Orchestra Final Exam Review

Name:_______________________________ Date:______________

The order of Flats as they appear in the key signature: BEADGCF

Example:
If there are 5 flats in the key signature, the flats will be: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, in that order.

The order of Sharps as they appear in the key signature: FCGDAEB

Example:
If there are 5 sharps in the key signature, the sharps will be: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, in that order.

How to Identify Major Key Signatures:

When identifying FLAT key signatures:

Going from left to right, find the last flat on the right and go back one. This 2nd to last flat tells you the name of
the key signature.
For example:

Going from left to right, the first flat is B∫. The very last flat in this example is Cb. The 2nd to last flat is Gb.
Therefore, this is identified as the key of Gb Major. All major key signatures with flats will have the “b” next to
the letter except for one…

The exception to the flat rule: The “Funky” one

This key only has one flat and therefore you can not use the rule mentioned above looking to the second to last
flat. This key is: F. FM (“M” for Major) is the only major key signature with flats that does NOT have a ∫ next
to its name. It is simply called F Major or “FM.”

When identifying SHARP key signatures:

Going from left to right, find the last sharp on the right and go up one half step. This will tell you the name of
the key signature.
For example:

Going from left to right, the first sharp is F#. The very last sharp in this example is A#. One half step above A#
(which sounds the same as B∫) is B natural or simply “B.” Therefore, the name of this key signature is B Major,
or “BM.”

Most major key signatures with sharps will simply be the letter name (GM, DM, AM, EM, BM). However, the
key signature with 6 sharps and 7 sharps will have a # next to the letter. The key with 6 sharps (F#, C#, G#, D#,
A#, and E#) is called F# Major or “F#M” and NOT “FM” because the F in the key signature is already marked
sharp (and we know from above that “FM” contains only one flat in the key signature). Same with the key of 7
sharps (F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, and B#) is called C# Major or “C#M” and NOT “CM” because the C in the key
signature is already marked sharp. When there are no sharps or flats in the key signature, we identify it as C
Major or “CM”.

Practice Identifying: (Your clef only)

Treble Clef:

1. ___________ 2. ___________ 3. ___________ 4. _______ 5. ______________

6. ______________ 7. _____________ 8. _________ 9. ____________ 10. _________

Alto Clef:

1. __________ 2. _________ 3. __________________ 4. _____________ 5. __________

6. __________ 7. ______________ 8. _______ 9. __________________ 10. ______________

Bass Clef:

1. __________ 2. _________ 3. __________________ 4. _____________ 5. __________

6. __________ 7. ______________ 8. _______ 9. __________________ 10. ______________

How to Identify Minor Key Signatures (1st and 2nd period only):

When identifying minor key signatures:

Start by finding the Major key signature first.
(This example has 3 sharps. Regardless of the clef, 3 sharps in the key signature are ALWAYS: F#, C#, and G#.
Using the rules stated in the “How to Identify Major Key Signatures”, this key is A Major or “AM”.)
There are 2 methods of identifying the minor key signature (when you know what the Major key is):

Parallel Minor
Relative Minor

The Parallel Minor shares the same letter name as the Major key signature. The example above is A Major.
The Parallel Minor of A Major is A Minor. Parallel keys share the same letter name as the Major key. Parallel
keys DO NOT share the same key signature!

The Relative Minor shares the same key signature as the Major key signature. The example above is A Major
and contains 3 sharps. The Relative Minor also contains 3 sharps. In order to find the Relative Minor:
-Start with the Major Key, which in this case is “AM”, then go 3 half steps down from it to find the minor key
signature. A to G# is 1 half step. G# to G is 1 half step. G to F# is 1 half step. Therefore, A to F# is a total of 3
half steps. So in this particular example, the key signature is F# minor.

Let’s do another example:

This major key is Db Major (there are 5 flats which are ALWAYS: B∫,E∫,A∫,D∫,G∫).
What is the Relative Minor of Db Major? We need to go down 3 half steps from D∫ to find the answer.
D∫ to C is 1 half step. C to B is 1 half step. B to B∫ is 1 half step. Therefore, Db to Bb is 3 half steps. The
Relative Minor for this example is Bb Minor.

What would the Parallel Minor be? (Remember, they share the same letter name as the Major key).
The Parallel Minor of D∫ Major is Db Minor.

Go back and write in the RELATIVE Minor on the previous practice page for your clef.

Reading Time Signatures (All)

When identifying time signatures, let’s start with the bottom number and pretend that it looks like a fraction:
The bottom number tells us the kind or value of the note in each measure. The example to the left is a 4. If
we were to cover up the top number and pretend that it looked like a fraction, it would look like ¼. One
fourth is also known as a “Quarter”. Therefore, the bottom number in this example states that the Quarter note
gets the pulse.
The top number tells us how many of each kind of note we will have in each measure. This example has a 5 for
the top number. Therefore, there are 5 quarter notes worth of music in each measure. Let’s look at some
examples on the next page.
Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4

In Example 1, we see the bottom number is a 4. If we cover up the top number and pretend it is a fraction, it
looks like one fourth, or a quarter. This means that the quarter note is the pulse and defining value of the
measure. The top number is a 4 which tells us the number of quarter notes we have in each measure. Therefore,
there are 4 quarter notes worth of music in each measure. Important Note: We say “worth of music in each
measure” because there can be other note/rest values (such as eighths, sixteenths, etc.) in each measure.
However in this example, they must all equal 4 quarters worth of music.

Example 2 has a 2 as the bottom note. Cover up the top number like we did before, and it looks like ½ or one
half. The half note is the value for this measure. The top number tells us how many half notes we have in each
measure. In this example, there are 2 half notes worth of music in each measure.

Example 3 has a 1 as the bottom note. Cover up the top number as we did before and it would like 1/1 or a
whole. The whole note is the value for this measure. The top number tells us how many whole notes we have in
each measure. In this example, there are 2 whole notes worth of music in each measure.

Example 4 has an 8 as the bottom note. Cover up the top number and it would like 1/8 or an “eighth.” The
eighth note is the value for this measure. The top number tells us how many eighth notes we have in each
measure. In this example, there are 3 eighth notes worth of music in each measure.

What’s missing from the measures below? (Fill in the missing values).

Example 5 Example 6 Example 7

More Vocab:
Common Time - This is the most common time signature and can also look like:

Cut Time - This can look like:

Legato - Indicates the notes should be smoothly connected, played either in one or several bows (slurs are often
used with the legato bow stroke).
Staccato - indicates the bow should remain on the string to play shortened and detached notes, distinctly
separate from successive notes.
Spiccato - is an off-the-string, controlled bouncing bow stroke which produces a crisp sound and very short
notes. It is the slowest of the bouncing strokes.
Ritardando - Gradually slow down
Sul Tasto - Play over the fingerboard to get a softer, thinner tone.
Tempos:
- Grave – slow and solemn (20–40 BPM)
- Lento – slowly (40–45 BPM)
- Largo – broadly (45–50 BPM)
- Adagio – slow and stately (literally, “at ease”) (55–65 BPM)
- Adagietto – rather slow (65–69 BPM)
- Andante – at a walking pace (73–77 BPM)
- Moderato – moderately (86–97 BPM)
- Allegretto – moderately fast (98–109 BPM)
- Allegro – fast, quickly and bright (109–132 BPM)
- Vivace – lively and fast (132–140 BPM)
- Presto – extremely fast (168–177 BPM)
- Prestissimo – even faster than Presto (178 BPM and over)