Notation,+Pitch,+Rhythm,+Meter,+Tempo

What are the building blocks of modern musical notation?

Jan 25th: Created Proposal and begun initial research into first topics

Jan 26th: Continued research, took notes on hexchords, the guidonian hand, key signatures, and nuemes. Did exercises/activities...Recieved a 20/22 (91%) on "Note Trainer" (Ricci Adams) (Treble Clef). 10/10 on bass and treble clef (3 min total). Reviewed and took notes on "The Staff, Clefs, and Ledger Lines" teacher presentation. Spent 5-10 minuets on keyboard trainer (received a 50/56 or 89%). Spend a few minutes on drill: piano keys...unfortunately received a 29%. Spent 5-10 minutes on paced note names drill. Did key signatures exercises for 3 min.

Jan 27th: Listened to Billy Taylor and Ramsey Lewis play "I've Got Rhythm". Took notes on rhythmic modes, used funk rhythm machine/counting music tool for 5-10 minutes, took notes on notes and rests with Dolmetsch Online, took notes on simple and compund meter. Worked with EarMaster Pro for a few minutes.

Jan 28th: Reviewed rhythm. Worked with tapping a steady beat and tapping note values for 5 minutes total. Worked with rhythm performance drill for a few minutes. Worked with practice sight reading and rhythms. Worked with Rhythm dictation for a few minutes. Used some exercises and lessons from yesterday again (subdivisions chart, ricci adams, etc).

Jan 31st: Worked on meter. Took notes and reviewed simple and compound meter. Took notes on odd meter. Took more notes on simple and compound time signatures and took notes on syncopation. Did simple duple, simple triple, simple quadruple, compound duple, compound triple, compound quadruple, and asymmetrical meter exercises. Did simple meter matching levels 1and 2 and compound meter matching. Worked on tempo. Took notes on the definitions of tempo (and related concepts), recorded the common tempo terms, took notes on metronomes, and copied the metronome markings table.

Feb 1st: Reviewed tempo, took more notes on metronome. Worked on finding vocabulary definitions.

Feb 3rd: Finished vocabulary definitions. Reviewed unit 1.


 * __PITCH__:**

**Definition of a Hexachord:** I n music, a group of six tones in a specified pattern, specifically the interval pattern tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone (as in G-A-B-C-D-E). The hexachord was apparently conceived in the 11th century when theorist Guidod'Arezzo noticed that the scales of the church modes could be seen to overlap in their interval patterns. His system of solmization gave each hexachord the same syllables (ut-re-mi-fa-sol-la), and by means of overlapping hexachords the theorist could represent the complete “gamut” of pitches. Though counterintuitive to modern musicians, who think in terms of octaves, the concept of hexachords was fundamental to music theory throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Guido D' Arezzo was a monk who devloped a set of syllables, ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la...to help students memorize the patterns of whole steps and half steps in the G, C, and F hexachords. The syllables came from the first syllable in each phrase of the hymn //Ut queant laxis//. The pitches for each of the beginning syllables go up stepwise in whole steps except for the half step (mi-fa) between the third and fourth notes. The Guidonian Hand associated each pitch with a joint in the hand. The hexachords overlapped so that some joints served as pivot points between two different hexachords. The hand took into account the B natural in the G hexachord and the B flat in the F hexachord. The drawing of the hand itself did not appear in treatises until the late 13th century.
 * Guido D' Arrezzo and The Guidonian Hand: **

A neume is the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation. The word is a Middle English coruption of the ultimately Ancient Greek word for breath. -do not generally indicate rythym -later on indicated pitch -indicated "shape" (articulation, duration, tempo, etc) Symbols included: Virga, Punctum, Podatus (Pes), Clivis, Scandicus, Climacus, Torculus, Porrectus, Scandicus flexus, Porrectus flexus, Torculus Respinus, Pes subpunctis http://bbamusic.wikispaces.com/Notation+Chart
 * Neumes:**

-staff= 5 lines and four spaces...treble cleff wraps around g notes...bass clef lines of f notes...g and f cleffs...grand staff has eleven lines (eliminate middle lines, you end up with two regular staffs)...can break into trebble and bass cleffs...joined by "C" note inbetween...the C is commonly called "middle C" since it corresponds to the middle staff line on the Grand Staff.
 * The Staff, Clefs, and Ledger Lines:**

Key Signatures: Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father (order of flat key signatures) Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle (order of sharp key signatures) Treble, Bass, Alto, Tenor (1 higher than alto) C, D, E, F. G, A, B 0 2 4 -1 1 3 5

__**RHYTHM:**__

Solos seemed to fade into one another...very fast playing
 * I've Got Rhythm:**

In medieval music, the rhythmic modes were sets of patterns of long and short durations (or rhythms). The value of each note is not determined by the form of the written note, but rather by its position within a group of notes written as a single figure called a "ligature", and bu=y the position of the ligature relative to other ligatures. Rhythmic Modes chart... http://bbamusic.wikispaces.com/Rhythmic+Modes
 * Rhythmic Modes:**


 * Funky Rhythm Machine/Counting Music:**

Studied note and rest rhythm values...worked with machine for 5-10 minutes


 * Notes and Rests/Dolmetsch Online:**

Where the vertical position of a note on a staff or stave determines its pitch, its relative time value or duration is denoted by the particular sign chosen to represent it. This is the essence of proportional or mensural notation, first developed in the eleventh century. Note is constructed of 3 parts (notehead, stem, and flag)...ledger lines are lines above and below stave...a dot in front of a notehead increases its time value by half (dotted half note= 3 quarter notes, dotted quarter note= 3 eighth notes, etc)...two dots is a the same as a dotted plus a further quarter...3 dots is 7/8 times its basic note value...notes with flags lie together in groups, they are often linked by one or more lines called beams...the number of beams reflect the number of flags each would have had as an individual note...fractional beam is when a note of one value is attached to multiple notes of another value and a secadondary beam is only present for those notes (8th+16th+16th) (or vice-versa?)...if the duration of a note is longer then a double whole note or when the addition of dots cannot provide the required duration, groups of notes can e linked by one or more ties. Tied notes are treated as a single unbroken note whose duration is given by the duration of the notes under the tie taken successively.

__**METER:**__


 * Simple and Compound Meter:**

-Duple, triple. and quadruple refer to the number of beats in a measure -The term simple means that each of these beats can be broken into two notes -each time signature can be classified into a certain meter


 * Odd Meter:**

-a meter which contains both simple ad compund beats -order of the beats does not matter -includes 7/8, 5/8, 8/8, 10/8, 11/8


 * Simple and compound time signatures:**

Simple:
 * 1) The beat is an **un-dotted **note.**
 * 2) Each beat is subdivided into** two **components.**
 * 3) The top number is** not divisible by '3'**. (Except for time signatures with a '3' on top, which** are **often simple time signatures!*)**
 * 4) Simple time signatures show the** number of beats in every bar**. (i.e., [[image:http://www.musictheory.halifax.ns.ca/images/24.GIF width="8" height="24" align="middle"]] means two quarter note beats in every bar.)**

Compound:
 * 1) The beat is a **dotted **note.**
 * 2) Each beat is subdivided into** three **components.**
 * 3) The top number is** evenly divisible by '3'**. (Except for time signatures with a '3' on top!*)**
 * 4) Compound time signatures show the** number of breakdown notes in every bar**. (i.e., [[image:http://www.musictheory.halifax.ns.ca/images/68.GIF width="9" height="23" align="middle"]] means six eighth-note subdivisions in every bar.)**

-upper number: how many beats in a bar, lower number: the note value which represents one beat (beat unit) -simple: each beat is divided into two equal parts -compound: the main beat is divided into three equal parts -compound time uses a dotted note for the beat unit

During the weak part of a beat, or the notes between beats, sometimes a special emphasis is given. The accenting of weak beats is called syncopation...used commonly to heighten rhythmic energy and drive.
 * Syncopation:**


 * __TEMPO:__**


 * Definitions:**

Tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece...it can effect the mood and difficulty of a piece Tempo is usually indicated in BPM (beats per minute) Before the metronome, words were the only way to describe the tempo of a composition Often a particular musical form or genre implies its own tempo, so no further explanation is placed in the score MPM (measures per minute) is another way to measure the speed of music (commonly used in ballroom dance music)


 * Tempo Terms:**

**Grave**- Very Slow **Largo**, Lento - Slow **Larghetto**- A little faster than Largo **Adagio**- Moderately Slow **Andante**- "Walking" Tempo **Andantino**- A little faster than Andante **Allegretto**- A little slower than Allegro **Allegro**- Fast **Vivace**- Lively **Presto**- Very Fast **Prestissimo**- Very Very Fast **Moderato**- Moderate(ly) **Molto**- Very **Accel., Accelerando** - Gradually becoming faster **Rit., Ritardando** - Gradually becoming slower

__**METRONOME:**__

-A metronome is any device the produces regular metrical ticks (beats) -A metranome is usde by some musicians for practice in maintaining a constant tempo around a fixed beat -A metronome can be used by composers as an approximate way of specifying the tempo. -There are many time of metronomes: electronic, software, mechanical, and metronome tracks/click tracks -Sometimes metronomes are used as "instruments" (usually as a soft rhythm track) in songs

**__METRONOME MARKINGS:__**

 Taken from Gardner Read's book, //Music Notation, A Manual of Modern Practice// //Adagissimo// //Lentissimo// |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Extremely Slow |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 40 || //Adagio// //Lento// |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Very slow |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 40 || //Adagietto// |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Fairly slow |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 40 || //Andantino// |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Moderately slow |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 60 || //Vivo// //Presto// |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Quite fast |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 120 || //Vivacissimo// //Prestissimo// |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Very fast |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 208 ||
 * ~ Italian Term ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||~ English Definition ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||~ Corresponding Metronome Marking ||
 * //Larghissimo//
 * //Largo//
 * //Larghetto//
 * //Andante//
 * //Moderato// |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Moderately |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 60 ||
 * //Allegretto// |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Fairly fast |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 60 ||
 * //Allegro// |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Fast, Quick |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 120 ||
 * //Vivace//
 * //Allegrissimo//


 * __THEORY VOCABULARY UNIT 1:__**

Rhythm: a) **The pattern of musical movement through time.** b) **A specific kind of such a pattern, formed by a series of notes differing in duration and stress.** Meter: a) **Division into measures or bars.** b) **A specific rhythm determined by the number of beats and them value assigned to each note in a measure.**  Time Signature: ** a sign usually consisting of two figures, one above the other, the upper figure representing the number of beats per bar and the lower one the time value of each beat. This sign is placed after the key signature at the outset of a piece or section of a piece. ** Simple Duple: **A type of metre where the beats are divided in two with two beats per measure.** Simple Triple: **A type of metre where the beats are divided in three with two beats per measure.** Simple Quadruple: **A type of metre where the beats are divided in four with two beats per measure.** Compound Duple: **A type of metre where the beats are divided in two with three beats per measure.** Compound Triple: **A type of metre where the beats are divided in three with three beats per measure.** Compound Quadruple: **A type of metre where the beats are divided in four with three beats per measure.** Asymmetrical Meter: **Any meter whose measures can not be divided into equal beats; they have an odd number of subdivisions. The top number is always odd (except 3 is not asymmetrical). ** Beam: **A horizontal bar which connects the stems of two or more notes to group them and to indicate metric value.** Measure: **The metric unit between two bars on the staff; a bar.** Hemiola: **A metrical pattern in which two bars in simple triple time (3/2 or 3/4 for example) are articulated as if they were three bars in simple duple time (2/2 or 2/4 for example).** Augmentation: **The lengthening or widening of rhythms, melodies, intervals or chords.** Diminution: **The shortening or narrowing of rhythms, melodies, intervals or chords.** Tempo: **The speed or pace of a given musical piece.** Presto: **A tempo term meaning "very fast".** Vivace: **A tempo term meaning "lively".** Allegro: **A tempo term meaning "fast".** Andante: **A tempo term meaning "walking tempo".** Adagio: **A tempo term meaning "moderately slow".** Largo: **A tempo term meaning "slow".** Grave: **A tempo term meaning "very slow".**