Music Theory 101 #3: The Basic Skills of Music; Pitch Pt. 2

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Music Theory series on here. Before I begin, I would like to say thank you for all the reception and the help that was given towards helping me out with the site! It is not very apparent unless you run a project or a website to realize how much help there is when everyone submits feedback on it. From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely mean thank you. There was some things discussed that will cause a huge shift in this website within the near future, so stay tuned for that!

Key Terms:
Staff
Middle C
Treble Clef (G clef)
Bass Clef (F clef)
Grand Staff

As we were discussing last time, pitch is one of the six basic principles of a language. We have also discussed the basics of pitch as well from it's purpose to how it is heard and even broken it down into the 12 pitches on a keyboard. However, just so we can wrap this discussion up we need to go ahead and head from the basics that every musician knows and talk about the basic skill that every musician should know but do not. This is the staff and reading the clefs.

Blank staff lines from this site

First, we must look at what the staff is. The Music Staff is the space that musicians start when looking at music. It is a set of lines and spaces that musicians use to create notes. There are five (5) lines and four (4) spaces. As you go towards the top of the page, you go higher in pitch or heading towards the bottom of the page the lower you go. The notes themselves vary depending on which clef you are using.

In order to make sure that the following is extremely clear, we must find one point that defines each clef equally. For this, we are going to use "middle C" or the C that is in the middle of the piano. It is usually marked by the logo in the middle of the piano's cover but there are digital keyboards that note where it is. Something else I should bring up now is the statement of octave indicators (or Scientific Pitch Notation). This is how we figure out if a note is higher or lower without saying "this note is higher than" and so on. In the case of the previously stated "Middle C", it is identified as C4. The way I remember that middle C is C4 is thinking "Music starts at C and music is explosive!" (corny, but it works if you need something to use to learn). The way the indicators are meant to work as from C to B. So for example B3 is the B below middle C. For another example, let us look at D5. It is the D an octave above middle C. So instead of being the D directly above middle C, it is a note and an octave up.

This is a treble clef on a staff
Source: It's A Visual Medium

The clef is the first symbol on the staff. It defines where what note is on a staff, much like a a musical GPS coordinator. There are several dozen standardized clefs that are out there, and hundreds of non-standardized but  for this article, we will will talk about two specifically. The first clef we will look at is the Treble Clef, also known as the G clef. The reason for the name is the part that curls around the second to bottom line is noted as G. The space below that is an F, the line below that is E and so on. The space below the G is A, the line above that is B and so on. This G is known as G4 which means it is the G above middle C.

This is a bass clef on a staff
Source: Mr. Scheiber's Music Room

The other clef is the Bass Clef also known as the F clef. As with the previous, the reason for the second name is because the dots are placed around the note F. Also as before if you go down, you have E and D or up leads to G and A. Now, the thing to realize is this F is an F3, or the F below middle C.

This is a grand staff and note equivalents
Source: Click here

The final portion of this post will be about the grand staff and it's uses. The Grand Staff is the combination of the bass and treble clefs. It is used for piano, piano styled instruments and harp reading primarily but is used to condense scores down into an easier to read format. The reasoning is to create a larger range of pitches than any one can accomplish by themselves. It reads as if one large staff. The meet in the middle at middle C. Along with the additional space, there is an additional an bracket at the beginning to link them together. In the case of organ music, there would be three or possibly four staves but as I stated before this is primarily two. Next time we will start heading onto the next topic of discussion!

New idea for the blog *NEED EVERYONE'S INPUT*

Ok guys, as you may or may not know there is a large number of international viewers and in celebration of being seen in every developed country in the world last night, I want to hold a new contest that will benefit everyone! Someone at Winthrop gave me the idea that I should host a mini cultural event with everyone on here. Basically I would give you a sample of my life here in SC along with a song that I feel is a cultural song from the US and you would send to me (via Twitter, the Facebook Fanpage, over email or as a comment on the page) a little bit about yourself and a song from your country. I'm going to start with mine on here and we'll see how far we can go. If I like yours then I will post it on here in a new series for the rest of the world to see. So, let me know via Facebook, Twitter, email, or comment below and don't forget to share this page with your friends!

Episode 7: Timbre and the Importance of Tone Control

Hello and welcome back everyone to something more exciting than all the reviews I have been doing. If I have bored you from them, I'm sorry but some people were asking me to do some reviews, and if you have any request don't be afraid to ask me! I love doing reviews for people and helping people if they need help. Anyways, on the the lesson at hand: What is Timbre and why does it matter to me?

First off Timbre or tone color is the sound that an instruments produces. Every instrument has it's own sound that it produces and its the only type of sound that can produce it. For example, you listen to a piccolo and listen to a flute or bassoon you can tell that the qualities of the sound have a lot of similar qualities but they aren't the exact same. The piccolo is a higher and sounds more "whimsy" and "In air floating" feel than the flute or bassoon does, but they all have a feeling of a wind instrument. Now add a cello to the mix and you hear a new feel to the music, which is a more earthy feeling that is produced from the violins, violas, cellos and bass. Every instrument has its advantages and disadvantages revolving around tone color and it effects the overall feeling of the orchestra. That is one of many reasons symphonic music is written with so many instruments as well, the composer wants to fill in every gap that he wants to be filled in and cause the piece to sound complete. It makes the piece sound better, and that is also the art of composing; Knowing how to make a one lined melody fit into the best possible group of instruments.

So now you're asking; why do I need to know this? The answer is you need to be aware of the differences in all music in order to be a better musician. If you know how everything links together then you become a better musician. There are reason why Bach wrote the suites for cello and not violin, and why he wrote the violin concerto for violin and not cello.

Now Tone Color is a different, but very important thing to talk about. Tone color is the type of sound you are producing from the instrument. It is similar to timbre in the way that it is left to the composer to control, however this is controlled by the instrument. The easiest way to explain this is adding a mute to an instrument. It not only softens the music, but it changes the overall sound of the instrument from blocking some of the vibrations. This is crucial because sometime you need the soft, but broad sound from an instrument, or sometimes you need a loud, harsh sound. Strings players achieve that by several ways, first being the mute. We add on a mute to soften the sound and change the overall sound. 2nd we can change the position of the bow. If we play more up towards the fingerboard we get a softer sound; sul tasto, or up towards the bridge; ponticello. Finally changing fingerings for a run can change the overall tone of a piece. For band and choir, there are mutes or some kind of tone changing methods as well.

Episode 6: Simple and Compound Meter

Alfred 00-16643 Essential Dictionary of Music Theory - Music Book (Google Affiliate Ad)

Hello and welcome back to the Music Theory Blog! Today's long awaited episode is about the difference between Simple and Compound Meter. I am here to help you along with understanding the material better by showing examples of what I am explaining and we'll see if this makes it better to understand!

 Now first, for those who are new comers, you must understand what the time signature is. The Time Signature is the symbol that shows musicians how many notes are in a measure and what note value gets the beat. For Example, 4/4 time means there are 4 notes in a measure that a quarter note gets the beat. If you need more help with understanding this, refer back to episode 4.

In order to understand why the two types of time signatures are important, you must understand what they are. A Simple Meter is a meter that's time signature breaks down into two parts. For example, you can divide a whole note into two half notes, a half note into two quarter notes, and so on. This is what most music is written as, which are 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4. Any variation of the signature will work, for example you can say 2/8, 3/2, or 2.16 as long as the measure breaks down into two parts anything is possible. Here is an example of a piece that is in 4/4, "Prelude" from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1. Some other examples of music you might see with a simple meter is Common Time and Cut Time. Common time () is simply another way to write out 4/4 and Cut time () is a simpler way to write 2/2.

Now, the difference from a simple meter to a compound meter is a Compound Meter divides the beat into 3 parts rather than 2. For example a commonly seen compound meter you may rn into is 6/8. There are 6 beats in a measure but most of the time it is felt in two parts and is conducted the same. The most common types of compound meter are 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8 but changing the lower number would work the same. Here is an audible example of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" which is written in 9/8.

If you like the new way I constructed the lessons, let me know by sending me an email, or message me on Twitter.

Episode Recap 1: Episodes 1-5 Part 1

Hello and welcome back! Now before I begin the recap let's go over a few things. 1st off, you may have noticed the button above me. Finances are really low, especially if you want more reviews so please donate anything you feel comfortable donating to me. I am wanting to do more reviews and if you want to see more, then any money is good money! With that said, I promise I WILL NOT go crazy with the button! The only time I will post it is on general recaps (like such), and reviews. I want to provide everyone with a few service to learn music theory, tricks from professionals, and reviews so you aren't wasting your money on pointless or terrible stuff for your instruments (and yes, I have used some terrible stuff, and amazing stuff so I know what's good and what's not).

With that out of the way, I bet you're wondering "What's an 'Episode Recap'?". I feel after so many episodes on all my topics, I will post one giant summery for you on what is in that section. For today, this episode recap is on episodes 1-5, which are:

-Episode 1: Musical Alphabet and Note Values

-Episode 2: Sharps and Flats

-Episode 3: Treble and Bass Clef

-Episode 4: Defining the Signatures

-Episode 5: Dynamic Contrast

Now how this is going to work is like a review over the selections, and explain some harder to explain things.

Episode 1:

This was a presentation-Only entry so most people didn't read this entry, so I will count this as the actual lesson. There are two main elements when reading music: a Note and a Tone. A note is the visual representation of a sound (♪). The actual sound that goes with it is the tone. We could say that the note is an A, or a C but we don't see that when we are watching a group play: We hear the tones of the chord(s) the person or people playing make but we don't see the (♪) in front of us unless you brought sheet music with you.

When you link them together in any pattern going up or down until you repeat the first note, you get a Scale. There is no simple number of notes in a scale, because there are so many different types of scales. However, there is a "Western" standard of scales, which has 8 tones in a repeating pattern. I will discuss this more later on in the episode review. 

Now we have to discuss the Musical Alphabet. This is the way musicians learn their notes, and it is always repeating: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. 

A standard Octave or simply the "Western" style of 8 note scales, is the repetition of one note. For example take a C scale. If we wrote it out we would have C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. The bold C is an octave higher than the one we started on. This works out on the entire musical alphabet.

Now, we talk about basic note values. They work the same was as fractions, which is they break down and are seen as fractions, like for example ♪ is an eighth note while ♫ is two eighth notes or a quarter note. The way the notes flow is demonstrated in the following picture:

The top note is a whole note, and it breaks down into two half notes. each half note breaks down into two quarter notes and so on all the way down the line. This is the proper way to subdivide notes. Now we must figure out how this fits into a staff. A Staff is a bar with 5 lines and 4 spaces that fit together and are split to make Measures. This will be further explained in a later chapter.

Episode 2:

Going back to notes on a staff, you can have either Sharps, Flats, or Naturals. Naturals are notes that haven't been altered and these are the white keys on a piano. Then if you take that note and go up a half step (going from a white key UP to a black key) your going from a natural to a sharp. When you go down a half step (going from a white key DOWN to a black key) your going from a natural to a flat. *Editor's Note* I just realized there was a glitch in the episode, and I fixed it so it's legible.

Episode 3:

There are 2 major clefts to playing most instruments. You have Treble, or the G cleft, which is the higher side and you have the Bass, or the F cleft, uses the lower side. Back to the discussion on scales. The "western" or non-asian countries use a standard for scales which goes with the "standard" of 8 notes that repeat at the base note but at a distance of an octave. For example: C Major is C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C.

How to Practice Episode 3 - Don't get frustrated

Hello, and welcome back! Sorry for the delay but between getting ready for college, graduation, and the simple uncanny timing of life's messages has put me back a bit!

Now, on to the lesson: Not getting frustrated from practicing and not getting results. I know how hard that is, practicing the Haydn Cello Concerto No. 1 for the past month and still can't play a simple line that shouldn't take more than one or two times through to be able to preform. There are just some things in life that will get you down, and you must put effort to keep going through them and continue to practice them. Always remember the music is nothing more than ink on a piece of paper, or pixels on a screen. If you keep putting effort towards the song and continue to work on it constructively then you will see progress. Here are some examples of breaking a piece down:

If you notice that the piece is getting higher than the range you know how to play is, then practice a scale that resembles that phrase, or find a scale that gets you to go that high. In my previous statement of the Haydn Cello Concerto No. 1, I have problems with the highest part of the song that seems unapproachable. However, when you break the phrase down into it's fundamental level it is nothing more than a G major scale so I practice a G major scale in 3 octaves, focusing most of my effort on the last octave in tune and getting vibrato on the notes. Start off slowly, then build yourself up to the speed of the piece.

If you notice that there is a rhythm that you can't seem to play, then use "tick" marks, or a / above each beat, or subdivided beat. This one can explained to cellist, using the Haydn, with the whole thumb position phrase that is heard multiple times throughout the piece. If you write in those marks above the 8th note beat (the song is slow, and is normally conducted in 8 instead of 4), then it will help to count the piece/ Once you write in the notes then work slowly counting by clapping the beat out loud with a recording or your teacher play the phrase.

If you don't feel like you are remembering the dynamics enough, or your director says you aren't playing them enough then take the song and look for all the crescendos and decrescendos and use a "hot" color (red, orange or yellow) to indicate the crescendos and a "cool" color (green, blue or purple) to indicate the decrescendos. Experts have proven that colors pop out at you subcontiously and you will be reminded to play them. My only suggestion is not to do this on originals.

Episode 3: Treble and Bass Clef

Hello everyone,

Today's lesson is on the different clefs, which are Treble Clef and Bass Clef. Treble clef or G clef as it is more commonly called, is the clef that is commonly used today within music. Many instruments use it, such as violin, flute, oboe, clarinet, xylophone, and guitar. There are times where lower instruments, such as cello, bass and trombone, must read this cleft as well but this isn't always true. Those instruments, and many others, use the Bass clef, or F clef as it is more commonly called, to read music naturally. There are more than simply these two clef, but in order to keep everything simple for the lesson we will stick to learning just these two today.

The reason for why treble clef is called G clef is because the loop on the clef is the note G and is the G above middle C. The lowest note on the picture above is middle C, and in this case, the picture is a C major scale. As discussed in the last episode, there are intervals between notes and a Scale is a series of these intervals. C major is C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C, or interval wise, where W is a whole step and H is half step, is W-W-H-W-W-W-H. This interval pattern will work on all major scales, for example G major is G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G, or F major would be F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F. You can keep experimenting with any notes on the keyboard to find the scales.

Now, this is the Bass clef, also called an F clef. The reason it is called the F clef, like the G clef, is it circles around the note F. However, the same is not true about middle C, the top of the scale is considered middle C. This is also a C major scale, only an octave lower than the one shown before. An Octave is a set of notes that are played with two different places on the staff than the same one. For example, there is an octave jump from the low C to the high C in the picture above. Similarly, there is an octave jump from the lower C on the treble clef than the higher one. Also note the pattern for the scale is the same as with the treble clef, this being a C major scale.

I will expand of each staff specifically in a few days. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to subscribe and follow me on Twitter or Facebook for more information and suggestions for future ideas, like mini video series and contest!

Episode 0: Preface and Work Cited

I know, this sounds weird to many of you guys but the fact of the matter is people is the United States like to sue for copyright infringements. So, whenever I put up a post on here or put up a video on Youtube this will serve as my Work Cited page, and I will keep links to this post and/or will update it regularly. But without further to do, I introduce my first video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUkrHltLaZI&

*NEW* the power point of this lesson:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/87039762

WORK CITED:

Books:

Fleser, Jim. The Chord Wheel: The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 2000. Print. 

Tagliarino, Barrett. Music Theory: A Pocket Reference Guide for All Musicians. Victoria,    Australia: Hal Leonard, 2008. Print.

Teacher, Matthew. The Musicians Notebook: Manuscript Paper for Inspiration & Compsition.  Philadelphia: Running, 1998. Print.

Websites:

Adams, Ricci. "Lessons." Ricci Adams' Music Theory.net. N.p., 2011. Web. 25 March 2012.  

          .

"Free Music Manuscript Staff Paper." Free Printable Staff Paper @ Blank Sheet Music .net. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. />.