Lesson 1 [MUSI-105 - Ln 2] Flashcards
Essentials of Pitch
bass clef
an F-clef placed on the fourth line of the staff, indicating F3
chromatic half step
a half step that appears between two pitches of the same letter name, such as C - C#
clef
a symbol that relates a position of a note on a staff to a pitch name with its octave
courtesy accidental
an accidental which, though not strictly necessary, helps a performer understand which pitch is to be played or sung without considering the context
diatonic half step
a half step that appears between two pitches of different letter names, such as C - Db
double flat
an accidental (bb) that lowers a pitch by two half steps, or one whole step
double sharp
an accidental (x) that lowers a pitch by two half steps, or one whole step
enharmonics
two pitches with different names that sound the same, such as C# and Db
fifth
an interval involving five adjacent pitch letters
flat sign
a sign (b) that a pitch is to be lowered by a half step
frequency
the rate at which a sound wave vibrates
grand staff
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
half step
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
hertz
the number of vibrations per second of a sound wave, abbreviated as “hz”
ledger line
a short line written above or below a staff that temporarily extends the staff to allow a larger range of notes
middle C
a name for C4, the pitch halfway between the highest line of the bass clef and the lowest line of the treble clef
musical alphabet
the seven letters, C-D-E-F-G-A-B, that pitches in CWMN are built on
notehead
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
notes
pitches written on a staff, usually including rhythmic information
octave
- two pitches with the same letter name whose sounds can be mistaken (or who sound similar)
- the distance between two pitches eight letters apart (counting both pitches)
octave designation
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
sharp sign
a sign (#) indicating that a pitch should be raised by a half step (or semitone)
pitch
the description of the highness or lowness of a sound as humans perceive it
staff
the five horizontal lines that pitches in CWMN are written on or in the spaces between (also called a “stave”)
third
an interval involving three adjacent pitch letters
transposition
rewriting a melody (or whole piece) so that it begins on a different note while preserving all intervals
treble clef
a G-clef placed on the second line of the staff, indicating G4
white-key accidental
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)
whole step
the difference in pitch between two white keys with a black key in between; the same as two half steps.
True or False:
The grand staff is simply two staves, one on top of the other.
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.”
True or False:
When written on a staff, the accidental sits to the left of the note.
True. You need to see the accidental before you play the note so that you know to alter it.
When writing a note name as text, does the accidental come before or after the letter?
In text, it the accidental comes after the letter; it is written the way we say it.
What cancels an accidental?
Either a barline or a natural sign.
True or False:
Half steps on the keyboard are only between one black key and its adjacent white key.
False - E-F and B-C are half steps.
