Review of Music Rudiments Music 1133 Pages 3-38

The essence of music Music essentially has two basic components Sound - pitch, timbre, space Time - distribution of sounds over time Modern Western notation system plots these two components in a Cartesian-like graph

X and Y axis Time Space - pitch, combinations of pitches, and distance between pitches

5-line Stave Revolutionary notation technology Allows for maximum number of pitches to be represented while still allowing instant identification of pitch Each line and space of the stave represents a different “letter name” of pitch

Alphabet for Musicians In Western music, pitches are designated names corresponding to the first 7 letters of the alphabet A, B, C, D, E, F, G, - corresponds to white keys on a piano keyboard Note C is a reference A0 C1 C2 D2 etc.C4 - Middle C

Clefs Clefs are symbols used to indicate reference pitches on the 5-Line stave Bass Clef (Also F Clef) Treble Clef (Also Soprano Clef or G Clef) G4 C4 - Middle C F3 C Clefs Alto Tenor C4 - Middle C

Scale and Mode Succession of pitches known as a scale - begin on one pitch and end on pitch above or below with the same letter designation (A ascending to A etc.) On piano keyboard, distance between successive white keys is not always the same Some adjacent white keys have black keys between them, which are separate pitches Semitones - pitches with no pitch in between Tones - Pitches with one pitch in between Succession of tones and semitones determines mode Tone - Whole Step SemiTone - Half Step

Sharps and Flats Black Keys are named according to their adjacent white keys Black key to the right of C is C sharp - sharp symbol raises pitch by 1 semitone Same pitch could also be called D Flat - Flat symbol lowers pitch by one semitone B Sharp sounds same as C F Flat sounds same as E Pitch Class - Word used to determine pitches which are enharmonically equivalent (sound the same) or octave equivalent (same name in different octave)

White Key Modes Any scale using the white keys only contains 2 semitones and 5 whole tones For example: A to A - T, ST, T, T, ST, T, T Order of Tones and Semitones determines Mode Greek Names (early church modes): A (Aeolian/Minor), B (Locrian), C (Ionian/Major), D (Dorian), E (Phrygian), F (Lydian), G (Mixolydian) These modes can also involve black keys - For Example Phrygian Mode beginning on A - A, Bb, C, D, E, F, G, A - same order of tones and semitones as “white key mode” beginning on E

Tonal Modes Tonal Music Utilizes two of these modes: Ionian or Major and Aeolian or Minor Succession of Tones and Semitones most conducive to harmonic function Other Western music traditions use other modes more freely (fiddle music, pipe music, plainchant)

Major Mode and Scale The Major Mode contains the following succession of Tones and Semitones: T, T, ST, T, T, T, ST White key mode from C to C Major Scales use this succession of Tones and Semitones starting on any pitch For Example: D Major = D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#. Key of D Major - uses this scale melodically F Major: F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E. Key of F Major uses this scale melodically Notice how in both scales, all letter names are represented. F major would not be written as F, G, A, A# etc.

Key Signature It turns out that key centres 7 semitones apart (a fifth) differ in their scales by only one sharp or flat. G Major (fifth above C) - 1 sharp (F#) D Major (fifth above G) - 2 sharps (F#, C#) The additional sharp or flat is also separated by a fifth above (sharp) or below (flat) F Major - (fifth below C) - 1 flat (Bb) Bb Major - (7 semitones below F) - 2 flats (Bb, Eb)

Cycle of Fifths

Minor Scales Natural Minor Scales correspond to the white key mode beginning on A (Aeolian) T, ST, T, T, ST, T, T A minor considered the relative minor of C major because it has the same number of sharps and flats (none) Relative minor always 3 semitones below the relative major - eg. A major/F# minor Relative major and minor have the same key signature Two other variants of the natural minor scale are more commonly used Harmonic Minor and Melodic Minor

Harmonic Minor Natural minor scales end with a whole tone Basic principle of tonal music is the ti/do semitone motion as last interval in scale (to be discussed later) Raising the last note creates this semitone so harmonic minor has a raised 7th scale degree G Natural Minor G Aeolian G Harmonic Minor Whole Tone Semitone

Melodic Minor Harmonic Minor contains an augmented 2nd interval (to be discussed shortly) between 6th and 7th pitch In Western tonal music, this melodic interval is not often used Melodic minor raises 6th scale degree as well on the way up to eliminate the Aug 2nd Descending, both the 6th and 7th return to natural state G Harmonic Minor Augmented 2nd G Melodic Minor

Intervals Intervals refer to the “space” between pitches Measured between letter names F-A is a third - three letter names - F, G, A G-E is a sixth - six letter names G, A, B, C, D, E C to C, A to A etc. called an octave Intervals above an octave (9th, 10th etc.) called compound intervals A 10th also called a compound 3rd Third (melodic) Sixth (melodic) Third and Tenth (Harmonic) -also octave E-E

Interval Quality Intervals are oddly classified as either perfect or imperfect Unisons, 4ths, 5ths, and octaves are considered perfect 2nds, 3rds, 6ths, and 7ths are imperfect Imperfect Intervals can be either major or minor All intervals can be augmented or diminished

Major vs. Minor Imperfect intervals are considered major when the higher pitch is part of the major scale of the lower pitch Imperfect intervals are considered minor when the higher pitch is one semitone below the major inyterval Both intervals below are sixths In the first case, the higher pitch B is part of the major scale of the lower pitch D so it is a Major 6th In the second case, the higher pitch Bb one semitone lower than B – the major 6th Major 6th (M6) Minor 6th (m6)

Augmented and Diminished Augmented intervals are perfect or major intervals that are raised an additional semitone Diminished intervals are Perfect or minor intervals that are lowered an additional semitone Augmented 6th (A6) Diminished 6th (d6 or 06) Augmented 5th Diminished 5th

Inverting Intervals Interval distances are always measured from the lower pitch Inverting an interval involves changing the lower pitch to become the higher pitch (transposing up an octave) The new interval is then read from the new lower pitch Inverting always reverses interval quality - major/minor, aug/dim, perfect remains perfect The sum of the original and inverted interval distances always equals 9 m7 inverts to M2 Minor to Major 7+2=9 A4 inverts to d5 Augmented to Diminished 4+5=9 Tritones

Consonance and Dissonance These are complicated and culturally-influenced terms Loosely meaning “pleasing to the ear” and “not pleasing to the ear” Can refer to a number of musical parameters For now, we will apply these terms to intervals Consonant intervals are perfect intervals (4ths are a special case), and major and minor 3rds and 6ths Dissonant intervals are 2nds, 7ths, and tritones (sometimes considered neutral) P4ths are considered dissonant if the 4th is above the bass note - more later Describing intervals as dissonant does not mean that they sound bad - they are considered harmonically unstable in this system Resolution of dissonance to consonance is a fundamental process in tonal music

Rhythm and Metre These terms refer to the temporal component of music Music exists in time Metre refers to the way we measure time in music - normally in beats or pulses Rhythm refers to the series of note durations that fill in this time and the patterns that these durations create

Note Durations Our musical system contains a set of symbols for relative note durations There is a temporally equivalent set of symbols to represent rests (silences) The value of each duration symbol may change depending on the musical metre The relative durations are always fixed - each symbol represents a duration twice as long or twice as short as the next duration level See p. 27 in text

Dots and Ties Dots and ties are used to create note durations that are greater or lesser than those represented by individual duration symbols Dots add half of the value of the notes they follow A note that is “tied” to an adjacent note assumes the duration of both notes

Musical Metre Metre is defined by regular beats of a fixed length Beats are grouped into bars or measures The number of beats in each measure is determined by the time signature The time signature also identifies the next level of subdivision of each beat It is important to remember that barlines and time signatures are convenient notational symbols that allow us to measure music Real music simply exists in time without these artificial divisions

Simple and Compound Time Beats are often subdivided into smaller divisions These divisions can be any prime number (2, 3, 5, 7) In Western music, beats are divided by 2 or 3 Division by 2 is called simple time Division by 3 is called compound time

Metrical Number The number of beats in each measure is determines the overall metre Duple time features 2 beats per measure Triple time features 3 beats per measure Quadruple time features 4 beats per measure Additional beat numbers are possible though they are found less frequently in Western tonal music

Simple Time Signatures Time Signatures indicate the number of beats per measure and the subdivision of each beat Simple time signatures include 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 - also 2/2, 3/2, 4/2, 2/8, 4/8, 2/16, 4/16 In 2/4 time there are two beats per measure and each beat is a quarter note in length. This implies that each beat can be divided into two 8th notes - called simple duple time 3/4 is simple triple time (so is 3/2) 4/4 is simple quadruple time (so is 4/2) Time signatures with shorter beat durations (8 and 16) depend on context to determine whether simple, compound, or something more complex

Compound Time Signatures In compound time, each beat is divided into three subdivisions Duration symbols feature division by two so each beat in compound time is usually a dotted value Compound duple time features two dotted-quarter (or dotted half, eight etc.) note beats per measure Each beat is therefore divisible into three 8th note subdivisions Time signatures use numbers to represent note values (4=quarter, 8=eighth) There is no number that can represent a dotted value Compound duple time uses the number 8 in the denominator = 6/8 Though this indicates six 8th notes per measure, three eighth notes are grouped into two dotted-quarter note beats Compound Triple = 9/8 Compound Quadruple = 12/8