Compound Intervals

A compound interval is an interval more than an octave (distance of eight notes). Working out the compound interval is the same as intervals that are less than an octave.

They have two names:

compound major 2nd          major 9th
compound major 3rd           major 10th
compound perfect 4th          perfect 11th
compound perfect 5th          perfect 12th
compound major 6th            major 13th
compound major 7th            major 14th
compound perfect octave     perfect 15th

If we look at the picture below, the highest note on the bottom stave with the bass clef is A. Then look at the second note on the top stave with the treble clef, it is E. The distance between these notes are larger than an octave, A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D, E. This interval is a compound perfect 5th or perfect 12th. When calculating the interval from the second A, A to E is five notes, so it is a perfect interval.

If we look at the fifth note on the top stave with the treble clef. It is an F#, so the interval between the A on the bottom stave and the F# on the top stave is a compound major 6th or a major 13th, A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D, E, F#.

If we look at the seventh note on the top stave with the treble clef. It is a G#. The interval between the A on the bottom stave and the G# on the top stave is a compound major 7th or a major 14th, A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#.

As with all intervals, the interval is worked out from the lowest note. If it is A, we use the scale of A major, if it is D, we use the scale of D major. All the intervals we have worked out from the picture have an A as the lowest note, so we think in the scale of A major. It has A, B, C#, D, E F#, G#, A.

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Taylor, E. (1990). Music Theory In Practice Grade 5. London: The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, pp. 27 and 28.

Cadences

A cadence is a completed phrase or musical sentence. There are four main cadences; Perfect, Plagal, Imperfect and Interrupted.

The Perfect Cadence uses chords V (five) to I (one). This cadence sounds finished when performed.

The Plagal Cadence uses chords IV (four) to I (one). This cadence also sounds finished and it is often performed at the end of hymns, sometimes called the Amen cadence.

The Imperfect Cadence uses chords I (one) to V (five) or chords IV (four) to V (five). This cadence sounds unfinished. This cadence can also be II - V, III - V, VI - V and VII - V, but the I - V and IV - V chord sequences are more common.

The Interrupted Cadence uses chords V (five) to VI (six). This cadence also sounds unfinished.

There is another cadence called the Phrygian Cadence. It uses chords IVb (four first inversion) to V (five). This cadence is an Imperfect Cadence in a minor key.

If we performed a perfect cadence in the key of D major, chord V would consist of notes A,C#,E to chord I which would be D, F#, A. If we look at the chart below, it shows us the chords in C major and D major.


Image By Louise MacPherson 24/12/2016

To work out the chords in the scale, the first task is to work out the notes of the scale. The scale of D major is D E F# G A B C# D. The next step is to work out the notes in the chords. For chord I we take the first note of the scale which is D, miss a note, F#,miss a note, A. If we want to work out chord IV, we start with the fourth note of the scale which is G, miss a note, B, miss a note, D. The same system can be applied to working out the chords of different scales.

The keyboard in the picture below can help to work out the chords.

Image By Louise MacPherson 24/12/2016

Baxter, Harry and Michael Baxter. The Right Way To Read Music. Tadworth: Right Way, 1993. Print, pp. 86 to 88.

Warburton, Annie O. Basic Music Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print, pp. 119 and 120.

Phrasing

A phrase is a musical sentence. Music is the same as writing, it is divided into sections.

If we look at the picture below, the music consists of four bar phrases. The length of phrases can vary depending on the piece, but here they are every four bars.

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Phrasing shapes the music. It is also necessary for breathing points for performers of woodwind and brass instruments as well as singers.

The music below consists of shorter phrases. The line joining up the notes show the phrases. These shape the music in this piece to imitate the singing of a bird.

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Baxter, Harry and Michael Baxter. The Right Way To Read Music. Tadworth: Right Way, 1993. Print, p.129.

Warburton, Annie O. Basic Music Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print, p. 66.

Musical Instruments: The Recorder

The recorder is an instrument that is very popular in schools. It is quite easy to play and comes in a variety of sizes; sopranino, descant, treble, alto, tenor and bass. The descant is the recorder that is most widely used. It is a very old instrument and was very popular during the reign of Elizabeth I.

Recorders can be made of wood, ivory or plastic. Today the plastic recorder is the most popular. It is held vertically and the performer blows into the head joint and covers different holes along the tube to create different notes. All recorders apart from the bass have a range of two octaves. The bass range is under two octaves.

The recorder can be dismantled into three pieces for ease of storage as in the picture below.

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The pictures below show the various sizes of recorders.

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Warburton, Annie O. Basic Music Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print, p. 137.

Taylor, E. (1991). The AB guide to music theory, part II. 1st ed. London: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. p. 207.

Binary and Ternary Form

Image By Louise MacPherson 18/12/2016

The form is the way the composer has arranged or structured a composition of music.

Binary form has two sections of music. Binary means two, which refers to these two sections. They are divided into A and B which are repeated. A is played, then repeated, then B is played, then repeated. It is structured A, A, B, B. The length of each section varies. Each section can be of equal length, however in many binary form pieces, B is longer than A. The music often changes key throughout section B which makes it more interesting. Sometimes there is a sequence, this is a phrase of music that has a similar idea to section A.

Ternary form is where the piece of music has A, B, A structure. A is called the statement, then section B is the contrast and is often written in a different key, this section is called an episode. Finally A played a second time is the repetition, where there might be a slight change from the first time it is played. However, it is still recognised as the same piece of music.

Bennett, R. (1980). Form and design. 1st ed. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. pp. 10 to 13 and 18 to 21.

Irregular Time Signatures

The most common irregular time signatures are 5/4, 5/8, 7/4 and 7/8. 5/4 is five crotchets per bar and 5/8 is five quavers per bar. 7/4 is seven crotchets per bar and 7/8 is seven quavers per bar.

Irregular time signatures contain simple and compound divisions in the bar. In 5/8 time, the bar can be divided into a crotchet and a dotted crotchet. In 5/4, a minim and a dotted minim. In 7/8 time, a crotchet, a crotchet, and a dotted crotchet. In 7/4 time, a minim, a minim and a dotted minim.

The picture below shows 5 and 7 time signatures.


Image By Louise MacPherson 17/12/2016

Taylor, E. (1990). Music Theory In Practice Grade 5. London: The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, pp. 4 and 5.

Musical Instruments: The Piccolo and The Flute

The flute is a wood wind instrument. The performer blows into a hole and it is held horizontally. Early flutes did not have keys to cover the holes as they do in modern flutes. However, some keys on modern flutes do have holes which enables the performer to play more special effects. The flute is generally silver plated, but as we move up the range they will have solid silver head joints, some gold plated. The flute has three parts, the head joint, the body and the foot joint.

Below is an example of a wooden flute where the performer has to cover the holes with their fingers.

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Here is an example of a modern flute with the keys covering the holes called a closed hole flute.

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A modern flute with holes in the keys called an open hole flute.

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A picture of a young girl playing the flute. Notice how she holds it vertically and blows over the hole.

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The range of the flute is from bottom C in the treble clef and it can play three octaves, C to the next C. the next C and up to the next C. There are different foot joints for the flute, the C foot joint, which is widely used and the B foot joint so the performer can play the B note below the bottom C. There are different flutes such as the bass and alto flute, they have a lower sound, an example shown in the picture below.

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The instrument pitched higher than the flute and that is widely played in orchestras is the piccolo. Notice how much smaller it is. It has the same range as the flute but the lowest note that it can play is the D rather than the C. It is written an octave lower than it sounds so it is a transposing instrument.

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The flute below is wooden and is usually used to play folk music.

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Warburton, Annie O. Basic Music Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print, pp. 137 and 138.

More Complex Intervals

We learned in an earlier post the different intervals from a 2nd up to an octave. I am now going to discuss intervals in more detail.

The different types of intervals are augmented, major, minor, perfect and diminished.

When working out intervals, the rules below should be remembered.

When a major interval is a semitone larger it becomes augmented.

When a major interval is a semitone smaller it becomes minor.

When a minor interval is a semitone larger it becomes major.

When a minor interval is a semitone smaller it becomes diminished.

When a perfect interval is a semitone larger it becomes augmented.

When a perfect interval is a semitone smaller it becomes diminished.

If we remember the degrees; 2nd major, 3rd major, 4th perfect, 5th perfect, 6th major, 7th major, octave perfect, we can work out the type of interval easily.

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If we look at the two notes, D to A. We count up starting on D up to A; D, E, F, G, A. It is five notes which makes the interval a 5th. The interval is not just called a 5th, there is a type of interval. It is called a perfect 5th because an interval of a 5th is called perfect. However, this only applies if the top note of the interval is in the scale. For example, we use the scale of D major because the lower note of the interval is D. In D major the 5th note of the scale is an A.

If we take another interval, D to F. In the scale of D major, an F is an F#, so an F natural would make the interval smaller because there are less semitones from D to F natural than from D to F#. D, D#, E, F is 3 semitones and D, D#, E, F, F# is 4 semitones. So this interval would be called a minor 3rd because it is a major interval made smaller by a semitone.

If we take the perfect 5th interval of D to A and make the A an A#. This interval would become bigger by a semitone. It would become an augmented 5th. If the perfect 5th interval is made smaller D to Ab it would become a diminished 5th.

If we take the interval C to Bb. This interval is a major 7th up to B, but when the interval is made smaller to a Bb it becomes a minor 7th. If this interval C to B becomes C to Bbb (double flat), it has been made smaller by 2 semitones so C to B is a major 7th, C to Bb is a minor 7th and C to Bbb is a diminished 7th. If the interval C to B becomes B# it would become an augmented 7th.

Remember:

A major interval made larger by 1 semitone becomes augmented, when it is made smaller by 1 semitone it becomes minor.

A minor interval made larger by 1 semitone it becomes major, when it is made smaller by 1 semitone it becomes diminished.

A perfect interval made larger by 1 semitone it becomes augmented, when made smaller by 1 semitone it becomes diminished.

Taylor, E. (n.d.). Music theory in practice, grade 4. 1st ed. London: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. pp. 26 and 27.

Taylor, E. (n.d.). Music theory in practice, grade 3. 1st ed. London: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. p. 30.

Clefs

There are different clefs used in music. The clef used depends on the pitch of the music. The most common ones are; treble, bass, alto and tenor.  The clef is written on the left hand side of every stave before the key signature and the time signature.

The music below is in the treble clef. It is used for instruments that play high notes such as violin, flute and guitar.

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The next piece of music is in the bass clef. It is used for instruments that play low notes such as tuba, trombone and cello.

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The music below is in the alto clef. It is used for instruments that play notes between the treble and the bass such as the viola.

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The final piece of music is in the tenor clef on the third stave (third line of music). It is used for instruments that play low notes such as the cello and bassoon. This picture shows treble, alto, tenor and bass clefs.

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Baxter, Harry and Michael Baxter. The Right Way To Read Music. Tadworth: Right Way, 1993. Print, pp. 7, 8, 10 and 11.

Musical Instruments: Violin Family

The violin family consists of four instruments; the violin, viola, cello and double bass. The strings can be plucked or played with a bow. Chords can be played on these instruments. Double stopping is playing two notes at a time using two strings, sometimes chords of three or four notes can be performed by drawing the bow or the finger over the strings one after the other. A string quartet is a group of stringed instruments consisting of violin I, violin II, a viola and a cello. All styles of music can be played on bowed string instruments such as classical, jazz and folk.

The violin is the smallest and has the highest pitch. The strings are G, D, A and E. Other notes are played by pressing the finger board. The higher on the finger board a performer plays, the higher the note will sound. When you play one of the strings without placing any fingers on the finger board it is called playing an open string. The violin is played by resting the violin on the shoulder. The violin uses the treble clef.

The next instrument larger than the violin is the viola. The strings are C, G, D and A. It is played the same way as the violin. The stretches between each note are larger. It ranges between the treble clef and the bass clef. The clef it uses is the alto clef.

The next size up is the cello. The strings are C, G, D and A, an octave lower than the viola. It uses the bass, tenor and treble clef depending how high or low the performer is playing. It is played in a downwards position with the performer sitting down, the instrument is held in place on the floor with a spike.

The largest is the double bass. This instrument is played the same way as the cello but the performer is standing up because of its size rather than sitting down as the performer would with the cello. Its strings are E, A, D and G. It is written in the bass clef but sounds an octave lower so this makes it a transposing instrument.

Below is a picture of the treble clef at the top, then the alto, the tenor, then the bass.


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Below is a string quartet consisting of two violins, a viola and a cello.


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Below shows a performer playing a double bass.


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Warburton, Annie O. Basic Music Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print, pp. 136 and 137.

Musical Instruments: The Piano

The piano is an instrument of the keyboard family. The full name of the instrument is the pianoforte. This is due to being able to play soft and loud, piano meaning soft and forte meaning loud. It was invented at the beginning of the eighteenth century, but was a very simple instrument at that time, different to what it is today.

The upright piano has the strings arranged vertically while the grand piano has them arranged horizontally. The sound is created by strings being struck by a wooden hammer when the key is depressed. The sound is then silenced when the key is lifted by a damper which stops the string vibrating.  The low notes have one string, the middle notes have two strings and the high notes have three strings. The damper or sustaining pedal was invented later. It is situated on the right. This pedal allows the string to continue to sound once the key has been lifted, preventing the dampers from resting back on the strings and silencing them. Modern pianos have two or three pedals. The pedal on the left is the soft pedal. On the grand piano the hammers are moved slightly so on the notes that have more than one string, one is not hit by the hammer so the sound is softer. On the upright piano the hammers are moved closer to the strings so they are struck with less force, resulting in a softer sound. The pedal in the middle is the sostenuto pedal which sustains notes that are sounding at the time the pedal is depressed, but not any further notes that are played. This pedal is on the grand piano. Another use for the third pedal is to muffle the sound due to a strip of felt that falls down between the hammers and the strings. It makes practising the piano less annoying to other people, but it does not have any musical value. This pedal is on the upright piano.

The piano eventually replaced two early keyboard instruments, the harpsichord and the clavichord. The piano has a larger range of notes than earlier keyboard instruments. The music for the piano is written on two staves, the treble clef for higher notes and the bass clef for lower notes. Pianos today have a range of just over seven octaves.

Below is a picture of a grand piano.


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Below is an upright piano.


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Below is inside an upright piano. It shows the hammers, the dampers next to the hammers and the strings.


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Warburton, Annie O. Basic Music Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print, p. 150.

Taylor, E. (1991). The AB guide to music theory, part II. 1st ed. London: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. pp. 223 to 226.

Roman Numerals

When identifying chords in music, they can be written as roman numerals.

The tonic triad or chord 1 is written (I).
The supertonic triad or chord 2 is written (II).
The mediant triad or chord 3 is written (III).
The subdominant triad or chord 4 is written (IV).
The dominant triad or chord 5 is written (V).
The submediant triad or chord 6 is written (VI).
The leading note triad or chord 7 is written (VII).

When chords are in different inversions an 'a', 'b' or a 'c' is written next to the chord. Root position chords are with an 'a' or no letter, first inversion chords are written with a 'b' and second inversion chords are written with a 'c'.

The chords in the picture below are written with their roman numerals.


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Here are some chords with inversions.


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Baxter, Harry and Michael Baxter. The Right Way To Read Music. Tadworth: Right Way, 1993. Print, p. 64.

Taylor, E. (1990). Music Theory In Practice Grade 5. London: The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, pp. 30 to 32.

Duplets, Quadruplets, Quintolets, Sextolets and Septolets

Notes can be grouped in different ways. If we look at the picture below, underneath (c) there are two notes connected with a slur and a number 2. This is called a duplet. It is two notes in the time of three. In this example, the time signature is 6/4 which is six crotchets per bar, so the crotchets joined with the slur and the number 2 has the same time length as three crotchets. Under (a) and (d), the slur and the number 4 is called a quadruplet. It is four notes in the time of three or the same value as a dotted beat as in (b).


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Other examples are a quintolet, which is five notes in the time of four of the same kind of note. A sextolet, six notes in the time of four of the same note. A septolet, seven notes in the time of four of the same kind of note and a triplet, three notes in the time of two.

A duplet and quadruplet are only found in compound time.
A triplet, quintolet, sextolet and septolet are found in simple time.


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Baxter, Harry and Michael Baxter. The Right Way To Read Music. Tadworth: Right Way, 1993. Print, pp. 74 to 76.

Compound Time Beat Values

In compound time, each beat is usually either a dotted minim, a dotted crotchet or a dotted quaver.

In the example below, each beat is worth a dotted crotchet. 12/8 has four beats in each bar.

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In the next example, each beat is also worth a dotted crotchet but there are three beats per bar.

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The final example is in 6/8, each beat is worth a dotted crotchet and there are two beats per bar.

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Warburton, Annie O. Basic Music Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print, p. 18.

Dynamics

Dynamics guide the performer to the volume of a section of music or a note.

Dynamics vary from very soft to very loud. Below shows the softest dynamic level to the loudest.

ppp     very very soft
pp       very soft (pianissimo)
p         soft (piano)
mp      quite soft (mezzo-piano)
mf       quite loud (mezzo-forte)
f          loud (forte)
ff         very loud (fortissimo)
fff        very very loud

fp        loud then immediately soft
pf        soft then immediately loud


diminuendo (dim.) gradually getting softer
crescendo (cresc.) gradually getting louder

Diminuendo can also be written:

Image by Louise MacPherson 21/11/2016

Crescendo can also be written:

Image by Louise MacPherson 21/11/2016

The piece of music below contains examples of dynamics.



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Gerou, T. and Lusk, L. (1996). Essential dictionary of music notation. 1st ed. Los Angeles: Alfred Pub. Co. pp. 133 to 142.

Transposition

Transposition is when a piece of music is written in a different pitch. This could be a different clef or a different key. Transposition is needed when playing a transposing brass or woodwind instrument or when changing into a higher or lower key for a singer to sing a piece with more ease.

Transposing into a different Key

If we look at the example below, the music has been transposed from C into Eb. Transposing is simple. In this example C to Eb is a minor 3rd or 3 semitones, so we just move each note of the music up 3 semitones. The key signature is also moved up 3 semitones from C to Eb. When transposing always remember any flats, sharps or naturals (accidentals) in the music. The C is raised a semitone to C# in the music, so in the Eb transposition the same notes must be raised a semitone. They are Eb in the key signature so they must become E natural. If we were transposing D major up a 2nd, we would transpose to E major. If we were transposing F major up a 3rd, we would transpose to A major and so on.


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Transposing into a different clef

In the example below, the pitch of the note sounds the same, but it is written in a different clef.

Image by Louise MacPherson 18/11/2016


Baxter, Harry and Michael Baxter. The Right Way To Read Music. Tadworth: Right Way, 1993. Print, pp. 116 to 120.

Warburton, Annie O. Basic Music Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print, pp. 79 to 82.

Syncopation

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Syncopation is when a strong beat occurs in music which would normally be a weak beat.

In 3/4 time and 2/4 time, the strong beat is the first beat of the bar, Strong Weak Weak and Strong Weak. In 4/4 time, the first beat is strong and the third beat is quite strong, Strong Weak Medium Weak.

When music is syncopated, examples would be 3/4  Weak Strong Weak,  4/4 Weak Strong Medium Weak or 2/4 Weak Strong. In the example below of the common time top stave, the strong beat falls on the second beat. In the 3/4 time bottom stave, the strong beat falls on the second half of the first beat. The use of rests and ties are used to create syncopated rhythms.


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In the next example, the 3rd and 4th beats are being tied over to the 1st beat of the second bar creating a syncopated rhythm.


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Baxter, Harry and Michael Baxter. The Right Way To Read Music. Tadworth: Right Way, 1993. Print, pp. 76 and 77.

Simple Time Note Values

The picture below shows a crotchet. This note is worth one beat in 4/4, 2/4 and 3/4 time but half a beat in 2/2, 3/2 and 4/2 time.


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The next picture shows minims. They are worth one beat in 2/2, 3/2 and 4/2 time but two beats in 4/4, 2/4 and 3/4 time.


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The notes below are quavers. They are worth half a beat in 4/4, 2/4 and 3/4 time but one beat in 3/8 time.


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The notes below are semiquavers. They are worth a quarter of a beat in 4/4, 2/4 and 3/4 time but half a beat in 3/8 time.


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The notes below are semibreves. They are worth four beats on 4/4 time but two beats in 2/2, 3/2 and 4/2 time.


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The picture below shows the different note values and their corresponding rests.


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Warburton, Annie O. Basic Music Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print, p. 1.

Taylor, E. (1990). Music Theory In Practice Grade 2. London: The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, pp. 7 to 9.

Taylor, E. (1990). Music Theory In Practice Grade 1. London: The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, pp. 4 and 10.