Occasionally,andratherintriguingly,youcanhavearestwithinabeatthatisbeamed,asshowninExample40.Thismakesthebeateasiertoread.

Example40


Finally,theonlysavinggraceaboutgroupingrests,is:

Foreverytimesignaturewevediscussed,arestforawholebarisasemibreverest,evenforcompoundtimesignatures.

Withthegroupingofrestsittakestimetobecomeadeptatorganisingeachbeatcorrectly.Aswithbeaming,youwillbecomefamiliarwithhowrestsaregroupedthroughlookingatmusiconaregularbasis.Youwillfindthatyougraduallyabsorbthevisualpatternscreatedbythegroupingofreststothepoint



whereyoucanspotimmediatelyarestthathasbeenusedincorrectly.Butthistakestime,ofcourse.Evenso,trythefollowingthreegroupsofactivitiesinwhichyouareaskedtoidentifymissingrests.Theseexerciseswillhelpyoutocometogripswithatleastsomeoftheconventionsinvolved.

4.5Review5Group1:identifyingasingleomittedrestinsimpletime

Activity1

Whichsinglerestisrequiredattheplacemarkedwiththeasterisk?

Activity2


Activity3


Group2:identifyingtwosingleomittedrestsineithercompoundorsimpletime

Activity1

Whichsinglerestisrequiredateachoftheplacesmarkedwithasterisks?

Activity2




Group3:identifyingthreesingleomittedrestsineithersimpleorcompoundtime

Activity1


Activity2


Activity3


5Pitch5.1Notesofthebassandtreblestaves:areminderHavingconsideredrhythm,metreandrestsinSections3and4,wecannowreturntothediscussionofpitch,beguninSection2,andexaminehowscalesandkeysignaturesareformed.

InSection2youllrememberthatwelookedatthetrebleandbassstavesandtheroleofclefs.Wealsoidentifiednotenamesfromthebottomofthebassstafftothetopofthetreblestaff.Finallywelookedattheuseofledgerlinesuptoamaximumofthree,bothaboveandbelowthetrebleandbassstaves.Here,asareminder,isthecompleterangeofnotesthatweidentified.

Example10(repeated)



5.2Semitonesandtones,andthescaleofCmajorIfwetakeasectionofthecompleterangeofnoteswenamed,startingatmiddleCandproceedinguptooneoftheotherCs,wehavetheascendingscale ofCmajor(Example41).

Example41


Visually,thesteadyprogressionofthenoteheadsclimbingupthestaffsuggeststhatthenoteheadsandthesoundsthattheysignifyareequidistantfromeachother.ThisideaseemsreinforcedifyouplaythescaleonakeyboardyousimplyplayupthewhitenotesfrommiddleCuptothenextC.

However,youwillspotimmediatelyfromExample42thatthereareblacknotesonthekeyboardaswellasthewhiteones.Youwillalsonoticethatalthoughthesearesetbackfromthewhiteones,theyalternatewiththewhiteones,oratleastdosoformuchofthetime.

Example42


Forinstance,youcanseefromExample42thatthereisablacknotebetweentheCandtheD,andthenanotheronebetweentheDandtheE.ButthereisntonebetweentheEandtheF.Asweshallseeinamoment,thisiscrucial.

Thedistancebetweentwonotesiscalledaninterval,andtheintervalbetweentheCandtheblacknotesetslightlybackandtoitsrightisasemitone .TheintervalbetweenthisblacknoteandtheDisalsoasemitone.Twosemitonesadduptoalargerinterval,calledatone ,andso,becausewehavegoneuptwosemitonesintotal,theintervalbetweenCandDisatone.TheintervalbetweenDandEisalsoatoneweveseenthatthereisalsoablacknotesetbetweenthesetwonotes.However,betweenEandFthereisnoblacknote,andsotheintervalhereisonlyasemitone.

IfwenowcontinueupthescaletothenextC,wecanidentifytheintervalsbetweeneachpairofnotes:



NotesoftheCmajorscale

CD Tone

DE Tone

EF Semitone noblacknoteinbetween

FG Tone

GA Tone

AB Tone

BC Semitone noblacknoteinbetween

ThispatternoftonesandsemitoneswecanrepresentitsymbolicallyasTTSTTTSprovidesthestructureoftheCmajorscale,andallmajorscales.Itisthereforeagoodideatomemorisethisstructure(whichiscalledtheintervallicstructure ofthemajorscale).

5.3Semitonesandtones,andthescaleofGmajorWesawintheprevioussectionthatifwestartatmiddleCandfollowtheTTSTTTSpatternwegeneratethescaleofCmajor.MiddleC(andanyotherC)intheCmajorscaleiscalledthetonicorkeynote ittellsyouthekey.Whatifwestartonadifferentnote,adifferenttonic?IfwebeginonGinsteadandfollowthesameintervallicstructure,wegeneratethefollowingnotes:

NotesoftheGmajorscale

GA Tone

AB Tone

BC Semitone

CD Tone

DE Tone

EF Tone

F G Semitone

ThenotesgeneratedarethesameasforCmajor,exceptforone.ThereisanF insteadofanF.(Example43).

Example43


Thequalifyinglabel,sharp,indicatesthatthenotehasbeenraisedasemitone,andthisisrepresentedbythesymbol,#,placedbeforethenoteandonthesamelineorinthesamespaceasthenotehead.WeneededtoraisetheFasemitonetoF becausetheintervalrequiredatthispointinthepatternisatone.



EF,asweknowfromourexaminationofthescaleofCmajor,isonlyasemitonewethereforeneedanadditionalsemitonetomakeupthetonerequiredbythepattern,TTSTTTS.AndatoneaboveEisnotF,butF .

Summary:tones,semitonesandscales

5.4MajorscaleshavingkeysignatureswithsharpsExample44showsthemajorscalesstartingonC,G,D,AandE.

Example44


Notice,firstly,that:

Ifwecomparetwoscalesthatlienexttoeachotherinthelist,forinstance,CmajorandGmajor,theonlydifferentnoteinthelowerscaleistheseventhnote .

BothscalescontainCs,Ds,Esandsoon,butinGmajor,wehaveF (andnotFasinCmajor)andthisFistheseventhnoteuptheGmajorscale.Similarly,thenoteinDmajorthatisdifferentfromthoseinGmajorisC ,alsotheseventhnote,andsoon.

Secondly,noticethat:

Ineachscale,thenumberofnotesprefacedbysharpsincreasesbyoneeachtime .Cmajorhasnone,Gmajorhasonenoteprefacedbyasharp,Dmajortwo,AmajorthreeandEmajorfour.

InordertoavoidwritingasharpbeforeeveryFin,say,apieceinGmajor(thatis,apiecebasedonthescaleofGmajor),akeysignature ,asshowninExample45,issuppliedatthebeginningofeachstaff.Attheopeningofapiece,thekeysignaturecomesaftertheclefbutbeforethetimesignature.Thepatterningofthesharpsinthekeysignaturesislogical,atleastasfarasfoursharps.However,onlytheFonthetoplineofthetreblestaffisshown,nottheF inthebottomspace,and,similarly,onlytheC inthethirdspacefromthebottomiswrittenin,nottheC onthefirstledgerlinebelowthestaff.Althoughthisisfarfromlogical,itatleastsimplifiesthevisualinformationbeingpresented.

Example45

i. TheintervallicstructureforallmajorscalesisTTSTTTS.ii. Wecanthereforeusethispatterntogenerateamajorscalestartingonanynoteafterour

examinationofCmajor,wetriedaG.iii. Themajorscalesgenerated,apartfromCmajor,willuseamixtureofwhiteandblacknotesona

keyboard.



Beforeleavingthissection,haveanotherlookatExample44,andconfirmhoweachscaleisgeneratedbytheTTSTTTSpattern.Also,identifywhichnotesneedsharpsinthedifferentscales.ThenconsiderthekeysignaturesinExample45andhowtheserelatetothescalesinExample44.

5.5SemitonesandtonesandthescaleofFmajorSofar,thescaleswehavediscussedhave,apartfromCmajor,includednotesprefacedbysharps.However,ifwestartascaleonnotesdifferentfromthosewevealreadytried,thegeneratingpatternTTSTTTScaninvolvetheuseofflatsinsteadofsharps.Youllrememberthatasharpraisesanotebyasemitoneconversely,aflat,shownbythesymbol, ,lowersanotebyasemitone.Aswiththesharpsign,#,theflatsign, ,iswrittenbeforethenotetowhichitapplies,andisplacedonthesamelineorinthesamespaceasthenotehead.BothsharpsandflatsarecalledaccidentalsandwillbecoveredinmoredetailinSection6.

HereistheseriesofnotesgeneratedifwestartonF:

NotesoftheFmajorscale

FG Tone

GA Tone

AB Semitone

B C Tone

CD Tone

DE Tone

EF Semitone

Here,theonlynotethatisdifferentfromthoseinCmajoristheB .(CmajorhasB.)ButB wasnecessaryherebecausethethirdintervalintheTTSTTTSpatternisasemitone,notatone,andthereforethenoteasemitonebelowBisrequired,i.e.B ,notB.Onakeyboard,asyoucanseefromExample46,thisistheblacknotesetbackbetweenAandB.

Example46


Youmayhavewonderedwhyoneblacknoteisasharp(aswesawwithF )andanotherisaflat,theB .Theansweristhatnotesonakeyboardcanbecalleddifferentthingsdependingontheircontext.Major(and,asweshallsee,minor)scalesaresevennote(heptatonic)scales,andeachnotehasadifferentlettername.Thus,thesevenletternamesinFmajorareFGAB( )CDE.TheyarenotcalledFGAA( )



CDE,becausethiswouldmeanAcomestwiceandthereisnoB.Onthekeyboard,then,B andA arethesamenote,butwhenwritingthescaleofFmajor,B isused,notA .

5.6MajorscaleshavingkeysignatureswithflatsExample47showsthemajorscalesstartingonC,F,B ,E andA .

Example47


Again,aswiththegroupofmajorscaleswithsharpsinExample44,therearetwopointsworthnoting.

Firstly:

Ifwecomparetwoscalesthatlienexttoeachotherinthelist,forinstance,CmajorandFmajor,theonlydifferentnoteinthelowerscaleisthefourthnote .

BothscalescontainCs,Ds,Esandsoon,butinFmajor,wehaveB (andnotBasinCmajor),andthisBisthefourthnoteuptheFmajorscale.Similarly,thenoteinBflatmajorthatisdifferentfromthoseinFmajorisE ,alsothefourthnote,andsoon.

Secondly:

Ineachscale,thenumberofdifferentnotesprefacedbyflatsincreasesbyoneeachtime .Cmajorhasnone,Fmajorhasonenoteprefacedbyaflat,Bflatmajortwo,EflatmajorthreeandAflatmajorfour.

Example48showsthekeysignaturesforthesekeys.

Example48

Nowthatwehavediscussedthemajorscaleswithuptofoursharpandfourflatkeysignatures,havealookatthesummarychartofthesescalesandtheirkeysignaturesinExample49.Workthroughthischartatapacethatallowsyoutopassquicklyoverthosescalesthatyoufeelyouknow,butspendmoretimeoverthoseyouarelesssureof.AlwaysbearinmindtheoverridingprincipleTTSTTTS.

Example49


Nowtrythefollowingtwoactivitiesthatassessyourknowledgeofkeysignaturesofuptofourflatsorfoursharps,andofthemajorscalesthathavethesekeysignatures.



5.7Review6Group1:identifyingkeysignaturesofuptofoursharpsorfourflats

Activity1

MatchthekeysofCmajor,Gmajor,Dmajor,Amajor,Fmajor,Aflatmajortothekeysignaturesbelow.

Group2:identifyingmajorscaleswithkeysignaturesofuptofoursharpsandfourflats

Activity1

Matchthekeysignaturesofonesharp,twosharps,oneflat,twoflatstothemajorscalesbelow.Witheachactivity,dontforgettocheckwhichclefisbeingused.Eachscalestartsonitstonicorkeynote.

5.8Minorscales:thenaturalformThemajorscaleisonlyoneofthegroupofscalesusedinbothwesternartandwesternpopularmusicasthebasisofcomposition.Anotheristheminorscale .Asweveseen,themajorscalehasonlyoneformgeneratedbytheintervallicpattern,TTSTTTS.Bycontrast,theminorscalehasthreeforms,whichallusethesamekeysignature:

1. natural2. melodic3. harmonic.

WeknowthatthekeysignatureforCmajorhasnosharpsorflats.FortheAminorscale,thisisthesame.Hereisthenaturalformofthescale:

Example50


Youllnoticethatitissimilartothemajorscaleinthatitcanbeplayedonakeyboardusingonlythewhitenotes.TheonlydifferenceisthatitbeginsnotonC,butonA.However,thisalterstheintervallicstructure.InsteadofTTSTTTS,weget:

TheintervallicstructureofthenaturalformoftheAminorscale

AB Tone

BC Semitone

CD Tone

DE Tone



EF Semitone

FG Tone

GA Tone

WecanrepresentthissymbolicallyasTSTTSTT.

5.9Minorscales:themelodicandharmonicformsThesecondformoftheAminorscale,themelodicform,hastwotypesofintervallicstructuretheascendingstructureisdifferentfromthedescendingstructure.Thedescendingpatternisthesameasthenaturalformcoveredintheprevioussection.Theascendingpatternisasshownbelow:

TheintervallicstructureofthemelodicformoftheAminorscale(ascending).Thedescendingstructureisthesameasforthenaturalformoftheminorscale

AB Tone

BC Semitone

CD Tone

DE Tone

EF Tone

F G Tone

G A Semitone

Symbolically,thisascendingstructurecanberepresentedasTSTTTTS.

Example51showstheAminormelodicscale,bothascendinganddescending.

Example51


Intheascendingversion,noticethattheneedtoraiseboththeFandtheGtoF andG respectivelydoesnotaffectthekeysignaturethesesharpenednotesaresimplyignored.Instead,whenF sorG sarerequiredinthemusic,thesharpshavetobewritteninforeachnote,oratleastasoftenasisnecessary.WellconsidertheguidelinesforhowtodealwiththisinSection6onaccidentalsandwellalsodiscusstheroleofanotheraccidental,thenatural,shownbythesymbol .InExample51,thebracketednaturalsremindusthat,whereasintheascendingscaletheFandGbecomeF andG respectively,inthedescendingformtheGandFremainasGandF.

ThethirdandfinalformoftheAminorscaleistheharmonicminor(whichhasthesameintervallicstructurebothascendinganddescending).Itcontainselementsfromboththeascendingformofthemelodicminor(theG )andthedescendingform(theF).TheconsequenceofthisisthattheintervalbetweenFandG isatoneplusasemitone,anintervalthatwehaventmetinascalebefore:



TheintervallicstructureoftheharmonicformoftheAminorscale.Thestructureisthesamebothascendinganddescending

AB Tone

BC Semitone

CD Tone

DE Tone

EF Semitone

FG Tone+semitone

G A Semitone

Symbolically,thisascendingstructurecanberepresentedasTSTTST+SS.

TheAminorharmonicscaleisshowninExample52.Again,theneedtoraisetheGtoG doesnotaffectthekeysignature,which,asyouknow,hasnosharpsorflats.

Example52


Itistruethatminorscalesaremorecomplicatedthanmajorones.However,thedifferencesbetweenthethreeformsarelesscomplexthanaquickglancemightsuggest.IfwecomparethethreeformsoftheAminorscale(seeExample53),youcanseethatthesedifferencesrelatetoonlytwoquestions:(i)whetherthesixthnoteand/orseventhnoteupthescaleissharpened,and(ii)whethertheascendinganddescendingformsofthescalearethesame.Sothedifferencesarenotasgreatasitmightfirstappear.Thefirstfivenotesofeachofthethreeforms(whenascending,andthelastfivenoteswhendescending)areexactlythesame,and,asnotedearlier,thedescendingformofthemelodicminorhasthesameintervallicstructureasthenaturalminor.

Example53

5.10RelativeminorandrelativemajorBecausethescalesofCmajorandAminorhavethesamekeysignature,theyareclearlyrelated.Indeed,thekeyofAminoriscalledtherelativeminorofCmajor.Conversely,Cmajoriscalledtherelative



majorofAminor.IfwelookattherelationshipbetweenCandAonakeyboardinExample54,wecancountthenumberofsemitonesbetweenthem(itsquickertodothiscountingfromCdowntoAratherthanCuptothehigherA).TheresultisthreeCB,BB ,B A.Sotherelativeminorofamajorkey,andtheminorkeythathasthesamekeysignature,isthreesemitoneslowerthanitsmajorcounterpart.

Byfollowingthisprinciple,wecanworkouttherelativeminorkeyofGmajor,thesecondmajorkeyweexaminedinSection5.3.LookatExample54again.ThreesemitonesdownfromG,namely:GF ,F FandFEisE.EminoristhustherelativeminorofGmajorandhasthesamekeysignature,onesharp.

Example54

IfwenowfollowtheintervallicpatternswediscoveredinthevariousformsoftheminorscalethepatternofthenaturalformwasTSTTSTT,forinstancewecangeneratethethreeformsoftheEminorscaleshowninExample55.Fundamentally,wehaveonlyonedifferentnotefromthosewehadinthescaleofAminor,theF .However,withthethreedifferentforms(natural,harmonicandmelodic)thesamequestionariseswithregardstothesixthandseventhnotesupthescaleshouldoneorbothbesharpenedornot?

Example55


YoucanfindasummarychartoftheminorscaleswithuptofoursharpandfourflatkeysignaturesinExample56.Studythiscarefullyminorscales,especiallythosewiththreeorfourflatsorsharps,aremoredifficulttograspthantheirrelativemajorcounterparts.Sotaketimeoverthis.

Example56


Thefollowingtwoactivitiesassessyourknowledgeofminorkeysignaturesofuptofourflatsandfoursharps,andoftheminorscalesthathavethesekeysignatures.Trythemnow.

5.11Review7Group1:identifyingminorkeysignaturesofuptofoursharpsorfourflats

Activity1

MatchthekeysofCminor,Gminor,Dminor,Eminor,Bminor,Fminortothekeysignatures.

Group2:identifyingminorscaleswithkeysignaturesofuptofoursharpsandfourflats

Activity1



Matchthekeysignaturesofonesharp,twosharps,oneflat,threeflatstothescalesbelow.

Witheachactivity,dontforgettocheckwhichclefisbeingused.Eachscalestartsonthetonicorkeynote.

6Accidentals,degreesofthescaleandintervalsDuringthediscussionofscales,severaltopicsweretoucheduponthatnowneedalittlefurtherexplanation:

1. accidentals2. degreesofthescale3. intervals.

Wellbeginthissectionwithaccidentals.

6.1AccidentalsWhileexaminingthestructuresoftheGmajorandFmajorscales,wenotedthatthesymbolforthesharpisa#,andthatfortheflat,a .Thesesymbolsarecalledaccidentals.Withthediscussionofminorscales,youdiscoveredthethirdaccidentalyouneedtoknow,thenatural, .Youwillhavenoticeditinsomeofthemusicexamplesandinthechartofminorscalesintheprevioussection(Example56).

Whiletheroleofthesharpistoraiseanoteasemitone,andtheflatistoloweranoteasemitone,thenaturalcancelsaprevioussharporflat.Itlowersasharpenednotebyasemitone,orraisesaflattenednotebyasemitone.Naturalscanthereforebeusedinaparticularbartocancelsharpsorflatsthathaveappearedearlierinthebar.Naturalscanalsobeusedtocancelsharpsorflatsthatappearinthekeysignature.Asyouknow,sharpsorflatsinakeysignaturedictatewhichnotesaresharpenedorflattenedthroughoutapiece(unlessthekeysignatureischangedatsomepoint),butyoucanusenaturalstocancelthesharpsorflatsofnotesasyouproceed.

6.2AccidentalsinpracticeLetslookatsomeexamplestoseehowaccidentalsworkinpractice.InExample57(a),thekeysignatureisforCmajor(nosharpsorflats),butwewanttohaveE s.WethereforeaddaflatbeforethefirstEtoloweritasemitonetoE .Accidentals,unlesscancelled,lastthroughoutabar,andsothesecondEwillalsobeanE .

IfwewanttowriteanE ratherthananE laterduringthebarasinExample57(b),wehavetocanceltheearlierflatbywritinganaturalbeforethesecondE.

Example57


Example57(c)willproduceexactlythesamemelodyasExample57(b),butusestheCminorkeysignature.ThefirstEwillbeE becauseoftheE inthekeysignature(anddoesnotthereforeneedaflat),butthesecondEwillneedanaturaltoraiseitasemitonefromE toE .



Finally,inExample57(d),thefirstFneedsanaturaltocanceltheeffectoftheF inthekeysignature,butthesecondFthenneedsasharptocanceltheeffectofthenaturalbeforethefirstF.

Threefinalpoints(whichmostlyreinforcewhatyouvelearnedalready):

Accidentalsinpractice:summary

Noticethatweusesharpentomeanraisebyasemitone.So,wecansay:WeneedtosharpenA tobecomeA .Butwecanalsosay:WeneedtosharpenA tobecomeA .(Wesawthisprincipleinoperationinthepreviousactivity,intheDminoranswerforGroup1Activity1inthepreviousreview.)Conversely,weuseflattentomeanlowerbyasemitone.Whenidentifyingnoteswithoutaccidentals,itistemptingtosaysimply,ThisisC.However,alwaysrememberthatthisisashorthandforsaying,ThisisC .Keysignaturesconsistofgroupsofaccidentalsthatareeithersharpsorflats.Thereisneveramixture.

6.3IdentifyingthedegreesofthescaleDuringthediscussionofscalesIneededtotalkaboutnotonlyaccidentalsbutalsodegreesofthescale.Ineededtobeabletoidentifycertaindegreesofthescale,andthereforeusedaphrasesuchassixthorseventhnoteupthescale.However,thereareseveralwaysofreferringtothedegreesofthescale:

theordinalnumbersalreadynotedcardinalnumberswithcaretsaboveandnamesthatreflecttheimportanceofaparticularnotewithinascale.

Herearethedifferentsystemsdisplayedsidebyside,assumingthatthescaleisascending:

Relationshipsofthenamesforthedegreesofthescale

Ordinals Cardinals,withcaretsabove Names

Firstdegree Tonic,orkeynote

Second Supertonic

Third Mediant

Fourth Subdominant

Fifth Dominant

Sixth Submediant

Seventh Leadingnote

Thenamesofthenotesinthescaleneedexplanation.Intonalmusicthemostimportantnoteinthescaleisthetonicorkeynote .InthescaleofCmajor,forinstance,thetonic,asyouknow,isC:thetonicsignifiesthekeyofthescale.Thesecondmostimportantnoteisthedominant,thefifthdegreeofthe



scale(seeExample58).NotethatinthisexampletheCmajorscaleisnotatedfromF,viaCuptoGsothattherelationshipsbetweenthenamesforthedegreesofthescalearemoreclearlyexpressed.

Example58

Nextcomesthesubdominant,whichhasamirrorpositiontothatofthedominant.Thedominantisfivenotesabovethetonicthesubdominantisfivenotesbelow(sub,Latinforunder).Themediantsitsbetweenthetonicandthedominant(medius,Latinformiddle),andthesubmediantbetweenthetonicandthe(lower)subdominant.Thesupertonicliesimmediatelyabovethetonic(super,Latinforabove,over),and,finally,theleadingnote risesuptothetonic(seeExample59).

Example59Namesforthedegreesofthescaleinascendingorder


6.4IntervalsThefinaltopicthataroseduringthediscussionofscaleswasintervals.Wenotedhowmajorscalesareconstructedfromtwointervals,thesemitoneandthetone,andhowtheharmonicformoftheminorscaleincludesanotherinterval,thetoneplussemitone,i.e.threesemitones.Thereisnoreasonwhyyoucouldnt,intheory,countuplargerandlargerintervalsinsemitones.However,asthesizeofintervalsincreases,identifyingthembycountingsemitonesbecomesimpractical.

Tomakethingseasier,intervalsareidentifiedbylabelsthatconsistoftwodeterminants,qualityandnumber.Youcancalculatethenumberofanintervalbyregardingthelowernoteasthetonicandthencountingupthedegreesofthescale.Thus,asshowninExample60,theintervalCEwouldbeathird,CGafifthandCBaseventh.CtothesameCisaunisonCtotheCeightnoteshigher,anoctave .Notethatthetwonotesintheintervalcanbesoundedtogetherasaharmonicinterval,orinsuccessionasamelodicinterval.

Example60


Thequalityofanintervalcanbeperfect,major,minor,augmentedordiminished.

So,forinstance,youcanhaveaperfectfourth,amajorthird,anaugmentedsixth.

However,forourpurposes,hereIcommentonlyontheperfectfifth,whichconsistsofsevensemitones,e.g.CGintheCmajorscale,andtheminorthird,whichconsistsofthreesemitones,e.g.ACintheAminorscale(seeExample61).

Example61Theperfectfifthandtheminorthirdintervals




6.5Theperfectfifth,theminorthirdandthecircleoffifthsTheperfectfifthWhilediscussingscales,youmighthavewonderedwhyIdescribedthemintheorderIchose.FromastartingpointofCmajor,thepatternformajorscaleswithsharpkeysignatureswasG,D,AandE,withthekeysignatureforeachscaleaddinganadditionalsharptothepreviousone.ThepatternformajorscaleswithflatkeysignatureswasF,B ,E andA ,withthekeysignatureforeachscaleaddinganadditionalflattothepreviousone.Youmighthaveguessedthatthisgradualincreaseinthesizeofthekeysignaturesgovernedmychoice.Andyouwouldhavebeenright.

Butmychoicewasalsogovernedbytherelatedfactthateachsuccessivemajorscalewithasharpkeysignaturestartsonthenoteaperfectfifthabovethepreviousone,andeachsuccessivescalewithaflatkeysignaturestartsonthenoteaperfectfifthbelowthepreviousone.SoGmajor,withonesharpinitskeysignature,beginsonthenoteaperfectfifthaboveC,whichhasnosharpsorflatsinitskeysignature.AndDmajor,withtwosharpsinitskeysignature,beginsonthenoteaperfectfifthaboveG.Andsoon.Conversely,Fmajor,withoneflatinitskeysignature,beginsonthenoteaperfectfifthbelowC,andBmajor,withtwoflatsinitskeysignature,beginsonthenoteaperfectfifthbelowF.Andsoon.

Thissequenceofkeys,extendedtocoverawholeseries,isbetterunderstoodasadiagram,thecircleoffifths,showninFigure1.

Themajorkeyssitoutsidethecircleandtheircorrespondingrelativeminors(whichhavethesamekeysignature)insidethecircle.Youshouldtakealittletimetoexplorethisdiagram(althoughbearinmindthatyouneedaworkingknowledgeofmajorandminorkeysofonlyuptofoursharpsandfourflatsbeforeyoustartInsidemusic).

Figure1Thecircleoffifths



TheminorthirdAsyoumayremember,andasshowninthediagramofthecircleoffifthsabove,thetonicofarelativeminorscalecanbefoundbycountingdownthreesemitonesfromthetonicofitsmajorequivalent,forinstance,thetonicofCmajordowntothetonicofAminor.Thisinterval,AC,consistingofthreesemitones,wecannownameasaminorthird.

7Harmony:thetriadOurdiscussionofintervals,notablyharmonicintervals,isthefirsttimeinthisunitthatwehavemovedfromdiscussionofonesoundatatimetotwosoundingtogether.Buttheexplorationofthecombinationofsoundstoformharmonyisoneofwesternmusicsmajorcontributionstomusicworldwide,andwethereforeneedtoconsiderabasicfeatureofharmony,thetriad.

Atriadis,asitsnameimplies,acollectionofthreenotessoundingtogether.Triadsareconstructedfromtwothirdsplacedoneontopoftheother.StartingfromC,forinstance,andinCmajor,atriadwouldalsoincludethenotesEandGstartingfromG,thenotesBandD.Triadscan,infact,beconstructedonanynoteofthescale,asshowninExample63.Inordertoidentifythesetriads,youcansimplyusethenamesofthedegreesofthescaleonwhichtheyareconstructed.ThereforeCEGinCmajoristhetonictriadsinceitisbuiltonthetonic,CDFAinCmajoristhesupertonictriadsinceitisbuiltonthesupertonic,D.Andsoon.

Example63




Thethreenotesinthetriad,fromthebottomup,arecalledtheroot(sincethisisthebasisofthetriad),thethirdandthefifth.Thefifthis(exceptinonecase,inthetriadontheleadingnote)aperfectfifth.

NoticeinExample63thattheintervalsofathirdthatareusedtoconstructtriadsaresometimesmajor(i.e.consistingoffoursemitones)orminor(i.e.consistingofthreesemitones).Thuswiththetonictriad,CEG,thelowerinterval,CE,isamajorthirdbuttheupperinterval,EG,isaminorthird.However,withthesupertonictriad,DFA,thelowerinterval,DF,isaminorthirdbuttheupperinterval,FA,isamajorthird.Triadsarelabelledasmajororminordependingonthisarrangement.

Wherethemajorthirdisthelowerinterval,asinthetonic,subdominantanddominanttriads,thetriadisamajortriad.Wheretheminorthirdisthelowerintervalasinthesupertonic,mediantandsubmedianttriads,thetriadisaminortriad.

ThetriadsinaminorkeyfollowadifferentpatternofmajorandminorthesewillbeexplainedinInsidemusic,aswillthetriadontheleadingnote,whichinbothmajorandminorkeysisadiminishedtriad.

AgooddealofthematerialinInsidemusicdealswithharmony.Sospendsometimefamiliarisingyourselfwithtriads,theirnames,andhowtheyareconstructedfrommajorandminorthirdsitwillbetimewellspent.

8Scores:performancedirectionsSofar,wehaveconsideredsuchelementsofnotationaspitchandrhythm,butthereareotherinstructionsonscores(notatedmusic)relatingtoperformancethatyouneedtobeabletounderstand.Thesecanbedividedintofivemaincategories:

1. dynamics2. tempo3. articulation4. expression5. specialsigns.

Thefirstthingtonoteaboutperformancedirectionsisthatalmostallofthemarerelativeratherthanabsolute.Thismeansthatwhilebearingtheirmeaninginmind,performersinterpretthemwithinlimits.Thesecondthingtonoteisthatthemeaningofsomeperformancedirectionshaschangedovertime.Indeed,someperformancedirectionshaveevenhadmorethanonemeaningduringaparticularperiod.Forinstance,fromtheseventeenthcenturytothemiddleoftheeighteenthcentury,prestocouldmeaneitherfast,orfasterthanallegro.And,finally,althoughtheperformancedirectionslistedhereareselectedfromthetraditionalItalianones,acomprehensivecollectionwouldhavetoincludeperformancedirectionsinotherlanguagestoo.

8.1Aselectedlistofperformancedirections

Dynamics

Direction Interpretation



fff louderthanff

ff(fortissimo) veryloud

f(forte) loud

mf(mezzoforte) (literally)halfloud

mp(mezzopiano) (literally)halfsoft

p(piano) soft

pp(pianissimo) verysoft

ppp softerthanpp

crescendo(cresc.) graduallybecominglouder

decrescendo(decresc.) graduallybecomingsofter

diminuendo(dim.) graduallybecomingsofter

sf/sfz(sforzando) (literally)forced:suddenloudnessaccentuatinganote

Tempo

Direction Translation Interpretation

largo large,broad veryslowly

larghetto diminutiveoflargo slow,butnotasslowaslargo

grave heavy,serious veryslow,solemn

adagio atease,leisurely slowly,orveryslowly

lento slow slowly

andante atawalkingpace atamediumwalkingpace

andantino diminutiveofandante slightlyfasterthanandante,althoughsometimesslightlyslower

moderato moderate,restrained moderately

allegretto diminutiveofallegro fairlyquick,butnotasquickasallegro

vivace flourishing,fulloflife lively

allegro merry,cheerful fast

presto ready,prompt veryfast(althoughoriginallyonlyfast)


accelerando(accel.) graduallybecomingquicker

atempo intime



manontroppo butnottoomuch

rallentando(rall.) graduallybecomingslower

ritardando(rit.orritard.) graduallybecomingslower

ritenuto(rit.orriten.) (literally)heldback:amorelocalisedslowingdown

Articulation


legato smoothly

semistaccato alittledetached,lesssothanstaccato

staccato(stacc.) detached

tenuto held

Expression


agitato agitated

cantabile inasingingstyle

dolce sweet

espressivo(espress.orespr.) expressive

grazioso graceful

leggiero light

molto very,much

poco alittle

semplice simple

senza without

sostenuto sustained

subito sudden

Specialsigns



8.2FollowingpianoscoresThemusicexamplesyouhavestudiedsofarhavebeenwrittenononlyonestaff,andyouhavebeenabletohearthecorrespondingsoundsformanyoftheexamples.However,asyoubecomeproficientatreadingmusic,youmaywanttotacklescoressuchaspianoscores,whereyouneedtobeawareoftwostavesbeingusedsimultaneously.Furthermore,youmaywanttofollowpianoscoreswhilelisteningtothemusic.

Whatdoesfollowmeaninthiscontext?Well,itcertainlydoesntmeanthatyouhavetoregisterconsciouslyeverynotateddetailofthepassageinthescoreasyoulisten.Rather,itmeansthatyouneedtobeabletosynchroniseinageneralwaywhatyoureyeisseeingonthescoreandwhatyourearishearinginthemusic.Atfirst,eventhatmightnotbepossible.Therelentlessprogressofthemusicmightbetoomuchforyoutocopewith.Thisistobeexpected.Evenatabasiclevel,followingascoreneedspractice.Youneedtobecomefamiliarwiththeideaofscanningthenotationasyouhearthemusic,offocusingonthemelodywhilebeingawareoftheaccompaniment,ofidentifyingonthescorepointsatwhich,forwhateverreason,themusicdoessomethingsubstantiallydifferentfromwhatithadbeendoingpreviously.

Inordertoprepareyourselfforfollowingascore,thinkaboutthefollowing:

Whatistheextentofthepassageyouwishtofollow?Glancethroughthepassagequicklynotingtheopeningandclosingbars.



Whatisthespeedofthemusic?seethetempomarkingandhowmanybeatsarethereinabar?seethetimesignature.Arethereanyrepeatedpassages?Thesewillbemarkedintwoways,either(a)withrepeatmarks(iftheplayerhastorepeatapassagefromthebeginning,theopeningrepeatmarksareomitted)or(b)firstandsecondtimebars(Example64).Doyouneedtoturnapage?Ifso,trytoimaginewhatishappeninginthemusicforafewbarsafterthepageturnsothat,whenyouturn,youarenotcaughtout.

Example64

8.3FollowingpianoscoresinpracticeAsyoufollowthetwostavesofapianoscore,theupperstaffwilluse,forthemostpart,thetrebleclef(andbeplayedbythepianistsrighthand),andthelowerstaff,thebassclef(andbeplayedbythepianistslefthand).Basically,youneedtofollowtheupperstaff,becausethisisusuallywherethemelodyis.Concentrateonthewaytheriseandfallofthemelodyisreflectedinthehigherorlowerpositionofthenoteheadsonthestaff.Theupsanddownsofthemelodyshouldcorrespondtotheundulationsofthenotatedmelodyline.Asyoubecomefamiliarwithboththesoundandsightofapassage,youwillbeabletokeepaneyeonboththemelodyandtheaccompanimentasthemusicprogresses.Youwillalsobeabletospotifthemelodymovesdowntothelowerstaff,whichhappensfromtimetotime.

Inaddition,keepalookoutonthescoreforthechangesindynamicsthatyouhear,orforplaceswheretherearerestsinbothstaves.Suddenchangesofloudnessinthemusicormomentsofsilence,mighthelpyoutokeepabreastofwhereyoushouldbeonthescore,orhelpyoufindyourselfifyouarelost.Beprepared,too,forapossiblechangeofclef,particularlywiththelowerstaff.IfthemajorityofnotesthatappearonthelowerstaveareabovemiddleC,thenacomposerwillmorethanlikelychangethecleffromthebasstothetreble.

Dontbedisheartenedifyoucantfollowascoreatyourfirstattempt.Youwillneedseveralattempts(foreachscore)simplytobecomefamiliarwithboththemusicandthescore,andthisneedsalittletime.Butasyoupractisefollowingscores,youwillgraduallybecomemoreproficient,andyouwillbeabletounderstandmoreandmoreofthenotationyouarereadingandhowthisrelatestothesoundsyouarehearing.

9Review8Asafinalreview,thefollowingfourgroupsofactivitiescontainquestionsthatrelatetoaselectionofthedifferentfeaturesofstaffnotation.

Group1:identifyingvariousdifferentelementsMozart,PianoConcertoinCminor,K491



Activity1

WhatisthemeaningofthetempoindicationLarghetto?

Activity2

Whatkeyisthemelodyin?

AllthenotesinthemelodyarecontainedwithinthescaleofEflatmajor,andBnaturalsareabsent,suggestingthatCminor,theminorkeywiththesamekeysignatureasEflatmajor,isunlikely.Aflatmajorisincorrectsinceithasakeysignatureoffourflats,notthree.

Activity3

Whichmelodicinterval(numberonly)occursbetweenthelastnoteinbar2andthefirstnoteinbar3?

ThelastnoteinthesecondbarisaB andthefirstinbar3,aG.IfwecountupthescalestartingfromtheBflat(B CDE FG)wefindthattheintervalisasixth.

Activity4

Whatisthenotenameofthefourthnoteinbar3?



OnthetreblestaffthenotesittingonthefirstledgerlineabovethestaffisaB.However,thekeysignatureofthreeflatssignifiesthatallBsinthisextract(unlessmodifiedbyaccidentals)areB s.

Activity5

WhichdegreeofthescaleistheDinthefourthbar?

SincethemelodyisinEflatmajorwithE asthetonic,DistheseventhnoteupfromE (E FGA BCD).Itisthereforetheleadingnote.

Group2:identifyingvariousdifferentelementsGershwin,Igotrhythm

Activity1

Whatkeyisthemelodyin?(Theasterisksignifiesamissingrest,whichyoullbeaskedtoidentifyinActivity5.)

ThetwoflatkeysignaturesuggestseitherBflatmajororitsrelativeminor,Gminor.ThereisnoF ,theleadingnoteinGminor,andthereforeBflatmajorseemsmorelikely.Fmajorisincorrectsinceithasakeysignatureofonlyoneflat.

Activity2

WhatdoesthetimesignatureofCwithaverticalstrokethroughitmean?



Activity3

WhichdegreeofthescaleistheFinthefirstbar?

SincethemelodyisinBflatmajorwithB asthetonic,theFisthefifthnoteupfromB (B CDE F).Itisthereforethedominant.

Activity4

WhatisthecurvedlineabovethetwoCsinthesecondbar?

Atiejoinsconsecutivenotesthatarethesame,andisarhythmicdevice.ItsuseheremeansthatthefirstC,aquaver,istiedtothenextCgivinganoveralltimevalueofquaverplusminim.

Activity5

Whichrestisrequiredattheplacemarkedwithanasterisk?

Group3:identifyingvariousdifferentelementsBeethoven,SymphonyNo.6inFmajor,Op.68(Pastoral)

Activity1



WhatisthemeaningofthetempoindicationAllegromanontroppo?

Activity2

WhichdegreeofthescaleistheDinthefirstbar?(Identifythekeyofthemelodyfirst.)

Correct.SincethemelodyisinFmajorwithFasthetonic,theDisthesixthnoteupfromF(FGABCD).Itisthereforethesubmediant.

Activity3

WhatdoesthedotunderthemiddleCinthesecondbarsignify?

Thepositionofthedotiscrucial.Beloworabovethenoteheadsignifiesthatthisdotisasignforstaccato.Adotafterthenoteheadmeansthatitisassociatedwithrhythmthenotesrhythmicvaluewouldthenbelengthenedbyahalf.Atenutomarkisashortline,notadot,eitheraboveorbelowthenotehead.

Activity4

Whichmelodicinterval(numberonly)iscreatedbythemiddleCandthefollowingnote?



Thesecondnote,itsnoteheadplacedinthelowestspaceofthetreblestave,isanF.ThereforeifwecountupthescalefromthemiddleCtotheF(middleCDEF)wefindthattheintervalisafourth.

Activity5

WhatdoesthesignabovetheGinthefinalbarindicate?

Group4:identifyingtriadsinmajorkeysNotethatyouwillneedtoworkoutwhichmajorkeyisbeingusedfirst.

Activity1

MatchTonictriadinEflatmajor,SubdominanttriadinAmajor,TonictriadinDmajortothetriadsbelow.

10TrainersforeyeandearIfyousearchformusictheorysitesontheinternet,youllfindseveralthatprovideinteractivedrills,oftencalledtrainers.Theseaimtohelpyouimproveparticularskillsthatareinvolvedwhenusingstaffnotation.Theyareusefulforcoordinatingyoureyeandyourear,thatis,coordinatinglookingatnotationwhilelisteningtosounds.Admittedlyyouneedregularpracticetomakeheadwaywiththedrills.However,withsteadyapplication(andadegreeofpatience)youwillfindthat,throughusingthesedrills,youreyeandearwillbecomemuchmoreproficientatidentifyingdifferentaspectsofthemusicyouarelookingatandlisteningto.

Indeed,manyaspectsofstaffnotationlendthemselvestodrills.Itisarelativelystraightforwardprocesstocreatedrillsfornotenaming,identifyingrhythms,scales,keysignatures,intervals,chordsandsoon.Inaddition,drillsforimprovingaparticularskillcanvaryinscope.Withnotenaming,forinstance,adrillmightaskyoutoidentifynotesonthetreblestaff,oronthebassstaff,orbothitmightalsoincludenotes



withledgerlines.Adrillforaparticularskillcanalsohavedifferentlevelsofdifficultyfromwhichyoucanchoose.

10.1HowtousetrainersBeforeyoustarttopractiseadrillyouneedtobecomefamiliarwiththevariouspossibilitiesavailable.Onawebsitethesearesometimesdefinedinaseparatewindow/webpagecalledSettings(orsimilar).Onceyouvelocatedthispage,andyouaresurethatthechoicesyouhavemadewillproducethedrillthatyourequire,youwillhavetomakearealisticassessmentofthelevelofdifficultythatyoucancopewith.Dontbeoverambitious!Itisbettertounderestimateyourproficiencytostartwith,otherwiseyoumaywellfindthedrillstoodifficultandyouwillsoonloseheart.

Evenwheneverythingissetup,itmighttakealittletimetobecomefamiliarwiththewayadrillworksandhowyoushouldrespond.Somedrillswhereyouarerequiredtoenternoteswithpitchandrhythmicvaluesonastaveneedalittleprepractice.Sobepreparedtohaveoneortwotrialrunsjusttobecomeathomewiththedrill,beforeyoustartinearnest.

NotethattheprogramsthatmakedrillspossibleonwebsitesareassociatedwithFlashorJava.SoyouwillneedAdobeFlashPlayerand/ortheJavaRuntimeEnvironmentinstalledonyourcomputer.

10.2WheretofindtrainersandrecommendedreadingWebsitescurrentlyavailable(2011)thatcontaindrillsforeyeandeartraininginclude:

Notethatthesesitesandothersalsoprovidetutorialsonmanyaspectsofstaffnotation,whichyoucouldusetosupplementyourknowledge,orreinforcewhatyouhavelearnedalready.However,aswithallwebsites,itisprudenttocomparetheinformationonafewdifferentsitesinordertoassesstheaccuracyandreliabilityoftheinformationfoundonthem.

RecommendedreadingRatherthantheinternet,youmightliketoconsultreferencematerialinhardcopy.Inwhichcaseyoucouldtry:

Taylor,E.(1989)TheABGuidetoMusicTheory,PartI,London,AssociatedBoardoftheRoyalSchoolsofMusic.

TheAssociatedBoardalsopublishesgradedworkbooksandbookletswithmodelanswers.TheworkbooksforGrades13wouldberelevantforthisunit.Youcanfindalistoftheseworkbookshere:http://www.abrsm.org/publishing/instrument/46

11Whatnext?Theaimofthisunithasbeentoprovideyouwithabasicunderstandingofstaffnotation.Thematerialisnotmeanttobecomprehensive,andevenwithinthenarrowconfinesofthetopicsdiscussed,manydetailshavebeenomitted.Nonetheless,abroadrangeoftopicshasbeenexamined,asyouwillappreciatefromthefollowingchecklist.Asyoureadthelist,pauseateachtopicandconsiderhowwellyoucancopewithit:

i. RicciAdams'Musictheory.net.http://www.musictheory.netwhichrequiresFlashii. teora:MusicTheoryWebhttp://www.teoria.comwhichalsorequiresFlashandiii. eMusicTheory.comhttp://emusictheory.comwhichrequiresJava.

http://emusictheory.com/http://www.teoria.com/http://www.musictheory.net/



notenamesonthetrebleandbassstavesthenamesofnoteswithuptothreeledgerlinesbothaboveandbeloweachstaffwritingnotesdowntimevaluesfromthesemibrevetothedemisemiquavertimesignaturesbothsimpleandcompoundtheuseofdotsandtiesgroupingandbeamingnoteswithflagsrests,semibrevetodemisemiquaver,andhowthesearegroupedmajorandminorscalesofuptofoursharpsandflatsandhowtheseareconstructedtheroleofaccidentalsdegreesofthescaleintervalsthetriadperformancedirectionsonscoresguidelinesforfollowingpianoscores.

Ifyoufeelthatyouneedpracticewithsomeofthetopicsinthelistthenthereisnoharmintacklingthemagainsothatyoucansharpenyourskillsandimproveyourproficiency.Ontheotherhand,ifyoufeelyouhaveareasonablegraspofthetopicsabove,thendonthesitatetoconsiderenrollingforInsidemusic(A224)

TheOpenUniversityisconductingasurveyinvestigatinghowpeopleusethefreeeducationalcontentonourOpenLearnwebsite.Theaimistoprovideabetterfreelearningexperienceforeveryone.SoifyourearegularuserofOpenLearnandhave10minutestospare,wedbedelightedifyoucouldtakepartandtelluswhatyouthink.PleasenotethiswilltakeyououtofOpenLearn,wesuggestyouopenthisinanewtabbyrightclickingonthelinkandchoosingopeninanewtab.

ReferencesAssociatedBoardoftheRoyalSchoolsofMusic(ABRSM)(2011)ABRSMexammusicfinder[online],London,ABRSM,www.abrsm.org/publishing/instrument/46(Accessed10January2011).

Taylor,E.(1989)TheABGuidetoMusicTheory,PartI,London,AssociatedBoardoftheRoyalSchoolsofMusic.

AcknowledgementsDon'tmissout:

1.Joinover200,000students,currentlystudyingwithTheOpenUniversityhttp://www.open.ac.uk/choose/ou/opencontent

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3.OutsidetheUK?Wehavestudentsinoverahundredcountriesstudyingonlinequalificationshttp://www.openuniversity.edu/includinganMBAatourtripleaccreditedBusinessSchool.

ThisunitwaswrittenbyTrevorBray.

http://www.abrsm.org/publishing/instrument/46http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/a224.htmhttp://www.open.edu/openlearn/?LKCAMPAIGN=ol_course%26MEDIA=olhttp://www.openuniversity.edu/?LKCAMPAIGN=ol_course%26MEDIA=gdhttp://www.open.ac.uk/choose/ou/open-content?LKCAMPAIGN=ol_course%26MEDIA=ouhttps://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9G5JS2Y



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