Lesson 1 [MUSI-105 - Ln 2]

Question 1

bass clef

Answer 1

an F-clef placed on the fourth line of the staff, indicating F3

Question 2

chromatic half step

Answer 2

a half step that appears between two pitches of the same letter name, such as C - C#

Question 3

clef

Answer 3

a symbol that relates a position of a note on a staff to a pitch name with its octave

Question 4

courtesy accidental

Answer 4

an accidental which, though not strictly necessary, helps a performer understand which pitch is to be played or sung without considering the context

Question 5

diatonic half step

Answer 5

a half step that appears between two pitches of different letter names, such as C - Db

Question 6

double flat

Answer 6

an accidental (bb) that lowers a pitch by two half steps, or one whole step

Question 7

double sharp

Answer 7

an accidental (x) that lowers a pitch by two half steps, or one whole step

Question 8

enharmonics

Answer 8

two pitches with different names that sound the same, such as C# and Db

Question 9

fifth

Answer 9

an interval involving five adjacent pitch letters

Question 10

flat sign

Answer 10

a sign (b) that a pitch is to be lowered by a half step

Question 11

frequency

Answer 11

the rate at which a sound wave vibrates

Question 12

grand staff

Answer 12

a combination of two staves written one above the others, where the top staff is [usually] written in treble clef and the bottom staff is [usually] in bass clef

Question 13

half step

Answer 13

also “semitone” - the smallest pitch difference generally used in CWMN; equal to the difference between two directly adjacent keys on the piano or two adjacent frets on the guitar

Question 14

hertz

Answer 14

the number of vibrations per second of a sound wave, abbreviated as “hz”

Question 15

ledger line

Answer 15

a short line written above or below a staff that temporarily extends the staff to allow a larger range of notes

Question 16

middle C

Answer 16

a name for C4, the pitch halfway between the highest line of the bass clef and the lowest line of the treble clef

Question 17

musical alphabet

Answer 17

the seven letters, C-D-E-F-G-A-B, that pitches in CWMN are built on

Question 18

notehead

Answer 18

a filled or empty oval; used as a partial indicator of rhythmic value as well as to indicate the position of a note on a staff

Question 19

notes

Answer 19

pitches written on a staff, usually including rhythmic information

Question 20

octave

Answer 20

1. two pitches with the same letter name whose sounds can be mistaken (or who sound similar)
2. the distance between two pitches eight letters apart (counting both pitches)

Question 21

octave designation

Answer 21

a sign that specifies what octave a pitch belongs to. Middle C is called C4. Octave designations increase from B to C:
G1 - A1 - B1 - C2

Question 22

sharp sign

Answer 22

a sign (#) indicating that a pitch should be raised by a half step (or semitone)

Question 22

pitch

Answer 22

the description of the highness or lowness of a sound as humans perceive it

Question 23

staff

Answer 23

the five horizontal lines that pitches in CWMN are written on or in the spaces between (also called a “stave”)

Question 24

third

Answer 24

an interval involving three adjacent pitch letters

Question 25

transposition

Answer 25

rewriting a melody (or whole piece) so that it begins on a different note while preserving all intervals

Question 26

treble clef

Answer 26

a G-clef placed on the second line of the staff, indicating G4

Question 27

white-key accidental

Answer 27

an accidental that causes a pitch to have the same sound as a pitch with a natural, such as E# (sounding the same as F-natural) or Cb (sounding the same as B-natural)

Question 28

whole step

Answer 28

the difference in pitch between two white keys with a black key in between; the same as two half steps.

Question 29

True or False:
The grand staff is simply two staves, one on top of the other.

Answer 29

False - “The grand staff is always written with some sort of a mark connecting the two staves (usually a curly brace), indicating that the two parts are to be played together, often by one player.”

Question 30

True or False:
When written on a staff, the accidental sits to the left of the note.

Answer 30

True. You need to see the accidental before you play the note so that you know to alter it.

Question 31

When writing a note name as text, does the accidental come before or after the letter?

Answer 31

In text, it the accidental comes after the letter; it is written the way we say it.

Question 32

What cancels an accidental?

Answer 32

Either a barline or a natural sign.

Question 33

True or False:
Half steps on the keyboard are only between one black key and its adjacent white key.

Answer 33

False - E-F and B-C are half steps.