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- 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.
- 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
• 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
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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.
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:
• 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:
Clef:
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:
Time Signatures:
- 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
= =
Time signature in simple meter - will always have either 2, 3, or 4 for the top number.
Odd time signatures: could contain simple and compound beats; order of the beats does not matter.
- 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)
- Sharps – positive
- Flats – negative
Diatonic Triads
University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer
Non-harmonic tones (non-chord tones) – notes that do not belong in a certain chord
- 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.
Circle Progressions
Neapolitan Chords
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University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music - Reviewer
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