Understanding Basic Music Theory - CNX

1 Understanding Basic Music TheoryCollection Editor:Catherine Schmidt-JonesUnderstanding Basic Music TheoryCollection Editor:Catherine Schmidt-JonesAuthors:Russell JonesCatherine Schmidt-JonesOnline:< > ( ).Collectionstructurerevised:January10,2 007 PDFgenerated:June28,2021 Forcopyrightandattributioninformationfor themo dulescontainedinthiscollection, :CourseIntro duction..54 Solutions..622De .. dy.. oint.. :TimbreandOctaves..104 Solutions.. jor-MinorTonalSystem.. jorKeysandScales.. I:Harmonics,Intervals,andInstruments.. jororMinor..148 Solutions.. :NamingOtherChords..195 Solutions.. desandRagas.. osition:ChangingKeys..232 Solutions..246 Index..248ivAttributions.. 254 AvailableforfreeatConnexions< >UnderstandingBasicMusicTheory:CourseIntr o duction1 Althoughitissigni cantlyexpandedfrom"Intro ductiontoMusicTheory", ject, etplayerinterestedinjazz,avo calistinterestedinearlymusic,apianistint erestedinclassicalcomp osition,andaguitaristinterestedinworldmu sic,willallwanttodelveintoverydi erentfacetsofmusictheory.

2 Although,interestingly,iftheyallb ecomeverywell-versedintheirchosen elds,theywillstillendupverycapableofunde rstandingeachotherandco op nalsectionofthiscoursedo esincludeafewchallengesthataregenerallyn otconsidered"b eginnerlevel"musicianship,butareveryusef ulinjustab outevery oseofthecourse,however,istoexplorebasicm usictheorysothoroughlythattheinteresteds tudentwillthenb ndthesectiononacoustics(ThePhysicalBasis )uninterestingmayskipitat rst,butshouldthengobacktoitwhentheyb er,themainpremiseofthiscourseisthatab etterunderstandingofwherethebasicscomefr omwillleadtob er,however, eoplewhosp eakthem,whotendtocaremoreab outwhatiseasyandwhatmakessensethanab ,exp ertsstudytheb estsp ellingandp ointouttherelationshipsb ,whichiswhythereareusuallyplentyof"excep tions" rstinventingthegrammarandsp ellingneverseemtoresultinalanguagethatp eople ,to o,alwayscomesalongafteragroupofcomp osersandp erformershavealreadydevelop o dwaysofexplainingittotheaudienceandtooth ercomp osersandp "Whyisitthatway?

3 "issimply"that'swhatiseasiestforthep erformer",or"theyb orrowedthatfromanearliermusictradition". Inthecaseofmusic,however,theanswerstosom e"why"scanb efoundinthebasicphysicsofsound,sothepivo talsectionofthiscourseisanoverviewofacou sticsasitp nitionscanskipthe rstsectionsandb eginwiththisintro eabletoworkthroughthiscoursewithorwithou tateacher;simplyusetheop eginningmusiciansshouldgothroughitwithat eacher,ineitheraclassro ,evenwithintheEnglish-sp eakingworld,quiteavarietyofmusicteaching traditions,which1 Thiscontentisavailableonlineat< >.AvailableforfreeatConnexions< >12sometimesusedi ,butwhenmorethanonesystemoftermsiswidely used, < >Chapter 1 Peopleweretalkinglongb "byear"(withoutwrittenmusic),andsomemusi ctraditionsrelymoreonimprovisationand/or "byear" , ( )sp ecializesinlong,complexpiecesforlargegro upsofmusicianssingingorplayingpartsexact lyasacomp ,thiswouldb eto odi erenttyp esofmusicnotationhaveb eeninvented,andsome,suchastablature2, ,however,isonasta.

4 Infact,thistyp Thesta (pluralstaves)iswrittenas ( )ofthemusicareplacedononeoftheselinesori naspaceinb eaddedtoshowanotethatisto ohighorto olowtob eonthesta .Verticalbarlinesdividethesta ,eitherheavyorlight,isusedtomarktheendso flargersectionsofmusic,includingtheverye ndofapiece, < >.2"ReadingGuitarTablature"< >AvailableforfreeatConnexions< > :The vehorizontallinesarethelinesofthesta .Inb oveorb elowthesta ,ledgerlinesareaddedtoshowhowfarab oveorb ortantsymb olsonthesta ,theclefsymb ol,keysignatureandtimesignature,app earattheb eginningofthesta .Manydi erentkindsofsymb olscanapp earon,ab ove,andb elowthesta .Thenotes( )andrests( ) ; olsonthesta ,liketheclef( )symb ol,thekeysignature( ),andthetimesignature( ),tellyouimp ortantinformationab olsthatapp earab oveandb elowthemusicmaytellyouhowfastitgo es(temp o( )markings),howlouditshouldb e(dynamic( )markings),wheretogonext(rep eats( ),forexample)andevengivedirectionsforhow top erformparticularnotes(accents( ),forexample).

5 OtherSymb olsontheSta :Thebarlinesdividethesta (sounds)andrests(silences) olsmayapp earon,ab ove,orb elowthesta , s(somemusicianspreferthepluralstaves)are read,b eginningatthetopofthepage,onesta eplayedatthesameAvailableforfreeatConnex ions< >5time(bythesamep ersonorbydi erentp eople),theywillb econnectedbyalongverticallineattheleftha ndside, ,orstavesthatshouldb eplayedbythesamep erson(forexample,therighthandandlefthand ofapianopart)mayb egroup edtogetherbybracesorbracketsattheb (a)(b) :(b)Whenmanystavesaretob eplayedatthesametime,asinthisorchestrals core,thelinesforsimilarinstruments-allth eviolins,forexample,orallthestrings-mayb < > rstsymb olthatapp earsattheb eginningofeverymusicsta ( )isaclefsymb ortantb ecauseittellsyouwhichnote( )(A,B,C,D,E,F,orG) ,atrebleclefsymb oltellsyouthatthesecondlinefromtheb ottom(thelinethatthesymb olcurlsaround)is"G".

6 Onanysta , ,G, oltellsyouthatthesecondlinefromthetop(th eonebracketedbythesymb ol'sdots) ,buttheyareallindi < >.AvailableforfreeatConnexions< > opularmnemonicsused.(a)(b) :Youcanuseawordorsillysentencetohelpyoum emorizewhichnotesb 'tliketheseones, , :whateverlineitcentersonisamiddleC( ).AvailableforfreeatConnexions< > :Allofthenotesonthissta ,butitisnowveryraretoseethemanywherebuti ntheirstandardp olinanunusualplace,rememb er:trebleclefisaGclef; ; :ItisrarethesedaystoseetheGandFclefsinth esenonstandardp ereadoneo ctaveb eopleareuncomfortablereadingbassclef, "8"attheb ottomofthetrebleclefsymb olmeansthatthenotesshouldsoundoneo < > :Asmall"8"attheb ottomofatrebleclefmeansthatthenotesshoul dsoundoneo erentclefs?

7 Musiciseasiertoreadandwriteifmostoftheno tesfallonthesta andfewledgerlines( )havetob ovemiddleC( ),whiletheFindicatedbythebassclefistheFb elowmiddleC.(CclefindicatesmiddleC.)Sotr ebleclefandbasscleftogethercovermanyofth enotesthatareintherange( ) , etransp "Transp osingInstruments"< >AvailableforfreeatConnexions< > :MiddleCisab ovethebassclefandb elowthetrebleclef; ( )Writethenameofeachnoteb elowthenoteoneachsta ( )Cho oseaclefinwhichyouneedtopracticerecogniz ingnotesab oveandb elowthesta eginningofthesta ,andthenwritethecorrectnotenamesb < > ( ) leat< df>AvailableforfreeatConnexions< > < > :Sharp,Flat, endsonthefrequency( :Wavelength,Frequency,andPitch) ,andtheshorteritswavelength( :Wavelength,Frequency,andPitch), 'twanttotalkab ,theyjustgivethedi erentpitchesdi erentletternames:A,B,C,D,E,F, (onakeyb oard,that'sallthewhitekeys)withinoneo ctave.

8 (Whenyougettotheeighthnaturalnote,yousta rtthenexto ctave( )onanotherA.) :Thenaturalnotesnamethewhitekeysonakeyb ( )musictherearetwelvenotesineacho venotes(onakeyb oard,theblackkeys)?6 Thiscontentisavailableonlineat< >.7"HarmonicSeries"< #p1c>AvailableforfreeatConnexions< > :Sharp, at,andnaturalsignscanapp eareitherinthekeysignature( ), "thenotethatisonehalfstep( )higherthanthenaturalnote".A atsignmeans"thenotethatisonehalfsteplowe rthanthenaturalnote".Someofthenaturalnot esareonlyonehalfstepapart,butmostofthema reawholestep( ) ,thenoteinb etweenthemcanonlyb enamedusinga ,using atsandsharps,anypitchcanb ,theGsharpandtheA atareplayedonthesamekeyonthekeyb oard; "Esharp";Fnaturalisthenotethatisahalfste phigherthanEnatural,whichAvailableforfre eatConnexions< >15isthede erentnamesbutsoundthesamearecalledenharm onic( ) :GsharpandA atsignscanb eusedintwoways:theycanb epartofakeysignature( ), ,ifmostoftheC'sinapieceofmusicaregoingto b esharp,thenasharpsignisputinthe"C"spacea ttheb eginningofthesta ( ), 'saregoingtob esharp,thenthoseC' :Whenasharpsignapp earsintheCspaceinthekeysignature,allC' edoublesharpordouble (onewholestep)higherthanthenaturalnote.

9 Adouble atistwohalfsteps(awholestep) ,quadruple, atsarerare,butfollowthesamepattern:every sharpor < > atsmayseemtob emakingthingsmoredi cultthantheyneedtob "Anatural"insteadof"Gdoublesharp"?Theans weristhat,althoughAnaturalandGdoubleshar parethesamepitch,theydon' (andthatincludesmostp erformers,notjustcomp osersandmusicteachers),callinganote"Gdou blesharp"givesimp ortantandusefulinformationab outhowthatnotefunctionsinthechord(Chords , )andintheprogressionoftheharmony( ). :Doublesharpsraisethepitchbytwohalfsteps (onewholestep).Double atslowerthepitchbytwohalfsteps(onewholes tep). earsrightaftertheclef( )symb olonthesta ( ).Incommonnotation,clefandkeysignaturear etheonlysymb olsthatnormallyapp earoneverysta .Theyapp earsooftenb ecausetheyaresuchimp ortantsymb ols;theytellyouwhatnoteisfoundoneachline andspaceofthesta.

10 Thiscanchangefromonepieceofmusictoanothe r,sothemusicianmustknowtheclefandkeysign atureinordertoreadthemusiccorrectly;inaw ay,thewrittenmusicisaco dedmessage,witheachnotestandingforasound withaparticularpitch( ),andtheclefandkeysignaturearethekeythat tellyouhowtodeco dethisparticularmessage.(Foranexplanatio nofwhythingsaredonethisway,pleaseseehowt oreadmusic9.)8 Thiscontentisavailableonlineat< >.9"HowtoReadMusic":SectionLearningtoread musicaccuratelyandindep endently< #eip-216>AvailableforfreeatConnexions< > ,thetoplineonabassclefsta isalwayssomekindofA; ( )symb olsonparticularlinesorspaces,orsome at( )symb ols, atsorsharpslistedaftertheclefsymb ol,thenthekeysignatureis"allnotesarenatu ral".Thekeysignatureisalistofallthesharp sand atsinthekey( ) (or at)app earsonalineorspaceinthekeysignature,allt henotesonthatlineorspacearesharp(or at),andallothernoteswiththesameletternam esinothero ctavesarealsosharp(or at).