Staff or stave

 

     Treble Clef – G clef –     lines:                 Every Good Boy Deserves Football     

          spaces:              F A C E

Note Lengths

t\x	Semi-quaver	16th note	zxxxx =        =             q
e	Quaver	8th note	ee                 =             q
q	Crotchet	¼ note	qqqq               =            w
h	Minim	½ note	hh                   =            w
w	Semi-breve	Whole note

 

Adding a dot after a note adds half the length again e.g. a dotted crotchet is a crotchet and a half long, a dotted minim is a minim and a half long

• Sharps flats and naturals are collectively known as accidentals
• They appear BEFORE the note to which they apply on the SAME line/space
• Apply to all notes in the bar (on the same line or space) unless cancelled
• Cancelled automatically in next bar unless part of key signature (see below)

 

Enharmonic Equivalents – a different name for the same note,

e.g. C# is equivalent to Db

 

 

 

 

Major Scale                                                                              -           T-T-S-T-T-T-S

Minor Scale, natural form/melodic minor descending                    -           T-S-T-T-S-T-T

                     Melodic minor ascending (raised 6^th and 7^th)            -           T-S-T-T-T-T-S

                     Harmonic minor (raised 7^th only)                            -           T-S-T-T-T-A2-S

 

A2 = Augmented 2^nd (see intervals below)

 

Time Signatures are used to determine the number of notes in a bar and the type of note

• Top note = number of beats in the bar
• Bottom note = type of note e.g. ¼, 8^th, 16^th
• Simple time is where the main beats are divisible by 2 e.g. 4/4 beat (1/4 note) divisible into two quavers (8^th notes)
• Compound time is where the main beat is divisible by 3 e.g. 6/8 beat (dotted crotchet) divisible into three quavers (8^th notes)
• Asynchronous time is where the bar cannot be divided into either 2 or 3 equal parts – 7/8 and 5/4 are typical examples

 

Note Grouping. Notes are normally grouped within a bar according to the beat. Notes should not be grouped from a weak beat to a subsequent stronger beat.

• In 6/8 they will be grouped within their dotted crotchet main beat but NOT across the half bar
• In 4/4 they will be grouped within the two halves of the bar but NOT across the half bar

 

An interval is the distance between two notes.

• The name of the interval is determined by the letter name regardless of how many semi-tones are between the notes, e.g.
  • C-D is a second
  • C-E is a third
  • C#-Db is also a second, despite them being the same note, because the letter name is different.
• The type of interval depends on the exact number of semitones between the two notes – see appendix A

 

Assonance and dissonance are descriptions of how sounds fit together.

• If two (or more) notes played together sound pleasant (notes from the same triad typically, but other combinations are possible) they are assonant or concordant
• If the notes clash and jar they are dissonant or discordant

 

A triad is a three-note chord consisting of alternating notes of a scale i.e. take a scale and from your chosen starting point use note 1, skip note 2, use note 3, skip note 4, use note 5, or to summarise, use 1, 3 and 5.

• Note 1 is our root note
• Note 3 is our third (a major third from the root for a major or augmented chord, a minor third for a minor or diminished chord)
• Note 5 is our fifth (a perfect fifth for a major or minor chord, diminished or augmented fifths are used for chords of the same name)

For more advanced chords

• Add additional notes e.g. major/minor 6ths, 7ths, 9ths, 13ths and/or perfect 11ths
• Replace the third of the triad with a perfect fourth or a major second to get a suspended fourth/second chord
• Flatten the fifth of a major chord for a flat5 chord

• Seventh chords
  • A major third and a minor seventh from the root give a dominant seventh chord
  • A major third and a major seventh give a major seventh chord
  • A minor third and a minor seventh give a minor seventh chord
  • A chord consisting of three minor third intervals is called a diminished seventh chord

 

Inversions. Chords can also be inverted.

• If the root of the chord is the lowest note the chord is root position
• If the third is the lowest note it is a first inversion
• If the fifth is the lowest note it is a second inversion
• If the seventh is the lowest note it is a third inversion

The order of the notes above is irrelevant. It is the lowest note that determines the inversion.

 

Key Signatures

Treble clef

                                               

 

 

Made up from accidentals and appear at the beginning of every stave of a piece of music

• Apply to all notes in piece unless cancelled (with a natural) or a key signature change
• An easy way of showing which sharps and flats the performer must use to make up that scale
• To identify a key with sharps move up one semitone from the last sharp that appears in the key signature, and you get the tonic note of the major key
• To identify a key with flats go back to the last but one flat and you have the tonic note of the major key
• Every major key had a relative minor and they share the same key signature. You have to look into the notes in the song for a few clues to pinpoint if it's the major or relative minor key.
  • Raised (sharpened/naturalised) 6ths and/or 7ths
  • First and/or last chords of piece (e.g. is it the tonic or dominant chord of the major or the relative minor)
• To work out the relative minor keys of the major keys, move down a minor 3^rd/ three semi tones/frets/keys

 

To remember the order of sharps and flats

• Sharps: Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle (each a perfect 5^th higher than the previous one)
• Flats: Battle Ends As Down Goes Charles' Father (the reverse order of sharps and each a perfect 4^th higher than the previous one)

 

Diatonic harmony is harmony where the notes of all the chords fit into a major or minor scale

Chromatic harmony is harmony where the notes of all the chords don’t fit into a major or minor scale. The higher the number of alien notes the more chromatic the harmony.

A common chromaticism in popular music is flattening the seventh of the scale e.g. playing in C Major and using a Bb chord.

 

Three chord trick. Many songs (including the 12 bar blues) are made up of just the tonic chord of the key, the 4^th (sub-dominant) chord and fifth (dominant) chord (often made into a dominant seventh (see above).

 

A pedal point is a single note held or repeated through a series of chord changes.

·        The pedal note usually does not fit into some of the chords

·        Normally either a very high note or a bass note

 

Modes. If we use only the white notes on the keyboard but play an octave starting from a note other than C or A we get a different order of tones and semi tones. These are called modes. There are seven modes.

 

Starting on	Intervals/Construction	Mode name
C	T-T-S-T-T-T-S	Ionian (same as C major)
D	T-S-T-T-T-S-T	Dorian
E	S-T-T-T-S-T-T	Phrygian
F	T-T-T-S-T-T-S	Lydian
G	T-T-S-T-T-S-T	Mixolydian
A	T-S-T ­T-S-T-T	Aolian (same as A Minor)
B	S-T -T-S-T-T-T	Locrian

 

These scales can start on any note (e.g. Bb) so long as the interval order is unchanged. If you play a Lydian mode staring on Bb it is called a Bb Lydian. The Locrian is rarely used, as its tonic chord is a diminished chord.

 

Other scales include:

·        Whole tone                            -           T-T-T-T-T-T (all notes a tone apart)

·        Pentatonic (5 note)                -           M3-T-T-M3-T (M3 = Minor 3^rd)

o       Eb pentatonic can be played using only the black notes on a keyboard

·        Chromatic scale                    -           using all of the twelve (black and

white) notes/frets of the octave in order i.e. S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S

·        12 tone                                   -           note order determined by the user –

using all 12 notes of the chromatic scale but in a user defined order, the notes of the composition follow the notes of the scale repeatedly throughout (unless you change to a different 12-tone scale)

 

 

 Appendix A

 

Interval                                                       Distance between lowest

and highest note

 

A diminished unison                              =                      MINUS one semi tone i.e.

     the top note is BELOW the bottom note

A perfect unison                                  =                      nil semi tones

An augmented unison                            =                      one semi tone

A diminished second                             =                      nil semi tones

A minor second                                  =                      one semi tone

A major second                                  =                      two semi tones

An augmented second                           =                      three semi tones

A diminished third                                =                      two semi tones

A minor third                                     =                      three semi tones

A major third                                     =                      four semi tones

An augmented third                              =                      five semi tones

A diminished fourth                              =                      four semi tones

A perfect fourth                                  =                      five semitones

An augmented 4^th                                 =                      six semi tones

A diminished fifth                                 =                      six semi tones

A perfect fifth                                     =                      seven semi tones

An augmented fifth                               =                      eight semi tones

A diminished sixth                                =                      seven semi tones

A minor sixth                                     =                      eight semi tones

A major sixth                                     =                      nine semi tones

An augmented sixth                             =                      ten semi tones

A diminished seventh                          =                      nine semi tones

A minor seventh                                =                      ten semi tones

A major seventh                                =                      eleven semi tones

An augmented seventh                         =                      twelve semi tones = 1 octave

A diminished octave                            =                      eleven semi tones

A perfect octave                                 =                      twelve semi tones = 1 octave

An augmented octave                          =                      thirteen semi tones

 

To get intervals beyond this (9ths, 10ths, 11ths, etc.) subtract 7 notes from the name (e.g. subtract 7 from a ninth to get a second) find that interval in the list above and add twelve semi tones to the answer in the chart.

 

 

Appendix B

 

How to recognise intervals by ear

Minor 2nd	-"Something's Coming" (Bernstein, West Side Story)	-Joy To The World
Major 2nd	-"I've Got You Under My Skin" (C. Porter) -Happy Birthday	-Yesterday (Beatles)
Minor 3rd	-Greensleeves	-"I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane" -Hey Jude -Frosty The Snowman
Major 3rd	-"Michael Row the Boat Ashore" -Oh When The Saints (Go Marching In)	-"Summertime"
Perfect 4th	-"Here Comes the Bride" (Wagner) -"Auld Lang Syne"	-Hallelujah (Handel)
Augmented 4th (D5th)	-"Maria" (Bernstein) -"The Simpsons"  (1st and 3rd)
Perfect 5th	-Twinkle Twinkle Little Star -"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"	-Theme from Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky) -"Flintstones"
Minor 6th		-Theme from Love Story (Mancini?)
Major 6th	-"My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean"
Minor 7th	-"Somewhere" (West Side Story)
Major 7th	-"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" –(1st and 3rd)
Octave	-"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"