Pitches, Intervals and Rhythm

Pitches:

There are 21 different possible notes: Ab, A, A#, Bb, B, B#, Cb, C, C#, Db, D, D#, Eb, E, E#, Fb, F, F#, Gb, G, and G#. In western music there are overlaps (e.g. Ab and G# are the same thing) so there are actually only 12 notes:A, A#/Bb, B/Cb, B#/C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E/Fb, F/E#, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab - but in eastern music (like Gamelan or Indian Classical music) there are many other possibilities.

  

Of course, there are much more than 12 pitches; each note can be played in any octave e.g. a G can be played, as an example, below middle C and above middle C.

Intervals:

Intervals are just the gaps between notes, and how big these gaps are.

2nd - Minor                        - 1 semitone
       - Major                        - 2 semitones
       - Augmented               - 3 semitones
3rd - Minor                        - 3 semitones
      - Major                        - 4 semitones
      - Augmented               - 5 semitones
4th - Diminished               - 4 semitones
      - Perfect                       - 5 semitones
      - Augmented               - 6 semitones
5th - Diminished               - 6 semitones
      - Perfect                       - 7 semitones
      - Augmented               - 8 semitones
6th - Minor                        - 8 semitones
      - Major                        - 9 semitones
      - Augmented               - 10 semitones
7th - Minor                       - 10 semitones
      - Major                        - 11 semitones
      - Augmented               - 12 semitones
Octave - Diminished        - 11 semitones
            - Perfect                - 12 semitones


There are such things as compound intervals as well, but they are just made up of these intervals plus octaves.

The tritone (augmented 4th/diminished 5th) is the furthest interval, and sounds extremely dissonant. It is often used in jazz and heavy metal to create tension.


Rhythms:

There are 8 main note lengths, without getting into complete obscurity.

1. Breve (unusual): length = 8 beats

2. Semibreve: length = 4 beats

 3. Minim: length = 2 beats


4. Crotchet: length = 1

5. Quaver: length = 1/2




6. Semiquaver: length = 1/4




7. Demisemiquaver:



8. Hemidemisemiquaver:



And it goes on.



However, there are also some other rhythmic features.

Triplets: when you play 3 notes in the space of two.



Dotted rhythm: when the note is held for an extra half it's length.

Harmony and Scale Theory

Harmony & Scale Theory

- concepts of minor and major (which most of them will probably know).
- avoid notes in both of these types of keys (e.g. 4th in the tonic major, or 6th in the tonic minor)
- cycle of 5ths
- what kind of 7ths to use and when to use them (3 types: major, minor, dominant)
- passing notes

Avoid Notes:

Degree	Major	Minor
Tonic	4th	6th, b7th
Supertonic	4th
Sub-dominant		6th
Dominant	1st	7th
Relative Minor/Major	4th	1st

This table displays the 'avoid notes' (notes which when improvising it is unconventional to use as accented) for each degree of the scale.

Cycle Of 5ths





7ths

Major
Major 7ths - 11 semitones, used on tonic, subdominant
Minor 7ths - 10 semitones, used on supertonic, submediant, mediant
Dominant 7ths - 10 semitones (with maj 3rd), used on dominant

Minor
Major 7ths - 11 semitones, used on mediant, submediant
Minor 7ths - 10 semitones, used on subdominant
Dominant 7ths - 10 semitones (with maj 3rd), used on dominant

Analysis Of Score - Elgar's First Symphony Movement 3, For 1st Viola

I will focus on the 1st viola part, the top staff.

Pitches and Intervals:

This piece is mostly conjunct (small intervals) e.g. the first 5 intervals are: descending major 3rd, ascending major 2nd, ascending major 2nd, ascending minor 2nd, ascending major 3rd. Elgar uses these small intervals in order for the melody to be smooth and tuneful.
However, there are very occasional huge leaps; from the bar before fig. 93 to fig. 93, the interval is a compound minor 3rd, or a minor 10th. Elgar has put big leaps in to contrast with the rest of the melody, made up of more scalic intervals.

Rhythms:

Elgar wanted this theme to be fluid, so he put in a lot of ties over bar lines (e.g. between bars 1 and 2), and that also has the effect of putting the listener of balance rhythmically... it deviates from normal phrasing. Also there are some 'fast' rhythms (even though the piece is in a very slow tempo so the rhythms look faster than they actually are), like in bar 3 with the triplet semiquavers, and 3 bars after fig. 94 there are some hemidemisemiquavers (the B and the B#).

Tonality & Playing Directions:

The piece is based in a major key, with some chromatic tonality. The key is D major, with 2 #s in the key signature (F# and C#). Also notice the main clef, which is the alto clef (used pretty much only for the viola). It was Elgar's intention for this score to be very detailed; there are 29 dynamic markings for the first viola in this section alone, including crescendoes, diminuendoes, piano, forte, fortissimo, pianissimo, pianississimo, and mezzo forte. There are also some techniques indicated: Elgar wrote this for the viola, a stringed instrument, so there are bowings (e.g. 2 bars before fig. 93 there is an upbow marked on the F#), and also playing styles - arco (played with the bow e.g. 2 bars after fig. 94) and pizzicato (plucked e.g. fig. 94). The composer put all these things in because he wanted to make sure that the players played the piece exactly as he wanted it.

Analysis Of Score - Debussy's Clair De Lune, 2nd page

Pitches and Intervals:

In this page, the left hand switches between bass clef and treble clef. The first chord is an Ebm9, with the F providing the 9th. The highest note in this extract is the top note of the first chord in bar 11, an Ab. The lowest note in this extract is the bottom note of the first chord, an Eb. The intervals of the melody line aren't very big e.g. the first 5 intervals are: a descending major 2nd, descending major 2nd,  descending minor 2nd, ascending minor 2nd, descending minor 3rd. Debussy decided to the melody straightforward and homophonic with it's accompaniment in order to focus on the rich harmonies rather than an attention-grabbing melody.

Rhythms:

This piece is in 9/8, so triplets aren't marked because they naturally fall in line with the beat, but duplets are marked in (2 notes in the space of three) e.g.the 4th and 5th note in bar 4. The rhythms suddenly change at bar 13 from being very rubato to being quite a bit stricter, and involving the use of fast flurrying semiquavers. There is also a grace note - in this case an acciaccatura - in bar 4 at the beginning of the secnd quaver in the duplet, which Debussy put in to accent the next chord.

Tonality and Playing Directions:

The tonality of this piece is loosely major (Db major to be exact), but Debussy uses a lot of chromatic tonality, and french impressionistic features (e.g. whole-tone scale). This extract should be played at a quiet volume, with plenty of pianissimo and piano dynamic markings. The 'tempo rubato' above bar 1 indicates this rubato feel throughout this particular section - loose tempo, open to interpretation. It was obviously important to the composer that he didn't want his work to be rushed.

General Stuff + Analysis of Another Score

Here is a link to a YouTube clip in which I explain some music theory and use a score to provide some examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16dRedV9nqs&feature=youtu.be

Analysis Of Score - Dvorak's Slavonic Dance No. 2 In E Minor For Piano

I have chosen to analyse the score of the piano version of 'Slavonic Dance No. 2 In E Minor' by Dvorak. I have chosen this piece because I am learning it at the moment so I know it quite well.


Pitches

The musical alphabet consists of a, b, c, d, e, f, and g. This then repeats in a recurring sequence.
Here is an example of the fundamental principles of reading music off a staff with a treble clef:

 

 

And here is an example featuring the bass clef:

 

 

 

I have gone through this piece and identified the different pitches that are included.

This piece, while originally composed for an orchestra, has been adapted here for the solo piano. The range of a piano can vary slightly, but usually the average piano has around 7 octaves. This piece has an overall range of 5 octaves and 1 semitone, from a very low F# to a high G.

Intervals

The typical major/minor scale is made up of tones and semitones - these are the gaps between each note e.g. E to F is one semitone, whereas F to G is 2 semitones.
An interval is just the name for the gap between the notes, and we measure intervals by working out the number of semitones in between each note.

This shows how we describe simple intervals in western music. There are also compound intervals as well:

 

 

It can go on and on, but this covers most of the common compound intervals. The names still apply, so you can have a major ninth or a minor thirteenth etc.

 



As you can see, here I've gone through and worked out the different intervals that are included in this piece. I decided to call the tritone in bar 2 an augmented 4th just for consistency - interestingly enough, because the tritone is the furthest interval, it has a strange kind of dissonance about it, which Dvorak decided to make use of here. This piece features quite a few unusual intervals - augmented 4ths, minor 2nds etc. (the minor 2nd can be found in bar 5 between the E and the E# in the penultimate chord of the bar), which are used by the composer to vary the melodic line, and keep it interesting.

Chords

When more than one note is being played at a time, this is called a chord.

Chords are the building blocks of harmony, because not only do they instantly reveal what notes could be played at a particular point, but they are also used to sum up the general feeling and emotional implication of whatever notes are being played. What I mean is that if there is an E minor chord, it does not only tell you that an E, G, or B would not be out of place, but it also introduces or reinforces a negative emotion (possibly depending on the context of the chord in the piece).

Because this piece is very much in a romantic style, the chords are lush and chromatic. For example, in the second bar on the last line, the first chord is B augmented, because it contains a B, D# and a G instead of a B, D# and F# like an ordinary B chord.

Dvorak has used lots of diminished harmony in this Slavonic dance (a diminished chord is just a chord made up of intervals of minor 3rds) because it puts the listener on edge, being dissonant. The whole tonality of the 2nd bar is diminished, due to the F# diminished chord being played. As you can see, this chord is made up of F#, A, C and D#, which are all minor 3rds apart.

Cadences are sometimes referred to as 'musical punctuation'. They occur at the end of phrases in music and help determine the mood of the piece.

This piece is slightly unorthodox when it comes to cadences. In bars 7-8 Dvorak put in an interrupted cadence (which is not normal) to surprise the listener, and in bars 15-16 there is a perfect cadence. The same structure is repeated in the other half of the piece, first an interrupted cadence then a perfect cadence at the end.


Rhythms & Features

Because it would have been too messy to explain everything on the page itself, I have put numbers on the music which relate to the following explanations.


1. Semiquaver or 1/16 note
2. Crotchet or 1/4 note
3. Quaver or 1/8 note
4. Dotted quaver - held for three semiquavers
5. Dotted crotchet - held for three quavers
6. Semiquaver rest
7. Quaver rest
8. Piano - meaning quietly
9. Forzando - loudly and with force
10. Crescendo - gradually getting louder
11. Diminuendo - gradually getting quieter
12. Staccato - played short and sharp, opposite of legato
13. Portato - halfway between legato and staccato
14. Slur/Legato - smoothly, opposite of staccato
15.  Pianissimo - very quiet
16. Ritardando - gradually slowing in tempo
17. At previous tempo
18. Mezzo Forte - moderately loud
19. Arpeggiation, rolling the notes
20. Pedal markings for the piano

As you can see, Dvorak has used a huge amount of detail in just this first page of the score. He wanted to make sure the pianist would play it with exactly the right tempo and dynamics, but with their own expressive interpretation.

Tonality

The key of this piece is E minor (F# and with a raised 7th of D#). It is in a triple metre - 3/8 - and should be played expressively and with slight rubato. Dvorak put this piece in a minor key to convey a sense of wistfulness and longing.