A
BASIC REVIEW
OF
MUSIC
THEORY
Compiled by: Hollis Pincock
Carey Schools
Summer 2005
MUSIC THEORY
BASIC REVIEW
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION pg. 1
CHAPTER 1 MUSIC NOTATION pg. 2-8
The musical staff page 2
The modern staff page 3
The great staff page 4
Clef signs page 4
a. treble clef page 5
b. bass clef page 6
c. tenor and alto clef page 6
CHAPTER 2 RHYTHM pg. 9-14
Measure page 9
Bar lines page 9
Double bar page 9
Meter (time signature) page 10
Division of notes page 12
Division of rests page 13
Rests page 14
CHAPTER 3 ELEMENTS OF MUSIC pg. 15
Terms and symbols page 15
CHAPTER 4 SCALES pg. 17-20
Major and minor scales – names of steps page 17
Scale structure page 20
Non diatonic scales page 20
Tonality and modality page 20
Scale relationships page 20
Church modes page 20
CHAPTER 5 KEY SIGNATURES pg. 21-28
Circle of fifths – major keys page 24
Circle of fifths – minor keys page 25
Key signatures – major scales with sharps page 25
Sharp placement on the staff page 26
Key signatures – major scales with flats page 27
Flat placement on the staff page 28
CHAPTER 6 INTERVALS pg. 29-36
Interval inversions page 29
Interval chart page 30
Primary triads page 32
Types of triads page 32
major triad – minor triad – augmented triad
diminished triad – C major triad – G major triad
Chord progression page 34
CHAPTER 7 MUSICAL WRITING pg. 34-36
Melody writing page 34
Four part chorale writing page 35
Motion page 35
Voice ranges page 35
Basic rules of music writing page 36
INTRODUCTION
It is my contention that ‘MUSIC IS FOR EVERYONE’, ‘MUSIC IS BASIC’ and
‘MUSIC MAKES PEOPLE SMART!’.
The following chapters follow a sequential learning pattern. Each student of this
‘manual’ will find the assistance they need to acquire the fundamental musical skills of
reading, writing and using musical notation. It is hoped that students will continue to
expand their musical skills after successfully completing this basic learning guide.
CHAPTER 1
MUSIC NOTATION
(The Western System)
Music notation is the written manifestation of characteristics that make up musical sound:
pitch
dynamics
tone color
rhythm
melody
harmony
texture
form
A fully developed system of notation has been designed which indicates the two main
properties of a musical sound – it’s pitch and it’s duration. There are other forms of
musical notation available to the world, including – but not limited to:
Greek
Monophonic notation
Roman Catholic Church
Dufay
Electronic music
Musique concrete
Far East
Braille
Post-modern
Techno
Tablature
and more!
Nevertheless, this Basic Review will concentrate solely on the Western System of
notation.
THE MUSICAL STAFF
The staff is the most basic of all music symbols and serves as the focal point for most
types of musical notation. The elements of notation – such as note-heads, stems, flags
and beams – must be placed on a staff. Accidental markings, rests, bar lines, time
signatures and other symbols must be included between the lines and spaces which make
up a staff. Accents, dynamics and phrase markings are placed in relation to the notes
they affect and are dependent on the staff for proper positioning.
A staff consisting of four lines was widely used from the eleventh to the thirteenth
centuries. It still exists today in the Gregorian plain song notation of the Roman Catholic
Church. First used in the early thirteenth century for polyphonic vocal music, the five-
line staff began to be used and served as the ‘system’ for all music notation until the mid-
seventeenth century. Some keyboard music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
employed staffs up to as many as fifteen lines. Such large staffs proved to be
cumbersome and were gradually replaced by the present five-line staff.
THE MODERN STAFF
The modern staff in use today is an arrangement of five parallel lines. Together with the
spaces between them they are called ‘staff degrees’. The lines are numbered from the
lowest to the highest. In the same way, the spaces are counted upward.
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lines spaces
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lines spaces
The terms ‘line above’ the staff or ‘line below’ the staff simply refer to the first extra line
added above or below the regular staff lines. The terms ‘space above’ or ‘space below’
refer to the corresponding spaces immediately above or below the staff.
-----line above
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-----line below
-----space above
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-----space below
THE GREAT STAFF
The so-called ‘great staff’ of eleven lines is actually a combination of staffs bearing the
three clefs in common used during the rise of staff notation. It carries the ‘F’ or bass clef
joined to the ‘G’ or treble clef with the ‘C’ or alto-tenor clef on a common line between
them. This was a staff that was never actually used in music notation and should be
considered a theoretical staff only.
GREAT STAFF
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common line………...____________________________________
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In modern notation we separate the treble and bass staffs with additional space and the
note ‘c’ appears as a note added both below the treble and above the bass on a single
ledger line. The visual advantages of the modern arrangement should be immediately
obvious as the eye takes in a staff of five lines more easily than one of eleven. At the
same time, the separate identities of the two staffs are given separate visual emphasis.
Treble staff
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Bass staff
CLEF SIGNS
The first sign place on the staff is called the ‘clef sign’/ The term ‘clef’ is derived from
the Latin word ‘clavis’ meaning ‘key’. Early theorists and musicians observed that the
clef sign literally unlocked the secret of the staff. Without a guidepost to specific pitch –
which a clef sign represents – the staff itself is meaningless.
Originally there were seven clefs in common usage but only three of them have survived
in modern notation:
treble clef – sometimes called the ‘G’ clef
bass clef – oftentimes call the ‘F’ clef
alto/tenor clef – called the ‘C’ or ‘moveable’ clef
A clef is necessary to determine where the sequence of seven notes begins: c, d, e, f, g, a,
b, c and continuing on in the same order. Particular pitch designations can also be
notated by placing a note on a certain line or in a certain space. Today three of the seven
note names are also used as clefs (c, f, g). In earlier writings, each of these names could
be placed at the head of any line – but today, two of them are always placed on a single
line and the third occurs in only two positions.
TREBLE CLEF
The treble, or ‘G’ clef, always curls around the second line and was developed from an
embroidered G. The ‘G’ clef fixes the note G on the second line.
The development of the ‘G’ clef:
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The ‘G’ clef is drawn in five steps:
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The treble clef sign is the largest of all clef sings, beginning as it does considerably below
the staff and extending above it. Though not so complicated to write as the alto/tenor clef
symbols, it does require accurate placement on the staff.
All instruments and voices of high range customarily employ the treble clef. Included in
this list are:
voice: coloratura, lyric soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto
brass: trumpet, french horn
woodwind: piccolo, flute, alto flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bass
clarinet, contrabass clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone
saxophone
percussion: glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, antique
cymbals, chimes
keyboard: piano, organ, celesta, harpsichord, harmonium (all right hand)
strings: violin and on occasion the viola
BASS CLEF
The bass, or ‘F’ clef symbol always outlines the fourth line with its two dots and is
developed from an embroidered F. The ‘F’ clef fixes the note F o the fourth line.
The development of the ‘F’ clef is as follows:
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The ‘F’ clef is drawn in five steps:
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Notice that the two dots are on either side of the fourth lines, which is ‘F’. This serves to
focus the eye on the ‘F’ line, which gives the clef it’s name.
As the name implies, the bass clef is used for all voices and instruments of the lower
register. These include:
voice: tenor, baritone, bass
brass: trombones, baritone, euphonium, tuba
woodwind: bassoon, contrabass clarinet, contrabassoon
percussion: timpani
keyboard: piano, organ, celesta, harpsichord, harmonium (all left hand)
strings: cello, bass
ALTO/TENOR CLEF
The ‘C’ clef is called the ‘alto clef’ when it centers on the third line of the staff. It is
called the ‘tenor clef’ when it centers on the fourth line. This clef assumes several
shapes, all derived from an embroidered C.
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Simple though it appears, the ‘C’ clef is the most difficult of all clef sings to notate
perfectly.
The following instruments use the alto/tenor clef in modern notation:
brass: trombones (in music of the early Romantic period – i.e. Beethoven,
Schubert, Mendelssohn)
woodwind: English horn (mainly in Russian publications)
strings: violas
None of the above instruments use the alto clef exclusively, although the viola employs it
with consistent regularity.
Vocal parts of today are rarely written in the alto/tenor clefs. Only those instruments that
normally combine bass and treble ranges in their over-all timbre are notated using the
tenor clef.
ALTO CLEF SIGN
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TENOR CLEF SIGN
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NAMES OF NOTES
Now that a certain note has been determined by the fixed position of the clef sign, it is
possible to assign letter names and pitches to all of the other lines and spaces. Remember
that the ‘treble or G clef’ always circles the note G. The other lines and spaces are:
TREBLE CLEF
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lines spaces
Remembering that the two dots in the ‘bass or F clef’ always are placed on either side of
the note F, we find that the names of the other lines and spaces are:
BASS CLEF
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lines spaces