Music Theory

Music Theory - Note Reading

A staff is made up of five horizontal lines and four spaces.

Pitches are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet (A B C D E F G).

A clef is a musical symbol placed at the beginning of the staff that determines the letter names of the lines and spaces.

The two main clefs are the treble and the bass:

A grand staff is a combination of both the treble and bass clefs connected by a vertical line on the left side of the staves (plural staffs).

Ledger Lines are an extension of the staff. They are additional lines both above and below which are parallel to the staff. Each ledger line contains one note.

Note Values

Each note has a specific duration.

Meter

    Meter is the regular recurring pattern of strong and weak beats of equal duration; also known as time. The meter or time signature in a musical composition is indicated by a fraction, and located at the beginning of a piece of music. The lower number of the fraction tells what kind of note receives one beat. The upper number tells how many beats are in a measure.

In Western music there are two types of meter, simple and compoud. In simple meter the upper number is either 2, 3, or 4. Each beat is subdivided by two.

In compound meter the upper number is either 6,9, or 12. Each beat is a dotted note and subdivided into groups of three beats.

Intervals

     An interval is the distance between two notes. Intervals are always counted from the lower note to the higher one, with the lower note being counted as one. Intervals come in different qualities and size. If the notes are sounded successively, it is a melodic interval. If sounded simultaneously, then it is a harmonic interval.

     The smallest interval used in Western music is the half step. A visual representation of a half step would be the distance between a consecutive white and black note on the piano. There are two exceptions to this rule, as two natural half steps occur between the notes E and F, and B and C.

     A whole step is the distance between two consecutive white or black keys. It is made up of two half steps.

Qualities and Size

Intervals can be described as Major (M), Minor (m), Perfect (P), Augmented (A), and Diminished (d).

Intervals come in various sizes: Unisons, Seconds, Thirds, Fourths, Fifths, Sixths, and Sevenths.

2nds, 3rds, 6ths, and 7ths can be found as Major and Minor.
Unisons, 4ths, 5ths, and Octaves are Perfect. Listen

When a major interval is raised by a half step, it becomes augmented.
When a major interval is lowered by a half step, it becomes minor.
When a major interval is lowered by two half steps, it becomes diminished.

When a minor interval is raised by a half step, it becomes major.
When a minor interval is raised by two half steps, it becomes augmented.
When a minor interval is lowered by a half step, it becomes diminished.

When a perfect interval is raised by a half step, it becomes augmented.
When a perfect interval is lowered by a half step, it becomes diminished.

INVERSIONS OF INTERVALS

     Intervals can be inverted, which basically means you turn them upside down. The lower note is raised up an octave so that the top note/bottom note relationship is reversed. The chart below shows the inversions of intervals.

Qualities Major becomes Minor Minor becomes Major Perfect remains Perfect Augmented becomes Diminished Diminished becomes Augmented

Size 2 becomes 7 3 becomes 6 4 becomes 5 5 becomes 4 6 becomes 3 7 becomes 2

Interval Identification
     It is important to be able to hear and identify intervals. This is a very important thing for musicians to do. Here is a list of familiar songs that will help you to identify the intervals.

m2- Stormy Weather	m2
M2- Happy Birthday	M2
m3- The Impossible Dream	m3
So Long, Farewell from The Sound of Music
M3- Halls of Montezuma	M3
P4- Here comes the bride	P4
A4- Maria from West Side Story	A4
P5- Star Wars	P5
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
M6- NBC theme music	M6
m7- Somewhere from West Side Story	m7
M7- Bali Hai from South Pacific	M7
Octave- Over the rainbow	Oct.

Scales

     There are many different types of scales. They are the backbone of music.

     A major scale is a series of 8 consecutive notes that use the following pattern of half and whole steps: Listen

     Minor Scales come in three forms: Natural, Melodic, and Harmonic.

     Natural Minor scales use the following pattern of half and whole steps: Listen

     Melodic Minor scales ascend and use the following pattern of half and whole steps. When descending, they do so in the natural minor form. Listen

     Harmonic Minor scales use the following pattern of half and whole steps: Listen

     Chromatic Scales are made up entirely of half steps. When ascending, the scale uses sharps, when descending it uses flats.Listen

     Whole Tone Scales differ from the other scales because it only has 6 tones. It uses the following pattern: Listen

     A pentatonic Scale is a five-tone scale, which has its beginning in antiquity. There are traces of this scale in Oriental and American Indian music. This scale does not have a leading tone, which gives the scale it's unique sound. The scale has two forms. The first one uses the group of two black keys followed by three black keys. The pattern is as follows: Listen

      The second one used the group of three black keys followed by two black keys. The pattern is as follows: Listen

Key Signatures

      There are 15 major and 15 minor key signatures. The sharps or flats at the beginning of the staff indicate the main tone (diatonic) to which other tones are related.

Db-C#, Gb-F#, Cb-B, are enharmonic keys, meaning that they are written differently, but sound the same.

There are 15 major and 15 minor key signatures. The sharps or flats at the beginning of the staff indicate the main tone (diatonic) to which other tones are related.

Music Theory - Chords & Symbols

Triad

     A triad is a group of three notes having a specific construction and relationship to one another. They are constructed on 3 consecutive lines or three consecutive spaces. Each member of the triad is separated by an interval of a third. The triad is composed of a Root, Third, and Fifth.

     There are four types of triads: major, minor, diminished and augmented.

Inversions of Triads

     All triads have three positions that they can be arranged in. The root, 1st inversion, and 2nd inversion.

Root Position Triad

     If the triad root is in the lowest voice then the triad is in Root Position.

1st Inversion Triad

     If the third of the triad is in the lowest voice the triad is the 1st inversion.

2nd Inversion Triad

     If the 5th of the triad is in the lowest voice, the triad is in the 2nd inversion.

Figured Bass

     Figured Bass was developed in the early Baroque period. It was a system of musical shorthand that made the writing of keyboard parts easier. It was customary for the composer to write out the bass line and to place Arabic numerals above or below the figured bass to indicate the harmonies. The keyboard part was called the continuo, which was improvised by the player.

     In figured bass the Arabic numerals represent the intervals that sound above a given bass part. Certain abbreviations have become well known.

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Alterations

     Alterations from the given key signature are indicated by placing an accidental before the Arabic numeral.

     An accidental, such as a sharp, flat, or natural that appears by itself under a bass note indicates a triad in root position with the third interval above the bass note sharped, flatted or naturaled.

Any sharp, flat, or natural sign beside the Arabic number indicates that this interval above the bass note should be sharped, flatted, or naturaled depending on the symbol.

#6,   b6,   6,    #6
  4                   b4

Sometimes, composers used a slash through the Arabic number instead of a sharp. They both mean the same thing.

     Roman Numeral Analysis

     In the early 1800's, German composers started to use roman numerals to symbolize harmony. Each note in a scale can have a triad or chord built above it. Upper case (Major) and lower case (minor) Roman Numerals are used to indicate the type of chord. I, IV, V are major triads/chords, ii, iii, vi are minor triads/chords, and vii is diminished.

Music Theory - Expression Marks

   Tempo

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Largo	Very slow
Larghetto	Not as slow as largo
Adagio	Slow, leisurely
Lento	Slow
Moderato	Moderate
Andante	Moving with a moderate tempo
Andantino	Faster than andante
Allegretto	A little slower than allegro
Allegro	Moderately fast
Vivace	Lively, animated, brisk
Presto	Fast, rapid
Prestissimo	Very rapidly

   Dynamics

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Pianissimo	Very soft
Piano	Soft
Mezzo piano	Moderately soft
Mezzo forte	Moderately loud
Forte	Loud
Fortissimo	Very loud
Crescendo	Increasing in loudness
Decrescendo	decreasing in loudness
Diminuendo	diminishing in loudness
Rinforzando	sudden increase in loudness
Sforzando	play the note with sudden emphasis

   Style

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Amoroso	tender and affectionate
Animato	animated; lively
Calando	gradually softer and slower
Cantabile	in a singing style
Con Anima	with life and animation
Con Brio	with vigor and spirit
Con Fuoco	with energy or passion
Deciso	decisively
Detache	detached
Dolce	sweetly
Doloroso	sorrowfully
Espressivo	expressively
Furioso	furious
Giocoso	humorous
Grandioso	with grandeur
Grazioso	gracefully
Legato	smooth and connected
Leggiero	lightly
Maestoso	majestically
Marcato	marked and stressed
Marzial	in the style of a march
Morendo	dying away
Perdendosi	dying away
Pesante	heavy
Religioso	religious, solemn
Rubato	taken out of tempo
Semplice	simple
Sempre	always, continuously
Sostenuto	sustained
Soto voce	in an undertone
Staccato	short and detached
Tenuto	sustained, held for full value
Tranquillo	tranquill

   Articulation

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Staccato	a dot placed above or below a note means to play it short
Slur	a curved line either above or below notes that connects two different pitches that are to be played smoothly
Tie	a curved line either above or below two of the same notes indicating not to attack the second note
Tenuto	a line above or below the note means to play the full value of the note
Accent	an accent placed above or below the note means to emphasise the not
Breath Mark	an apostrophe placed above the staff means to take a breath

   Clarity Terms

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Assai	very
Con	with
L'istesso tempo	same tempo
Meno	less
Mosso	moved, agitated
Non troppo	not too much
Piu mosso	faster
Poco	little
Poco a poco	little by little
Sempre	always
Simile	in the same manner
Subito	suddenly