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University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

• Harmony – multiple notes/voices played simultaneously.


- Dissonant harmony – unpleasant and unstable (2nds, 7ths, 9ths)
- Consonant harmony – pleasant and unstable (unison, 3rds, 5ths, octaves)
• Melody – succession of notes/voices arranged into a phrase.
- Pitch – how high or low a note will sound. Arranging pitches in a series creates a melody.
- Rhythm – or duration, length of a pitch.

Two types of Melodic Motion

- Conjunct motion – when notes move by whole or half steps. (natural and comfortable)
- Disjunct motion – larger leaps between notes. (difficult, less memorable and smooth sounding)
• Rhythm
- Recurring movement of notes and rests in time. Human perception of time.
- Pattern of repeating strong and weak notes/voices.

- Beat – repeating pulse within a measure - Strong beats – downbeats


- Meter – specific pattern of strong/weak - Weak beats – offbeats between
pulses downbeats
- Time Signature – number of beats per - Syncopation – rhythms that
measure accent/emphasize offbeats
- Tempo – beats per minute (BPM), how - Accents – the intensity/emphases on
fast/slow a piece plays notes

• Musical Notes and Intervals


- Music Alphabet – A, B, C, D, E, F, G
- 12 notes - all repeat upwards and down in octaves (Flat - ♭; Sharp - #)
- White keys - A, B, C, D, E, F, G
- Black keys - A#/B♭, C#/D♭, D#/E♭, F#/G♭, G#/A♭
University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

- Intervals – distance between two notes (when counting intervals, always start at the first one)
- Accidentals are ignored when measuring generic intervals, only staff position matters

- C-C#, D-D♭, and A#-A♭ are still firsts -

- Specific intervals include perfect, major, and minor intervals


- Perfect - 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th
- Major and Minor – 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th
(a minor interval is one less half step than a major interval)
- Described with number (distance) and prefix (quality)
- Number - 1st (unison), 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th (octave)
- Prefix - major (M), minor (m), perfect (P), augmented (A), and diminished (d)
- Half Step interval – 1 semitone
- Whole Step interval – 2 semitones
- 2 half steps = 1 whole step; 2 whole steps = 4 half steps

• Octaves
- the next highest or lowest pitch of the same note.
- there are 12 semitones in an octave.

• Key Signatures
- tell you what notes in a scale are sharp (♯) or flat (♭).
- there are 12 key signatures, each derived from the twelve available notes.
University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

• Musical Scale and Modes

- Major scale - bright, uplifting, and happy sounding.


W-W-H-W-W-W-H (whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half)
- Minor scale - dark, sad, and emotional sounding.
W-H-W-W-H-W-W (whole-half-whole-whole-half-whole-whole)

- Scale Degrees - each note of a scale has a specific name related to its function, called a scale degree. The
name is the function, and a number indicates its position on the scale.

1st – Tonic 5th – Dominant


2nd – Supertonic 6th – Submediant
3rd – Mediant 7th – Leading Tone/Subtonic
4th – Subdominant 8th - Tonic
University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

- The subdominant is the same distance below the tonic as the dominant is above it (generic fifth)
- Prefix sub is Latin for “under” or “beneath.”
- Super is Latin for “above.”

- Mediant – middle of tonic and dominant


- Submediant – middle of tonic and subdominant
- Seventh note
- if half step below the tonic – leading tone (occurs in harmonic minor and melodic minor)
- if whole step below the tonic – subtonic (occurs in natural minor)

- A number with a caret may also be used to indicate scale degree.

- Music Modes - scales derived from a parent scale


- each mode is a slight variation of a scale.
- use all the same notes and interval patterns as the parent scale.

I – Ionian (major scale)


ii – Dorian (major scale starting on the 2nd degree)
iii – Phrygian (major scale starting on the 3rd degree)
IV – Lydian (major scale starting on the 4th degree)
V – Mixolydian (major scale starting on the 5th degree)
vi – Aeolian (natural minor scale or major scale starting on the 6th degree)
vii – Locrian (major scale starting on the 7th degree)
University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

- Counterpoint
- the relationship between two or more melody lines played at the same time.
- these melodies or voices work together to create pleasant-sounding harmonies.
- melodies that create counterpoint are dependent on each other to create harmony; they are independent
in rhythm and contour.

• Chords, Chord Extensions, and Chord Inversions


- Chords
- combination of two or more notes played at the same time.
- built off a single starting note called the root.

4 basic types of chords:


- Major – root, major 3rd and perfect 5th
- Minor – root, minor 3rd and perfect 5th
- Diminished – root, minor 3rd and diminished (flat) 5th (6 semitones above the root)
- Augmented – root, major 3rd and augmented (sharp) 5th (8 semitones above the root)

Triad chords
- root note, a 3rd (four semitones above the root), and a perfect 5th (seven semitones above the root)
- the foundation for complex chords; you can create 7th and 9th cords by adding notes above a triad.

Seventh chords
- root note, a 3rd, a perfect 5th, and a 7th
- 5 main types of seventh chords:

Major 7th chord - root note, major 3rd, perfect 5th, major 7th
Minor 7th chord - root note, minor 3rd, perfect 5th, minor 7th
Minor-Major chord – root note, minor 3rd, perfect 5th, major 7th
Dominant 7th chord - root note, major 3rd, perfect 5th, minor 7th
Diminished 7th chord - root note, minor 3rd, diminished (flat) 5th, diminished (flat) 7th
Half-diminished 7th chord - root note, minor 3rd, diminished (flat) 5th, minor 7th
University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

- Chord Extensions
- notes added to the basic triad beyond the seventh.
- these notes extend into the next octave.
- Four chord extensions: the 9th, 11th, and 13th

- Chord Inversions
- First Inversion – transposes the root note up one octave. The third of the triad becomes the bass note.
- Second Inversion – transposes the inverted triad again. The fifth of the triad becomes the bass note.

Triad Inversion:

Seventh Inversion:

- Chord Progressions - or a harmonic progression, is an ordered series of chords.


University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

• Roman Numeral Analysis


- roman numerals indicate the chords in a progression.
- Uppercase Roman numerals - major chords
- Lowercase numerals - minor chords
Example: a chord progression in the key of C: I-vi-IV-V (C-Am-F-G)

• Voice Leading
- the linear movement between melodic lines or voices to create a single musical idea.
- focuses on the smooth movement of notes from one chord to the next using common sounding tones.

Staff:

- Modern staff - 5 lines, 4 spaces

Clef:

- Top Staff - Treble Clef - G Clef - 2nd line

- Bottom Staff - Bass Clef - F Clef - 4th line

Ledger line - staff extender

Grand Staff - theoretical staff of 11 lines- remove the middle line/ middle C = 2 reg. staffs

Note Duration:

- Whole note
- Half note
- Quarter note
- Notes smaller in duration than a quarter note has flags; each flag halves the value of the note.
- Eighth note
- Sixteenth note

Bar Lines:

- divide staff into measures.


University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

Time Signatures:

- the amount and type of notes each measure contains.

Rests – period of silence in a measure.

- Whole rest
- Half rest
- Quarter rest
- Rests smaller in duration than a quarter note has flags; each flag halves the value of the note.
- Eighth note
- Sixteenth note

Augmentation dots and Tenuto ties

- A dot increases duration by ½


University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

= =

Ties – merge multiple notes of the same pitch.

Accidental – flat and sharp, double flat, double sharp

Number of beats in a measure – simple, duple, quadruple

Simple – each beat can be broken into 2 notes.

Simple Duple – 2/4, 2/2, 2/8


University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

Simple Triple – 3/4, 3/2, 3/8

Simple Quadruple – 4/4, 4/2, 4/8

Time signature in simple meter - will always have either 2, 3, or 4 for the top number.

Compound – each beat can be broken into 3 notes.

- Six eighth notes could either be compound duple or simple triple


- Any time signature with a 6 on top is compound duple.

- Compound triple - any time signature with a 9 on top is compound triple.


University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

- Compound quadruple - any time signature with a 12 on top is compound triple.

Odd time signatures: could contain simple and compound beats; order of the beats does not matter.

8/8 and 4/4 are not the same

Key Signature – collection of every accidental found on a scale

- Instead of writing a flat/sharp next to every flat/sharp note of the scale; we can simply add a key signature
to the beginning of the measure

Flat key signatures – B, E, A, D, G, C, F (Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’ Father)
University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

Sharp key signatures – F, C, G, D, A, E, B (Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle)

Key Signature Calculation

- Sharps – positive
- Flats – negative

Diatonic Triads
University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

Roman Numeral Analysis

Uppercase – Major triads Uppercase with plus sign – augmented triads

Lowercase – Minor triads Lowercase with small circle – diminished triads

Diatonic Seventh Chords

Roman Numeral Analysis: Seventh Chords

Non-harmonic tones (non-chord tones) – notes that do not belong in a certain chord

- Step – equal to an interval of a generic second.


- Skip – equal to an interval of a generic third or more.
University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

- Passing tone – approached by step then continues by step in the same direction.
- Accented passing tone – occurs with the second chord, instead of in the middle of two chords)

- Neighboring tone - approached by step then returns by step to the original note.
- Accented neighboring tone - occurs with the second chord.

- Anticipation (ant.) - approached by step then remains the same. A note on the second chord played early.

- Escape tone (ET) - approached by step and then skips in the opposite direction.
University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

- Appoggiatura (app.) - approached by skip and then steps in the opposite direction. Are accented.

- Suspension (sus.) – keeps a note the same and then steps downward.
- Retardation (ret.) – keeps a note the same and then steps upward.
- Both are accented.

- Charging tones (CT) – two nonharmonic notes in succession.


- First nonharmonic note - approached by step and then skips in the opposite direction to the second
nonharmonic note.
- Second nonharmonic note – resolves by step.
- Sometimes called double neighboring tones or a neighbor group.

Phrases and Cadences


University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

Circle Progressions

Neapolitan Chords

<>
University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer

https://iconcollective.edu/basic-music-theory/
https://www.musictheory.net/lessons

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