THEORY I REVIEW

By now, you should have a good grasp of the following concepts from Theory I:

NOTATION: How to write music legibly
RHYTHM: Note & Rest Durations, Dots, Ties
TREBLE & BASS CLEF
NOTE NAMES: Accidentals, Enharmonics
WHOLE vs. HALF STEPS
INTERVALS: Specific & Non-Specific
SCALES: Chromatic, Major, Minor (Natural, Harmonic, Melodic) & Scale Degrees
CIRCLE OF FIFTHS: Key Signatures, Relative & Parallel Major/Minor, Order of Sharps & Flats
TRIADS: Quality & Inversion
TONIC (I) & DOMINANT (V) AREAS
CANTUS FIRMUS: First & Second Species Counterpoint
VOICE-LEADING RULES
FIGURED BASS
ROMAN NUMERALS: Harmonizing Scales & Analysis

We will be doing lots of revisiting and practicing these concepts, but to get started, we’re going to build some helpful charts to retain and refer back to throughout Theory II.

RHYTHM

RHYTHM is how notes and beats are organized in music. They are organized into small segments called MEASURES (or bars) separated from each other with BAR LINES. Within each measure, you can expect to see a combination of notes that equal the same number of beats each measure. This combination of beats per measure is called a TIME SIGNATURE. It is represented by a fraction (X/Y) where the X value = number of beats and the Y value = type of beats.

These time signatures can be put into categories to help define their beat called METERS. Meters are distinguished by how many beats are in a measure: DUPLE (2), TRIPLE (3), or QUADRUPLE (4) and how these beats are divided: SIMPLE (divided in two) or COMPOUND (divided in three). ODD METERS are ones where the beats do not divide evenly (5/8) and MIXED METER occurs when meters change from measure to measure.

STANDARD TIME SIGNATURES

• 4/4 (4 quarter notes per measure) - simple quadruple meter

• 3/4 (3 quarter notes per measure) - simple triple meter

• 2/4 (2 quarter notes per measure) - simple duple meter

• 6/8 (6 eighth notes per measure - divided into two dotted-quarter notes per measure) - compound duple meter

• 9/8 (9 eighth notes per measure - divided into three dotted-quarter notes per measure) - compound triple meter

• 12/8 (12 eighth notes per measure - divided into four dotted-quarter notes per measure) - compound quadruple meter

• 2/2 (2 half notes per measure) - simple duple meter

• 3/2 (3 half notes per measure) - simple triple meter

A measure of rhythm can be filled with notes and/or rests (silence between the notes) but the combination thereof must equal the established time signature.

DOTS: add half the value to a note being used. Place the dot to the right of the note head and do the math. A half note becomes (2 + 1) three counts. A quarter note becomes (1 + 1/2) 1 1/2 counts. An eighth note becomes (1/2 + 1/4) 3/4 of a count. You do not add dots to rests except on rare occasions (like using dotted-quarter rests to represent a beat of compound meter in, for instance, 6/8 time).

TIES: are arcing lines that connect two or more note heads together. When notes are tied, they are combined to create a longer note (on the same pitch). Ties are helpful for creating notes that extend over a bar line into the next measure or for notes that aren’t easily created by other combinations of symbols. You cannot tie rests together (just use rest values consecutively one after the other).

NOTES & CLEFS

There are three main clefs in music that help you to know how high or low the pitch of the given notes are; they are TREBLE, ALTO, and BASS CLEFS. For the sake of music theory, you should memorize the Treble and Bass Clefs and remember how to find notes in the Alto Clef. The GRAND STAFF is the combination of the Treble and Bass Clefs (and is used for piano music to show a wider range of notes).

TREBLE CLEF

ALTO CLEF

BASS CLEF

GRAND STAFF

All notes shorter than a whole note utilize a STEM to show their value/length. This stem must be placed in the correct direction for the note to be legible. Notes that are on the lower half of the staff have stems pointing up (toward the staff) and on the right of the note head. Notes that are on the upper half of the staff have stems pointing down (toward the staff) and on the left of the note head. For notes on the center line of the staff, you can choose to point the stem up or down - usually this choice is made based on the majority of the other stem directions in the measure.

To find notes above or below the staff, add LEDGER LINES and keep climbing up or down through the alphabet, adding a new note for each line or space.

CHROMATIC SCALE & ENHARMONICS

There are multiple names we can label a given pitch depending on its context.

C = B♯ = D♭♭
C♯ = Bx = D♭
D = Cx = E♭♭
D♯ = E♭ = F♭♭
E = Dx = F♭
F = E♯ = G♭♭
F♯ = Ex = G♭
G = Fx = A♭♭
G♯ = A♭
A = Gx = B♭♭
A♯ = B♭ = C♭♭
B = Ax = C♭
C = B♯ = D♭♭

♭ = flat (lower a half step); ♯ = sharp; ♭♭ = double flat (lower two half steps from natural note); x = double sharp (raise two half steps from natural note)

CHROMATIC SCALE: a scale comprised of all the half steps (12 distinct pitches) between two octaves of the same starting pitch.

ENHARMONICS: the same pitch labeled with a different written note name based on its placement in a scale or how it serves as an accidental. For instance, the pitch C-natural could also be labeled B-sharp or D-double-flat.

ACCIDENTAL: a sharp, flat, or natural outside of a key signature (accidentals only last for a single measure, then revert to the key signature until used again)

INTERVAL REVIEW

INTERVALS are the smallest measure of harmony in music and qualify the relationship between just two notes. Intervals may be MELODIC (when the notes are sounded one after the other) or HARMONIC (when the notes are sounded at the same time). With melodic intervals, we can further categorize them as ASCENDING (the second note is higher than the first) or DESCENDING (the second note is lower than the first).

Complete the chart below to save as a reference tool for Theory II. Watch the YouTube video embedded below to help fill in trouble areas. Use this helpful Interval Song Chart Generator to pick music that helps you remember intervals aurally. You may complete the chart by:
1) copying over to manuscript paper by hand
2) right-click/save image as … and download then complete on a device or print and complete by hand

SCALE REVIEW

MAJOR SCALE - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

NATURAL MINOR SCALE - 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 8 b7 b6 5 4 b3 2 1

HARMONIC MINOR SCALE - 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 8 7 b6 5 4 b3 2 1

MELODIC MINOR SCALE - 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7 8 b7 b6 5 4 b3 2 1

TRIAD REVIEW

TRIADS are three note chords consisting of a root (1), a third (3), and a fifth (5). They exist in four qualities based on the placement of their 3rds and 5ths and can also be INVERTED by changing the order of the notes and putting the 3rd or the 5th in the bass (at the bottom of the chord).

PART-WRITING REVIEW

for voice-leading in 4-part harmony chorales

• There are four voices: SOPRANO, ALTO, TENOR, and BASS

  • Soprano (stems up) and Alto (stems down) stay in the Treble Clef

  • Tenor (stems up) and Bass (stems down) stay in the Bass Clef

• The four voices each get a chord tone. This most often means Root, 3rd and 5th … with the Root DOUBLED (two voices on the root)

• When spacing a chord vertically, you can choose CLOSED VOICING (all the voices next to each other on chord tones) or OPEN VOICING (voices spread out, skipping chord tones)

• When moving horizontally from one chord to the next, keep a note the same (COMMON TONE) when possible, but try to keep the Soprano voice moving for the sake of melodic interest.

• Keep the horizontal movement as close as possible (stepwise motion).

• Keep Soprano-Alto and Alto-Tenor within an octave of each other (Tenor-Bass over an octave okay).

• No VOICE CROSSING (a high voice goes lower than a low voice or vice versa) or VOICE OVERLAPPING (a voice jumps above the note its higher voice previously occupied or vice versa)

• No PARALLEL FIFTHS, PARALLEL OCTAVES, or PARALLEL UNISONS.

• No dissonant leaps (tritones, sevenths) or ultra-wide leaps (over an octave) in a single voice movement.

• Always resolve the LEADING TONE (7 resolves upward on the next note to 1).

• Do not double the LEADING TONE or an ACCIDENTAL in a chord.

• Use every note in the chord at least once (omit the 5th if needed).

• Double the ROOT unless in second inversion (then double the 5th).

FIGURED BASS REVIEW

• In Figured Bass, nothing below a note means the chord is in root position

  • 6 below a note means the chord is in first inversion (with the Root a 6th above the 3 in the bass)

  • 6/4 below a note means the chord is in second inversion (with the Root a 4th above and the 3 a 6th above the 5 in the bass)

• A ♯ or slash on a number means to raise it a half step. A ♯ by itself means “raise the 3rd of the chord one half step”

• A ♭ on a number means to lower it a half step. A ♭ by itself means “lower the third of the chord one half step”

• Once you know what the Figured Bass is asking for, use the Part Writing guidelines above to create a 4-part harmony in the three upper voices

ROMAN NUMERAL REVIEW

• Roman numerals are based on harmonized scale degrees (building diatonic triads in the key with each scale degree as a root)

  • The sequence of Roman numerals for each quality of scale is always fixed:

    • Major Scale: Major - Minor - Minor - Major - Major - Minor - Diminished

    • Natural Minor Scale: Minor - Diminished - Major - Minor - Minor - Major - Major

    • Harmonic Minor Scale: Minor - Diminished - Augmented - Minor - Major - Major - Diminished

• Roman numeral numbers represent the scale degree of the chord’s root

• Their case (upper vs. lower) and superscript symbol represent the quality

  • Upper Case = Major

  • Lower Case = Minor

  • Upper Case⁺ = Augmented

  • Lower Caseᵒ = Diminished

• Superscript Arabic numerals represent the inversion

  • No number = Root Position

  • ⁶ = First Inversion (3rd in Bass)

  • ⁶⁴ = Second Inversion (5th in Bass)