Chapter 1: Notation

The staff consists of _______ equally spaced horizontal lines.

5

T/F: Dots may also be used with rests and affect them in the same way

True - see image.

What is a "Clef" ?

A clef is a symbol placed at the beginning of a line of music that establishes the letter names of the lines and spaces of the staff.

Draw a Treble Clef in it's proper position on the staff.

see picture

What does the "C Clef" look like?

see picture

What is an enharmonic equivalent? Give an example.

Enharmonic equivalents are tones that have the same pitch but different letter names. An example would be C# and Db, or E# and F natural.

Describe the different types of accidentals and show their symbols.

From left to right in image: Sharp: Raises the pitch a half step. Double Sharp: raises the pitch a whole step Flat: Lowers the pitch a half step Double Flat: lowers the pitch a whole step Natural: cancels any previous sharp or flat and returns to the natural, or unaltered, pitch.

When a dotted note is ona line, where is the dot usually placed?

With a single voice, notes are placed slightly above the line. When two separate voices are placed on a single staff, the dots are below the line on the notes with stems down.

Stems of notes above the middle line go _______, whereas stems of notes below the middle line go _______. If a note is on the middle line, the stem is usually ________ except when the stems of adjacent notes are in the ________ direction.

down, up, down, opposite

Dynamic Markings Practice: https://quizlet.com/511326705/dynamic-markings-practice-flash-cards/

https://quizlet.com/511326705/dynamic-markings-practice-flash-cards/

When stemmed notes are placed on ledger lines, the stems should extend to the ________ of the staff.

middle line

When connected by beams, stemmed notes should be modified so that the beams are slanted to cross no more than _________ line(s) of the staff for each group of notes.

one

Stems of single notes should be about ________ in length.

one octave

What are the notes indicated by the lines/spaces of a staff that contains the treble (or G) clef?

see picture

Connect no more than _______ notes by beams unless all are part of one beat.

six

In compound meters, it is important to show the basic pulse structure of the measure and the division of _________ as clearly as possible.

three

In ¾ meter, is it better to show a two beat rest by using a half rest or two quarter rests?

two quarter rests

How are pitches notated in music?

Pitches are represented by symbols positioned on a staff and identified with letter names.

For note durations starting with the double whole note down to the sixty fourth note, illustrate the notation for each type of note as well as the same duration of rest. Also, using the next smallest note duration, specify what two note combination would be equivalent.

See image.

Explain how to interpret a time signature.

See image. In a time signature, the upper digit indicates the number of basic note values per measure. The lower digit indicates this basic note value (e.g, 2 = ½ note, 4 = ¼ note). So, for example, in a 3/4 time signature there are 3 quarter notes per measure.

What does in mean for notes to move in half-step motion?

See image. In passages of music involving half step motion, a sharped note is followed by a note with a different letter name a half step higher (below left), or a flatted note is followed by a note with a different letter name a half step lower (below right). Also called moving "chromatically"

When notes of a chord are on an adjacent line and space, the higher of the two is always positioned slightly to the ________, regardless of the direction of the stem.

See image. Right (in line with the rest of the notes in a large chord)

Explain what it means when notes are "tied" in music.

See image. The tie is a curved line that connects two adjacent notes of the same pitch into a single sound with a duration equal to the sum of both note values.

Explain what it means when notes are "dotted" in music.

See image. When a dot is placed to the right of a note head, the dot lengthens the value of the note by half again its value. If a second dot is added, this lengthens the dotted note value by half the length of the first dot, and so on

What makes the C clef unique from the Treble (G) and Bass (F) clefs?

The C clef is different because it can be positioned on any line of the staff to designate middle C.

Flagged and beamed notes are generally not mixed. What is the exception?

The exception is vocal music. In vocal music, flagged notes have traditionally been used when the text-music relationship involves one note for each syllable. However, modern practice has moved toward the use of instrumental notation for vocal music.

What letters are used to represent the various pitches in music?

The first seven letters of the alphabet (A,B,C,D,E,F,G)

What is the smallest interval used in Western music?

The half step, or minor 2nd.

With regard to notation, how does one distinguish between the notes of two different melodies that occupy the same staff?

The stems for one melody are up and the stems for the other melody are down.

What is asymmetrical meter?

The term refers to time signatures in which the number of basic pulses cannot be divided into equal groups of two, three, or four beats. The upper number in these signatures are usually 5 or 7 (see "complex" in image).

What happens if you have an eighth note (or smaller value) that cannot be grouped within a beat?

Then you use a flag instead of beams.

T/F: The whole rest can be used to indicate a full measure of rest in any meter

True

T/F: On the grand staff, middle C is shared between the two staves.

True (see picture)

Sounds and silences in music are represented by ________ and __________, respectively.

notes and rests

Differentiate between duple, triple, and quadruple meters.

Almost all meters (simple or compound) are going to have either two, three, or four recurring pulses. These are called duple, triple, and quadruple meters, respectively. You can figure out the number of basic pulses in a meter by simply looking at the top number in the time signature of simple meters, and by taking the top number of compound meters and dividing by three. These designations are often combine with the division names to describe a meter (see image).

What is an "Accidental"?

An accidental refers to symbols that are placed to the left of the noteheads to indicate the raising or lowering of a pitch.

What is an interval?

An interval is the relationship between two tones.

Where are dynamic markings typically placed?

In instrumental music, they are usually placed beneath the staff to which they refer. In vocal music, dynamic markings are usually placed above the staff to which they refer (to avoid confusion with words of the lyrics). In piano scores, dynamic markings are often placed between the staves if the markings are to apply to both staves. If markings are needed for each staff individually, the markings should go just above or below the staff to which they refer.

Differentiate between simple,compound, and asymmetrical meters.

In simple meters, each beat is divided into two parts (simple division). The upper numbers in simple meter signatures are usually 2, 3, or 4 indicating two, three, or four beats per measure. In compound meters, each pulse is a dotted note, which is divided into groups of three parts (compound division). The upper numbers in compound meter signatures are usually 6, 9, and 12.

The Bass Clef is also known as the _________ clef. Explain

It is also known as the F clef because it was derived from the letter F, and the dots (placed above and below the fourth line of the staff) designate that line as F.

The Treble Clef is also known as the _________ clef. Explain.

It is also known as the G clef because the symbol is an ornate letter G and the curved line terminates at the second line of the staff, which designates the note G for that line.

What does it mean when you see 8vb indicated below a portion of notes on the bass staff?

It means that the pitches indicated above are meant to be played an octave down from where they are specified on the staff (see picture)

What does it mean when you see 8va indicated above a portion notes on the treble staff?

It means that the pitches indicated beneath are meant to be played an octave up from where they are specified on the staff (see picture)

What does it mean to say that you should "beam groups of eighth notes (and smaller values) according to the beats in the measure"?

It means that you should try to notate so that the beams of notes represent and add up to one beat. For example, in ¾ time you wouldn't want to beam together three eighth notes - this is one and a half beats.

What is the difference between meter and rhythm? What are the two basic meters?

Meter refers to the regularly occurring durations (beats) within a measure in accordance with the time signature. Rhythm refers to the patterns and irregular durations of the notes in accordance with the meter. The two basic meters are duple (two beat) and triple (three beat). All other meters result from some combination of these two.

Differentiate between dividing and subdividing note durations. Also, explain what it is meant by irregular division or subdivision of note durations.

See image. When a note duration is divided, it is divided into two equal parts. When a note duration is subdivided, it is divided into four equal parts. Irregular division or subdivision occurs when you divide a note duration in such a way that the resulting smaller note values do not actually exist. For example, the quarter note triplet, which arises when you dividing a quarter note into thirds, resulting in which results in 3 ⅓ notes. However, these a 1/3 note doesn't exist, so the next closest note duration must be misused on purpose for representation purposes, which in the case of triplets, an ⅛ note. It is considered misuse because the ⅛ notes do not carry their true value in the triplet . To convey the true value(s) of a group of irregularly subdivided notes, a number is placed above the group of notes that shows how the original note has been divided. So, in a triplet, a 3 is placed above the group of notes to indicate that each note is ⅓ of a quarter note.

What makes a rhythm syncopated?

See image. When part of the measure that is usually unstressed is accented (emphasized). In other words, when notes are taking place off beat.

Identify each octave range on the piano keyboard according to the various C notes (e.g. C1-C2, etc. ).

See picture

The C clef is coupled with a set of secondary names that identify each of the possible positions the clef can be placed to designate middle C. List these names and specify the staff line for which each is located.

See picture

Explain the concept of ledger lines.

See picture. Pitches that go beyond the limits of the staff are written by adding ledger lines above or below the staff. Ledger lines parallel the staff and accommodate only one note each.

What is the "Grand Staff"?

See picture. The grand staff is a combination of two staves put together, connected by a brace. In the grand staff, the top stave contains the treble clef, and the bottom stave contains the base clef.

How are irregular divisions of a note indicated?

They are indicated by showing the number of notes in the resulting group underneath the group of divided notes. The note values of the irregular group are notated the same way as the regular group, provided the number of notes in the irregular group is less than twice that of the regular group - if the number of notes in the irregular group is more than twice the number of the regular, the next smaller note value is used.