viernes, 22 de mayo de 2020

Unit 11: Scales in Music.

mayo 22, 2020 0 Comments


Scales: A series of ascending or descending notes. Scales are defined by both the number of notes in the scale and the organization of the tones and semitones. 

Scale Code: The relationship between the tones in a scale; in other words, how many tones or semi-tones each note of the scale is apart. 

Major Scale: One of the two most common scales in Western music. It consist of 7 notes. The order of tones and semitones is as follows:  tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone.



Minor Scale: The other of the most common scales in Western music. It consists of 7 notes. The order of tones and semitones is: tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone.  


Scale Degrees: The numerical order which notes appear in a scale. On a staff they are usually expressed as roman numerals.  

viernes, 8 de mayo de 2020

UNIT 10: Alterations in Music.

mayo 08, 2020 0 Comments

Alterations.

Alterations: Signs placed in front of notes to indicate changes in how the note should be played. Alterations usually signal that a note should be played higher or lower than it appears on the staff. 

Natural and Altered Notes.


Natural Notes: Notes with no alterations. 
All white keys on the Piano are “natural notes”


Altered Notes: Notes with some alteration. 
Correspond to black keys on the piano. 


Tone and Semitone.


Semitone: The distance between any one of the 12 notes to the next note. For instance the distance between note 10 and note 11 is a semitone. 




Tone: The equivalent of two semitones. For example the distance between the 6th and 8th notes would be a “tone”. 

Sharp and Flat.


Sharp: Raises a note one semitone. For instance if put a “sharp” in front of Note 1, it would move up to Note 2.  




Flat: Lowers a note one semitone. For instance if you put a “flat” in front of Note 10 it would become Note 9. 

Enharmonic notes.

Enharmonic (adjective): having the same pitch but written in different notation. In other words, enharmonic notes are notes that have the same pitch on a piano but have different note spellings.

Example: C Sharp = D Flat or G Sharp= A Flat.


viernes, 1 de mayo de 2020

UNIT 9: Articulation in Music.

mayo 01, 2020 0 Comments


Articulation

How specific notes or passages are played or sung. 


STACCATO

In staff music staccato is represented by a dot located above or below a note. Staccato is to play a musical note or phrase shorter and louder than its original value. 



LEGATO

Legato: (Italian term) Slur (English term). 

A form of musical articulation where you blend notes together. It is the opposite of staccato. On sheet music “legato” is indicated by a curve above or below a series of notes or by the word itself. 



ACCENT
A symbol placed above or below a note that indicates it is to be played with a specific intensity or character. Accentuate is to give a specific intensity to a particular musical note.