NOTES

Pitch is the quality that allows us to classify a sound as relatively high or low. Pitch is determined by the frequency of sound wave vibrations. However, frequency is a precise scientific unit of measurement; while pitch, although defined by its frequency, also has a subjective component that takes into account the relative placement of the frequency within the context of an established tuning system and in relation to other frequencies.

Interval is a difference in pitch between two sounds. An interval may be described as horizontal, linear, or melodic if it refers to successively sounding tones, such as two adjacent pitches in a melody, and vertical or harmonic if it pertains to simultaneously sounding tones, such as in a chord.

ACCIDENTALS

♯

A sharp raises a note by a half step. Instead of the original note, you should play the note that is a half step above (on the right of the piano).

♭

A flat lowers a note by a half step. Instead of the original note, you should play the note that is a half step below (on the left of the piano).

♮

A natural cancels the effect of another accidental.

https://www.musicca.com/accidentals

TASK:

Construct the following scales on a staff using a treble clef.

G major

A major

F sharp major

20/05/2022

Glossary Terms

12/04/2022

Dynamics are a crucial way to convey a piece’s mood, and your use of them is a significant aspect of your performance.

Composers use dynamics to change the mood. There are times when a piece has relatively few dynamics and other times when it has a lot of them.

The dynamics are described with Italian music terms and each one has a unique abbreviation.

• Pianissimo (very soft ) pp;

• Piano (soft) p;

• Mezzo piano (moderately soft) mp;

• Mezzo forte (moderately loud) mf;

• Forte (loud) f;

• Fortissimo (very loud) ff;

• Crescendo (gradually louder) cresc. or ;

• Diminuendo (gradually softer) dim. or ;

• Fortepiano (loud, then immediately soft) fp;

• Rinforzando (reinforced) rfz or rf;

-Describe and demonstrate different dynamics in recordings.

05/06/2022

Tone colour

Tone color in music refers to Timbre, which is the individual sound of an instrument or voice that distinguishes it from other instruments or voices. In other words, tone color refers to the unique qualities of each instrument’s sound.

This is why the same note on two different instruments sounds different, and it’s also why a musical passage can be played with or without vibrato and still sound pleasant or unpleasant.

Tone color refers to the distinctive qualities of a sound. In music, different instruments use different methods to produce a sound which, in turn, cause them to have different tone colors. For example, a violin produces the characteristic sound referred to as “bright,” whereas an electric guitar produces a heavier sound referred to as “deep.”

-Listen to different music and describe the different tone colours of instruments and voices.

Words that describe tone color

The words vary depending on what instrument is being described. Here are some that can be used to describe tone color:

Brighter: It means high tones.

Warmer: Refers to the low tones.

Harsher: Hard attack and less harmonic content (less amplitude in higher frequencies) in the sound or instrument.

Softer: This means a long and smooth attack and more harmonic content (more amplitude in higher frequencies) in the sound or instrument.

Cleaner: A more pronounced harmonic content in the sound or instrument.

Dirtier: Less prominent harmonic content in the sound or instrument.

Edgier: Sharper attacks and more prominent higher frequencies of sound.

Fuller: Richer, more complex tone with strong lower frequencies.

10/06/2022

Performing Rhythms

14/06/2022

Performing Melodies

17/06/2022

HARMONY

What Is Harmony?

Harmony is the composite product when individual musical voices group together to form a cohesive whole. Think of an orchestra: the flute player may be playing one note, the violinist plays a different note, and the trombonist plays yet a different note. But when their individual parts are heard together, harmony is created.

How Is Harmony Represented in Music?

Harmony is typically analyzed as a series of chords. In that hypothetical orchestra, let’s say that the flutist was playing a high A, the violinist bowed a C#, and the trombonist sustained an F#. Together, those three notes comprise an F# minor triad. Therefore, even though each instrumentalist was only playing a single note, together they played an F# minor chord.

• 1. When all the instruments in an ensemble are playing notes that fit the same chord, it is known as a consonant chord.

• 2. But when players employ a melodic line that does not fit with a set chord (such as an oboist playing a Bb when the rest of the orchestra is playing the tones of a D major triad), it is known as a dissonant chord.

• 3. This isn’t to say that some harmonies aren’t intentionally dissonant. Perhaps the composer of that hypothetical piece wanted to hear a Bb over a D chord (in terms of music theory, the note’s harmonic function would be the flat 6th scale degree), even though it wouldn’t be the most pleasing combination to most fans of Western music.

-Demonstrate harmony(counter point and four part harmony)

Form

Shape of structure of a composition.

Types of Form

Binary

The rounded binary form took on great importance in the late 18th century, when it was expanded and elaborated into what is known as sonata form (also called sonata-allegro or first movement form), which may be represented thus: ‖: exposition :‖ ‖: development recapitulation :‖, whereby the kinship to the ‖: a :‖ ‖: b a:‖ structure of rounded binary form is clear. Ordinarily, in the exposition the principal musical themes are stated; in the development they are subjected to a process of working out and variation; and, finally, in the recapitulation they are restated. Sometimes the scheme is enlarged by adding a slow introduction before the exposition or a coda (concluding passage) at the end, or both. This formal principle, usually treated with a certain freedom, has been of basic importance in Western instrumental music since the mid-18th century.

Ternary

Another basic reverting type is ternary (three-part) form, a b a, also known as “song form” because of its frequent use in that genre, as well as in character pieces for piano. The form dominates the aria in late Baroque opera (the da capo aria, in which the final statement of a is not written out, but the performers simply follow the written instruction da capo, meaning “from the beginning,” and repeat the first part). The da capo principle also appears in the instrumental minuet and scherzo with trio.

Rondo

On a larger scale are refrain schemes, in which contrasting episodes appear between statements of the refrain. In instrumental music this is found most often in a five-part arrangement, the rondo, frequently a b a c a b a; but many departures from the form occur, most common being the replacement of c by a development passage, usually based on the rondo theme. This important variant, known as the sonata-rondo, is particularly associated with Joseph Haydn. The refrain principle also appears in the rondeau of 18th-century French harpsichord music, in which there is no set limit to the number of episodes. The third movements of concertos, with the reversions of the tutti or ritornello (passage for full orchestra) and the intervening episodes for the solo instrument or instruments, are also of this type, as occasionally are large operatic arias.

Strophic types

The strophic type is seen in hymns and traditional ballads, in which different poetic strophes are set to the same melody. Thus, while the melody of a single stanza may accord with one of the reverting types, the hymn or ballad as a whole is strophic; this also applies to the fixed forms of medieval music and to many other types of song, simple and complex.

The instrumental equivalent of the strophic type is variation (or theme and variation) form, in which a musical theme, often a complete melody with a harmonic accompaniment, is stated and then repeated a number of times, but with variations. A clear example of the relation between variation and strophic form is the chorale-partita of the Baroque era, a keyboard piece based on a hymn, with each varied statement of the hymn tune corresponding to a strophe of the hymn text. But the structure is more common in independent instrumental compositions, often of considerable dimensions (e.g., Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations for piano). In the Baroque a common type was the ostinato, or variations on a ground, in which the composition was built on a recurring melodic or harmonic pattern, generally in the bass, the accompanying parts being varied with each statement of the pattern, as in Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor for organ or his “Chaconne” from the Partita in D Minor for unaccompanied violin. This procedure is also found in early operatic arias in the strophic variation form, in which each statement of the ostinato corresponds to a strophe of the aria’s text. In the 19th century Brahms made impressive use of the ostinato (finales of the Variations on a Theme by Haydn and the Symphony No. 4 in E Minor).

TEXTURE

What Does Texture Mean in Music?

Where once only a single melody was either sung or played, whether by a single musician, singer, or choir, such as in the Gregorian chants of the early medieval period, now many layers of sound are common. Melodies are frequently supplemented with harmony, bass, background vocals and orchestration, and countermelodies. The definition of texture, then, is the combination of the many different parts of music, including melody, harmony, bass, and rhythm to produce a composition.

How to Describe Texture

Just like physical things – food, clothing, toys, buildings, etc. – have texture, so does music, although, because you can’t physically touch music, musical texture is characterized by sound instead.

As we mentioned above, texture can be described in a lot of different ways.

A piece of music has a thick texture if there are many layers of instruments, or a lot of melodies and harmonies being played at the same time.

A thin texture, on the other hand, is one where there are only a few instruments playing, or there are only one or two melodies and harmonies.

An open texture, or perhaps a wide or spacious texture, is when a piece of music has a large gap between the highest and lowest notes.

The opposite of this is called a closed or tight texture, and is where all of the singers or instruments are playing notes that are really close together.

However, the most common terms to describe texture in music all describe how many voices, or parts, a piece of music has, and how the melodic part relates to the harmonic parts.

The Different Types of Texture

As we covered above, there are a number of different ways to describe texture in music.

These terms are monophonic, homophonic, and polyphonic which we’ll take a look at next.

Monophonic

Monophonic texture is the simplest of the three main types of texture in music.

It consists of one melody, or tune, played or sung by a single person, or in unison.

There is no harmonic accompaniment, and no other music being made except for the melody.

Homophonic

The next type of texture is called homophonic texture.

Just like mono meant “one”, homo means “same” or “similar”, so this type of texture is one where you can have multiple different notes playing, but they’re all based around the same melody.

This is the most common type of texture in Western music, and it covers the vast majority of pop songs, where a singer sings a melody over a guitar or piano as accompaniment.

Polyphonic

The third type of musical texture is called polyphonic texture.

The word poly means “many” or “multiple” in Greek, and therefore polyphonic texture is when there are multiple independent melody lines occurring at once.

Think of it as two (or more) parts basically doing their own thing.

02/07/22

APPLY SOFTWARE USING NOTATION

SOFTWARE BASIS

06/07/22

EMPLOY TIME SIGNATURE

-Change time signature in setup wizard.

-Change time signature in default document.

10/07/22

EMPLOY TIME SIGNATURE

-Change key signature in setup wizard.

-Change key signature in default document.

20/07/22

NOTE INPUT/RHYTHM

28/07/22

USING SIGNS

EXPORTING PDF

Creating PDF files from Finale for Windows

If you are using a PC with Windows 7 – 8.1, simply open Finale’s File menu, go to Export and then select PDF. Now, just save the file where it is convenient for you, and you’re done! You can see the process in action above (click on the animated GIF if you’d like it to appear larger).

If you are using Windows 10, you will also have an alternative option to use. Within the Print dialog, Windows 10 users can also select Print to PDF as an OS native printer.

TERM THREE

21/09/22

REVISION ON THE FOLLOWING

Demonstrate Note input

● Inputting notes and rests in software notation

Demonstrate Rhythm input

● Inputting note values and rests in software notation

Produce Printed/PDF Score

● Producing final perform able music score in PD

25/09/22

Perform Ornaments

● Performing various music ornaments

Demonstrate Articulations

● Performing various music articulations

7/10/22

HARMONY

DEMONSTRATE HARMONY

-TWO PART HARMONY/COUNTERPOINT

-FOUR PART HARMONY -OPEN AND CONDENSED

Harmony is when two or more notes are sounded or played together.

The easiest way to create harmony is distributing the different notes on a triad to different parts of voices .