Theory Level 7 Flashcards
Intervals that can’t be made minor
PP, P4, P5, P8
meter
Simple x 3 = compound
Duple - 2/4, 2/2 & 6/8, 6/4
Triple - 3/4, 3/2 & 9/8, 9/4
Quadruple - 4/4, 4/8 & 12/8, 12/4
Quintuple - 5/4, 5/8 & 15/8, 15/4
Asymmetric/irregular - 5/4, 5/8, 7/4, 7/8
Sharp and flat order
FCGDAEB BEADGCF
Modal scale order
IDPLMAL Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Micolydian, Aeolian, Locrian
Simple meter
Each beat divides into two parts
Compound meter
Each beat divides into one main beat (big beat) or three parts (little beat) Beat unit = dotted note If medium-to-fast, count big beats If slow, count little beats
Root position
Root on bottom
First inversion triad
Third is on bottom
Second inversion triad
Fifth is on bottom
Triad inversions
Root is at top of big interval
Figured-bass numerals
- Look for root note 2. Decide if M or m 3. Add numbers on bottom right
Scale degree names
Tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, leading tone, tonic
Secondary triads
ii, iii, vi, viio
Primary triads
I, IV, V
Diatonic triads
Triads built on each note of the scale Write Roman numerals & scale degree names
Relative minor
Think down a m3 Can’t be one letter apart When writing key signatures, write key signatures of relative major
Relative major
Think up a m3 Can’t be one letter apart
Natural minor/pure minor scale
Aeolian No sharps, flat, or natural are added to those found in the relative major scale
Dorian mode
Think down a M2 and use that signature
Ionian mode
Major scale
Aeolian mode
Natural minor/pure minor
Phrygian mode
Think down a M3 from tonic
Harmonic minor scale
Raise 7 degree of natural/pure minor scale
Pianist
Developed cuz major V triad popular in Euro music
Melodic minor scale
Raise 6th & 7th degree of natural/pure minor, going down same as natural/pm
Violinist, flutists, singers, & other non-keyboard players
Keeps major V triad of hm but eliminates the large interval between 6 & 7
Diminished triad
Lower 5th of minor triad, or 3rd & 5th of major triad
Remember that perfects can’t be made minor.
Augmented triad
Raise the fifth of major triad
Enharmonic scales/keys
Sound exactly the same, but are spelled differently
B and Cb F# and Gb C# and Db
Big Fat Cat
Parallel natural minor
Lower the 3rd, 6th, and 7th notes
Three more flats, or three fewer sharps than parallel major
Circle of Fifths
FCGDAEBF#C# starts one to the left of the top BEADGC (no F) starts to the left of ^ Enharmonics = bottom three Relative minors in inside (including enharmonics)
Aural augmented & diminished triads
Augmented - major bottom Diminished - m3 bottom
Aural period & style identification
Baroque - 2 voices, trill, minuet, 3/8, sparse, imitation
Classical - Alberti bass, trills
Romantic - pedal, legato, chordal, lush, waltz
20th - dissonant, jazz, blues, uneven rhythms
Aural melodic dictation
Ends in keynote Can count back from keynote Pay attention to intervals!!!
fugues
pieces in which one musical idea is repeated in diff voices & keys
suites
usually included six dances; an allemande, a courante, a saraband, two dances of composer’s choice, & a gigue(jig);
sometimes more/fewer but six most common
through-bass style
consists of a melody on top, a bass line on the bottom, and the space between filled with chords
Ex: in any hymn book which has all 4 parts written out
often composer wrote down only melody & bass, w/ figured bass numerals underneath to tell performers what chords to use; any well-trained harpsichordist could read & play figured bass @ sight
Baroque period
1600-1750
nobility, operas, grotesque, polyphonic, ornaments, suites, through-bass; NOGPOST
musicians worked for nobility in big, overdecorated palaces w/ big wigs & fancy clothes
mood = grotesque (exaggerated & emotional)
painters painted ceilings w/ angels & saints
operas w/ elaborate stage effects & arias(songs); abt gods & heroes of ancient Greece
big polyphonic fugues
ornaments like trills & apoggiaturas; frequent embellishments
dance - suites, minuet?
many pieces written in through-bass style
Baroque composers
Bach, Handel, Telemann, Rameau, Couperin, Purcell
BHTRCP; But He Tripped Ron’s Cute Puppy!
Classical period
1750-1820
poise, homophonic, runs, sonata, German; PHRSG; Pack His Right Saw, Grady!
giants = Mozart & Haydn
poise, balance, & simplicity
clothing & architecture simpler
polyphony going out & ornaments fewer; mostly homophonic
runs based on scales & arpeggios
development of sonata form
dances - German, Country, Ecossaises, etc.; replace still-popular minuet
Classical composers
Haydn, Mozart, Clementi, early Beethoven, Kuhlau, early Schubert, Diabelli
HMCBKSD
His Mom Can Be Kind So Demand
sonata form
multi-movement composition developed in Classical period
used for solo sonatas, emsembles for small groups, symphonies(full orchestra), & concerti (1+ solo instruments backed by orchestra)
usually 4 movements
- fast/allegro & sonata-allegro form
- slow; in a key closely related to 1st; AB, ABA, / theme & variations form; sometimes composer reverses order of this movement & next
- minuet & trio in classical, altho Beethoven & others often wrote scherzo instead
- fast, often in rondo form, in key of 1st movement/parallel major
if sonata = only 3 movements, minuet/scherzo/3 usually omitted
scherzo
playful, joking, or mischevious sort of piece
usually in triple meter
Romantic period
1820-1900
chromaticism, orchestra, Lied, emotion, rich, opera; COLERO
emotion - vital to literature, opera, songs & instrumental solos
German Lied(song) flourished; Lieder by Schubert, Schumann, & Brahmns interwove the voice line w/ ingenious piano accompaniments
chromaticism - major change in harmony; melodic lines often moved chromatically & so did underlying chord progressions
key/tonal cneter less clear & sound richer as chords used not closely related to key
orchestra expanded
instruments redesigned to have wider ranges of sound
opera developed - **Grand Opera **= crowd-pleasing spectacles; Wagner’s long, heavy music-dramas = myths of Germanic peoples, & operas such as “Carmen” or “La Boheme” told of ordinary working ppl
Romantic composers
Schumann, Chopin, most of Schubert, late Beethoven, Liszt, Tschaikovsky, Bizet, Rachmaninoff, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner
SCSBLTBRVPC
So Cold So Blind Like Terrible Bruises Rippling Vastly Promises Collide
20th Century period
1920-2000
new, dissonance, instruments, irregular, chromaticism, atonal, separate, electronic; NIDICASE
new chords, new scales (whole-tone, blues), rebirth of ancient scales(modes), & dissonance
new use for instruments - strumming piano strings, knocking strings wood, playing @ extreme high/low range of instruments
irregular meters - 5/4, 7/4, etc.; frequent meter changes
extreme chromaticism - total eradication of any sense of key - **atonal(serial) **music
African-Am & jazz music popular
popular & serious music have developed separately, but Gershwin, Bernstein have written both
performers usually play only jazz, pop, / serious, but Goodman, Miller, Marsalis have done 2+
electronic instruments, com’s, cassette, & CD recording, MIDI, etc.
20th Century composers
Bartok, Kabalevsky, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, DelloJoio, copland, Bernstein, Schoenberg, Gershwin, Menotti
KBSPDCBSGM
Kindness Brightens Sad People, Does Coldness Blind Sunny Girls Much?
brio
brilliance
coda
codetta
an ending section of a composition
literally, tail
codetta = a brief coda
con
with
leggiero
lightly
mosso
agitated
moto
motion
piu
more
sempre
always
simile
in the same way
sonata-allegro form
the form of the 1st movement of most sonatas
- Exposition
- principal theme(tune), in tonic/key of piece
- secondary theme, in closely related key, usually dominant/relative major; Look for added sharp or subtracted flat, showing change of key, and for a diff character to the music; sometimes cadence first
- Development - Look for double bar; 1/both themes played in diff ways, in diff keys, sometimes in snatches. in sonatina, short “bridge” passage may replace
- Recapitulation
- Principal theme repeated in tonic key
- secondary theme repeated in tonic
- Coda may follow
theme & variations
a theme followed by a # of variations w/ diff moods & treatments
sonatina
small, short sonata
may have 1,2, or 3 movements
1st movement may be shorter than sonata cuz: themes r short, only one theme is used, or development is shortened/omitted
Sometimes one theme left out in recapitulation section.
