Basic Music Theory Study Guide

Basic Music Theory Study Guide Basics: ● In a stave, bar lines separate measures. Each measure has a select number of beats. ○ This number of beats is set by the time signature ● There are five lines in a stave and four spaces in between Name What it looks like What it does Single bar line Separates and ends measures Double bar line Ends a section of the music Repeat symbol repeats everything between the two repeat symbols once End bar line ends the entire piece of music Drawing Notes and Accidentals: ● Notes: ○ Notes are ovular in shape; they’re not circles ○ Be sure to have proper spacing in between notes ○ When drawing half notes, quarter notes, and eighth notes, there is a specific way to draw the stems. ■ Up until the 4th line, the stems of the notes go upward on the right ■ When the notes reach the 3rd line, the stems of the notes go downward on the left ● Accidentals: ○ Accidentals go before the note on the staff ○ The Accidental should be centered on the line or space it is on Note and Rest Values: Name What it looks like How many beats Whole note/rest 4 beats Half Note/rest 2 beats Quarter Note/rest 1 beat Eighth Note/rest ½ beat 16th Note/rest ¼ beat Dotted Notes: ● Dotted notes add half of the value of the note to a note ○ Dotted notes formula: (value of the note) + (value of the note *½) ○ Example: a dotted whole note would be 6 beats (4 beats + 2 beats = 6 beats) Dynamics: ● Dynamics measure how soft or loud a note is ● Dynamic Markings: show how soft or loud a piece should be played ○ Piano: soft (quiet) ○ Forte: loud ● The dynamic markings appear below in order from softest to loudest Dynamic marking Name Meaning pp pianissimo very soft p piano soft mp mezzo piano moderately soft mf mezzo forte moderately loud f forte loud ff fortissimo very loud ● Crescendo: gradually getting louder ● Decrescendo: gradually getting softer ● Crescendos and Decrescendos will appear under a string of notes ● As the notes progress, they will either get gradually louder or gradually softer Clefs: ● Clefs show where a certain note is on the staff ● Treble Clef (G clef)- shows where the g note is ○ Notes in a treble clef: ○ You can remember the notes on the lines of the treble clef with the mnemonic device “Every Good Boy Does Fine” ● Bass Clef (f clef)- shows where the f note is ○ Notes in a bass clef: ● Rhythm Clef (neutral clef)- no pitches, used for percussion ● Alto clef (C clef)- shows where c is ○ Notes in a C clef: ● Grand Staff- two staves above one another; one a treble clef, one a bass cleff, connected by a brace and a barline (usually used for piano scores) Ledger Lines: ● ledger lines: extensions of the staff that go above or below the staff Pitches: ● Pitches are measured by high and low, not soft and loud (that is dynamic). ● The musical alphabet goes as follows: ○ ABCDEFG ● A guitar is tuned as follows: ○ EADGBE ○ Mnemonic device: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie ● There are 7 pitch names in western music, but there are 12 possible pitches. ● Half step: smallest step in western music ● Whole step: two half steps ● In two places, there are half steps between notes. On a C-tuned instrument, half steps occur between B & C and E & F. ● C-tuned instruments: flute, piano, guitar, violin, cello, all string instruments Accidentals: ● Accidentals: symbols used in music that alter the pitch of a note ● Sharp (#) - raises a note a half step higher ● Flat (♭) - makes a note a half step lower ● Natural (♮) - in a key where a pitch is meant to be sharp or flat, a natural is added to remove the sharp or flat ○ Example: In the key of F, B is flat. If a composer does not want the B to be flat, they will add a natural. ● Writing accidentals : write it before the note, after the letter ○ C# ○ #♩ ● Double Accidentals: ○ Double Sharp: raises a note two half steps higher ○ Double Flat: lowers a note by two half steps Time signatures (meter): ● Time signatures tell you how many beats fit in each measure (bar) ● Note: any combination of notes can be in each measure as long as they add up to the amount of beats per measure set by the time signature. ○ Example: In the time signature of 4/4, you can have one whole note, two half notes, 4 quarter notes, etc. What the bottom numbers mean: ● 4: quarter notes ● 8: eighth notes ● 2: half notes ● 16: sixteenth notes Compound meter: ● Each time signature can be put into duple, triple or quadruple sections ● Simple: can be divided into two notes ● Compound: can be divided into 3 notes ● Duple: two sets of connected eighth notes ○ Two beats per measure ● Triple: three sets of connected eighth notes ○ Three beats per measure ● Quadruple: four sets of connected eighth notes ○ Four beats per measure ● All of the notes below are eighth notes with connected flags Simple duple: ● Time signatures: 2/2, 2/4, 2/8 Compound Duple: ● Time signatures: 6/16, 6/8, 6/4 Simple triple: ● Time signatures: 3/2, ¾, 3/8 Compound triple: ● Time signatures: 9/4, 9/8, 9/2, 9/16 Simple quadruple: ● Time signatures: 4/4, 4/2, 4/8 Compound quadruple: ● Time signatures: 12/8, 12/16 Complex: Circle of Fifths: ● The circle of fifths shows how many sharps or flats are in a key, as well as the relative minor to the major ● The circle of fifths also shows the key signature to the major key and the relative minor ● Add a sharp or remove a flat everytime you go clockwise on the circle of fifths ● Remove a sharp or add a flat everytime you go clockwise on the circle of fifths ● This is how the key signature for each key is formed ● Key: collection of pitches with a particular number of sharps or flats ● Key signature: shows what sharps or flats are in a particular key ● Sharps in each key: ○ C major: no sharps or flats ○ G major: F# ○ D major: F#, C# ○ A major: F#, C#, G# ○ E major: F#, C#, G#, D# ○ B major: F#, C#, G#, D#, A# ○ F# major: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E# ○ C# major: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B# ● Flats in each key: ○ F major: B♭ ○ B♭ major: B♭, E♭ ○ E♭ major: B♭, E♭, A♭ ○ A♭ major: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭ ○ D♭ major: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ ○ G♭ major: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭ ○ C♭ major: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭ ● Relative Minor: minor key that shares the same key signature as its corresponding major ○ To find the relative minor, go to the 6th scale degree. ○ What does this mean?: Each key has a collection of pitches, to find the relative minor, go to the sixth one, considering the sharps or flats in the key. ○ ○ Similarly, to find the corresponding major of a minor key, go to the 3rd scale degree. ● Parallel minor: the minor key of the same starting pitch (tonic) ○ What does this mean?: Parallel minor has the same letter as the major ○ To find the parallel minor: flat the 3rd, the 6th, and the 7th ○ To find the parallel major: sharp the 3rd, the 6th, and the 7th ● Ex: The relative minor of C is Am and the parallel minor is Cm ● Order of sharps: F C G D A E B ○ Mnemonic device: Fat Cats Go Down Alleys Eating Birds ● Order of flats: B E A D G C F ○ Mnemonic device: BEAD Go Catch Fish ● Fifth: an interval; the distance between two notes ● Octave: a note that is 8 notes away (same letter) ○ There are 12 half steps in an octave Intervals: ● Interval: the distance between two notes ○ Can be major/minor or perfect/augmented/diminished ● A major interval is a half step larger than a minor interval Major Scale Intervals: Minor Scale Intervals: ● Augmented interval- ½ step higher than a perfect interval ● Diminished interval- ½ smaller than a perfect interval ● Smallest interval: minor 2nd (one half step) Half steps in each interval: ● Minor 2nd: 1 half step ● Major 2nd: 2 half steps ● Minor 3rd: 3 half steps ● Major 3rd: 4 half steps ● Diminished 4th: 4 half steps ● Perfect 4th: 5 half steps ● Augmented 4th/diminished 5th: 6 half steps ● Perfect 5th: 7 half steps ● Augmented 5th: 8 half steps ● Minor 6th: 8 half steps ● Major 6th: 9 half steps ● Minor 7th: 10 half steps ● Major 7th: 11 half steps ● Perfect 8th: 12 half steps Why do the augmented 4th and diminished 5th share the same number of half steps? ● The diminished 5th is ½ step lower than the perfect 5th (7 half steps) ● The augmented 4th is ½ step higher than the perfect 4th (5 half steps) ● Both intervals come out to be 6 half steps ● This similarity is known as enharmonic equivalent Triads: ● Triad: a 3 note chord made of thirds (major or minor) ● Triads are the root of all chords ● Chords: made up of several notes played at the same time ● The triad “equation”: 1-3-5 ○ What does this mean?: Every key has a collection of pitches and the triad is made of the 1st note, the 3rd note, and the 5th note. ○ Example: In the key of F, the 1st note is F, the 3rd note is A, and the 5th note is C. This makes the triad of F FAC. ● There are 4 different types of triads: ○ Major ■ Leave 1-3-5 as is ○ Minor ■ Flat the 3 ■ ○ Diminished ■ Flat the 5 and the 3 ■ ○ Augmented ■ Sharp the 5 ■ Scales: ● Scale: a collection of pitches ● There are two half steps in every scale ● Major scale equation: WWHWWWH ● Minor Scale equation: WHWWHWW ● What does this mean?: The sharps and flats in a scale are according to the scale equation, meaning a sharp or a flat will need to be put in a certain place to make sure there is a half step or whole step between two notes. ○ Example: In the G major scale, the F is sharp because there needs to be a half step between F and G according to the major scale equation. ● There are two ways to find the minor scale: ○ Use the minor scale equation ○ Use the major 3rd (flat the 3rd, the 6th, and the 7th) ● Scale Degrees: each note in a scale has a specific name ■ Tonic: the first and last note of the scale (same letter as the key) ■ Supertonic: 2nd note ■ Mediant: 3rd note ■ Subdominant: 4th note ■ Dominant: 5th note ■ Submediant: 6th note ■ Leading tone: 7th note (half step below the tonic) ○ The 1st note and 8th note are an octave (8 steps) apart ■ If you lower or raise any note by an octave, you will end up at the same note Types of Scales: ● Chromatic Scale: scale made only up of half steps next to each other ○ 12 possible pitches ● Diatonic Scale: made up of whole steps and half steps ○ One of each pitch: ABCDEFG ○ The Major and Minor scales are a type of diatonic scale ○ See minor and major scales for example Other types of diatonic scales: ● Ionian: another term for the major scale ● Dorian: starts on the 2nd note of the major scale ● Phrygian: starts on the 3rd note of the major scale ● Lydian: starts on the 4th note of the major scale ● Mixolilydian: starts on the 5th note ● Aeolian: Starts on the 6th note of the major scale