Music Theory 101
Snack Theatre 2013
The Beginning
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A staff is made up of five horizontal lines and four spaces
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A clef is a musical symbol placed at the beginning of the staff that determines the letter
names of the lines and spaces.
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The two main clefs are the treble and the bass:
Treble Clef
Treble Clef
(TOP)
Bass Clef
(BOTTOM)
Bass Clef
The Beginning
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The music we do in Snack Theatre is often SATB (4 parts: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass), SAB (3
part: Soprano, Alto, Men) or Two-Part (Soprano/Tenor, Alto/Bass)
TYPICALLY, women’s music parts are written on the treble clef and men’s music parts are
written on the bass clef
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Soprano typically refers to female singers and is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately
middle C to "high A" in choral music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest
part, which usually encompasses the melody. The music part is often the top line of the treble clef.
Alto refers to the second highest part of a choral music and is approximately from the G below middle
C to the F in the second octave above middle C. The music part is often the bottom line of the treble
clef.
The tenor is a type of singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The tenor
voice lies between the C one octave below middle C, and the A above middle C. The music part is often
the top line of the bass clef.
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most
common male voice. Music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below
middle C to the F above middle C in choral music, but can be extended at either end.
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. A bass is
typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E
above middle C. The music part is often the bottom line of the bass clef.
Occasionally, the treble clef will split into 3 parts – the sopranos split and the Second Sopranos
or Mezzo-Sopranos will sing that part
The Beginning
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A single vertical line drawn to the left of multiple staffs creates a grand staff and a
system, indicating that the music on all the staffs is to be played/sung at the same time.
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A measure or bar line refers to the vertical lines drawn through the staff to mark off
metrical units.
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A double bar-line can consist of two single bar-lines drawn close together, separating
two sections within a piece, OR a bar-line followed by a thicker bar-line, indicating the
end of a piece.
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A repeat sign looks like the music end, but it has two dots, one above the other,
indicating that the section of music that is before is to be repeated. The beginning of
the repeated passage can be marked by a begin-repeat sign; if this is absent the repeat is
understood to be from the beginning of the piece or movement.
Pitches
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Pitches are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet (A B C D E F G) and
follow that same order for both treble and bass clef
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Some standard acronyms to help remember the notes on a staff are:
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The smallest interval used in Western music is the half step. A visual representation of
a half step would be the distance between a consecutive white and black note on the
piano. There are two exceptions to this rule, as two natural half steps occur between
the notes E and F, and B and C. A whole step is made up of two half steps.
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Letter names are modified by the accidentals. A sharp raises a note by a half-step, and a
flat lowers it by the same amount. A natural is an accidental which cancels previous
accidentals and represents the unaltered pitch of a note
A flat, C sharp, A natural
Pitches – Application
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C natural
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G#
Bb
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D#
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E#
Ab
Pitches – Answers
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C natural
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G#
Bb
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D#
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E#
Ab
Notes
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Each type of note has a specific look and a specific duration:
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A note value may be augmented by adding a dot after it. This dot adds the next lower
note value, making it one and a half times its original duration.
1 beat + ½ beat = 1.5 beats
2 beats + 2/2 beats = 3 beats
Time Signatures
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Time signatures indicate the meter the song is in which indicate how many beats are in
each measure and which note value constitutes one beat.
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In a musical score, the time signature appears at the beginning of the piece, usually as
stacked numerals immediately following the key signature (or immediately following
the clef if the key signature is empty).
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A mid-score time signature, usually immediately following a barline, indicates a change
of meter.
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There are various types of time signatures, depending on whether the music follows
simple rhythms or involves unusual shifting tempos, including: simple and compound
Time Signatures
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Simple time signatures consist of two numerals, one stacked above the other:
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the lower numeral indicates the note value which represents one beat
(4 = quarter, 8 = eighth, 1 = whole, etc)
the upper numeral indicates how many such beats there are in a bar
For instance,
2 / 4 means two quarter-note beats per measure
6 / 8 means six eighth-note beats per measure, but is felt in “2”
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A
is sometimes used to refer to 4 / 4 time
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Compound time signatures split the “feel” into 3 instead of 2.
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The most common time signatures that we will deal with are
(1,2,3) + (1,2,3)
Key Signatures
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A key signature is a series of sharp or flat symbols placed on the staff, that are to be
consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes
unless otherwise altered with an accidental.
Key signatures are generally written immediately after the clef at the beginning of a line
of musical notation, although they can appear in other parts of a score, notably after
a double barline.
A key signature will have either sharps or flats, but there will not be any key signatures
with both.
To determine the key based on the key signature:
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1.
If the key signature has sharps, look at the position of the last sharp and raise it by a half-step to get
the key. For example, if the last sharp is C, raise it a half step which is D, the key is D major.
When the key signature has flats, simply look at the second to the last flat and you get the key. So for
example A flat is the second to the last flat sign in the key signature, this means the music is in A flat
major.
The exception to this rule is F major because it only has one flat and C major because it has no flats
or sharps.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intervals
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Intervals are the distance between two notes
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Major intervals
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M2 – Happy Birthday, Silent Night
M3 – I Could Have Danced All Night, When the Saints Go Marching In
P4 – Here Comes The Bride, Taps
M5 – Star Wars Theme, Twinkle Twinkle, Can’t Help Loving Dat Man
M6 – NBC Theme, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
M7 – Bali Hai
M8 (octave) – Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Minor intervals
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m2 – Jaws
M3 – O Canada, So Long, Farewell
Dynamics
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Dynamics refers to the volume of a note/piece/sound
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The two basic dynamic indications in music are:
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More subtle degrees of loudness or softness are indicated by:
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p or piano, meaning "soft"
f or forte, meaning "loud"
mp, standing for mezzo-piano, meaning "moderately soft"
mf, standing for mezzo-forte, meaning "moderately loud“
pp “pianissimo” meaning “very soft”
ff “fortissimo” meaning “very loud”
Two Italian words are used to show gradual changes in volume. Crescendo, abbreviated cresc.,
translates as "gradually becoming louder", and diminuendo, abbreviated dim., means "gradually
becoming softer". The alternate decrescendo, abbreviated to decresc., also means "gradually
becoming softer“.
Tempo
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Tempo (Italian for time) is the speed/pace of a given piece.
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The tempo of a piece will typically be written at the start of a piece of music, and is
usually indicated in beats per minute (BPM). This means that a particular note value
(for example, a quarter note or crotchet) is specified as the beat, and the marking
indicates that a certain number of these beats must be played per minute. The greater
the tempo, the larger the number of beats that must be played in a minute is, and,
therefore, the faster a piece must be played.
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Basic Tempo Markings:
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Largo – broadly (40–50 BPM)
Adagio – slow/stately (literally, "at ease") (51–60 BPM)
Adagietto – rather slow (61–80 BPM)
Andante – at a walking pace (61–80 BPM)
Moderato – moderately (81–90 BPM)
Allegro – fast, quickly and bright (105–132 BPM)
Presto – very fast (168–177 BPM)
Changes In Tempo & Articulation
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Accelerando – speeding up (abbreviation: accel.)
Rallentando – gradual slowing down (abbreviation: rall.) or broadening of tempo
Ritardando – slowing down gradually; (abbreviations: rit., ritard.)
Rubato – free adjustment of tempo for expressive purposes
a tempo – in time; return to the main tempo of the piece (often after an accelerando or
ritardando, etc.)
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Staccato (Italian for detached) signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the
note that may follow by silence.
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Legato (Italian for "tied together") indicates that musical notes are played or sung
smoothly and connected
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Slur - a curved line used to indicate that notes should be interpretted as a phrase and
often in one breath.
Codas
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Coda (Italian for "tail") designates a passage that brings a piece/movement to an end.
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It may be as simple as a few measures, or as complex as an entire section.
Da Capo meaning from the beginning. It is often abbreviated D.C.
Dal Segno meaning from the sign. It is often abbreviated D.S
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Segno
Coda
Codas
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Da Capo al Fine (D.C. al Fine): repeat from beginning to the end (or up to the
word fine, should that appear at the end of the passage – the word fine itself signifying “end”).
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Dal Segno al Fine (D.S. al Fine): repeat from beginning to the end (or up to the word
fine should that appear at the end of the passage – the word fine itself signifying “end”).
Codas
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Da Capo al Coda (D.C. al Coda): repeat from beginning to an indicated place and
then play the tail part (the coda).
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Dal Segno al Coda (D.S. al Coda): instructs the musician to repeat back to the sign,
and when Al coda or To coda is reached jump to the coda symbol
Reading An Octavo
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Title
Page Number
Repeat Beginning
Repeat Ending
Dynamics
Measure Number
Chord
Time Signature
Key Signature
Staccato
“Slide”
Treble Clef
Bass Clef
Tempo
Reading An Octavo
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Title
Page Number
Repeat Beginning
Repeat Ending
Dynamics
Measure Number
Chord
Time Signature
Key Signature
Staccato
“Slide”
Treble Clef
Bass Clef
Tempo