UNIT 6 –ROMAN NUMERALS & FIGURED BASSAP Music Theory

Mr. Jackson

TRIAD NAMESIn the previous unit, we briefly discussed that you can build a TRIAD on each member of the scale. The Triad had the same name as the scale degrees did.....

Now let’s examine these ROMAN NUMERALS a bit…

ROMAN NUMERALS Roman Numerals are used in Music Analysis. Roman numerals allow us to change the CASE o the number (upper or lower case) to represent QUALITY. You should be familiar with writing roman numerals 1-7 with different qualities. AUGMENTED

(+ or Aug.)MAJOR

(M or Maj)MINOR

(m, min, or -)DIMINISHED ( or dim.)

I+ I i i

II+ II ii ii

III+ III iii iii

IV+ IV iv iv

V+ V v v

VI+ VI vi vi

VII+ VII vii vii

TONICSUPERTONIC

MEDIANT

SUBDOMINANT

DOMINANT

SUBMEDIANT

SUBTONICLEADING TONE

NORMAL/EXPECTED ROMAN NUMERAL QUALITIES

When using Roman Numerals, we can expect to see certain qualities depending on what scale we are working from.

THE MAJOR SCALE – EXPECTED ROMAN NUMERAL QUALITIES

NOTE: You should memorize or be able to re-create this. This information is very helpful!

NORMAL/EXPECTED ROMAN NUMERAL QUALITIES

When using Roman Numerals, we can expect to see certain qualities depending on what scale we are working from.

THE NATURAL MINOR SCALE – EXPECTED ROMAN NUMERAL QUALITIES

NORMAL/EXPECTED ROMAN NUMERAL QUALITIES

When using Roman Numerals, we can expect to see certain qualities depending on what scale we are working from.

THE HARMONIC MINOR SCALE – EXPECTED ROMAN NUMERAL QUALITIES

NORMAL/EXPECTED ROMAN NUMERAL QUALITIES

When using Roman Numerals, we can expect to see certain qualities depending on what scale we are working from.

THE MELODIC MINOR SCALE – EXPECTED ROMAN NUMERAL QUALITIES

PROMINENT TRIADS IN A MINOR MODE (Reflecting all three forms)

i ii III iv V or v VI vii or VII

SUMMARY OF TRIAD TYPES IN THE DIATONIC SCALES

EXPECTED PROGRESSION OF ROMAN NUMERALS When composers decide what roman numerals “come next” in a progression – they usually followed the following guidelines:

EXPECTED MOVEMENTS

2 3 4

5 6 7

TONIC IS

Up a 2nd (from a IV to a V, vii to a I) Down a 3rd (from a iv to a IV) Up a 4th (from a ii to a V, I to a IV)

(Same for their inversions)

Chord Leads to

I/i any other chord

ii/iiº V/v, viiº

iii/III* ii, V, VII

IV/iv I/i, ii/iiº, V/v, viiº

V/v I/i, vi/VI

vi/VI ii/iiº, IV/iv, V/V

viiº/VII I, i* The mediant chord (iii) is tricky to use because it is such a chameleon. The iii/III chord will not be used in the part-writing or harmonic dictation segments of the AP Music Theory exam!

CIRCLE PROGRESSIONA circle progression is the movement of chords where the root (not necessarily the bass) of each chord is a diatonic fifth ABOVE the next chord. This gives the feeling of overlapping dominants to tonic. This is the strongest motion in tonal music! All of the fifths in a full circle progression are prefect except one. Fa to Ti is a tritone!

I – IV - viiº - iii – vi – ii – V – I in MAJOR KEYS - or –

i – iv - viiº (or VII) – III – VI - iiº - V – I in MINOR KEYS

So you have a CIRCLE PROGRESSION if you are moving UP a 4th or DOWN a 5th!

This is a full Circle of Fifths progression because each

chord moves to the next by the root descending a fifth (up

a fourth).

FIGURED BASS SYMBOLS

FIGURED BASS SYMBOLS

During the Common-Practice Period (CPP) composers and performers used a system of reading music from “shorthand” of the bass line and figures (mostly numbers and accidentals) beneath the bass.

The numbers represent the intervals above the bass that create the chords.

Although figured bass dictates what notes/inversion were used, the VOICING OF THE CHORD, the MELODY, and the LINEAR MOVEMENT OF EACH LINE was determined by the performer. This is similar to a “Chord Progression” of today. Different musicians might perform chords differently, but they are still playing the chords.

A chord with no figures beneath is a root-position triad! You may see numbers below it, but usually they are omitted.

A chord with ONLY an accidental under it (such as a #, , or ) implies the number 3 altered with whatever accidental is present. ( # = #3)

TRIAD POSITION SYMBOLS

TRIAD FIGURED BASS SYMBOLS - SUMMARY

It is VERY possible to see some of these on the AP Exam. They expect you to interpret what these numbers mean, although we tend to simplify with the symbols under the “Symbol” column.

TRIAD POSITION SYMBOLS – SIMPLIFYING

Note: When triads are reduced to three notes spaced as close together as possible, we say they are in simple position. This becomes very important later when we look at Score Analysis.

FIGURED BASS SYMBOLS IN MUSIC This is an excerpt from a baroque composition with figured bass.

Modern editions of music are often printed with the figured bass realized. This means that the harmony is filled in according to the figures. The following excerpt shows the previous excerpt with a realization of the figured bass.

MORE EXAMPLES OF FIGURED BASS HARMONY

FIGURED BASS “ACCIDENTALS” You should always follow the key signature in realizing figured bass symbols. However, sometimes it is necessary to indicate sharps, flats, or naturals above the bass note. These are shown in the following manner: * If none of these symbols are present, assume that you

should follow the key signature in realizing figured-bass symbols.

FIGURED BASS ACCIDENTALS - EXAMPLE

A 6th above this bass note (B) is a G. The # is telling us that instead of a G Natural, we should raise the G to a G#.

There is no number here – but we ASSUME there is a hidden 3 there. So this is telling us to raise a third above the bass note (E). Again, they are asking for us to raise the G to a G#.

COMBINING ROMAN NUMERALS & FIGURED BASS SYMBOLS FOR SCORE ANALYSIS

POP/JAZZ SYMBOLS WITH TRIADS

Note: Usually when dealing with score analysis, you would put the Pop/Jazz symbols ON TOP of the measure, and ROMAN NUMERALS on the bottom.

1. Major triads are represented by CAPITAL LETTER NAMES.2. Minor triads are represented by LOWERCASE LETTER NAMES.3. Diminished triads are represented by lowercase letter names

followed by the symbol.4. Augmented triads are represented by capital letter names

followed by the + symbol.

MACRO ANALYSIS Macro Analysis is an analytical procedure that you can use to reveal large harmonic gestures in music.

We can use both Pop/Jazz Symbols and Roman Numerals (with figured bass symbols to show inversion)

A/C# /C# /b /C#