BILL CARLSON

MUSIC INFORMATICS AND COMPUTING

DR. CHUAN

U.N.F. SPRING 2011

Music Theory in a Minute

Musical ABCs

Notes are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet.

A,B,C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C,etc..

Each note is referred to as a Pitch.

Going from one C through all of the notes to the next C is an Octave. (i.e. C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C)

All the notes contained between are in the same register.

All musical instruments can produce pitches

The Piano Keyboard

The Guitar Neck

Notes are separated by Whole Steps and Half Steps

All natural notes are a Whole Step apart except E-F and B-C

White keys are Natural Notes, not sharp or flat. (i.e. C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C)

Black keys are Accidental Notes (sharp/flat)

Each fret of the guitar is a Half Step

Enharmonic Notes share the same position (i.e. A#/Bb)

The Grand Staff

The Grand Staff contains two clefs: Bass Clef and Treble Clef

Each Ledger Line represents a Pitch.

Ledger Lines can be added above or below either staff to continue the notes

The Major Scale

The Major Scale is the foundation of Western MusicThe Major Scale Step Pattern is (W,W,H,W,W,W,H)Each Pitch can be made into a Major ScaleEach note must be represented in the scale There can not be doubles (i.e. A, A#)Major Scales are organized into Circles of 4ths and 5ths

Intervals

Each pitch in the Major Scale has a name

An Interval is Perfect if the Root Note and the Interval are both in the scale of each note

C-F is a Perfect 4th in the C Scale, F-C is a Perfect 5th in the F Scale

C-G is a Perfect 5th in the C Scale, G-C is a Perfect 4th in the G Scale

Circle of 4ths and 5ths

Circle of 5ths deals with Sharps

Start on C and move to G the 5th

Fat,Cats,Go,Down,And,

Eat,Birds

Circle of 4ths deals with Flats

Start on C and move to F the 4th

BEAD Goats Can Fly

Note Values

Counting Notes

Counting and Time Signatures

A Time Signature is placed at the beginning of every musical piece

The Top Value tells how many beats per measure

The Bottom Value what type of note recieves one beat

4/4 Traditional Straight Beat

3/4 Ballad

6/8 Waltz

Triads/Basic Chords

Consist of a Root Note and two Intervals, each a 3rd apart

Major: Root, Maj 3rd, Min 3rd (Major 3rd is 2 steps, Minor 3rd is 1.5 steps)

Minor: Root, Min 3rd, Maj 3rd

Diminished: Root, Min 3rd, Min 3rd

Augmented: Root, Maj 3r, Maj 3rd

Relative Minor Scale

Every Major Scale has a Relative Minor Scale

It is the based on the Major 6th

The Relative Minor will have the exact same notes/key as the Major Scale

The Major Scale can be turned into the Parallel Minor flatting

the 3rd, 6th & 7th pitches

The Major and Relative Minor Scales are interchangeable

but the Major and Parallel ARE NOT!!

Diatonic Triads

Every tone in the Major Scale makes a Triad or Chord

I, IV, V are always MAJOR

ii, iii, vi are always MINOR

vii is half-diminished

The chords are the same in the

relative minor as the major,

the order is changed

7th Chords

7th Chords are extensions of Triads

The 7th pitch from the Root is added to the triad

The 7th is in the same scale as the I chord