Music Theory

Written by Judith Glyde, Professor of Music, University of Colorado, Boulder. I. Music Organized sounds Pitch Sharps & Flats Notes Staff and Clefs Major Scales II. Rhythm Rhythmic notes Groups of rhythms Time Signatures III. Key Signatures Minor scales Harmonic Melodic Natural symbol IV. Minor 3rd basic melody Zoltan Kodaly Concept of intervals Harmony V. Theory in Action Fugue 12-Tone Minimalism Blues Jazz Rock n Roll Rap

Music Theory
It would be very beneficial to have a piano or a keyboard, making it easier for you to play along. A music staff book is also necessary for writing. I. What is music? How many sounds can you describe? Birds singing, somebody speaking, a car going by, the fire engine siren, a chair squeaking on the floor, the alarm clock ringing all of these are sounds. Music is simply organized sound a group of sounds that are put together in a group, or a series. Each sound in the universe has a pitch. This simply means that a sound has a frequency it is high or low or anything in-between. The easiest way to understand organized sounds, or music, is to look at a piano keyboard. Every pitch is given a name. (Keep in mind that pitches have different names, and that sounds may be organized differently, in different countries.)

On the piano keyboard, you see white and black keys. Each of these keys makes a sound. The white keys, from left to right, have names C, D, E, F, G, A, B then the pattern of white keys begin again.

In between the white keys are black keys these help to organize the 7 white keys into equal distances, known as steps. (The black keys are called either sharp keys or flat keys.) Every time you move from one key to another, you are moving step; for example, Touch the C key, then move to the first black key on the right this is step, and since you are moving up, or to the right, it is known as a sharp (#) key, in this case, the C#. Now touch the next white key, the D and go back to the key that we called the C# - Because you are now moving down, or to the left, it is called a flat (b) key, in this case, Db (we are making the sound lower). If this all makes sense, then take a look at our piano keyboard again. The names of all of the keys (each one a step apart) are: C, C# (or Db), D, D# (or Eb), E, F, F# (or Gb), G, G# (or Ab), A, A# (or Bb), B

Now, so that I can make (or compose) some music to give to you, so that everyone can play it, I need to be able to write it down. This is the same as writing a book so that everyone can read it I need to know how to write letters and words. To write music I need to know how to write the down the sounds (like letters) and to put them into groups (like words). So that you can tell what sounds I am writing, I need a staff so that I can organize my sounds:

Now I will add a clef at the beginning so that you can tell if these are high notes or low notes (For right now, I will write only high notes, so I will use what is called the treble clef).

As you can see, the staff is made up of 5 lines with 4 spaces in between. There is a sound on each line or space.

There are also pitches that are below and above the staff lines. The bass clef is used for low pitches, or sounds. But, you have the SAME pitches - they just sound lower! Now you have learned all of the names of the pitches in the two basic clefs! Time to take a rest! The next thing we will learn is about scales. Scales are simply the grouping of the pitches into certain patterns. Scales are important because all music that you play is really just scales. Sometimes the pitches of the scales are in order; other times, they jump around. So, here we go! Scales are grouped into two main patterns: major and minor scales. It is easy to learn each of the patterns. Major scales have a pattern of the following: Whole step, whole step, step, whole step, whole step, whole step, step! Now you can use all of that math you have been learning! Have you learned fractions yet? Well, these are easy fractions; for example, all you have to know is that plus equals a whole! (It is like two halves of an apple make a whole apple.) Here is a scale that starts on the C (this C is often called middle C because it is in the middle of the piano). You can see that a scale begins and ends on the same note! See if you can figure out the steps that make up the major scale. Ill start you off: C to D is a whole step because that distance is made up of two half steps! Now, you figure out the rest.

There is a major scale beginning on each pitch note. Get some music paper and see if you can write a major scale beginning on each pitch. For example, write a major scale beginning on C#, D, E, F#, G, A, and B. You will notice that you are not writing a scale on every pitch; but I will explain this later. Another hint: Only use sharps at the moment do not use any flats! (If you have any trouble, just look at the appendix at the end of this book it will show you all of the scales major and minor!) If this has not given you any trouble, you will also notice that you have only used a certain number of sharps in each scale. There are only 7 scales that use sharps: The G major scale has 1 sharp, D major has 2 sharps, A major has 3 sharps, E major has 4 sharps, B major has 5 sharps, F# major has 6 sharps, and C# major has 7 sharps. You are not quite finished with major scales! There are also 7 major scales that use flats! Using your music paper, try to write a major scale, using the same major scale pattern, beginning on the following pitches: F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, and Cb Did you notice anything interesting? Actually, there are three interesting things! (Do not look at the answer yet see if you can figure it out first!) Answer: The Db major scale is the same as the C# major scale, except using flats! The Gb major scale is the same as the F# major scale AND Cb is the same as B! Now you should have all of the major scales written down in your music book. These scales are the basis for most of the music written long ago, as well as a lot of music written recently! See if you can play all of these scales on your keyboard or piano, if you have one! Here is a simple, little melody you can play using the notes of the C major scale. See if you recognize it! There are a lot of melodies you can try to play now. I will give you the starting pitch for two little songs: Mary Had a Little Lamb - start on E Row, Row, Row Your Boat start on C We are going to take a rest now, leaving scales for a while!

II. How did you do playing all of those songs? If you played them using every pitch sound very evenly, you probably thought that they did not sound quite right. What was wrong? It may have been something we call rhythm. Rhythm is the beat it makes you pat your foot or bob your head when you hear music! When I talk about a beat, I want you to think about your heart-beat. It is constant and does not change, unless you are sleeping (when it slows down), or when you are excited (when it gets faster). A beat in music can also change, but for this basic lesson in theory, we will keep the beat not too fast, not too slow. A pitch that just has one beat is called a quarter note. A pitch that has two beats is called a half note. A pitch that has three beats is called a dotted half note. A pitch that has four beats is called a whole note. Important: From now on, pitches written on the staff will be called notes. We will play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star again, but now I will have all of the pitches look like notes with different beats. For this song, you just need quarter notes and half notes. Every quarter note will have one beat and every half note will have two beats. Now, does the song sound better now that you are using rhythm? Do you notice that there are lines drawn on the staff every 4 beats? These are called bar-lines. Bar-lines are used to group notes into patterns into bars. If we group notes into a pattern with 4 beats, it is called 4/4 time. (Did you notice that you have to use fractions again? 4/4 in math is 4 quarters; in music 4/4 means the use of 4 quarter notes, or 4 one-beat notes.) Let us see Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star again, but this time we will put 4/4 at the very beginning of the staff, after the treble clef. This is called a time signature and shows us how many beats will be in each bar. A couple of other key signatures are important to know at this time 2/4 and . 2/4 simply means that there are two beats in each bar; means that there are three beats in each bar. Not too difficult to understand! A very typical piece in time is known as the waltz. The waltz is a dance that you do not see very much anymore, but it has a pleasant, swinging feel. See if you can write a waltz, using any notes you would like, but make sure that you only have 3 beats in every bar.

After you have written a waltz, see if you can play the piece on your keyboard or piano. III. Now that you have the basic ideas, we must return to scales, but this time, we will look at minor scales. Major scales seem to have a nice, happy feel to them; minor scales seem to have a sad feeling. Major scales are also a bit easier. As you have seen, there are 15 major scales. There are also 15 minor scales, but, unfortunately, each minor scale can be written and played 3 ways the natural minor scale, the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale! I will briefly go over each type of minor scale. I will show you what they look like on the staff, beginning on C. You can play them as we go, listening to the difference of each one. Natural minor scales have a pattern of the following: Whole step, step, whole step, whole step, step, whole step, whole step! Harmonic minor scales have a pattern like this: Whole step, step, whole step, whole step step, a step and a half, step! (Another way of looking at it is that the harmonic minor scale is a natural minor scale with the 7th note raised step.) Melodic minor scales have a pattern like this: Whole step, step, whole step, whole step, whole step, whole step, step! (Or: simply raise the 6th and 7th notes of the natural minor scale step each.) Did you notice something interesting? This is the only scale that is different when you come down - the two notes that you raised going up are lowered step, becoming a natural minor scale on the way down. If a piece is based on a specific scale, for example the C minor scale you just studied, you say that it is in the key of C minor.

Again, all of these scales are written out for you in the appendix. Before you look at them, try to write as many as you can in your music book. Try to play all of the scales, noticing the different musical feeling between major and minor scales.

What do you think about writing all of those sharps and flats in the music? Takes a bit of time! Composers, people who write the music, figured that out a long time ago and decided to come up with a short-hand way of writing music so that they would not have to spend the time writing in all of the sharps and flats. What they came up with was the key signature. The key signature simply tells you the key or scale of the composition - how many sharps and flats are in piece you are playing. How many flats were in the key of C minor? Do you remember? Three flats Bb, Eb, and Ab. So, if a piece is written in the key of C minor, you could put those three flats in the beginning, before the time signature. Then you know that every time you come to one of those three notes, you simply lower each one of them a step. For example, let us play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in minor listen to how differently it sounds! Let us now do some experiments with our favorite song! In music you can decide to add a sharp or a flat if you would like! A sharp or flat that is not in the key signature (the scale or key) of the piece, is called an accidental. Then when you get tired of using that extra sharp or flat (the accidental), you can put a natural sign in front of the note, returning it back to what it was before, according to the key signature. Look at this version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I have added an extra sharp and then the natural sign. See if you can play it! Sounds pretty strange, doesnt it?

IV. You have done very well up to now. You know all about scales the key ingredient to making music. Everything that you have played up to now, scales and easy little pieces, have all been horizontal a long line of notes. You can also play two notes at once (a double-stop) or three or more notes at once (a chord). These are simply built by adding intervals together. An interval is the distance between two notes. For example, from C to E is the distance of (remember to use your math!) 2 whole steps. This interval would be a Major 3rd. Here are all of the important intervals for you to try to play on the piano or keyboard. Listen to the sound of each interval.

If you notice, there is a rule about intervals this may be an easier way to remember all of this! Major becomes minor; perfect becomes augmented (if made larger) and diminished (if made smaller). (Of interest the minor third is thought to be the most common interval, and the easiest to sing. There was a most important composer living in Hungary at the beginning of the 20th century. His name was Zoltan Kodaly, and he developed a method of singing. His method was based on the principle that very young children could learn to sing well, and that the easiest interval to sing was the minor third. Try playing and singing the minor third in the above example. (This is the same interval that your mother might use when she calls for you!) Now try Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star again this time with major thirds written above the melody! You are beginning to see how you use a great deal of imagination in composing (writing) and playing music. The important things in music are melody, rhythm and harmony. You have discovered a lot about melody and rhythm, so, hopefully, you are on your way to understanding how to think about music. The last component to discuss is harmony. As you have seen, melody and rhythm are very horizontal a continuous long line of music. Harmony is the vertical aspect of music that gives music motion. If you listen to a group of singers in church, a barbershop quartet, or even in a rock band, you will hear that each singer is singing a different note, but it sounds very harmonious the music makes sense and sounds good. All together, the singers are singing chords. Each singer has a part from top to bottom, the highest voice (how high can you sing?) is called the soprano, the next one is called the alto, the next, the tenor, and the lowest is called the bass. Look at this chord a C Major chord. In the key of C Major (go back and take a look at the C major scale and then look at the interval chart), the chord written above is the chord built on the first note of the scale, the C. If you add the 3rd note of the scale, an E (a major third above the C), and the 5th note of the scale (a perfect 5th above the C), you have made a triad. Let us look at very basic harmony. In this book, we will only study the basic chords of harmony, I, IV, and V.

This is not very difficult. In the key of C major, the I chord is a triad built on the first note of the scale, the C; the IV chord is a triad built on the 4th note of the scale; and the V chord is a triad built on the 5th note of the scale. In this next example, we will use both of our clefs, the treble and the bass this is the way most music was written a long time ago, and is still being written today. We have written from left to right, the I chord, the IV chord, the V chord, and the I chord again. You notice that, in every chord, we have repeated the bottom note on the top (the octave) this makes our four voices the soprano, alto, tenor and bass notes. See if you can play these chords on your keyboard or piano. Do these chords sound familiar? We will discuss these 3 basic chords again later! Now, in your music book, try to make triads above other notes of the C scale, as well as all of the other scales, major and minor. You can also experiment with putting the 3rd and 5th intervals in every chord in different voices. For example, in our illustration, the Do not think that this is all about harmony! There would be much more to tell you about chords built on triads of every note of the scale, inversions of these chords, voiceleading, and much more. But this type of discussion is beyond the scope of this book. You can experiment as much as possible, using the above basic rules of harmony. You may discover your own, special chord!

V. Theory in Action I hope that the above discussion of theory has given you great fun and a basic understanding of how music is put together. Now, I would like to talk about some types of music which use these ideas. I cannot include every type of music, but I thought you might like to see a few examples. To give you a bit of music history as well, music through the ages can be categorized into time periods medieval (800-1400), renaissance (1400-1600), baroque (1600-1759), classical (1750-1850), romantic (1850-1920), and 20th century. Of course, these are not all of them because people were singing and writing down sounds since the beginning of time. If you know about art, you will recognize that art can also be categorized into the same time periods. A very early form of music was the fugue. It became really popular (and very complicated) in the baroque and classical periods. Just listen to some of Johann Sebastian Bachs fugues they are some of the most beautiful music written! The word fugue comes from the Italian verb, fugare, which means to chase. In music, this means that you have a line of music that is chasing the other. Let me give you a simple example a song you may know Row, Row, Row Your Boat! (This song is also thought of as a round as the tune goes around and around.) Now, let us jump ahead to the 20th Century. Some composers, especially over in Europe started to compose music in a style known as the 12-tone system. (Look up in a music dictionary the composers Anton Webern and Alban Berg!) Did you notice that if you count every note, from C to B, there are only 12 of them? C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A# and B. (I will not use flats for this example, only sharps!) Composers would decide to arrange these notes (or tones) in a certain order. This order became the tone-row. Here is an example of a very simple piece using a tone-row. You could now take your music paper and try to compose your own piece, using the 12tone system! Another 20th century style of music was known as Minimalism. Steve Reich and Phillip Glass were two major composers of the minimalist style. The style depends upon the repetition of the notes (tones), static harmony, and a steady beat.. Here is a simple example of minimalism. Can you try to write a minimalist piece? Decide on a rhythm and, keeping the rhythm constant, write some bars using very few notes.

There has always been a history of popular music. What is your favorite type of music? Do you listen to orchestra music? Maybe you like to listen to singers, and, maybe, you like to listen to rock bands. (I play the cello, so, I think you should listen to some cello music!) For the last 15 years or so, rap music has been very popular. Before rap music there was a lot of heavy metal (bands like Metallica, one of my favorites), and before that, rock and roll (I am a lot older than you, but I loved Elvis and the Beatles!). Again, I have not listed all of the types of popular music, but I am just giving you a few examples. Back in the early part of the 20th century, in the Southern part of the United States, blues was a very important and popular style of music. From the blues came jazz, another important form of music that is still popular today. From these forms of music came rock and roll, heavy metal and rap. From the very beginning of time, people sang music and passed their music from person to person in song. Gradually, hundreds of years ago, they developed a written system the system of scales, rhythm and harmony so that they could write down what they were singing. They could now share their music with others. I hope you have discovered that you, too, can be a composer and a performer! With this beginning, I hope you will want to investigate everything you can about music!