MUSIC 101: Final review

 

Final exam: Wednesday, December 11, 8:30 – 11:30 a.m.

 

  1. Review all homework and quizzes. If you have any questions, send me email! igirton@oxy.edu
  2. Review the Workbook:
    1. Chapter 1: Pitch.

                                                               i.      Be sure you can identify any pitch in treble and bass clefs, up to 2 ledger lines. Review ledger lines if necessary (extensions of the staff, above and below, p. 10).

                                                             ii.      Make sure your notation of clefs and pitches is accurate and legible

    1. Chapter 2: The keyboard.

                                                               i.      Review the white/black-key pattern

                                                             ii.      Ponder enharmonic spellings of notes (D# = Eb)

                                                            iii.      Make sure your notation of sharps, flats, and naturals is accurately placed (directly before the modified note, in the same staff location)

    1. Chapter 3: Whole steps and half steps

                                                               i.      Recognizing W and H on the keyboard

                                                             ii.      Distinguishing between diatonic and chromatic semitones (DST, CST)

1.       DST: 2 different letter names (e.g. C - Db)

2.       CST: same letter name, different accidentals (e.g. C – C#)

    1. Chapter 4: Diatonic scales, and intervals (stage 1)

                                                               i.      Major scale: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, with H (DST) between 2-3 and 7-8.

1.       Be able to write major scales from any pitch without key signatures

2.       Recognize, name, and write intervals (quantity only)

3.       Understand interval inversion (an inverted interval has the same pitch class content as the original interval, but in the opposite orientation)

    1. Chapter 5: Major-key key signatures, transposition, and melodic form (phrases)

                                                               i.      Key signatures: be rock-solid with these. Memorize the order of sharps and flats, and memorize the 15 major key signatures in order. Use the circle of 5ths/clock as a visual aid.

                                                             ii.      Be sure you place the sharps and flats of these key signatures in the appropriate staff positions. Review p78.

                                                            iii.      Transposing a melody: use scale degrees as your guide. Analyze the original melody for its key and its scale degrees; transpose to the new key, preserving scale degree progression. See p81.

                                                            iv.      Melodic shape: review cadences and typically phrase patterns.

1.       Melodic cadences usually occur on 1, 2, 3, or 5th scale degree (1 for final cadence).

    1. Chapter 6: Intervals, stage 2

                                                               i.      Understand the two aspects of an interval: quantity (number of staff steps) and quality (number of half steps, p99, or relationship to the major scale (see 1 below))

1.       Does the top note belong to the bottom note’s major scale? If not, by how much, and in what direction, does it differ?

                                                             ii.      Categorize intervals in groups: consonant and dissonant

1.       All d and A intervals are dissonant; all 2nds and 7ths are dissonant

2.       All P intervals are consonant, while M/m 3rds and 6ths are also consonant

                                                            iii.      What happens to interval quality under inversion?

1.       M « m, d « A, and P «P.

 

    1. Chapter 7: Minor scales

                                                               i.      Learn the H-W pattern of the three versions of the minor scale

1.       Natural: H between 2-3, 5-6

2.       Harmonic: H between 2-3, 5-6, 7-8 (­7, or leading tone)

3.       Melodic: H between 2-3, 7-8 (­6 ­7 on the way up; cancelled (back to natural minor) on the way down

                                                             ii.      Minor key key signatures (pp128-129)

                                                            iii.      Review the relative major/minor (p127) and parallel major/minor (p131) pairs

    1. Chapter 8: Harmony and chords

                                                               i.      Components of a triad: R, 3rd, 5th (2 stacked 3rds)

1.       7 combinations: CEG, DFA, EGB, FAC, GBD, ACE, BDF)

                                                             ii.      Triad qualities: M, m (d, A in chapter 9)

1.       M: M3+P5

2.       m: m3+P5

                                                            iii.      Learn the 3 groups, pp152-154

1.       Gp 1: C F G (M triads all natural; m triads b3rd)

2.       Gp 2: A D E (M triads #3rd; m triads all natural)

3.       Gp 3: B and Bb

                                                            iv.      4-part choral spacing, p155-156

1.       Learn to identify the root of a triad, and to eliminate the doubled element

                                                              v.      Triad inversion

1.       To determing the triad’s inversion (root position, 1st, or 2nd inversion), arrange the 3 notes as 2 stacked 3rds (if they’re not thus arranged already) – the bottom note is the root. If the 3rd is in the bass, the triad is in 1st inversion; if the 5th is in the bass, the triad is in 2nd inversion.

                                                            vi.      Review composing chord melodies, pp159-160.

    1. Chapter 9: Complex triad spellings, diminished and augmented triads, and the harmonic system

                                                               i.      Complex spellings (any root besides C, D, E, F, G, A, B, or Bb):

1.       The 7 letter-name sets (see h.i.1 above) remain the same

2.       Relate complex spellings to Gp1, Gp2, or Gp3 triads, and adjust accordingly

a.       E.g.: to spell an Ab triad correctly, review the spelling of the A triad (Gp 2), and lower each note exactly one CST: thus A-C#-E becomes Ab-C-Eb

                                                             ii.      Diminished and augmented triads:

1.       d: m3+d5

2.       A: M3+A5

                                                            iii.      The harmonic system, p178

1.       Triads are assigned Roman numerals which correspond to the root’s scale degree. Roman numerals’ size indicate triad quality,

a.       In major keys, I, IV, and V are major; ii, iii, and vi are minor, and viio is diminished

b.       In minor keys, i, iv, and v are minor; III, VI, and VII are major, and iio is diminished

                                                                                                                                       i.      The v chord in minor keys is very often altered with ­7 (the leading tone), which causes it to be major, rather than minor


    1. Chapter 10: The dominant 7th chord in major and minor keys

                                                               i.      Three 3rds stacked on top of each other

1.       A 3rd is added to the top of a triad. This top note is a 7th above the root – hence the term “7th chord”

2.       Primary type of 7th chord = dominant 7th

a.       Interval structure of a dominant 7th: major triad (M3 + P5 above root) + a m7 above the root. Another way of looking at the dominant 7th: adding a m3 to the top of a major triad.

b.       The 5th scale degree in major keys generates a dominant 7th chord. No other scale degree in major keys produces the same set of intervals.

c.       In minor keys, the 3rd of the chord (the 7th scale degree) must be raised one CST in order to produce the proper set of intervals.