LESSON #2. Music Theory Fundamentals

Transcription

1 LSSON 2 Music Theory undamentals

2 LSSON 2 Music Theory undamentals NOTS: In this Lesson e re going to learn about the basic building blocks of Music Theory. ll of these rather elementary concepts ill be covered in greater depth and detail in future Lessons, but for no here s a quick overvie. lefs NOTS: The Music Staff The music staff consists of five horizontal lines that function as an X and Y-xis representing both the flo of time and the frequency of pitch: ass lef Treble lef lto lef Tenor lef The ass lef consists of loer-pitched notes, the Treble lef consists of higher-pitched notes and the Tenor/lto lefs appear in the middle beteen ass and Treble. The rand Staff The X xis: Music is read from left to right, representing the floing of time. The Y xis: The further up the staff e move, the higher the notes ill sound in pitch. s e move don the staff, the notes are going to sound loer in pitch. The rand Staff is to staves placed on top of one another and is typically read by piano players, including both ass and Treble lefs: Line Notes Space Notes Musical pitches are represented on the staff hen a note head is placed either directly on the line or in the space beteen to lines of the staff: Pitch It s very important to kno here Middle is, as it ill help you to figure out here the other notes belong (both on the staff and on your instrument).

3 LSSON 2 Music Theory undamentals NOTS: NOTS: We call it Middle because it appears near the center of the piano and because it is found in beteen the ass and Treble lefs. Measures arlines When reading music e divide everything up into measures to make the notation easier on the eye (and for the sake of organization). We call these divisions bar lines: Middle is also knon as : Single arline simply divides the staff into smaller cells called Measures or ars. Intervals n Interval is the distance beteen to pitches. There are five different types of intervals: 1. Perfect 2. Major 3. Minor. ugmented 5. iminished good understanding of Intervals ill help you in every aspect of your musicianship. ouble arline is used to indicate a ne section of the music, maybe a ne meter, key, style or tempo change. old ouble arline indicates the end of the composition. ach Measure contains a very strict number of beats that ill be determined by the Time Signature. Time Signatures The Time signature tells you to very important pieces of information about the composition: 1. Ho many beats are inside each measure. 2. What kind of rhythmic note constitutes as one beat.

4 LSSON 2 Music Theory undamentals NOTS: Types of Notes NOTS: In / there ill be quarter notes per measure. There are to types of notes: Naturals and ccidentals Natural Notes are the unaltered names of the alphabet In 3/ there ill be 3 quarter notes per measure. letters, or the hite notes of a keyboard. In 2/2 there ill be 2 half notes per measure. The top number tells you the number of beats in each measure hile the bottom number tells you the rhythmic value of a beat. / is often referred to as ommon Time and 2/2 is often referred to as ut Time. Tempo This ord means time in Italian and designates the speed or pace of a composition. On the staff, a Natural appears as either the note itself or hen accompanied by a Natural N symbol. ccidentals are chromatic alterations to a note (typically the black notes of a keyboard), indicated by either a Sharp [ or a lat { symbol. ouble lats and ouble Sharps ] also exist, but they are pretty rare. q =120 Tempos can be given in PM s (beats per minute) or ith basic tempo markings like Lento (sloly), dagio (at ease), ndante (at a alking pace) or llegro (fast). b b b b b Sharps raise the note one half step to the right. lats loer the note one half step to the left.

5 LSSON 2 2 Theory undamentals haptermusic 6 Image 6 NOTS: Here s an fe important rules about ccidentals: Once you ve added an ccidental to a particular note, every reoccurrence of that note ithin the measure ill be altered as ell. N, or until the next That particular note on t go back to being a Natural unless you use the Natural symbol hapter 2 Image 0 0 hapter 2 Image bbb bb bbb b b/m b/m / m / m bbbb bbbbb bbbbbb bbbbbbb bbbb bbbbb bbbbbb bbbbbbb b/m b/b m b/bm b/b m The accidentals in a Key Signature (or lack thereof) let you kno hich notes are iatonic to the Key and hich notes Key Signature displays several combinations of sharps or flats (or none at all) after the clef at the beginning of each staff and indicates the key of a composition. Key Signatures can also appear in other parts of the composition if the key changes. bb / m is hy it s possible to change keys from Major to Minor so Key Signatures b / m bb b b bbb easily. / m shares the same exact Key Signature, and vise versa. This n n /m b b b b b b b ho every Major Key has a Relative Minor Key that Notice /m /m measure begins (unless that accidental is in the Key Signature). /m /m are going to be hromatic alterations to the Key. iatonic notes are notes that exist naturally ithin the Key Signature. Hoever, this OS NOT mean that they are alays Natural Notes! hromatic alterations are notes that have been altered (ith either an accidental or a natural) and do not belong in the Key Signature. Hoever, this OS NOT mean that they are alays ccidental Notes! 25 NOTS:

6 LSSON 2 26 Music Theory undamentals NOTS: NOTS: The Notes on the Staff Stem irections s the notes ascend up the staff (from a line note to the Stem directions are simply used for the sake of note hapter 2 Image 10 next adjacent space note) they move in alphabetical order: organization; they do not affect the pitch of the note. Notes that appear on or above the middle line of the staff stem: hapter 2 Image 2 have a donard-facing stem hile notes that appear belo the middle line of the staff have an upard-facing Ledger Lines hapter 2 Image 11 hapter 2 Image 11 the staff in either direction. range of an instrument above or belo hat the staff can provide. repeat: Since there are 88 notes on the piano but only five lines and the grid. Thankfully, Ledger Lines can extend the readable passage before moving forard, and also here to start the four spaces on each staff, some notes ill need to go off These to symbols sho you hen to go back and repeat a Repeat Symbols Ledger Lines are used to expand the height of the Y-xis of hapterrepeat 2 Image 12starting to the left If there is no eginning (the sign of the measure instead of the right), then it is intended that you return to the beginning of the composition.

7 LSSON 2 Music Theory undamentals NOTS: NOTS: nding Symbols The folloing signs are very common Terraced ynamic symbols: first ending symbol tells you to play that particular ending and repeat the passage, but upon repeating you ill ignore the first ending and play the second ending measure(s) instead: pp = Pianissimo (very quite) 2. p = (quiet) 3. P = Mezzo (sort of quiet). = Mezzo orte (sort of loud) 5. f = orte (loud) Third and ourth endings can be used as ell. 6. ff = ortissimo (very loud) Simile Marks This symbol indicates that the preceding measure is to be repeated: The more p s or f s you add to a dynamic symbol, the louder or quieter the dynamic ill be. rescendo/ecrescendo rescendo ecrescendo Terraced ynamics ynamic Markings are notated representations of fluctuations in volume, and Terraced ynamics are special marks that change the volume more abruptly, rather than gradually. Unlike Terraced ynamics, rescendos (get louder) and ecrescendos (get quieter) require you to change your dynamic level gradually over the course of a fe beats, bars or lines of music (indicated by the length of the symbol).

8 LSSON 2 Music Theory undamentals NOTS: NOTS: rticulations Tremolo. Staccato ccent race Note 1. Staccato = Literally means detached, but is often interpreted as playing the note(s) short. 2. ccent = Sometimes referred to as a marcato, indicating that the marked note(s) should have an emphasized beginning and then taper off rather quickly. 3. race Note = istinguished by its smaller size and sometimes ith a slash through the stem, these notes indicate a quick non-essential note before the intended note. Legato Tremolo is a rapidly repeated note. The number of slashes through the stem indicates the frequency at hich the note is to be repeated. Octave Signs Sometimes octave signs are used to extend the register of the clef that e re reading, rather than using ledger lines or changing clefs: The ord Legato is Italian for tied together. Opposite to the Staccato marking, a Legato passage is to be played smoothly and connected. 8 va = Play this note an octave higher than ritten. 8 vb = Play this note an octave loer than ritten. Sometimes Legato is indicated as a slur, a hammer-on or a pull-off.

9 32 LSSON 2 Music Theory undamentals 33 NOTS: Navigation Symbols.. al ine = Repeat the entire song from the beginning and stop hen you reach the measure marked ith the ord ine. When reading sheet music, the composition doesn t alays play through linearly. Sometimes it jumps around to different sections via these common navigation symbols: a apo = Literally translates to from the head, instructing you to go back to the beginning of the song. It is often abbreviated as.. al Segno = Italian for from the sign, instructing you to jump directly to the passage ith the segno ( ) symbol. It is often abbreviated as.s. % 5 ine fi oda ( ) = In Italian this ord means tail and indicates a designated ending passage. ine = In Italian this ord means the end, or the ending and indicates the end of a composition. 9 Let s examine compositions that utilize some of these navigation symbols: 13.. al ine

10 3 LSSON 2 Music Theory undamentals 35.. al oda = Repeat the entire song from the beginning and then jump to the measure marked ith a oda symbol (measure 17) hen instructed to (To oda)..s. al ine = Repeat the song from the Sign or Segno (measure 5) and stop hen you reach the measure marked ith the ord ine. To oda 5 5 % ine al oda 13.S. al ine 17 fi

11 36 LSSON 2 Music Theory undamentals 37.S. al oda = Repeat the song from the Segno (measure 5) and then jump to the measure marked ith a oda symbol (measure17) hen instructed to (To oda). LSSON 2 Wrap-Up No that you ve finished atching this lecture and revieing the outline for this Lesson, complete the Homeork ssignments on the folloing pages. Remember to check your ansers in the nsers for Homeork ssignments section at the end of this orkbook. 5 % To oda lso, be sure to start using the included Listening ids for this Lesson. These aural flashcards ill help you in the folloing areas of your musicianship: Interval Training - Identifying the ascending P, P5 and P8 Intervals by ear. 9 Pitch ontrol - Singing the ascending P, P5 and P8 Intervals from a given tone. Scale xercises - Identifying ascending Major and Minor Scales. 13.S. al oda fter you ve finished your Homeork ssignments for this Lesson, be sure to print out the LSSON 2 ictation Practice-Test orm from your US lash rive and atch the LSSON 2 ictation Practice-Test video. 17 fi

12 38 LSSON 2 Music Theory undamentals Name these notes on the staff: 2. ra the rhythmic note that constitutes as a beat in each Time Signature: ra these Space Notes on the staff: 2.2 ra these Line Notes on the staff: 2.3 Ho many beats are in the folloing Time Signatures Name these notes off the staff:

13 0 LSSON 2 Music Theory undamentals Name these notes on the piano: 2.11 ra these notes on the rand Staff: Label these notes on the piano:, 1, 3, 1, 7, 5, 6: 2.12 ach of the folloing accidentals have to names. What are they 2.9 Name these notes on the rand Staff: Identify the Major Key Signatures: b b b b b b 2.13 ra the Major Key Signatures: Major Major b Major Major Major b Major Major