Chapter 5: MELODY
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Melody - A series of single tones
that add up to a recognizable whole
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Melodic line/melodic curve
Steps and leaps
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Pg. 49-53
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Legato/Staccato
Phrase, Cadence
Sequence
Theme
LISTENING TO MELODY
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“Over the Rainbow” from The
Wizard of Oz
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Harold Arlen
Judy Garland singing
Chapter 6: HARMONY
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Harmony – 2 or more tones
sounding simultaneously
Chord – combination of three or
more tones sounded simultaneously
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Chord progression – series of chords
Triad
Tonic/Dominant
Arpeggio
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Consonance vs. Dissonance
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Consonance – a tone combination
that is stable
Dissonance – a tone combination that
is unstable
Resolution – when a dissonance moves
to consonance
LISTENING FOR CHORDS
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Look in books on pg. 56
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“Prelude in E Minor for Piano”
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Frederic Chopin
Chapter 7: Key
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Melodies built around a central
note; all other notes gravitate
toward it.
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Example: sing My Country ‘Tis of Thee
but don’t sing the last note.
How is it that it makes you uneasy?
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Tonic – The central tone of a
melody. When a piece is in the key
of C major, for example, C is the
tonic.
Key (tonality) involves a scale, a
range of notes.
Melodies typically end on the tonic.
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Scale – the basic pitches of a song
arranged in order from low to high
or from high to low.
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2 common types: Major and minor
Scales are just combinations of
different-sized intervals, or steps.
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Half Step – smallest interval used in
Western music
Whole Step – twice as big
Formula for a Major scale:
WWHWWWH
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Major Scale
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Sounds like “Do re mi fa so la ti do”
7 pitches, arriving at high “do” an
octave away
Formula for a Major scale:
WWHWWWH
C D E F G A B C
W W H W W W H
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Minor scale
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WHWWHWW
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Chromatic Scale
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Still has range of octave
Uses all half steps, all 12 black and
white keys within an octave
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Key Signatures
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Songs based on major scales are
“major” or “in a major key”
Songs based on minor scales are
“minor” or “in a minor key”
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Key Signature – sharp or flat signs
immediately following the clef sign
at the beginning of a piece of
music, indicating the key in which
the music is played (the scale on
which it is based)
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E Flat Major
Eb
F G Ab Bb C
D Eb
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Modulation – shifting between
different keys, or tonalities, within
one song.
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Tonic Key – “home base” tonality
when modulating