July 4th - 8th Flashcards
How is the sequence of musical events provided?
By ordering left to right and top to bottom
What provides information about pitch?
The staff and the clef
What provides information about the duration?
The notehead and stem
What indicates volume and volume change?
Dynamic markings
What indicates which notes receive special stress and how much?
The meter and accent marks
What are speed changes indicated by?
Tempo
What conveys the timbre?
The choice of instruments and or voices
What is indicated by graphical markings and descriptive words?
Articulation, attack and expression
What are the six fundamental elements of music?
- Pitch
- Duration
- Timbre
- Dynamics/loudness
- Frequency
- Texture
What does the clef indicate?
Which note names go on which lines
What does the treble clef designate?
The second line from the bottom as G
What does bass clef designate?
The fourth line from the bottom as F
What are ledger lines?
Small lines that extend the staff higher and lower
What is a grand staff?
A treble clef staff and bass clef staff connected with a brace
What is an Alto Clef?
A C clef centered on the third line from the bottom designating it as C
What is a Tenor clef?
A C clef centered on the fourth line from the bottom designating it as C
What is an Octave?
The distance from a note up or down to the next note with the same name. They span 8 letter names
Why may ledger lines occur between staves?
To make it clear weather the notes are in treble clef (right hand) or bass clef (left hand)
What is the number for middle C?
C4
What does the ottava symbol (8va) do?
Raises a note by one octave
What does the ottava bassa (8vb) symbol do?
Lowers a note by one octave
Where do ottava appear?
Above the staff
Where do ottava bass appear?
Below the snaff
What does quindicesima (15ma) do?
Raises a note by two octaves
What does quindicesima bassa (15mb) do?
Lowers a note two octaves
What is a half step?
The distance from one piano key to the next closest
What are the two natural half stapes?
B to C and E to F
Why are BC and EF the natural half steps?
Because they use letter names without accidentals
What are Enharmonic notes?
Different names for the same piano key
What does a double flat do?
Lowers a note by a another half step keeping the same letter name
What does a double sharp do?
Raises a sharp by another half step
What is a whole step?
Two half steps
What is a scale?
A series of notes from low to high following some pattern of whole and half steps
What does the chromatic scale do?
Lists all the notes in order from C to the next C above or below
In a chromatic scale, what is the difference between the ascending and descending?
The ascending chromatic scale uses sharps for black piano keys and the descending uses flats for black piano keys
What are Enharmonic Keys?
Keys with different names that include the same pitches like Db major and C# major
When do stems go above and below?
3rd line and above stems go down. Below the third line stems go up
What is the sequence of wholes and halves in a major chord?
Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half
What is the natural minor scale?
A minor because it uses no sharps and flats
What are relative keys?
Any major scale and minor scale that share a key signature
What is a melodic minor?
A natural minor with steps 6 and 7 raised going up and natural minor going down
What is a Harmonic Minor?
A natural minor with step 7 raised both on the way up and on the way down
What is the order of the scale name degrees?
- Tonic
- Supertonic
- Mediant
- Subdominant
- Dominant
- Submediant
- Leading tone
- Tonic
What is the Ionian mode similar to?
The C major scale
What is the Aeolian mode similar to?
The natural minor scale
What is significant about the pentatonic scales?
They have no half steps
What is significant about the 6-note scales?
The scale is built from whole steps and there are only two distinct possibilities
What are ties used for?
It combines two rhythmic values of the same pitch together
What does an augmentation do do?
It adds half the duration
What does a second augmentation dot do?
Adds half the first dots value
How are beats grouped?
Into measures or bar lines
What does a time signature indicate?
How many beats there are in one measure and what rhythmic value gets the beat
What does the top and bottom number mean in simple meter?
The top number is the number that gets the beat and the bottom number is the number of beats in each measure
What are duple meters?
Time signatures with two beats per measure. Ex. 2/4 means 2 beats and a quarter note (the meaning of 4) gets the beat
What are triple meters?
Key signature where there are 3 beats and a quarter notes (the meaning of 1/4) gets the beat. Ex. 3/4
What is a quadruple meter?
When there are 4 beats in the meter and a 1/4 notes gets the beat for example 4/4
How does each beat in simple meter divide the beat?
Into two equal beat subdivisions
What does the bottom number in a simple time signature indicate?
The beat unit. Ex 2/2 means a half note, 4/4 means a quarter note
What key signature is cut time?
2/2
What is an anacrusis (or pickup measure)?
A partial measure that begins some pieces
What is the downbeat?
The first beat of each measure
What is the difference between the down beat and the last beat of each measure?
The downbeat is the strongest beat the last beat is the weakest beat
Which number do Duple, Triple, and Quadruple refer to?
The top number
What is the stress pattern for duple time signature?
Strong - Weak
What is the stress pattern for triple meters?
Strong - weak - weak
What is the stress pattern for quadruple meters?
Strongest - weak - Strong - weak
What top numbers mean simple time?
2, 3 and 4
What top numbers mean compound time?
6, 9 and 12
What does simple time mean?
The beat can be divided equally into two parts
What does compound time mean?
The notes can be divided into groups of 3
What does having a 9 on top of the key signature mean?
compound triple time
Which top numbers would give duple time?
2 and 6
Which top numbers give triple time?
3 and 9
Which top numbers give quadruple time?
4 and 12
What is the beat in simple time?
The bottom number
How can the beat be found in compound time?
By taking the bottom number and dividing by 2. ex bottom # is 16. 16/2 is 8. Means that 8th note is the beat
What does simple mean?
Each beat can be divided into two notes
What will the time signature for a simple meter always have?
2, 3 or 4 for the top number
What are beats in a compound meter divided into?
Threes not twos like simple meter
What is unique about the beat of compound meters?
They will all have some type of dotted note as the beat
What would make a meter compound?
Each beat has three notes in it
What would make a meter triple?
Having three beats
What is an Odd meter?
A meter that contains both simple and compound beats
How do you find the number of beats in a compound time signature?
Divide the top number by 3
What is the beat in compound signatures?
A dotted rhythmic value one larger than the bottom number. Ex bottom number is 16 then the beat is a dotted 8th note. Number is 8 then beat is dotted quarter note
What are asymmetric time signatures?
A mixture of two and three beat divisions
For asymmetric time signatures what do the top and bottom numbers indicate?
The bottom number indicates the division ( ie 8 would mean 8th note) and the top number indicates the division notes per measure (ie how many notes per measure, so 5 would mean 5)
