Term 3 Grade 6 Music Literacy

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Albert Moore
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1 1 Term 3 Grade 6 Music Literacy

2 Contents The Stave... 3 The Treble clef... 3 Note values... 3 Tempo... 3 Pitch... 4 Dynamics... 4 Canon... 4 String instruments... 4 Musical elements... 5 Rhythm... 5 Musical alphabet... 5 Scales... 5 Letter names... 5 Unison... 6 The letter names on the keyboard... 6 ORCHESTRAL INSTRUMENTS... 7 What is a symphony orchestra?... 7 PERCUSSION FAMILY:... 7 Benjamin Britten:... 8 Two part harmony... 9 Repetition... 9 Contrast

3 3 The Stave The stave is the 5 lines and 4 spaces that music notes are written on. The Treble clef The purpose of the treble clef is to show the person playing or singing music, that the pitch will be high. The treble clef is mostly played with the right hand on a piano as the higher pitches on the keyboard are situated on the right hand side. Note values Semi-breve Minim Crotchet Quaver Tempo Semi- Quaver The tempo of music is how fast or how slow the music is being played or sung.

If the music should be played softly, then the symbol will be used. The letter p stands for piano which means softly.

4 4 Pitch Pitch is how high or how low a sound is. Dynamics Dynamics, in music, is how loud or how soft a sound is. If music should be played loudly, then the symbol will be used to indicate it. The letter f stands for forte which means loud. If the music should be played softly, then the symbol will be used. The letter p stands for piano which means softly. Canon A canon is a piece of music in which two or more voices (or instrumental parts) sing or play the same melody, but start at different times. String instruments Acoustic guitar Electric guitar Mandolin Banjo

Scales A scale is a sequence of 8 consecutive notes which progress in ascending order (going higher) or descending order

5 5 Musical elements Rhythm It is the pattern of regular and irregular pulses or beats in music. Musical alphabet The musical alphabet consists out of the first seven letters of the alphabet. Scales A scale is a sequence of 8 consecutive notes which progress in ascending order (going higher) or descending order (going lower). The word scale means ladder. Letter names These are the letter names of the notes written on the lines and in the spaces of a music stave in the treble clef:

6 Each line and space on the stave has a letter name. The spaces can be remembered as FACE and the lines can be remembered by the rhyme Every Good Boy Drinks Fanta.

The letter names on the keyboard A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent levers or keys on a musical instrument.

6 6 Each line and space on the stave has a letter name. The spaces can be remembered as FACE and the lines can be remembered by the rhyme Every Good Boy Drinks Fanta. Unison To perform musical parts at the same pitch or in the range of an octave. This means to play or sing a piece of music on the same note. The letter names on the keyboard A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent levers or keys on a musical instrument. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the interval of an octave. This is what the piano keyboard looks like:

7 ORCHESTRAL INSTRUMENTS What is a symphony

7 7 ORCHESTRAL INSTRUMENTS What is a symphony orchestra? A symphony orchestra can boast more than 100 players, who are divided into strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. An orchestra is made up of 4 families of instruments: String family, Woodwind family, Brass family and Percussion family PERCUSSION FAMILY:

8 The percussion family is the largest in the orchestra and includes any instrument that makes its unique sound when it is hit, shaken or scraped.

Percussion instruments are used to keep the rhythm, make special sounds and add excitement and colour.

Benjamin Britten: Benjamin Britten was born on 22 November 1913 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. He became one of the greatest opera composers of the last century.

8 8 The percussion family is the largest in the orchestra and includes any instrument that makes its unique sound when it is hit, shaken or scraped. Some instruments are tuned and can sound different notes, like the XYLOPHONE, TIMPANI and PIANO, and some are untuned, with no definite pitch, like BASS DRUM, CYMBALS and CASTANETS. Percussion instruments are used to keep the rhythm, make special sounds and add excitement and colour. Some common instruments include: CYMBALS, TRIANGLES, SNARE DRUM, BASS DRUM, TAMBOURINE, MARACAS, GONGS, CHIMES, CELESTA, PIANO and more. Benjamin Britten: Benjamin Britten was born on 22 November 1913 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. He became one of the greatest opera composers of the last century. Before him, there had been no good operas written in Great Britain for about 250 years. He brought opera back to life! The Turn of the Screw and A Midsummer Night s Dream, are two of the operas that he wrote. Britten went to America at the beginning of World War 2, but returned to England in 1942 and became a conscientious objector (someone who refuses to fight because he believes fighting is wrong). He wrote the War Requiem for the new Coventry Cathedral, which was bombed during the War. Britten wrote music for a short film called Night Mail (this film includes a poem by W.H Auden) Britten started the annual Aldeburgh Festival with his partner Peter Pears. This festival is famous all over the world. The main events of the festival take place in an old malt house (a building which was used to turn barley into malt beer). In 1976 he was made Baron Britten for

his contribution to music in England. Benjamin Britten died on 4 December 1976 in Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is buried in the St. Peter and St. Paul s Churchyard.

9 his contribution to music in England. Benjamin Britten died on 4 December 1976 in Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is buried in the St. Peter and St. Paul s Churchyard. 9 YOUNG PERSON S GUIDE TO THE ORCHESTRA: Benjamin Britten. In 1946, Benjamin Britten wrote a musical composition using a theme by Henry Purcell. It was what brought British opera back to life. This work is often associated with 2 other works in the context of children s music education, i.e. Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens and Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev. Two part harmony Two-part music is when a piece of music has two different melodies that are sung or played on an instrument at the same time. When we look from a technical point, this means simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches (tones, notes), or chords. A very popular example of a two-part song is Something Stupid by Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman ( The two-part invention below is a good visual example. There are only two melodies and they are different from each other. Repetition

10 10 Repetition in music is when a section, phrase or part of a song is sung or played again, exactly the same as the first time. A literal repetition of a musical passage is often indicated by the use of a repeat sign, or the instructions da capo or dal segno. Repetition may be used as part and parcel of symmetry. This is a technique that may help to unify a melody, theme or rhythm. If one finds a melodic or rhythmic figure that you like, and one repeats it throughout the course of the melody or song, one must be careful not to repeat it too much, as it may bore the listener. Contrast In music and musical form, contrast is the difference between parts in a song/composition or different instrument sounds. There are different types of contrast that one can apply in music, contrast in tempo, rhythm, pitch, melody, harmony, metre, dynamics and more. Contrast in music is to play or sing the opposite of that in the first theme, phrase or section.

Music Grade 6 Term 2. Contents

Music Grade 6 Term 2. Contents 1 Music Grade 6 Term 2 Contents REVISION... 2 The Stave... 2 The Treble clef... 2 Note values... 2 Tempo... 2 Pitch... 3 Dynamics... 3 Canon... 3 String instruments... 3 Musical elements... 4 Rhythm...