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.

2 248ivAttributions.. 254 AvailableforfreeatConnexions< >UnderstandingBasicMusicTheory:CourseIntr o duction1 Althoughitissigni cantlyexpandedfrom"Intro ductiontoMusicTheory", ject, etplayerinterestedinjazz,avo calistinterestedinearlymusic,apianistint erestedinclassicalcomp osition,andaguitaristinterestedinworldmu sic,willallwanttodelveintoverydi erentfacetsofmusictheory;although,intere stingly,iftheyallb ecomeverywell-versedintheirchosen elds,theywillstillendupverycapableofunde rstandingeachotherandco op nalsectionofthiscoursedo esincludeafewchallengesthataregenerallyn otconsidered"b eginnerlevel"musicianship,butareveryusef ulinjustab outevery oseofthecourse,however,istoexplorebasicm usictheorysothoroughlythattheinteresteds tudentwillthenb ndthesectiononacoustics(ThePhysicalBasis )

3 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?"issimply"that'swhatisea siestforthep erformer",or"theyb orrowedthatfromanearliermusictradition".

4 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.

5 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).

6 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".

7 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?

8 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.

9 (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".

10 Fnaturalisthenotethatisahalfstephigherth anEnatural,whichAvailableforfreeatConnex ions< >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;a double atistwohalfsteps(awholestep) ,quadruple, atsarerare,butfollowthesamepattern:every sharpor < > atsmayseemtob emakingthingsmoredi cultthantheyneedtob "Anatural"insteadof"Gdoublesharp"?