Pages 3-38
Music 1133

 Music essentially has two basic components
 Sound - pitch, timbre, space
 Time - distribution of sounds over time
 Modern Western notation system plots these two components in a
Cartesian-like graph

Space - pitch, combinations of pitches, and distance between pitches
Time

 Revolutionary notation technology
 Allows for maximum number of pitches to be represented while still allowing instant identification of pitch
 Each line and space of the stave represents a different “letter name” of pitch

 In Western music, pitches are designated names corresponding to the first 7 letters of the alphabet
 A, B, C, D, E, F, G, - corresponds to white keys on a piano keyboard
 Note C is a reference
A0 C1 C2 D2 etc.
C4 - Middle C

 Clefs are symbols used to indicate reference pitches on the 5-Line stave
Treble Clef (Also Soprano Clef or G Clef)
C Clefs
G4
C4 - Middle C
F3 Alto
C4 - Middle C
Bass Clef (Also F Clef)
Tenor

 Succession of pitches known as a scale - begin on one pitch and end on pitch above or below with the same letter designation (A ascending to A etc.)
 On piano keyboard, distance between successive white keys is not always the same
 Some adjacent white keys have black keys between them, which are separate pitches
 Semitones - pitches with no pitch in between
 Tones - Pitches with one pitch in between
 Succession of tones and semitones determines mode
SemiTone - Half Step Tone - Whole Step

 Black Keys are named according to their adjacent white keys
 Black key to the right of C is C sharp - sharp symbol raises pitch by 1 semitone
 Same pitch could also be called D Flat - Flat symbol lowers pitch by one semitone
 B Sharp sounds same as C
 F Flat sounds same as E
 Pitch Class - Word used to determine pitches which are enharmonically equivalent (sound the same) or octave equivalent (same name in different octave)

 Any scale using the white keys only contains 2 semitones and 5 whole tones
 For example: A to A - T, ST, T, T, ST, T, T
 Order of Tones and Semitones determines Mode
 Greek Names (early church modes):
 A (Aeolian/Minor), B (Locrian), C (Ionian/Major), D
(Dorian), E (Phrygian), F (Lydian), G (Mixolydian)
 These modes can also involve black keys - For Example
Phrygian Mode beginning on A - A, Bb, C, D, E, F, G, A same order of tones and semitones as “white key mode” beginning on E

 Tonal Music Utilizes two of these modes: Ionian or Major and Aeolian or Minor
 Succession of Tones and
Semitones most conducive to harmonic function
 Other Western music traditions use other modes more freely (fiddle music, pipe music, plainchant)

 The Major Mode contains the following succession of
Tones and Semitones:
 T, T, ST, T, T, T, ST
 White key mode from C to C
 Major Scales use this succession of Tones and
Semitones starting on any pitch
 For Example: D Major = D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#. Key of D
Major - uses this scale melodically
 F Major: F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E. Key of F Major uses this scale melodically
 Notice how in both scales, all letter names are represented. F major would not be written as F, G, A, A# etc.

 It turns out that key centres 7 semitones apart
(a fifth) differ in their scales by only one sharp or flat.
 G Major (fifth above C) - 1 sharp (F#)
 D Major (fifth above G) - 2 sharps (F#, C#)
 The additional sharp or flat is also separated by a fifth above (sharp) or below (flat)
 F Major - (fifth below C) - 1 flat (Bb)
 Bb Major - (7 semitones below F) - 2 flats (Bb,
Eb)

 Natural Minor Scales correspond to the white key mode beginning on A (Aeolian)
 T, ST, T, T, ST, T, T
 A minor considered the relative minor of C major because it has the same number of sharps and flats
(none)
 Relative minor always 3 semitones below the relative major - eg. A major/F# minor
 Relative major and minor have the same key signature
 Two other variants of the natural minor scale are more commonly used
 Harmonic Minor and Melodic Minor

 Natural minor scales end with a whole tone
 Basic principle of tonal music is the ti/do semitone motion as last interval in scale (to be discussed later)
 Raising the last note creates this semitone so harmonic minor has a raised 7th scale degree
G Natural Minor
G Aeolian
Whole Tone
Semitone
G Harmonic Minor

 Harmonic Minor contains an augmented 2nd interval (to be discussed shortly) between 6th and
7th pitch
 In Western tonal music, this melodic interval is not often used
 Melodic minor raises 6th scale degree as well on the way up to eliminate the Aug 2nd
 Descending, both the 6th and 7th return to natural state
Augmented 2nd
G Harmonic Minor
G Melodic Minor

 Intervals refer to the “space” between pitches
 Measured between letter names
 F-A is a third - three letter names - F, G, A
 G-E is a sixth - six letter names G, A, B, C, D, E
 C to C, A to A etc. called an octave
 Intervals above an octave (9th, 10th etc.) called compound intervals
 A 10th also called a compound 3rd
Third (melodic) Sixth (melodic) Third and Tenth (Harmonic)
-also octave E-E

 Intervals are oddly classified as either perfect or imperfect
 Unisons, 4ths, 5ths, and octaves are considered perfect
 2nds, 3rds, 6ths, and 7ths are imperfect
 Imperfect Intervals can be either major or minor
 All intervals can be augmented or diminished

 Imperfect intervals are considered major when the higher pitch is part of the major scale of the lower pitch
 Imperfect intervals are considered minor when the higher pitch is one semitone below the major inyterval
 Both intervals below are sixths
 In the first case, the higher pitch B is part of the major scale of the lower pitch D so it is a Major 6th
 In the second case, the higher pitch Bb one semitone lower than B – the major 6th
Major 6th
(M6)
Minor 6th
(m6)

 Augmented intervals are perfect or major intervals that are raised an additional semitone
 Diminished intervals are Perfect or minor intervals that are lowered an additional semitone
Augmented 6th
(A6)
Diminished 6th
(d6 or 06)
Augmented 5th Diminished 5th

 Interval distances are always measured from the lower pitch
 Inverting an interval involves changing the lower pitch to become the higher pitch (transposing up an octave)
 The new interval is then read from the new lower pitch
 Inverting always reverses interval quality major/minor, aug/dim, perfect remains perfect
 The sum of the original and inverted interval distances always equals 9 m7 inverts to M2
Minor to Major 7+2=9
A4 inverts to d5
Augmented to Diminished 4+5=9
Tritones

 These are complicated and culturally-influenced terms
 Loosely meaning “pleasing to the ear” and “not pleasing to the ear”
 Can refer to a number of musical parameters
 For now, we will apply these terms to intervals
 Consonant intervals are perfect intervals (4ths are a special case), and major and minor 3rds and 6ths
 Dissonant intervals are 2nds, 7ths, and tritones
(sometimes considered neutral)
 P4ths are considered dissonant if the 4th is above the bass note - more later
 Describing intervals as dissonant does not mean that they sound bad - they are considered harmonically unstable in this system
 Resolution of dissonance to consonance is a fundamental process in tonal music

 These terms refer to the temporal component of music
 Music exists in time
 Metre refers to the way we measure time in music - normally in beats or pulses
 Rhythm refers to the series of note durations that fill in this time and the patterns that these durations create

 Our musical system contains a set of symbols for relative note durations
 There is a temporally equivalent set of symbols to represent rests (silences)
 The value of each duration symbol may change depending on the musical metre
 The relative durations are always fixed each symbol represents a duration twice as long or twice as short as the next duration level
 See p. 27 in text

 Dots and ties are used to create note durations that are greater or lesser than those represented by individual duration symbols
 Dots add half of the value of the notes they follow
 A note that is “tied” to an adjacent note assumes the duration of both notes

 Metre is defined by regular beats of a fixed length
 Beats are grouped into bars or measures
 The number of beats in each measure is determined by the time signature
 The time signature also identifies the next level of subdivision of each beat
 It is important to remember that barlines and time signatures are convenient notational symbols that allow us to measure music
 Real music simply exists in time without these artificial divisions

 Beats are often subdivided into smaller divisions
 These divisions can be any prime number (2, 3, 5, 7)
 In Western music, beats are divided by 2 or 3
 Division by 2 is called simple time
 Division by 3 is called compound time

 The number of beats in each measure is determines the overall metre
 Duple time features 2 beats per measure
 Triple time features 3 beats per measure
 Quadruple time features 4 beats per measure
 Additional beat numbers are possible though they are found less frequently in
Western tonal music

 Time Signatures indicate the number of beats per measure and the subdivision of each beat
 Simple time signatures include 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 - also 2/2, 3/2,
4/2, 2/8, 4/8, 2/16, 4/16
 In 2/4 time there are two beats per measure and each beat is a quarter note in length.
 This implies that each beat can be divided into two 8th notes - called simple duple time
 3/4 is simple triple time (so is 3/2)
 4/4 is simple quadruple time (so is 4/2)
 Time signatures with shorter beat durations (8 and 16) depend on context to determine whether simple, compound, or something more complex

 In compound time, each beat is divided into three subdivisions
 Duration symbols feature division by two so each beat in compound time is usually a dotted value
 Compound duple time features two dotted-quarter (or dotted half, eight etc.) note beats per measure
 Each beat is therefore divisible into three 8th note subdivisions
 Time signatures use numbers to represent note values
(4=quarter, 8=eighth)
 There is no number that can represent a dotted value
 Compound duple time uses the number 8 in the denominator = 6/8
 Though this indicates six 8th notes per measure, three eighth notes are grouped into two dotted-quarter note beats
 Compound Triple = 9/8
 Compound Quadruple = 12/8