music theory booklet

(1) Furze Platt Senior School ©

Basic Music Theory

and History for GCSE: A Student’s Guide

G. Bunce

Name: ____________________________


Contents List

Reading Music 1: .............................................................................................................................................. 3 1.1 Pitch .................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Lines and other bits............................................................................................................................. 4 1.3 Accidentals.......................................................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Ledger lines......................................................................................................................................... 5

Reading Music 2: .............................................................................................................................................. 6 2.1 Rhythm.......................................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Dots & Ties ................................................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Time Signatures & Bar lines......................................................................................................... 7 2.4 Grouping Rhythms.............................................................................................................................. 7 2.5 Note tail direction ............................................................................................................................... 8 2.6 Rests.................................................................................................................................................... 8

Simply Boredom ............................................................................................................................................... 9 Reading Music 3: .............................................................................................................................................. 9

3.1 Simple & Compound Time Signatures ............................................................................................... 9 3.2 Dynamics .......................................................................................................................................... 10 3.3 Signs, Symbols, & Abbreviations..................................................................................................... 11

Sonatina........................................................................................................................................................... 13 Scales & Harmony 4: ...................................................................................................................................... 14

4.1 Tones & Semitones ........................................................................................................................... 14 4.2 Major Scales...................................................................................................................................... 14 4.3 Minor Scales ..................................................................................................................................... 15 4.4 Key Signatures .................................................................................................................................. 16 3.5 Minor Key Signature......................................................................................................................... 17 4.6 Pentatonic Scales .............................................................................................................................. 18 4.7 Chords ............................................................................................................................................... 18 4.8 Inversions.......................................................................................................................................... 19 4.9 Arpeggios.......................................................................................................................................... 19

The Orchestra: 4.............................................................................................................................................. 20 Italian Terms: 6 ............................................................................................................................................... 22 Ornaments: 7................................................................................................................................................... 22 Melodic & Rhythmic Devices: 8 .................................................................................................................... 22 Melodic & Rhythmic Devices: 8 .................................................................................................................... 23 Intervals: 9 ...................................................................................................................................................... 24 Music History 1600-1899: 10 ......................................................................................................................... 25

10.1 Opera & Oratorio ............................................................................................................................ 26 10.2 Instrumental music.......................................................................................................................... 27

Chords, Cadences, & Modulation: 11............................................................................................................. 28 11.1 Labeling chords............................................................................................................................... 28 11.2 Cadences ......................................................................................................................................... 28 11.3 Modulation...................................................................................................................................... 29 11.4 How does a piece of music modulate ?........................................................................................... 29

Musical Elements: 12...................................................................................................................................... 32


Basic Music Theory

This guide will take you through the basics of music theory that you need to know for your GCSE. You must try very hard to learn to read music as you will be presented with it in your listening exam and be expected to learn a piece to perform (from music) for your practical exam. Unlike at KS3, all musical examples given to you at GCSE will NOT have the letters underneath. Reading music is easy! Throughout the worksheets, there will be weblinks that you can use. These will take you to some of the examples used in class. To save you typing out the addresses, why not download this handout from First Class. You will be using this pack through out your GCSE and it will be essential for your revision. Therefore, do not loose it and make sure you bring it to every lesson.

Reading Music 1: 1.1 Pitch http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/html/id10_en.html


The best way to learn to read pitch is to use rhymes. Add the letters and rhymes to this piano music.

1.2 Lines and other bits Note that the music above has both a treble & bass clef. Mark these on the worksheet. Also mark the following words.

Stave Brace (keyboard music) Bar line Double bar (end)

1.3 Accidentals Accidental is the collective name for sharps, flats and naturals. These are to do with the black notes on the keyboard. You teacher will go through them with you. Write things down on the staves below.


1.4 Ledger lines If you look at the music and keyboard on the last page you will note that only a very small part of the keyboard is covered by the bass and treble clefs. To go higher or lower, you have to add ledger lines.

HWK: Complete the note-naming exercises given to you. Hand your work in next lesson.


Reading Music 2: 2.1 Rhythm http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/html/id11_en.html Write the names and values of the following notes

2.2 Dots & Ties http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/html/id14_en.html Dots mean that you add half the note value to the note Ties allow you to hold notes, particularly over bar lines


2.3 Time Signatures & Bar lines http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/html/id12_en.html Your teacher will explain how time signatures work using the web link above. Make notes on the staves below:

2.4 Grouping Rhythms To make music look less complicated, rhythms are often grouped into beats. Your teacher will show you some examples for you to copy down


2.5 Note tail direction

2.6 Rests http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/html/id13_en.html Write in one rest at each place marked with a *

Revision:

1. Learn to play Simply Boredom 2. Add the left hand part or get a partner to play it 3. Learn the bass part to the middle section 4. Compose a melody to fit it (you may like to use the same rhythm as the original melody 5. Notate it (WATCH OUT FOR TAIL DIRECTION) 6. Play your composition through.


Simply Boredom

You will be given a class demonstration of Sibelius teaching you how to enter music. Enter Simply Boredom and get the computer to play it. HWK: Complete the homework sheet ‘Rhythmic work and Time Signatures’ for next lesson.

Reading Music 3: 3.1 Simple & Compound Time Signatures http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/html/id15_en.html


3.2 Dynamics

Add some dynamics to Simply Boredom; you will be shown how to add these on Sibelius.


3.3 Signs, Symbols, & Abbreviations Your teacher will go through all the signs, symbols, and abbreviations below and demonstrate each one using Sibelius. Beside each one, make a note of how you add them on Sibelius.


The following piece will be used for examples……….


Sonatina


On Sibelius load up the piece called Sonatine, OP.36 TO BE COMPELTED, and look carefully at the version above. Work in pairs updating the Sibelius score in all of the places marked. Finally, add the dynamics and save the piece in your user area before listening to it.

Scales & Harmony 4: 4.1 Tones & Semitones

First look at this web page http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/html/id20_en.html and fill in the blanks: Semitone = Half Step = Tone = Whole Step =

4.2 Major Scales Scales means ladder and scales are the building blocks of music. Major scales sound Happy. This is the blueprint:

TTS TTTS

What is a tone above D ? What is a semitone above F# ? What is a semitone below Gb ? What is a semitone below Bb ? What is a tone above G ? What is a tone above B ? What is a tone below Eb ? What is a semitone above F ? What is a semitone below G# ? What is a tone below F ?


HWK: Pick five notes that we haven’t done in class and build major scales on them.

4.3 Minor Scales http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/html/id22_en.html

Minor Scales sound SAD. There are 3 types presented on the web site. You need to know the HARMONIC MINOR:

T S T T S T½ S


4.4 Key Signatures http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/html/id24_en.html

Imagine what it would be like if you wrote a piece in E major. All of the F’s, C’s, G’s, D’s would have to have #’s beside them. It looks really messy:

To stop this from happening, musicians place key signatures at the beginning of each stave next to the clef. For GCSE you need to know minor and major keys up to 4 sharps and flats.

The order of sharps follows a special pattern:

Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle. A way of working out the key of sharp key signatures is to look at the last sharp and name the note above, e.g. the key signatures with three sharps has G# as its last sharp therefore the note above is A so that key signature is A major. The order of flats follows a special pattern:

Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’ Father.

Look at how this pattern relates to the sharp-key pattern: ____________________________

A way of working out the key of flat key signatures is to look at the second from last flat which shares the same name as the key you are looking at.


Write out all the key signatures from above on the following staves:

3.5 Minor Key Signature Every major key has a relative minor that looks exactly the same. Look at the following table and see if you can spot a pattern. When you have, fill in the blanks

This means that E minor has the same key signature as G major (1 sharp = F#). So, if you want to create a scale of Em, play E-E with an F#. You still need to raise the 7th (D#) Summary: Minor scales

1. Write out the white-note letter of the scale you want 2. Add the KS of the major relative 3. Raise the 7th note by a semitone

Major Minor Number of #/b C major A minor G major E minor D major A major E major C# minor F major Bb major Eb major C minor Ab major


4.6 Pentatonic Scales As you will probably remember from KS3, pentatonic scales are 5-note scales. For GCSE, you need to know the major pentatonic. You could find this on a keyboard by playing just the black notes. What is the tone and semitone pattern? _________________________ Now work it out in the following keys and write them out in notation. G, D, C, F

Pentatonic scales will be covered again when we do world music. They tend to be found in oriental music. Rock musicians also use them to improvise on. If you can remember the blues scale from Y9, work out the tone and semitone pattern for the blues scale then transpose it to another key than C.

4.7 Chords Chords are created from scales. You may remember in Y8 learning to construct chords by playing a note, missing a note, playing a note, missing a note, and playing a note. This is alright for KS3, but how on earth do you know the difference between major and minor chords when using this method? The GCSE way!! If you want a D major chord, think of the Dmaj scale and play the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes together. It’s a simple as that. If you want a Dm chord, do the same with a Dm scale!!!


Chords are written out with the notes on top of each other. Work out the following chords:

4.8 Inversions Look at the example of chords on the right. Note that the order of notes has been changed but the chord still consists of the same notes. This is called inverting.

Why is the 2nd set of chords easier to play? _____________________________________________________________

4.9 Arpeggios If you play the notes of a chord from the bottom to top and add another root at the top, you have played an arpeggio: Arpeggios can be inverted like chords. Look at the following:


Task: Compose a chord sequence by filling in the blanks. Learn to play it and when you are happy enter it into Sibelius as the left hand to a piano piece. C Dm G Am Em G C G C Next invert the chords so that the movement is smoother. Compose a melody to fit it. Do this by getting Sibelius to play the chords and you improvise using the keyboard. Here are some tips:

• You may find it helpful to change each chord from semibreves to repeating crotchets. To do this, highlight any semibreve and hit the crotchet button on the keypad. Next hit the R key on the keyboard to repeat the note. Fill up the rest of the bar and then move on. Alternatively, you could use the MIDI keyboard.

• Compose an interesting rhythm first. • If you have a long note in a bar, try to use a pitch that is borrowed from the chord being

played. • Use a C major scale to compose your melody.

Look at the handout on piano accompaniments and adjust your left hand to make it more interesting. Add dynamics and articulation.

The Orchestra: 4 The Orchestra: Hear is a list of orchestral instruments. Put them into the correct families. Number the instruments in each family from highest pitch to lowest pitch.

Bass Drum Bassoon Cello Clarinet Double Bass Flute French Horn Glockenspiel Harp Oboe Maracas

Piccolo Snare Drum Timpani Triangle Trombone Trumpet Tuba Tubular Bells Viola

Violin Xylophone


Woodwind Brass Strings Percussion

Tuned Un-tuned

Write the name of the instrument beside each picture.


Italian Terms: 6 You must learn the following Italian terms as they are very likely to come up in your exam.

Italian English Italian English Lento or Largo Very slow Pizzicato (Pizz) Plucked Adagio Slow Glissando Slid Andante Walking speed Legato Smooth Moderato Moderate (medium) Staccato Detached, short Allegro Fast and lively Tutti Everybody play Presto Very fast Con sordino Muted Accelrando (Accel.)

Speed up Espressivo Expressively

Ritardando (rit.) Slow down A Tempo Back to the original speed.

Ornaments: 7 Ornaments are used to decorate music. Listen to the following and then have a go at playing them. You might like to add some ornaments to Simply Boredom.


Melodic & Rhythmic Devices: 8


TASK: Take the melody to Simply Boredom and create some variations using the melodic and rhythmic devices. When you have come up with one that is satisfactory, show it to your teacher. Next, replace the third section of you version on Sibelius with your variation.

Intervals: 9 http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/html/id30_en.html

At GCSE you need to know the following intervals: 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, Octave.

An interval is the distance between two notes. You count the lower note and then count up to the higher note.

e.g. C-E = 3rd A-E = 5th D-G = 4th

Bb-Bb = Octave Use Auralia and work out the intervals by ear.


Music History 1600-1899: 10

Name Approx. Dates Composers Instruments General Style Medieval Up to 1450 Duffay (France)

Dunstable (England) Traveling musicians

Lutes Recorders All male singers Pipe & Tabors Fiddles

Plainchant (Monks) Dance music with drum

Renaissance 1450-1600 Palestrina (Italy) Monteverdi (Italy) Byrd (England)

Lutes All male singers Viols Sackbuts

Secular: motets & madrigals (fa-la-la) Sacred: Mass (Modal)

Baroque 1600-1750 Bach (German) Handel (German) Vivaldi (Italian) Purcell (England)

Organ Small orchestra String Instruments Male & female voices Harpsichord Basso Continuo

Opera Oratorio Concerto Grosso Solo Concerto Ground Bass Diatonic

Classical 1750-c1820 Mozart (Austrian) Haydn (Austrian) Beethoven (German)

Piano Larger orchestra Clarinet invented

Symphony Sonata String Quartet Simple Melodies

Romantic c1820-1900 Beethoven (German) Tchaikovsky (Russian) Grieg (Norway)

Large orchestra Composers inspired by stories and nature Tone Poem Experimented with discordant harmony

20th Century 1900 onwards Stravinsky (Russian) Reich (American) Schoenberg (Austrian) Stockhausen (German)

Large orchestra Electronic instruments

Atonal Electronic music Chance music Minimalism Experimentalism Serialism


All music falls into two categories: Instrumental and Vocal. In the boxes below are different types of pieces that could be written.

Instrumental Pieces (played by instruments):

Symphony Concerto Concerto Grosso Sonata String Quartet Dance Music

Vocal Pieces (sung pieces, sometimes with instruments): Opera Aria Recitative

Chorus Madrigal Complete the following table to show when each style/genre was used.

Renaissance Baroque Classical Romantic Modern (20th Century) Symphony Symphony Symphony

10.1 Opera & Oratorio Opera = Oratorio = Both are made up of three other types of vocal music: Recitative, Aria and Choruses.

Complete the following sentences.

A chorus is ….. I can recognise a chorus by……..


An Aria is …..

I can recognise an Aria by……..

A recitative is ….. I can recognise a Recitative by……..

10.2 Instrumental music A Sonata is ….. I can recognise a chorus by……..

A String Quartet is ….. I can recognise a chorus by……..

Dance Music is ….. I can recognise a chorus by……..

A Symphony is ….. I can recognise a chorus by……..

A Solo Concerto is ….. I can recognise a chorus by……..

Concerto Grosso is ….. I can recognise a chorus by……..

Task: Listen to the following pieces and fill in your listening logs.


Chords, Cadences, & Modulation: 11 11.1 Labeling chords Chords can be labeled in the ‘popular way’ [C] = Cmaj, [Fm] = Fm; or in the conventional way using Roman Numerals. At GCSE you need to know the following chords I IV V You may remember this from the blues work in Y9 In C major, I, IV, V refer to the chords built on the 1st, 4th, and 5th degrees of the scale. Why do you have to think carefully about chord V in G major? __________________________ Trying playing through this progression in C major, G major, E major, and F major I I IV I V I IV I

11.2 Cadences Cadences are the musical equivalent of punctuation. They are very important and come up in every exam paper. There are four types you need to know: Perfect: V-I Sounds finished The full stop in music Imperfect: I-V Sounds unfinished The comma in music Plagal: IV-I Sounds finished but with Amen Interrupted V-VI Sounds unfinished and the last chord is surprising


Use Auralia and try to work out the cadences. Play each cadence in the following keys: Dm, D, G, Am

11.3 Modulation Modulation means to change key during a composition. In simple pieces there may be no modulation e.g. a piece may begin, continue, and end in C major. This is fine for short pieces. In longer pieces, the audience’s interest needs to be sustained. This can be done through modulating. Even pop songs tend to modulate towards the end for a climatic effect!! How does modulation come into my GCSE? Very simply, you may come across modulation in two areas of your GCSE music:

1. If you want to gain better marks in your composition, you need to modulate somewhere. 2. A piece may be presented to you in your listening exam and you need to identify that it has

modulated.

11.4 How does a piece of music modulate ? This is in fact very simple. Pieces of music always modulate to closely related keys. You will remember that the primary chords in any key are I, IV, V. The first, fourth, and fifth degrees of a scale have other names as well:

I Tonic IV SubdominantV Dominant

Let’s assume that a piece is in the key of ‘C major’, therefore the following table would read:


G Major

Subdominant Dominant Relative Minor

Now that you know these three terms, we can discuss the related keys that you can modulate to. The close related keys of any key are the subdominant, dominant, and relative key (major/minor). Therefore, if we are in ‘C Major’ we can modulate to the subdominant, dominant or relative minor of C major. Fill in the following table.

When I have decided what key to modulate to, how do I go about it?

1. Start by using notes that belong to the key you want to modulate to. It is a good idea to use the notes that don’t belong to the key you started in.

2. Play a perfect cadence in the new key. If your piece started in G major, what would the keys be that you could modulate to? Fill in the table below, also fill in the notes you would have to begin adding (or taking away) and the chords of the cadence you would need to use to establish the new key. Related Keys Notes to be added/ taken away Cadence Chords

C Major

Subdominant Dominant Relative Minor

C Major

Tonic I

Subdominant IV

Dominant V


The table below helps define modulation further.

Listen to this piece by Bach and be prepared to discuss it.

1. What is the form of this piece ?

2. What period of music is it from and why ?

3. What key is the piece in at the beginning ?

4. What bar does the music begin to modulate?


5. What note is introduced to begin the modulation ?

6. What key is the music modulating to at this point ?

7. What is required to complete the modulation ?

8. What bars can this be found in ?

9. The piece modulates again towards the end. Which bar sees the beginning of this

modulation ?

10. What key is the piece in by bar 32 ?

Musical Elements: 12

The following list consists of the elements that make up music. For your GCSE, you will be expected to answer closed questions such as: tick the features of this piece (Qu.1) and more open, freer questions like the one below.

“The piece you are about to hear describes an aquarium. How does the composer achieve this ?”

This second type of question tests your musical knowledge as well as your listening skills. Such questions appear difficult because you have no clues; this is where Dr. Matt Mists (PhD) comes in ! When faced with such a question, you should turn to musical elements for guidance. For this reason you must memorise this list for the purpose of you exam.

Dr. Matt Mists (PhD):

Devices Rhythm Melody

Articulation Texture Tempo Metre

Instrumentation Structure Tonality

Style Pitch

Harmony Dynamics


Devices Drone = usually two notes sustained in the bass Ostinato = repeated pattern Ground Bass =a repeating bass part Variation = Repetition = Sequence = Imitation = Inversion = Augmentation = Diminution = Decoration (Ornamentation) = Instrumental devices = pizz, distortion, muting

Rhythm The length of notes. Not to be confused with tempo. You can have a semiquaver passage in a relatively slow tempo

Swing Syncopation

Melody Relates to pitches. You should use the word melody instead of ‘tune.’

Disjunct = leaps about Conjunct =next-door notes

Articulation

Staccato Legato

Texture This relates to how many ‘things’ are going on at the same time and how they relate Monophonic = one line. One note at a time Homophonic = tune with chords underneath Polyphonic = loads of tunes played simultaneously Heterophonic = A tune and variation played simultaneously. Tempo Tempo means speed. To ascertain the tempo, tap your foot along with the music and then decide how fast your foot is tapping. BMP or Italian terms Metre Literally the Time Signature Instrumentation What instruments are playing? Structure

AB (or AABB) = Binary form


ABA = Ternary form ABACADAE etc. = Rondo form Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus = Song form A A1 A2 A3 etc = Theme and variation form.

Tonality

Major Minor Pentatonic Atonal

Style This relates to the period of composition. Baroque Classical Romantic 20th Century: Blues Reggae Musical Club Dance Remix Serialism Minimalism Experimentalism Electronic Music Pitch This relates to notes used, i.e. high pitched, low pitched. High pitches can sound strained or tense while low pitches can sound spooky or mysterious. Harmony Harmony is the opposite of melody. It relates to what is played with the melody, the accompaniment. When you talk about chords, you are discussing harmony: therefore instead of “the piece uses a lot of minor chords” it is better to say that “the harmony of the piece is mainly minor.” Sometimes you will need to talk about how often the harmony changes i.e. how often the chords change. Dynamics A difficult term that only means volume (i.e. how loud the music is).

You will now be asked to complete some listening exercises in which you are expected to use musical elements.


Index

20th Century, 25, 26, 34

A A Tempo, 22 Accelrando, 22 Accidentals, 2, 4 Adagio, 22 Allegro, 22 Andante, 22 Aria, 26, 27 arpeggio, 19 Articulation, 32, 33 Atonal, 25, 34

B Bach, 25, 31 Bar line, 4 Baroque, 25, 26, 34 bass, 4, 5, 8, 33 Bass Drum Bassoon

Cello Clarinet Double Bass, 20

beats, 7 Brace, 4 Brass, 21

C Cadences, 2, 28 Chance music, 25 Chords, 2, 18, 19, 28, 30 chorus, 26, 27 Classical, 25, 26, 34 Compound, 2, 9 Con sordino, 22 Concerto Grosso, 25, 26,

27

D devices, 24, 33 Devices, 2, 23, 32, 33 Diatonic, 25 discordant, 25

Dominant, 29 Dots, 2, 6 Double bar, 4 dynamics, 10, 14, 20 Dynamics, 2, 10, 32, 34

E Electronic music, 25 Espressivo, 22 Experimentalism, 25, 34

F flats, 4, 16

G Glissando, 22 Ground Bass, 25, 33 Grouping Rhythms, 2, 7

H Harmony, 2, 14, 32, 34 Harpsichord, 25

I improvise, 18, 20 Instrumentation, 32, 33 intervals, 24 Inversions, 2, 19 invert, 20 inverting, 19

K key signature, 16, 17 Key Signatures, 2, 16

L Ledger lines, 2, 5 Legato, 22, 33 Lento, 22 Lines, 2, 4

M madrigals, 25 major, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20,

28, 29, 30 Major, 2, 14, 17, 30, 34 Mass, 25 Medieval, 25 Melody, 32, 33 Metre, 32, 33 Minimalism, 25, 34 Minor, 2, 15, 17, 34 Moderato, 22 Modulation, 2, 28, 29

N naturals, 4 Note tail direction, 2, 8

O Opera, 2, 25, 26 Oratorio, 2, 25, 26 Orchestra, 2, 20 Ornaments, 2, 22

P pentatonic, 18 Pentatonic, 2, 18, 34 Percussion, 21 piano, 4, 20 Pitch, 2, 3, 32, 34 Pizz, 22 Presto, 22

R recitative, 27 relative, 17, 30 Renaissance, 25, 26 Rests, 2, 8 rhymes, 4 Rhythm, 2, 6, 32, 33 Ritardando, 22 Romantic, 25, 26, 34

S scale, 17, 18, 20, 28, 29 Scales, 2, 14, 15, 18 Semitone, 14 Semitones, 2, 14 Serialism, 25, 34 sharps, 4, 16 Simple, 2, 9, 25 Solo Concerto, 25, 27 Sonata, 25, 26, 27 Staccato, 22, 33 stave, 16 Stave, 4 String Quartet, 25, 26, 27 Strings, 21 Structure, 32, 34 Style, 25, 32, 34 Subdominant, 29 Symphony, 25, 26, 27

T Tempo, 32, 33 Texture, 32, 33 Ties, 2, 6 Time Signatures, 2, 7, 9 Tonality, 32, 34 Tone, 14, 25 Tones, 2, 14 Tonic, 29 transpose, 18 treble, 4, 5 Trombone, 20 Tutti, 22

V Viola, 20 Violin, 20

W Woodwind, 21

X Xylophone, 20

music theory booklet

Documents

time signatures bar

ledger lines

note tail direction

dots ties

grouping rhythms

scales harmony

tones semitones