5. Music Theory

1. 5. Music Theory CS 791 Multisensory Computing 15 September 2002

2. Color in Culture • U.S. Raises Terror Alert Level • By John Solomon • Associated Press Writer • Tuesday, September 10, 2002; 1:45 PM • WASHINGTON –– The Bush administration raised the nation's terror alert warning to its second highest level Tuesday – code orange – signaling a "high risk" of attack ahead of the Sept. 11 anniversary.

3. Today’s Outline • Music Theory • Composition Theory • NSF Sonification Report

4. Music Theory

5. Reference • Music Theory • MiBAC Music Software • P.O. Box 468 • Northfield MN 55057 • http://www.mibac.com/Pages/Theory/Main_Theory.htm

6. Pitch • how high or low a note sounds • the frequency of a note

7. Musical Alphabet • letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G • correspond to white keys on piano • A above middle C has frequency 440 cycles per second

8. Keyboard White Keys • piano keyboard has 88 keys • white keys correspond to musical alphabet A to G • black keys correspond to “sharps” and “flats” • C is always the white key immediatelyto the left of a two black key group

9. Music Staff • The music staff consists of five lines and four spaces. • Each letter of the musical alphabet A to G corresponds to a specific line or space. • The plural of staff is staves. • Staves are often connected by a brace or bracket and barlines.

10. Lines and Spaces • Notes can be drawn on any of the staff's five lines or within any of the four spaces. • A note on a line is centered on the line. • A note in a space is contained within the space between the lines.

11. Ledger Lines • Ledger lines are short horizontal lines placed above or below the musical staff that extend the range of the staff. • Ledger lines maintain the spacing of the staff lines and extend slightly beyond each note head.

12. Pitch Order • There is an exact correlation in pitch order between playing consecutive white keys on the piano, writing notes on the musical staff, and the letters of the musical alphabet.

13. Whole and Half steps • The half step is the smallest unit of pitch used in Western music. On the piano, a half step is the musical interval from any one key to its closest neighbor, either black or white. Half steps occur naturally between the two white key pairs E-F and B-C. Two consecutive half steps are called a whole step.

14. Accidentals • Accidentals are symbols that alter the pitch of a note. • Accidentals are placed immediately to the left of the note they affect.

15. Keyboard Black Keys • The black keys on the piano are used to play sharp or flat notes. The key immediately to the right of any white key is called "that white key name" sharp. The key immediately to the left of any white key is called "that white key name" flat. It is possible to have a white key called sharp or flat. For example, the note B could be called C flat and the note C could be called B sharp.

16. Enharmonic Notes • Enharmonic notes are two notes that have the same pitch but are written or spelled differently. For example, A sharp and B flat are enharmonic equivalents because they are played using the same black key on the piano. Starting with A, one half step higher is A sharp. Starting with B, one half step lower is B flat.

17. Enharmonic Keyboard • The piano is an enharmonic keyboard. Each key of the piano can represent several notes.

18. Clefs • A clef symbol is placed at the beginning of each staff to fix the location of a specific pitch.

19. Treble Clef Names • The treble clef is also called the G clef because the clef symbol curls around the line that represents the G above middle C. • The names of the treble clef lines can be remembered by the saying "Every Good Boy Does Fine." The spaces spell "F A C E."

20. Bass Clef Names • The bass clef is also called the F clef because the clef symbol locates the line that represents the F below middle C. • The names of the bass clef lines can be remembered by the saying "Good Boys Don't Fight At all." The spaces by "All Cows Eat Grass" or "All Cars Eat Gas."

21. Alto Clef Names • The alto clef is also called the C clef because the clef symbol locates the line that represents middle C. • The alto clef is used less often than the treble or bass clefs.

22. What Is a Fifth?

23. What Is a Fifth? • A fifth is the interval between two notes whose letter names are five alphabet letters, or five lines and spaces, apart. • The note G is a fifth above C and the note F is a fifth below C.

24. Circle Diagram • In the circle of fifths diagram, the ascending circle of fifths moves clockwise, while the descending circle of fifths moves counter-clockwise. • If you start at any point on the circle and go through 12 consecutive fifths, you'll end up at the note you started from and will use all 12 chromatic pitches in the process. • The order that sharps and flats occur in the key signature and the names of the major and minor keys, in order of the increasing number of sharps or flats used in the key signature, are based on the circle of fifths.

25. Ascending/Descending Fifths • C to G is an ascending fifth in the circle of fifths. It can be written as an ascending fifth, or its complement, a descending fourth. Similarly, F to C is a descending fifth in the circle of fifths. It can be written as either a descending fifth, or its complement, an ascending fourth.

26. Major Sharp Key Names • Major sharp key names follow the ascending circle of fifths beginning with C and continuing to C sharp. The key of C major has no sharps, the key of G major has one sharp, the key of D major has two sharps, etc.

27. Major Flat Key Names • Major flat key names follow the descending circle of fifths beginning with C and continuing to C flat. The key of C major has no flats, the key of F major has one flat, the key of B flat major has two flats, etc.

28. Minor Sharp Key Names • Minor sharp key names follow the ascending circle of fifths beginning with A and continuing to A sharp. The key of A minor has no sharps, the key of E minor has one sharp, the key of B minor has two sharps, etc.

29. Minor Flat Key Names • Minor flat key names follow the descending circle of fifths beginning with A and continuing to A flat. The key of A minor has no flats, the key of D minor has one flat, the key of G minor has two flats, etc.

30. Order of Sharps • The order of sharps in the key signature follow the ascending circle of fifths beginning with F sharp and continuing to B sharp.

31. Order of Flats • The order of flats in the key signature follow the descending circle of fifths beginning with B flat and continuing to F flat.

32. Key Signatures

33. A key signature consists of a series of sharps or flats written immediately to the right of the clef. A key signature can represent either a major key or a minor key. The actual key, major or minor, must be determined by studying the notes and chords used in the music. When a sharp or flat is used in a key signature, all notes of that name appearing in the music are automatically sharped or flatted. For example, in E major every F, C, G, and D is sharped.

34. The rules for determining major sharp keys are: • * The key of C major has no sharps or flats. • * For key signatures having one to seven sharps, the name of the major key is one half step higher than the last sharp (the sharp furthest to the right).

35. The rules for determining major flat keys are: • * The key of C major has no sharps or flats. • * The key of F major has one flat. • * For key signatures having two to seven flats, the name of the major key is the name of the next to the last flat (the flat 2nd from the right).

36. Each key signature can specify either a major key or a minor key. The name of the minor key is found by first finding the name of the major key and then counting backwards three scale notes. Sharps and flats present in the key signature affect the key name.

37. Relative keys are major and minor keys that share the same key signature. For example, E minor is the relative minor of G major and A flat major is the relative major of F minor.

38. Parallel major and parallel minor are major and minor keys that share the same name, but use different key signatures. For example, B minor is the parallel minor of B major, and B major is the parallel major of B minor.

39. An accidental is a sharp or flat used in the music that is not part of the key signature. When an accidental is used, it affects all notes of that pitch in that measure. The accidental is automatically canceled when you move to the next measure.

40. A scale consists of a series of pitches arranged in ascending order, spanning an octave. • The most commonly used scales are major and minor. Many other types of scales are used including Modes and Jazz Scales.

41. Major Scale • The major scale consists of eight consecutive notes of the musical alphabet forming a definite pattern of whole steps and half steps. Note that sharps had to be used to make the E major scale conform to this pattern.

42. Natural Minor Scale • The natural minor scale consists of eight consecutive notes of the musical alphabet forming this pattern of whole and half steps:

43. Harmonic Minor Scale • The harmonic minor scale is based on the natural minor scale, with the seventh note of the scale raised one half step. The pattern of whole and half steps is: • Raising the seventh note creates an interval of three half steps between the sixth and seventh notes, and a half step between the seventh and eighth notes.

44. Melodic Minor Scale • The melodic minor scale is based on the natural minor scale, with the sixth and seventh notes of the scale raised one half step. The pattern of whole and half steps is: • The melodic minor scale is used for ascending melodic motion, but reverts to the natural minor form in descending melodic motion.

45. Relative Major/Minor Scales • Relative major and minor scales share the same key signature, but begin on different notes. G major and E minor are relative major and minor scales.

46. Parallel Major/Minor Scales • Parallel major and minor scales start on the same note, but use different key signatures. G major and G minor are parallel major and minor scales.

47. What Is a Mode? • Modes were used to organize the melodic and harmonic elements of music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods. You can think of modes as scales which use the white keys of the piano. The Ionian mode (same as the major scale) uses the white keys from C to C. The six remaining modes also use the white keys but start on different notes. For example the Dorian mode uses the white keys from D to D. • During the 17th to the late 19th Century, the modes were not commonly used, being replaced by the major and minor scales. Modes are often heard in music today.

48. Ionian • Ionian mode starts on the first scale degree of a major scale and ascends an octave. The pattern of whole and half steps is:

49. Dorian • Dorian mode starts on the second scale degree of a major scale and ascends an octave. The pattern of whole and half steps is: • Dorian mode is the same as a natural minor scale with a raised sixth note.

50. Phrygian • Phrygian mode starts on the third scale degree of a major scale and ascends an octave. The pattern of whole and half steps is: • The Phrygian mode is the same as a natural minor scale with a lowered second note.