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Eric Taylor
THE AB GUIDE TO MUSIC THEORY

L. M. FURTADO& CO.
MUMBAI· 2.
The AB Guide to
Music Theory
Part I

ERIC TAYLOR

ABRSM
 CONTENTS

page VII
. .
Preface
Firsr published in l 989 by
ABRSM (Publishing) Lui, a wholly owned subsidiary of ABRSM Acknowledgements
X

Reprimed in 1990 (with revisio11s), 1991, 1992, 1993 (with revisions),

Chapter l: The Basics of Rhythm and Tempo
I
1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 1/ 1 Time values
3
2006, 2007, 2008, 20 10, 2011 , 20 12, 20 14, 20 16, 20 17 1/2 Time signatures
5
1/ 3 Tempo
6
© J989 by The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music 1/ 4 Rhythm
Chapter 2: Introduction to Pitch
7
2/ 1 Pitch names and notation
All rights reserved. II
2/ 2 The major scale
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a 12
2/ 3 Key signatures
retrieval system, or transmitted in any fo rm or by any means, 13
2/ 4 Accidentals
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Chapter 3: Continuing with Rhythm
3/ 1 Rests 15
3/ 2 Ties and Dots 16
3/ 3 Triplets and compound time 18
3/ 4 The basis of simple and compound time notation 20

Chapter 4: More Scales, Keys and Clefs

4/ 1 Major scales and the circle of fifths 21
4/2 Minor scales and keys 24
4/ 3 Relative major/ minor keys 25
4/ 4 Names of scale degrees 28
4/ 5 Double sharps and double flats 29
4/ 6 The chromatic scale 30
4/7 C clefs 32

Chapti 5: The Grouping of Notes and Rests

5/ 1 Note gro upings in simple and compound time .33
5/2 Rest groupings in simple and compound rime 3-l
5/ 3 Groupings in other time signatures 36
5/ 4 Duplets 38
5/ 5 Other irregular time divisions JS

7j,peserring a11d music processing by Chapter 6: Rhythm: Words, Syncopation

Ha!sra11 .& C0 · L 1d, A 111ersha111, Buchs 6/ I Rhythmic notation of words -11
.
Prlllled 111 E11g/a11d by -12
6/ 2 Setting word rhythms-to music
Page Bros Lrd, Norwich 6/ 3 Sy ncopation -1-1
on mazerials from susrai;1ab/e sources
VI CONTENTS \ ' II

Chapter 7: Intervals and Transposition

7I I Intervals within an octave 46
PREFACE
7/2 Transposition 51
7/ 3 Compound intervals 53
7/ 4 Inversion of intervals Peop1e sang and Played instruments long before ways o f writing .
music down
53 invented Even today, nearly everyone can smg, .though not
7/ 5 Concords and discords 00~ per Were . . .
55 'read' music Many people can also play m struments without
everyone can · . . .
Chapter 8: Triads and Chords being able to read a note of music: like some of the great Jazz mus1c1ans, they
8/ 1 Triads 57 play 'by ear'. . . . . . .
8/2 Chords 59 Clearly, it is perfectly possible to make music w~thout havtng 1t wnnen
8/ 3 Chord notation in jazz etc. 62 down. Indeed, when one considers the world's music as a whole, one fin~s
8/ 4 Figured bass that the use of music notation (written signs representing musical sound~) LS
63
8/ 5 Chord layouts
65 actually quite rare. Many countries in the East, for _example, have ancient
Chapter 9: Phrases and Cadences musical traditions which are very beautiful and someumes very elaborate, yet
9/ I The phrase which make little (if any) use of notation. Their musicians scarcely ever learn
67
9/2 Cadences from written-down music or use it when they are performing.
69
In Europe, howeve r, the use of notation became central to the development
Chapter 10: Tempo, Dynamics and Mood
of music. At first (well over a thousand years ago) it amounted to nothing more
10/ l Tempo
75 than a few simple signs inserted in books containing the words of texts chanted
l 0/2 Dynamics
78 in monasteries. These signs were only rough reminders: the y helped the
10/ 3 Mood
80 monks to recall music which the y had learnt in the past but had not sung
Chapter 11 : Aniculation recently. Gradually the signs became more detailed, until they ceased to be
l l/ l Phrasing marks mere reminders and became exact guides. Musicians were enabled to perform
81
11 /2 The slur music straight from the notation: they no longer had to learn it by listening to
82
l l / 3 Staccato signs 83 someone else performing it first; the y no longer had to memorise it. This
11 / 4 Double phrasing development helped the spread of new music, for once a piece had been
85
11 / 5 Textual and stylistic problems 86 written down it could be performed by other musicians - perhaps living many
Chapter 12: Ornaments and Embellishment s miles away - even though they had never heard it. E ven more imponant , the
12/ 1 Symbols still in regular use use of music notation opened the way to more and more complicated music. It
88
12/2 Some earlier symbols became possible for a composer to work out how several sinaers or pla\-e:rs
92 t, •
could have independent parts which would nevertheless sound well together,
Chapter 13: Reiterations and Repeats and then to provide each of the performers with the appropriate noration.
13/ I Rests of more than one bar 98 These two factors - the disse mination of music through manuscript or
13/ 2 Reiterated notes 99 printed copies, and the increasing complexity made possible bv nomtion -
13/ 3 Repetitions of groups and bars 100 prod_uced over many centuries what might be called a shared European
13/ 4 Repeats of whole sections of music 101 musical language. It is true that different countries or regions (Brirain, France,
Append.ix A: Irregular Divisions of Compound Time Values Xll Germany, Italy, Spain etc.) sometimes had special characrerisrics of their
Append.ix B: Notes and Keys in English , German, French, Italian own, but these are relatively unimportant, like the local dialects wruc-h cun be
XIII
found _ m a spoken language. The European musical lan.:,<>u.age p-assed to
Glossary: Foreign Words used for Performance Directions xiv America and then spread to many other pans of the world, so that it has
Index XX lll
become cosmopolitan. Thus it is the common langu3ge not only of Bach,
Mo_zart .a_nd Beethoven but also of many other composers of different
nanonahnes and periods. It is also the common language of the Hollywood
 ix
viii PREFACE
PREFACE

mus1•ca1 , Jazz,
· rock and pop as well as of the piped music which . has become The AB Guide co Music Theory, then, is an attempt to help ~ople_Ieaming
inescapable in shops, offices, factories, hotels and other public pla_c~s. • to un derstand how it is written down,. what the vanous signs. .and
music
The notation of this musical language, and the terms used by musicians, are
sym b ols d en Ote , and what the common technical words used by mus1c1ans
what this book is about. Such aspects of music are commonly referred to as
mean. T hese , of course, are not matters which are merely . of concern
. . to
'theory'. The Associated Board of the Ro:al Sc_h~ls of ~us!c, for example, students preparing for theory examinations: they are vital t~ all mus1c1~s,
makes a distinction between 'Theory' and Practical e~ammauons: the former including performers and those who wish to writ~ th~1r own music.
involving written papers, the latter being c?n~e~ed ~1th perf~rmance (either Nevertheless they are the specific subject of theory exa~nma~1ons, and Th~ AB
singing or playing an instrument). The d1stmc?on 1s convenient, but it can Guide therefore includes the basic information reqmred m the Assoaated
also be misleading. In ordinary speech, 'theory' 1s often used as the opposite of Board's Theory examinations.
'practice'. In the sense in which it is generally used in music, however, 'theory' Broadly speaking, Part I deals with the subjects which a~se in Gr~des l to 5,
is a thoroughly practical matter. Beethoven's symphonies would have stayed Part II with those which occur in the higher grades. The mformauon has not
in his head and we should never had heard them if he had not been able to been broken up to correspond with the individual grades since this would
write them down on paper, and if performers did not understand exactly what result in too disrupted an account of many topics. A grade-by-grade approac~
his written signs meant. Nor could musicians rehearse together if they did not is, however, adopted in the Associated Board's series of booklets called Mime
all know the meaning of terms such as 'F sharp', 'crescendo', '6/8', T heorv in Practice, and a student preparing for an Associated Board Theory
'rallentando', 'Da Capo' and so on. examination should certainly start with the booklet for the appropriate grade.
As with spoken language, musical language is always developing. We no In it will be found a detailed list of the requirements ol the particular grade,
longer express things in quite the same way that Shakespeare and his references to sections of the present book where the relevant information is to
contemporaries would have done. Some words have changed their meaning be found, supplementary information which may be needed in the context of
slightly, others have fallen into disuse, while new words have been added to the examination, and specimen questions and exercises - together with
the language. There are even changes in the ways in which we write language guidance on their solutions.
down. Our spelling is more standardised than it was in Shakespeare's day, and
our use of punctuation is slightly different. It is the same in m usic. Some
musical signs which once were common are now rarely found; others have Finally, I wish to record my deep gratitude to a number of people who have
changed their meaning. New musical ideas have necessitated new read this book, or part of it, at various stages in its preparation: Professor Peter
developments in notation. Aston, Dr Peter Le Huray, Dr H . Diack Johnstone, Dr Richard Jones,
We often talk loosely about 'rules' in music, but really there are no rules, Mr Desmond Ratcliffe, Professor Raymond Warren, and Mr Percy Welton.
and never have been - not, at least, in the sense that somewhere there exists or Without their advice, many faults might, I fear, have remained undetected,
has existed an official body of legislators decreeing what compose rs may or many gaps unfilled, and many ambiguities unclarified . Since, howeve r, none
may not do. The so-called 'rules' are no more than conventions derived from a of them has read the book in its entirety in its fmal form (and also, it has to be
study of what composers have actually composed, how they have written their admitted, since I have not invariably adopted their suggestions) they are not to
music down, and how it has been performed. At some period s these be blamed for any errors which it may yet contain, or for anything with which
conventions have changed slowly, at others very rapidly. At no time, however, they would disagree.
have they been completely static, and it can never be assumed that the
conventions which we now take for granted apply equally to the music of past Goring Heath, 1989 ERIC TAYLO R
ages.
This is particularly important in the matter of notation . T he notation which
will be used and explained in the folJowing pages is the notation generally used
today, with the meaning it has for today's musicians. But some older
conventions will be mentioned too, for although modern composers may not
observe them, the y are important in earlier music which is still regularly
performed.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PART I

Thanks are due to the following publishers for permission to reproduce CHAPT ER 1
passages from copyright music:

Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd, London The Basics of Rhythm and Tempo
Banok, Concerto for Orchestra
Banok, For Children
Le_o nard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim, 'Maria' (West Side Story) 1/1 Time values
Bnnen, Serenade for Te,wr, Horn & scn·ngs
Ireland, Holy Boy When soldiers march along behind a band, their footsteps are absolutely
Prokofiev, Classical Symphony regular and even. The music helps to keep them together: more likely than
Stravinsky, Perrouchka
not, in fact, the big drum will be struck together with every footstep. We say
that the music has a steady beat or pulse, and that the soldiers are marching in
Breitkopf & Hartel, Wiesbaden
time to the music.
The sign most often used for a single beat is J and it is called a crotchet.
Sibelius, Symphony No.I
Thus the regular sound of the soldiers' marching feet - left, right, left, right -
Oxford University Press, Oxford can be shown in music notation like this - J JJJ .
Vaughan Williams, The Lark Ascending If the big drum were to be struck with every footstep, its sounds would be
Walton, Belshaz zar's Feast
written in the same way - JJJJ. But if it were to be struck only with every
second footstep (e.g. with every left foot), a different sign would be needed.
The sign used is J and it is called a minim. The signs for the soldiers'
footsteps (crotchets) and the strokes on the big drum (minims) could be lined
up together -
big drum J J
footsteps J J J J
(left, right, left, right)

Clearly, one minim lasts as long as two crotchets.

A small drum in the band might be played with more drum-strok es: for
example, two equal strokes to every footstep. In that case, each drum-strok e
would be shown by a sign called a quaver, .J) , and the footsteps, big drum
and small drum could all be lined up together thus -
big drum J J
foot steps J J J J
small drum J) )> )> )> )> )> j) )>
A minim ' therefore , can be di V1'ded ·mto two crotchets or four quavers.
 THE BASICS OF RHYTHM AND TEMPO
1/ 1 TIME VALUES

Longer and shorter sounds can also be written. A semibreve, o , is twice Mixed groups can also be joined together -
as Iong as a nu·n1·m, but a semiquaver, ) , lasts only half . as long as a quaver .
Signs like these, which are used to_ re~resen,t musical so~ds, are called ) ) ) can be written as J h
notesi. The design of a note shows its value - how long 1t lasts. Thus
semibreves, minims etc. may be described as time values or note values.
The words 'semi breve', 'minim', 'crotchet' etc. are the ones commonly used
) ) } can be written as m
in Britain and in some other English-speaking countries. But in others, ) J) ) can be written as /J ~
including the U.S.A., the following terms are preferred: 'whole', 'half', (More will be said about these groupings in 5/ 1.)
'quarter', 'eighth' and 'sixteenth' notes. It is easy to see why from this table, in
which each line lasts exactly the same time - The names of the various parts of the written signs or notes are as follows -

I semibreve (whole note) + I + ~

o
"
note-head stem tail (or flag )

2 minims (half notes) j j n = ••

note-heads
+ II
stems
+

beam
4 crotchets (quarter notes) ~ ~ ~ ~ Groups of notes joined by a beam are said to be ' beamed' together.
As will be explained in Chapter 2, a stem may go either up or do\\-"Il from the
j) j) j) j) j) j) j) j)
J )n
8 quavers (eighth notes)
note-head. If it goes up, it is placed on the right j etc.; and if it
16 semiquavers (sixteenth notes) ))))))))) ) )))))) goes down, it is placed on the left I r
~ U
etc.; but note that a tail is
As the word 'semibreve' suggests, there is a sound which lasts twice as long always positioned on the right. This is the standard practice in printed music
called a breve. It is usually shown as o or 10 1, though an older form, t::1 , may today. However, composers sometimes put the down-stems on the right
also be found. (\ I etc.) because it is quicker to write them that way; but this is not rn be
Although the breve is rarely used nowadays, very short notes are more encouraged, and no one should ever write l l a.
<1-
common. Only half the length of a semiquaver is the demisemiquaver, j,
32 of which last as long as a semibreve. Even shorter notes may be found, e.g. 1/2 Time signatures
the hemidemisemiquaver or sixty-fourth note, ) .
T he sound of the soldiers' marching feet is an example of a succession of equal
Two or more quavers or shorter notes can be joined together -
beats. Although the beats all last the same time, it is usu al to think of them in
} } can be written as n groups, with some beats stronger than others. Marching feet, for example,

)) can be written as n naturally make groups of two beats -

LEFT right, L EFT right.

)))) Im In music notation these groups are separated by vertical lines called bar-lines,

))))
can be written as
.J .J !J j ljjl.
can be written as Jffi One group like this is called a bar (or ' measure' in some countries).
At the beginning of a piece of music there is a sign called a time signature.

' Like some other words in music, 'note' has several mean ings. It can refer to a sound as well as
T he time signature for the marching feet above would be l. This means that

::d ~:r~:::\gn ~e.g. a ,singer may ask for 'the note' before starting to sing), and it can also be
d d be notes ~n a key board. In some co untries the word ' tone' is used to mean a
there are two crotchets in every bar - or notes which together last as long as
two crotchets, e.g. -
soun . anChanot a wrmen sign, but 'tone' is anot her word with more than one meaning as w1·11 be
seen m • pter 2. ' zjj lj nlJJTI IJ I
 THE BASICS OF RHYTHM AND TEMPo
1/2 TIME SIGNATU RES

If the time signature were i,

it would mean that there are three crotchet s (or arrange equal beats into patterns of strong and weak beats extends also
to
their equivalent) in every bar - subdivisions of beats. In z nn I , for example , the second and fourth

i J J J lcJ J IJ-JJJ_._.JJI.J n.i I

signature shows haw many beats there are in a
quavers are felt to be weaker than the first and third.
Time signatur es were not always written in figure s: they were formerly
Clearly the top figure in the time
expresse d by symbols such as circles and half-circles, sometim es crossed with
bar.
a vertical line. Most of these symbols had disappea red by the early 17th
The meaning of the bottom figure in a time signatur e is not quite so
century, but two survived well into the 20th century, though in a modified
straightforward. So far in this chapter the crotchet has always been used as
form: C and ¢ . C has exactly the same meaning as %, known as 'commo
n
the sign for a single beat; but composers sometimes use a minim or a quaver 2,often called alla breve (althoug h
time'. ¢ nowaday s means the same as
instead (or even a sernibreve or a semiquaver, although these are rare). If the is
earlier in the history of music both ¢ and a/la breve could also indicate what
minim is used_as_ the si~ for one ~at, a crotchet will therefor e represen t only
now~ ).
h~ a beat. Sunilarly, if a quaver 1s used as the sign for one beat, a crotchet
wdl represent two beats.
If the 'time' ( z,
~ etc.) of a piece is unchang ed through out, the time
signature is written at the beginnin g only. But it can change during a piece,
The bottom figure in the time signature shows what kind of note is to be e.
even from bar to bar, and that change must be shown by a new time signatur
used to represent the beat. If the bottom figure is 4, the beats will be show another time
This then remains in force until the end of the piece or until
as c~tchets ; if it is 2 , the beats will be minims; if it is 8, they will be quaver:
s signature appears, e.g. -
(It 1s helpful here to rememb er the alternative word for minims, crotchet
etc.: half notes, quarter notes
thr be •
etc. ) Thus the time signatur e 3
8
means that th
ere z J n I~ .J )I m Iz .J .J 11 .J n .J I .J J
are ee ats 10 every bar and that the beats are written as quavers _
At the end of a piece of music, a double bar-lin e is ruled, a thin one
~ .J J J I.J )I.J JJJJI.J nJ I followed by a thick one -

Here are some further illustrations - t JJTIJ .J lo II

Thin double bar-line s are used to mark the end of a principa l section in a piece.
j IJ J j IJ JJJ .J .J .J I j j j I
J .J IJ J j IIm J .J lo I 1/3 Tempo
J J J I.J JJ.J j I.J .J J J I The time signatur e indicate s how many beats there are in a bar and the kind
of
nme (crotchet, minim etc.) being used to represen t a beat. What the time
The first beat of the bar is the stronges t, e.g. -
signatu re does not show i~ j~st h~ Jase the beats are moving. A piece in i or
i .J J .J IJ .J J i
could ~ea march: but 1s It a quick march or a funeral march? The speed of
weak strong weak weak funeral march, for instance , would be said to
Strong weak the,?eat s is called the tempo: a
This doe~ not imply that in perform ance first beats have to be hammer ed!
- be m a slow tempo' .
nor, as will be seen in 6/3, that compose rs never depart from the basic pattern Expressions like ' slow tempo' or ' quick tempo' are somewh at vague, but
a
of str0 ng and weak beats in a piece. co~pose rs can indicate exactly the speed they want. To do this they use
's metrono me' (named after the man
~n practice, it is u s ual to ~ink_o~ beats as being grouped in twos or threes. device called a metron ome or ' Maelzel
a
nsequently, a bar of four 1s d1v1ded into two groups of rwos - who patented the inventio n in 1815). It makes a steady, ticking sound - like
clock, except that it can be adjusted to tick at any speed one wishes. (Other
t strong J J I
J J strong weak
types are now available, includin g electronic versions with a flashing light.)
weak a
T~e metronome can be set to tick (or flash ) at a given number of beats in
mmute, and this number may be shown at the start of the music, thus: J = 60
~:uta:i !u~::~ ryd bbe~t ra~her ~ess strong than the first. Similarly, a bar of
e ear as + 2 or 2 + 3 (see also 5/3). This tendency to or M.M . J = 60, ( M .M . being an abbreviation for Maelzel's metronome). This
 THE BASICS OF RHYTHM AND TEMPO
6

het beats in a minute (i.e. one a second, which can

s that there are 60 cro tc h 48
m~ d · t a clock or watch). Similarly, .-· = 48 means
. . d
quaver
Th
CHAPTER 2
easily be checke agams
means J00 minim beats ma mmute, an so on. . us,
beats ma nunute, ~ - 100
• • 1 _
d1 · l
•
the following two examp Jes would sound exactly the same an ast Just as ong - Introduction to Pitch
tJ
Ji=72
j In j J u J .J u n .J 1
2/ l Pitch names and notation
~ j )I.HJ J IJTI I.J hJ I Playing any note on a piano produces a fixed sound. The sound gradually
Before the invention of the metronome, composers could show the speed fades away, but it does not go up or down. Music is made up from fixed sounds
they wanted only approximately, by writing such words as 'slow', ' moderate' such as this. _ _
or 'quick'. Even today many prefer to use words rather than to give an exact Many instruments (including all the _ str~ged mstruments and the
speed by means of a metronome figure (or 'metronome mark' as it is usually trombone) are capable of producing an mfirute ~umbe~ of fixed sounds
called). In earlier days the words were generally written in Italian - and often between any two note s on a keyboard, with only mm~te ~erences between
still are - although other languages (e.g. German, English or French) are now them. It is the same with the human voice. But in pracuce all mstrumems, and
frequently used instead. The most common foreign words are listed in the singing voices too, normally use only the particular notes o_f the _keyboard.
Glossary of Foreign Words used for Performance Directions. More will be When a player such as a violinist 'tunes' his instrument, he 1s trymg to find
said about tempo in 10/ 1. exaaly the one fixed sound he wants. All the other notes in the music will be
placed in relation to this one note. _
If one note is played on the keyboard and then another note 1s played
1/4 Rhythm anywhere to the right of it, the sound of the second note is said to be higher
than that of the first. A note to the left of it would produce a lower sound. ln
This chapter is headed 'The Basics of Rhythm and Tempo' . The two are not the same way men's voices are said to be lower than those of women or young
boys. The technical word referring to the height or depth of sound is pitch.
the same. 'Rhythm' refers to the way in which sounds of varying length and
accentuation are grouped into patterns. One way to understand it is to think of On the keyboard, groups of two black notes alternate with groups of three
black notes. This makes it easy to distinguish between the white notes, which
a familiar tune - say a song or a march: although the tune itself could not be
are given the letter names from A to G. A is always between the second and
played on a table, its rhythm could be tapped out on one. If it were to be
third of the group of three black notes. After G comes A again.
tapped out more quickly or more slowly, its rhythm would not change: only its
tempo.

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E

Keyboard players usually take their bearings from middl.: C: the C nearest
to the centre of the keyboard. To orchestral players the A abo,-e middle C is
more important, because this is the note to which they cune their instruments.
The distance from any note to the next one with the same letter name (e.g.
from A to A or B to B) is an octave: e~ght notes in all.

L.~
- n

8
INTRODUCT ION TO PITCH

. fi1ve lines on which music is written are known as the stave or

, .1tar
2/ 1 PITCH NAMES AND NOTATION

., o ., a
9

The 1am1 e ,, e

staff
The lines and spaces between them are counted from the bottom -
- -- -- - - - - - - - fitthlme - - - - - - - - - - =fourth ------
space
- - -- - - - - - fourth line - - - - - - -- -- t:-- - :--s-pa_c_e- ----=----
hi:--rd
- - - - - - third line - - - - - - - - - - - - = - - - - - - - - ' - - - -- -
second space
- - - second line - - - - - - - - - ; : - - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - -
first space
- first !me - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - M iddle C

Each line and each space represent a note, so there are nine notes here - The stem of a note on the middle line of a stave may go either up or down -
~ or $ - but normally stems of lower notes go up and those of higher
e " a
,, e
''
0 ' . e
notes go down - Jj J j F r Fr .(See 3/ 1 for exceptions.)
But which nine? To answer this question, a sign called a clef is always placed at To provide for notes which lie above or below the limits of the stave, shon
the beginning of every stave. There are several different clefs, but the most additional lines called ledger lines (or leger lines) are used . Each note above
or below the sta ve has its own line or lines: they are not joined together -
J and is called the treble clef. It is also known as the ' G' clef'
common one is
~
because the middle part of it {o is always looped around a line fe._ and that 0 a
- ..D... ~
..D...

line represents the G above middle C. Today the treble clef is alwa~s looped
aro~nd the second line (but see Appendix E in Part II for another position
@ u- -e- -u-
- u 0
F G A B C D

-
G A B C D E
w~ch has been used in the past). In consequence, a note placed on that line ..D... ~
..a..
will be the G above middle C, and all the other notes on the stave can be
related to the notes on the keyboard too -

&
. e e I I e Ii e
''
a
u-
B -C
u-
D
-e-
E F G
A B C D E F

IC E ''F G A B C D E F
Middle C, therefore, can be wrinen either # = or ~
If necessary, further ledger lines may be used for higher or lower notes.
However, to avoid many ledger lines, the sign 8 or 8va (= oum:a, Ira.lian for
. - .

' octave') can be used above or below notes, indicating that they are to be
played an octave higher or lower. It is placed by the first note to which it refers
and is followed by a continuous line (or a doned line), with ---, or __J at
the end to show where the Bva direction finishes -
Middle C

For t~e,lower no~es on the keyboard a different clef has to be used: the bass
clef or F clef, which can be shown in either of two ways: 1= or (• :. In both
~ses the two d~s are written either side of a line and that line then represents
t e_ F below m1ddle C. Nowadays the clef is always placed on the 4th line -
~ or ~ , although, as with the G clef, other positions have been used in
the past (see Appendix E in Part I I).
 INTROD UCTION TO PITCI-{ II
10 2/ 1 PITCH NAMES AND NOTAT ION

~
Because the # sign always raises a note a semitone and the b sign always
lowers it a semitone, white notes on the keyboard can also be written and
Piano musk uses two staves bracketed together:
named in different ways. For example -

~ = ~~ = ~~ = ~
Usually the top stave is for the right-hand notes written in the treble clef and
the bottom stave for the left-hand notes in the bass clef. When convenient ~ ~ ~ pJ Cb •J F ~
however, both hands may play notes on either stave, and both staves may us~
When two notes have the same sound but different names, they are called
either clef. Middle C (and its surrounding notes) can be shown on either
enharmonics. C# is the enharmonic of Db , and vice versa. But although a
stave -
note may be 'spelt' in two different ways, it is not generally the case that either
spelling may be used: usually one is correct and the other wrong. One factor
which may decide the choice is the scale (to be explained shortly) on which the
music is based.

2/2 The major scale

Black notes on the keyboard take their C sharp D shar p
o r D flat or E flat
names from the white notes. If they are
to the right (i.e. higher in pitch) they are
! / Virtually all pieces of music written before the early 20th century do not use all
the black and white notes but only a selection of them. When they are
said to be sharp; if they are to the left arranged in ascending or descending order, the particular notes of a piece are
(i.e. lower in pitch) they are said to be called a scale (the word originally meant a ' ladder' ). The most common sea.le
flat. Each black note, therefore, has two of all can be found by playing just the white notes on the keyboard from any C
names, e.g. C sharp or D flat, D sharp or to the next C above or below -
E flat .
ascending desce nding
. The musical sign for sharp is # : thus C# means 'C sharp'. Likewise, the
sign for flat is b, and D b therefore means 'D flat' . On the stave these signs are
alw?s placed be/ore the notes - ~ C sharp, ~ D flat - although in
$- u
2
0

3
I ►

4
0

5
' j

6
0

7
I.

8
j
I'
8
) 0

7
.. i

6
0

5
I '

4
0

3
0
1 -
ordmary writing they come afterwards - C #, D b etc. These notes, which can be compared to the rungs on a ladder, are described as
degrees· ofththe scale: the first (i.e. the lowest) is the ' first d..,..,...._.'
....., ...... , and so on as
To return to the ongma
· · 1 wh 1te
. note after it has been made sharp or flat, a
natural sign, q' is used - I@ ;r Ir I =f¼m. sh own m e example above. -
It can be seen that this scale consists of a mixture of tones and semitones -

!he di stance in pitch (or interval) between any note and its nearest semi tone semitone
neighbour, black or white, is called a semitone (half tone). T hu s, the interval

¥m ¥--¢Pl ( ' '3 ')

'3

between C and C # or between C # and D

L____.jl.___JL____J
is a ' -
'------.J '------.J
C, 0 tone tone tone
tone tone
¥ f__-$/
semitone, and so also is the interval between E and F . -.-=- -=-.
An interval
.

~?c
of two semitones e g to D C B1 • . •
6 This particular series - tone, tone, se mitone, tone, tone. tone, semitone

~
or to '' ,s descnbed as an inte rval of a tone - (or T T S T T T S for short) - is calle...i a major S4:alc. Since the S\.--a.le
above st arts on C, it ts known as the 'scale of C major' . .-l11v nore can be used as
• f1 (=j ::((_
~-: • ~ ==!:==:j . the firSCnote of a major scale; but if the scale srorrs on any .;ore except C. one or
- 12
INTROD UCTION TO PITCJi

•u have to be used in order to preserve the series

2; 3 KEY SIGNATU RES
13

more of the black nsotlefs. ~arts on G for example, an F sharp will be needed -
T T S T T T . it s '
a
.. ~e
~ e T"T e S"T
e
TT and also the one for F major -
S
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

• ·
of the ladder would the~ be m1ssmg:
would be no F of any kmd.
there
,
•• i
The F~ cannot be written as Gb, its enharmo nic, because one of the rungs
ba "a
"l ] ! Unlike the time signatur e (see 1/ 2), the key signatur e is repeate~ at the
beginnin g of every line. If it has to be ch~ged during the course of a p~ece~al
l
that is needed is to write the new key signatur e aft~r a double bar-line
Similarly, if the scale starts on F, a B flat will be needed - F maior --,
D major =1 ~ ~

8
8
8 @"11 i J J J :J I J J 11 ~ J :; '· 11

' " T T " S ~. T " T T " S It' used to be the practice to cancel the old key signatur e first with naturals
-
while a start on D would need two sharps (F~ and C~) - ~ but nowadays naturals are only used when no sharps or flats follow -
. C major

'
e e D maior
e ;1 11 e It
5
u
T T S T T T S ' ;II f J J J J IJ j I i :J j :J J 11
The three scales above are those of G major, F major and D major
A clef may be changed at any point in a line of music, but when it occurs
respectively. A piece of music which uses the notes of the scale of G major, for
between bars it is placed before the bar-line . (The key signatur e is
instance, is said to be in the key of G major or just 'in G major'. The note on not
repeated. ) Change s of time signatur e always come after the bar-line. The
which a scale begins (i.e. the first degree) is the key-not e .
following example illustrate s these convent ions -

2/3 Key signatu res r 1 r£a □ J Ii 11

All changes of clef, time signatur e and key signatur e, which apply to the
To say that a piece of music is based on the notes of the scale of C major does start of a new line, should also be shown at the end of the previou s line
-
not mean that it is restricted to eight notes. The eight notes of the basic scale
can be used at any pitch, one or more octaves higher or lower. But except for Line 2
special purposes the notes of the basic scale will not be altered; thus, if a piece
is in G major, all the Fs will be F~ s. Similarly, all the Bs in a piece in F major
will be Bb s. It is not necessary to write in the sharps or flats eve ry time they are
needed . Instead they are shown at the beginnin g of the piece, immediately
after the clef and before the time signatur e - i"
2;. The sharp on the F line
is enough to show that all the Fs will be F~ s, not just those on the fifth line·
there is no need to put a sharp in the first space as well. In the bass clef it i; 2/ 4 Accide ntals
written - ~ .
During the course of a piece of music other sharps or flats, not included in the
. This direction about the sharps and flats to be used is called the key key signature, may sometimes be added ro individual nores. Funher, a sharp
s agnature. The example s above
show the key signature of G major. Here is or a Oat in the key signatur e may be cancelle d by the use of a q. Sharps. flats
 _ INTROD UCT ION T
14 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _..:..::_:..:__'' ~
15
o PITCH

and naturals used in this way are called accidentals . If an accide 1

o nl y occasion
. all y, 1t
. 1s
. un like 1y to
make any alteration to the ke nta
. b appe
. _ars CHAPTE R 3
used more frequently, it could involve a change of key, although ~•m:t if It is
necessary to write a new key signature.
Once an accidental has appeared in a bar, it remains in force until h
Ynot be Continu ing with R hythm
the bar, hence - t e end of

3/1 Rests
C- 1 f CIC.

NOT
Music does not consist only of sounds: it includes silences too . Notation has to
show how long each silence lasts, just as it shows how long each sound lasts.
7f7 x r nu IF1 ro rr er Ir 1 1 etc .
The signs used for silences are called rests.
A silence lasting as long as a crotchet is indicated b y a crotchet rest, 1
If a.note with (sometimes it is written i instead, but thi s sign is no longer standard). The
£ an accidental is:ft:tied over a bar-line ' the accidenta l 1.s not wntten
.
sign for a quaver rest is 7 and the semiquaver rest is 7.
agam - @ Illj j NOT (i II
'--" • 1 ,
J I1d .
But if it were to be used agai·n · th
--..__;;, 1n e The minim and semibreve rests are attached to one of the lines of the stave .
second bar, its next appearance would have to be marked - The minim rest sits on top of a line --.. , u sually the third line -
while the semib reve rest hangs below a line, u sually the fourth line -

; 1 r .l J ntJ,J J .l ;,J IJ J Io 11 The breve rest com pletely fills the space between two lines -
Unlike the sharps and flat ·
the line o: k 1·
space on which it sis'"w:i::n~ t::~,r;11:::;~~!en~ta~ aptli;sllonl~ to
example s needed_
Here is a comp lete list of the rests correspondin g to the notes already
1 '1 mt e 10 owing discussed -

; ~ t .l .l J .l IJ,JJ JP Ir r J .l I .. i breve IIOI

semi breve 0
The final B in the above exa
· b k mp 1_e is a B b. Some composers might p ut a ~
before it (perhaps m .
strictly necessary. rac ets or m a small size) . d
as a re mm er, b ut this is not minim J
crotchet .J t
quaver ) 7

semiquaver ) :;
demise miq uaver ) i
An
bar entire
in ,, lyand
silent
. bar in 4:.2 time
· . shown by a breve rest, but an entirely silen t
is
4
.--.~ - - -, m every other time . s·1gnarure, 1·s shown by a se nubreve
· rest -

It¥ I 12 tR -jj~tc

I
 a H w;r::r::rr::i • C

•.::___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _CONT
__ INU
_ING
_WITH I7
16 _ _RHYT
_ HM 3/ 2 T IES AND DOTS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
________ _ __

Sometimes two (or more) melodies are written on one stave. - 1 d by two crotch ets with the bar-line betwee n
The rests may
then have to be placed higher or lower than usual. For The minim has been rep ace . . d togeth er b y a
examp le, these two h curved line called a tie.
crotch ets are Jotne
melodies - them, and t e tw O d fi . h t the head of a note, not the stem -
Ties always start an m1s a

er
,-._

Ir r r $ I" (r OR J~J NOT NOR JJ

. p the tie will be below the notes -
so if the stems go u ,
@ iJJ JJ I J IJ J J J 1°
may be combin ed on one stave - ~ i f' f IF f JJJP J ] .
~l: r ~ F If
However, when two ties are used simult aneous ly, they
are wntte n thus -
:
~- .
When two melodies are combi ned in this way, the stems There is no limit to the numbe r of notes which can
of the notes in the be oed togeth er.
upper melody always go up and those in the lower melod Although there are six wriuen notes in the next examp
y go down . If the two le, there are only two
melodies share the same note, it will be written with two sounds, the first of which lasts for the length of 18 crotch
stems, one up and one
down, like the final note in the first bar of the above examp et beats -
le. Two semi breves
on the same note are made to overlap, as in the last
bar. (Anoth er way of
writing them is to put them side by side, but touchi ng,
A piece of music may start on any beat of the bar, not just
oo .) f' B
the first beat . If it
starts after the first beat, the openin g can be shown Ties are used within bars as well as across bar-lin es
with or withou t -
preliminary rests -

i ~ 2 - ~ JIJJ J j IJ
Carol , ' G od rest ye merr y gentle men'

j J etc. @~ ~ JI J J JJI J ff etc The first examp le starts with a sound (E in the treble
clef) lasting for 1¼
though without is more usual. (This point is furthe r crotche t beats. In the second examp le, the top note (C)
discussed in 9/ 1. ) lasts for 2½ crotch et
beats.
Ties are not the only way of length ening notes. A note
can be made half as
3/2 Ties and dots long again by placing a dot after the note-h ead -

Bar-lines make the music easier to read, but they also

have some drawba cks.
J j J
In this passage there is a missing bar-lin e - and rests can be dotted too -

@i w v lrr r r r r 7· = 7 1
but they are never tied : there would be no point!
but the bar-lin e is clearly needed in the middle of a note: Dots are not used to length en notes or rests across bar-lin
the minim on the top es. Conse quentl y
note (F ). Howe ver, bar-lin es are never drawn throug the tied A in th is examp le cannot be replace d
h notes, only betwee n by a dotted note -
them, so the passage has to be written like this -
ti. ,W - J__] ; and the two rests in the following examp le cannot be
r; placed by a dotted crotch et rest - -~* r 1- lt ~r l .
 J0:-3

CONTINUING WITH RliYTJ-iM 19

3/ 3 TRIPLETS AND COMPO U ND T IME

followed by two dots: then it is said to be doubI . . a/enc, . all of these examples are triplet groups, and
A note or a rest may be e- 'three notes or their equiv
dotted,. The second dot adds half the length of the first dot - .
say k th time of one crotchet to perform -
each ta es e
J _is the same as J,__.).._.,Ji and $- · is the same as

3/3 Triplets and compound time

$ 7 :;
T,1 rin 1
/ I ;; no
t" uous triplets the J s are often omined once the panem
In a passage of con in , . .th , posers
. h d · nd where triplets are obvious Wl out ... s, com
has been esta bl1s e , a
As mentioned in Chapter 1, a beat of any kind (crotchet, minim etc.) can be . ll do not include a .J at all.
occasiona y . the beat regularly divides into threes, not twos, e.g. -
divided into two equal parts. The first bar of the following passage contains In some pieces
three crotchet beats each divided into two quavers - Sousa , Marc h, 'The L iberty Bell'

attrib . J. S. Bach
Anna M agdalena B ach N o1ebook
-
I
j
3 3

J WnJ J If 7 f ea- IF ~ F ~ I r=r ~ I

J J I
· h
This, owever, 1·s no t the notation .which Sousa
. actually used , because there is
A beat can also be divided into three equal parts, called a triplet. To · hod· one which av01ds havmg to

~,
an easier met . add J s throughout. What he
indicate a triplet, a figure J is centred over or under the three notes - actually wrote (and it sounds exactly the same) was -
J

r: r riv
J
II J JJ J J IJ II
and sometimes a curved line or square bracket is added - The i time signature has been changed to § , meaning six quavers (or their

IP r Jr If' II ' zr ur
notes are wrinen as quavers, with a J to distingui sh them from ordinary
If"
The essential point is that, when a crotchet is divided into a triplet, the three
II
equivalent) in a bar. g
still implies cwo beats in a bar (like ~ ), but the ~ts are
now dou ed crotchets . Notice that a dot has been added to the first note m the
last bar to make it a full beat in § .
Both z
and g
have six quavers in a bar, but they are not the same thing. Z
means chree beats (crotchets) divided into twos; § means cwo beats (dotted
.J
crotchets) divided into threes. The difference can be grasped by saying aloud -
quavers. In other words, ) can be di vided into 1J or into ffi .
Any note can be divided into a triplet in the same way - ' Don't forget to catch your train' znnn IJ
o J J or into J J J
can be divided into
3 'Phone me as soon as you're there' gm m IJ
J
When the beats divide into twos, the music is said to be in simple ti.me;
J can be divided into JJor into j J .J when they di vide into threes, it is in compound time. For every si mple rime

) can be divided into n or into ffl

J signature there is an equivalent compound time signature -

S IMPL E TIME CO MPO U ND T IM E

A triplet, then, is a group of three equal notes performed in the time
normally taken by two notes of the same kind . Strictly speaking, one should
2 beats
,n a bar z .J .J I ~ J J I
' Double dots were not used until the mi ddle of the 18th century. Until then (and ~o metimes
3 beats
111 a bar z .J .J .J I ~ .J. J .J. I
even later), notes with si ngle dot s were in some ci rcumstances played as though they were 4 beats
2j j j j I j. J •I· J I
double-dotted - or in other wa ys. 1n a bar 12
8
 CONTINUIN G WITH RHYTHM
20 21

. sed are duple, triple and quadruple, meaning

Other words someumes u d) . b (S' . CHAPTE R 4
, beats (either simple or compoun m a ar. tmtlarly,
rwo three or iour fi b . b
'
though much 1ess com mon , quintuple means !Ve eats m a ar and
septuple seven beats in a bar.) Consequently - More Scales, Keys and Clefs
i is simple duple time g is compound duple time
z is simple tnp· 1e nme
·
89 is compound triple time 4/ 1 Major scales and the circle of fifths
2is simple quadruple time 'j is compound quadruple time In Chapter 2 we saw how the major ~cales starting on C, G, D and F were
(Further examples of simple and compound time are given in 5/3). constructed . Here are some more maior scales:

3/4 The basis of simple and compoun d time notation A major

$ ,, e jjo e 11 je ~o -
T T s T T T s
The difference between simple and compound time is made clear in the
Bn
$ le i j
t,
E maj or le 11
notation. On p.19, for example, the quavers corresponding to 'Don't forget to e !lo
catch your train' were beamed together in twos, but those correspond ing to T T s T T T s
'Phone me as soon as you're there' were beamed in threes. Similarly, the
lengths of the sounds and silences in these examples are exactly the same - Bb ma jor
$b~ --- T
u be I I e ii be

i2 r r rf g I~ .,
/ /
EU Ir
cr & II T s T T T

e
s
1111
,,-..... ,,-....._ Eb maj or ,, e 1111 be j'.ii

@R F ~ C:[ rg- I~ ·,1 , f er E I r· cr

;1
11
~&A
T T s
The key signatures of these scales are wrinen thus -
T T T s
yet the signs used are not always the same. For instance, the
,,.--.._ J in the last bar
of the first example is wrinen as r· r in the second, and the t in the first
becomes 7 7 in the second. On the other hand, in the second bar of each
example there are two quaver rests ( 7 7): neither example uses just a crotchet
rest (n, which might be considered simpler.
The conventions of rhythmic notation have changed little for more than 300
years. They have two aims: (i) to suggest the underlying pattern of beats, A major E major B ~ major E ~ major
strong and weak (such as the three J beats per bar in the first example above It will be noticed that no key signature has been made up of a mixture of
and the two J beats per bar in the second); (ii) to make the music easier to sharps and flats: they have all included either sharps or flats. (As will be seen
read by using no more signs than are necessary to make the beats clear. A
later, this is also true of all other key signatures.) If we concentrate first on key
detailed explanation of how these aims are achieved will be given in Chapter 5.
signatures with sharps, a panern begins to emerge:
In later chapters it will be seen that composers occasionally depart from the
(The scale of C major has no sharps)
standard notation for special reasons: e.g. to indicate a disturbance in the
normal flow of the rhythm or to suggest the phrasing req uired - see 6/ 3 and
The scale of G major has one sharp: F#
11/2. The scale of D major has two sharps: F# C~
The scale of A major has three sharps: FI CIG#
The scale of E major has four sharps: FI C#GIDI
 MORE SCALES, KEYS AND CLEFS
4/ 1 MAJOR SCALES AND THE CIRC L E OF FIFTHS 23
22
. portant conclusions can be drawn:
ttem some im . It can now be deduced that the major scale with four flats is Ab major (Bb Eb
From thi s pa . the 5th degree of the prevtous scale -
. h cal beglOS on Ab Db), that the one with five flats is Db major (Bb Eb Ab Db Gb ), and that

~ ■
1
JJ
!Jl
-E•ac" ' ~ '
I 2 3 4 5:__-----,
I O
,
12 345
f ' 0
, •
0
'
1 2 3 4 5.----_ _ _ _1 2345
1~
the one with six flats is Gb major (Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb). (The layouts of these
key signatures are shown on p.27.)
Gb, however, is the enharmonic ofF#, and F# (as already seen) is the key-
G-D D -A A-E note of the scale with six sharps. We seem to have come to a halt we now have
(2. s) (3. s) (41s)
C -G (I. ) a major key signature for each note on the keyboard, indeed two for one of
(ii) Each scale adds one more sharp to those already in the previous scale. them (F#/Gb ). But if we were to carry on further, we would continue to get
(iii) The additional sharp is always five notes above the last sharp of the enharmonic alternatives. For example, if we extend the sequence of keys with
previous key signature. . . sharp key signatures (G, D, A etc.) we get -
(iv) The last sharp in the key signature always applies to the 7th degree of the

~
11 (I ) lt 0 /)-'.1 j; of.~
scale_ the note before the key-note. For example, in the scale of D major o .. o ijol' •J p • do(\,) i+ H11ll ) ~oOO
(. -) u 0
the last sharp is C#, which is the note before the key-note, D -

u. .-• e
Now we have come to a halt, for we have ended up (enharmonically at least)
fM11 • where we started 1 - on C . Moreover, if we reverse this sequence and use the
~
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (= I)
enharmonics ( C F B b etc. ), we find that it is just the same as the sequence of
From all of this it is not difficult to work out that the major scale with five flat keys -
sharps (F# C# G ~ D# A#) is B major. Similarly, the scale with six sharps is F# 0
&o 1111 &o etc.
major (F# C# G# D# A# E#). (The layouts of their key signatures are shown
on p.27.)
C
There is a similar pattern in key signatures with flats - This can be shown more F G
(The scale of C major has no flats) clearly as a circle, like a
The scale of F major has one flat: Bb clock. If you read it clock- Bb D
The scale of B ~ major has two flats: B b Eb wise you get the sequence
The scale of Eb major has three flats: B b Eb Ab of sharp keys, each with
Again we can draw some important conclusions: one sharp more than the E~ A
previous one, i.e. fi ve notes
(i) Each scale begins on the fifth note below the key-note of the previous
higher. Hence the sequence
scale (which is the same as saying that it begins on the 4th degree of the Ab E
previous scale) - is known as the circle of
fifths. If you read it

'
• • ii
e •• • o anticlockwise you get the D~
(q )
B
(0 )
sequence of flat keys. F~
8 7 6 5 4 8 7 6 5 4 8 7 6 5 4 (G ~)
C- F
~or various reasons, composers do sometimes go further than F# or Gb
F - Bb Bb ----+Eb
( lb ) (2 b s) (3 b s)
(ii) Each scale adds one m ~aJor, e.g. by writing in C~ major (seven sharps) rather than D I> (five flats), or
..
·
· the prev10us
ore fl at to t h ose already m scale.
(iii) The additional flat is al fi · m Cb major _(seven flats ) rather than B major (five sharps), but they usually
. ways 1ve notes below the last flat of the previous choose the simpler alternative.
key signature.
(iv) The last flat is always th h
scale of Bb . e 4t degree of the scale. For example, in the
ma1or the last flat is Eb _
1
lf the laws of P_h ysics are strictly follo wed, this is not quite true: Bf is aot q11iu t.bc swnc as c-.,
nor are th e earlier enharmonics exactly the same. To e.'l:plaio whv this is so would tllkc us into
#¥ '. g •
....... u.4= lhe st udy of acoustics and beyond the scope of this book· but it is ~'Orth noting that II runcr bis
to make very slight co mprom1ses · - to ensure that each note~
on a keybow-d will. be acceplllhk
whatever fu nction it has to serve (e.g. as F# or GI>)_ a systt-ro caJk-J 'equal tcropcnamcnt'_
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (= I)
~2 MORE
4 _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _SC ALES, K_EYS _AND CLEFS
__
MINOR SC AL ES AN D K EYS 25
412
4/2 Minor scales and keys The descending melodic form has an F#, so the ke y signature for E minor is
. the next most common are min~r scales. The special F~ _ the same as for G major. Again, if they are needed , sharps are added to
After maior scales, . th 6th and 7th degrees (C and D ) as they occur.
. . of music wn•uen in minor keys result m two types of m;~ «uuor
charactensocs . . t the same ascending and descendin g . eAs a final example, these are the versions of the minor scale starting on D -
e of which is no . . .
sea1e, on . rt is the key of A nunor, smce 1t produces a min
The easiest place to sta d _ D minor (me lod ic)
or
. nly the white notes on the keyboar
II
scale using o
~ _. D 0 ii 0 ii 0 p
$ u e

D minor (harmonic)
if 0 'i e Ii
e
I e
ti1► 1 ~e Ci 0 I I e 0

jo
This is the descending form of the melodic minor scale . The ascending ~e jJo e
I e
~e

'
e ft e i' i j e I I e
0 0
form sharpens the 6th and 7th degrees -
II 11 a __. The descending melodic form has a B b, so the key signature for D minor is B b
a ♦•
0 Ii we It I
: _ the same as for F major. If they are needed , accidentals are added to the 6th
and 7th degrees (B b/ B q, C q/C~ ) as they occur.
The other type of minor scale is the harmonic minor scale. The notes are A piece of music in a minor ke y may use the notes of both the melodic and
the same ascending and descending - the harmonic minor scales. Therefore one cannot talk about a piece as being
'in C melodic minor' or 'in C harmonic minor' , only as 'in C minor' .
~ .. e ., 0 .. 0 no - I- ~a e .. e .. 0 ., l
Toe reason for these differences lies in the fact that melodies in a minor key
4/ 3 Relative major/m inor keys
tend to use the sharpened 6th and 7th degrees when they are going up but the
unsharpened notes when they are coming down; on the other hand chords in a Examples of correspond ing ke y signatures for major and minor keys ha~'C
minor key normally use just the unsharpen ed 6th degree and the sharpened already been noted . T he re is a fixed relationshi p: the key-note of a minor key is
7th degree. The intervals formed by the first five degrees of the scale (TS TT) always the same as the 6th degree of the major scale with the same key
never change. signature, as is shown in the following examples (note that the scales are now
The key signatures of minor keys always comprise the sh arps or flats of the given with their key signatures ) -
descending melodic minor scale. There are none in A m inor, so it has no key
signature - like C major. Sharps are added to the notes F and G, if needed, as
they occur during the course of the music.
Taking another example, here are the various version s of the minor scale
starting on E -

E minor (melodic)
,
C ma jo r

-e- u e 'j e
♦

i j e 11
I$
4
CI e
A minor (me lodic desa:ndingl

'' a u
--- U" ~

G ma jor E minor (melodic des...--.:ndmg.

$ .0 I "I.le@ .. j e a
1$•
'
11
0 If 0 ff 11 II
e @ e i I e i j e 11 e 'i e It
0 ~ii Ii e 1,il 0
~ I I e

E minor (harmoni c)
F major D m mo r l melodi.: JcsccnJmg)

' a ~ Ii a
it e It l e II

I .0
11
i I e I1 a 1111 0 ~
~~
¥ ~ =n::: e o
a
O
¾ltb .a Ii ~ I\
" Ii c•
 MORE SCAL ES, K EYS AND C L EFS
26
4/ 3 RELAT IVE M AJOR/ MI N OR K EYS

• of
Consequently there is a pattern minor-key signatures correspondin g to the
pattern of major-key signatures - C ma1o r
No sharps or flats A minor (C major) a mrnor

I sharp (F ) E minor (G major)

2 sharps (F C) B minor (D major)
G m ajo r
3 sharps (F C G ) F# minor (A major) c m ino r
F ma1or
d minor
4 sharps (F CG D ) C# minor (E major)
5 sharps (F C G D A) G# minor (B major)
6 sharps (F C G D A E) D# minor (F# major)
1 flat (B) D minor (F major) D majo r B, ma1or
b m ino r
2 flats (BE) G minor (Bb major) g minor

3 flats (BE A) C minor ( Eb major)

4 flats (BE AD) F minor ( Ab major)
5 flats (BE AD G) Bb minor (Db major)
A m ajo r E, ma,or
6 flats (BE AD G C) E b minor (G b major) f ~ m ino r C DllDOr
On the next page is a complete list of key signatures up to seven sharps or
flats. It shows which lines of the stave the sharps and flats are placed on.
Major and minor keys which share the same key signature (e.g. G major and
E minor) are said to be ' relatives' of each other: G major, for example, is the E ma1 or
c minor f minor
relative major of E minor, and E minor is the relative minor of G major.
These expressions have some use as a kind of shorthand, but they can be
dangerously misleading, since they may suggest that keys with the same key
signature are merely versions of each other. They are not. They have diffe rent
key-notes. Since (as will be seen shortly) the importance of every other note in D~ ma,or
b) mmo.r
a scale depends on its relationship to the key-note, the whole balance of the
two keys is quite different. Only keys with the same key-note are truly ve rsions
of each other (e.g. G major and G minor). To unde rline this point, here are all
the versions of the scale of C (note that not only the ke y-note b ut the 2nd, 4th
and 5th degrees remain the same throughout) -
M ajo r

---
I
u2 •3 I!

4
e

5
-•
6 7
'j

8
I"
8
"
7
-
6
0

5
CI

4
"3 u
2 -
I
Melodic minor

~ u tr . 11 e
-• i,
I
ii &, 1,_ e It &, u
- ~
$ I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
N ote that small letters may be used co disrino uish a minor key from o ma1or =•II practi<.--c
so n~et,mes used in reference books, lists of works etc. Howe,·er, Lthhough wrinng JU:St •G ' \!Or

-I
u
2
~-
Harmon ic m inor

3
it

4
e

5
1, -
6
• ozj
7 8
( I

8
"
7
Ii -
6
e

5
r:q, "
4 3
-=-=-~
0
2 -I
ma1or) or 'g' (for mi nor) ce rtainly saves ti me and spa...--e, 1t

Symphony No.7 in Ai, in A ma,or.

~= be am~"f\lous (Ind :ihould_
~en~ra~ly ~e avo1?eu. It is worth adding that in ordinary ,p.,, •,;:h and often tn publiaicions. ~
ma1or or mmor 1s not mentioned, it b to be us,,uiTK"-1 that th< kt:y is rn.11or. e.g. Beethoven s
 28
MORE SCALES , KEY S AND CLEFS
,~~ NAMES OF SCALE DEGREES 29

414 Names of scale degrees In a minor key, ' leading note' by itself implies the raised 7th degree (a semitone
below the tonic); the lower 7th (as in the key signature) is referred to as the
Each degree of a major or minor scale (1st, 2nd, 3rd etc.) has a name which 'flattened leading note' .
reflects its importance or its position in the scale. The most important note is
naturally the one on which the scale is based: the first note, the 1st degree, the
key-note or tonic, as it is generally known.• But almost as important is the 5th
degree, called the dominant, which can be said to dominate because of its
special relationship with the tonic 2, especially (as will be seen in 9/ 2b ) in terms 4/5 Double sharps and double flats
of harmony. The 4th degree is called the subdominant because it is a mirror-
image of the dominant, lying five notes below the tonic just as the dominant lies Before considering other kinds of scale, something must be said about a
five notes above. Thus in C major - problem which was lurking in the discussion of minor scales. Sometimes it is

-
necessary to add a further sharp to a note which has already been sharpened,
• a

- • 11 • or a further flat to a note which has already been flattened. The scale of G #

' ''4 •5 6 7 8
minor, for example, already has an F# in the key signature: how then is one to
I 2 3 4 5 write the 7th degree when it has to be sharpened, as in the melodic minor scale
r
Subdominant
t
Tonic
t
Dominant
ascending?

g
a
The 3rd degree is the mediant, since it lies midway between the tonic and the g
g •t

dominant. The 6th degree is the submediant because it is a mirror-image of

the mediant, lying the same distance below the tonic as the mediant is above - What is needed is a sign called a double sharp - x - though it is often written
as a small letter ' x', which it closely resembles. Its effect is to raise a note C'W<J
@ • '' • '' semitones (Cx, for example, sounding the same as the white note D on the
''6 7 8 keyboard). Thus the notation of the ascending melodic minor scale of G #is -
I 2 3
i t t
~~11 U11
110 a
S ubmed ianr Tonic Mediant Q
Q
J '
0
''
The 2nd degree is the supertonic (super is Latin for 'above'), because it lies
immediately above the tonic. Finally the 7th degree is the leading note Similarly, there is a double flat which lowers a note two semitones, but the
because in a melody it tends to lead up to the tonic. sign for this is merely two flats together - bl, . So now we can complete the
These names are applied to both the major and minor scales - music example in the middle of p.23.

111 1
'.
a
111' ) Ix'l-l It d •iii~ [it, a
-•
I
Tonic
U
2

l .MeJiam
Q
3
11
4
0
5
''
6

!
l . Dom~nam l Lead J g note Tote
e

7 8
I, .. I; 9
(R•)

To cancel a double sharp or a double flat (i.e. to restore the note to its
original pitch), all that is needed is a single sharp or flat -
l 1
\» I - '( ~

1 Supe;romc j Subdorma nt j Submfdiant j

-I

'The word ultimately de · I:

0
2
G
0

3
i)

4
.
0

5
(11)0
6 7

as the bas· . h f nves rom a reek word meaning ' pitch'; musically it can be thought of
II

8
:

Formerly a natural was inserted as well ( ~~or~ ) but.th.is is no longer standard

1c pile o a piece.
2 practice (compare changes of key signature in 2/3).
Brass players will know that 1't . . h 'thi d . ' '
note produced b a Jen h ,s_t e r harmonic, the first two being the ' fundame ntal
Y gt of tubmg and the octave above th at (sec 20/ 4a in Part II ).
 MORE SCALES, KEYS AND Cl
EPs 31
JO 416 T HE CHROMAT IC SCAL E

4/6 The chromatic scale

'l'
. d minor keys arc diatonic scales. (In a Illin
f all maJOr and melodic forms o f the scale are d 1atonic.)
. . or
Notes
The scales o .
key, both the harmont~ S::.e key (e.g. the C#s in the first example on p.1 4)
I both of these passages the basic chromatic scale (starting on the key note,
which do not belong • A 'chromatic scale' is a scale made up entirei
·d t0 be chromauc. (bl k d · y .; in each case) has been marked. Notice that the first example starts D-E~-
are sai. . e which includes all the notes ac an white) on the E ~ but that the second starts D-D #-E (which is also the way the first example
of sc!Dltones. on_ -octave chromatic scale starting on D (although
k yboard Herc 1s a one f . .) , ends). Both use A-B~-Bq (not A-A#-B as op~i_tc). .
e · hOrt1 there are other ways o notatmg tt - Theorists distinguish between two ways of wnang the chromanc scale: the
as we shall see s Y,
harmonic and the melodic (or 'arbitrary'). These are described below, but no
@11 11 jjo
e i i ff •t e fe Ii 0
one need lose any sleep over them sin~ composers themselves neve~ have.
The harmonic chromatic scale 1s the same whether ascending or
descending, and whether it occ urs in a major or in a ~or key. It_includcs all
For about three centuries after 1600 music was generally based on the
the notes of the major and minor scales (both harmoruc and melodic) , plus the
major and minor scales and not on the chromatic scale. Individual chromatic
flattened 2nd and sharpened 4th degrees. In practice this always means that
notes were used, but often merely as special effects (the word 'chromatic'
every degree of the scale has to be written twice, except the 5th and, of course,
means 'coloured') which had no influence upon the key. Sometimes, it is true,
the key-note at the top and b ottom, e .g. -
their use could bring about a change of key, in which case the key signature
might be changed (see Part II, Chapter 16). During the second half of the 19th D m a jor
century and the early part of the 20th, the use of chromatic notes developed to
,•11 #e CI ~B ~e
,,., ijo e
such an extent that any feeling of tonality (being in a key) was often u &e ~o 1111 1!11 0

weakened. In the hands of some composers, it was finally destroyed altogether

D mino r
(in music described as 'atonal'), although many others have continued to write
tonal music. More will be said about atonal music and its n otation in Part II,
@& jl11 #o I I e ~g I I ;: II
0

Chapter 24/3, but first it is necessary to consider how the chromatic scale is u &e ~o I I 0

notated when it is used in music which is basically diatonic .

When chromatic scales, or parts of them, occur in real music (as d istinct Melodic chromatic scales are less rigid in their construction: in fact,
from theory books! ), composers are often not fussy about their notation. theorists do not in variably agree exactly how they are formed . What may be
Usually ~ey are ~tten in whatever way seems convenient, bearing in mind said is that they differ in their ascending and descending vernons, and also
~ ~ y SJgnature if there is one. In practice this generally means using the according to whether the key is major or minor. Perhaps the simplest way of
mmunum number of accidentals needed to do the job, though there can be forming them is to include, first , all the notes of the key (in a minor key these
more than one way of achievmg · thi H · include the notes of both the melcxiic and harmonic scales). The additional
b.YMozart: the first from the s. ere are two examples from piano music
F · · D · notes are then provided b y sharpening the diatonic notes (where required) in
th Ro . antas,a m mmor K .397, an d the second from
e ndo 10 D major, K.485 _ the ascending form , or b y flattening them in the descending fonn, e.g. -
fl

tJ
~
- D maj o r

@•11 ') a
r ffr1 I 1I I I I
7
11 I I l u ffo e • e P
O
fe
I I I I I I I JL J
,~~ ~~ --- ~ -;;-Irr,
: t
-
u
• 32
MORE SC ALES, KEYS AND CU!Fs r 33

D minor
11 jlo CHAPTER 5
0 " !lo The Grouping of Notes and Rests
0 Ui I !jct qe be ii j,. I I I
0 ~
5/1 Note groupings in simple (.J) and compound (J.) time
Some authorities, however, would always use the 7th degree twice - e.g. c ~
(not B#) in the ascending scale in D major; and some would include the SIMPLE TIME The standard practice is to avoid ties where possible. (Bear
sharpened 4th rather than the flattened 5th (G# rather than A~) in both
in mind that ties join notes of the same pitch - see 3/2.) Thus fJ is better than
-- m
descending scales. One principle which all would accept is that the same letter
name must never be used more than twice in succession: thus A~ - Aq _ A#, ffl ; Jffl or would be worse ! L ikewise -
for example, would always be wrong. - ..._,,

z J ;I NOT.I .rJI z .J J ; I NOT J .J n1

z ;J I NOTn----J I
'--"
4/7 C clefs z J )J I NOT J n .I I
INOT .J----.J'--"J I
',-/

The extensive use of ledger lines is a relatively recent development: the further
ba~ one goes in musical history the rarer they become. Earlier composers
z ; J ; I NOT.rm I ',-/
i .J J
avmded them by changing the clef. For example, both the G and F clefs, z .J j I NOT .l .J .J i .J j J I NOT .J .J .J .J I
~ and 9' , were also positioned on other lines, F and ')= , zj .J I NOTJ .J J
---- '-"

i .J J ).J I NOT.J .J'--"n .J I

which then denoted G and F respectively. ~ ----
Even more mobile was a clef we have not yet encountered - the C clef This Quave rs should be beamed together: up to a complete bar in ZIJJTI I
was always centred on a line and indicated middle C. OriginaJly it could be
placed on any of the first four lines of the stave, but nowadays it is used only on
or zI.I JJJJJI, and up to half a bar in ? IJJTI J I IJ JJTI I·
or

fi! /eJ
the third and fourth - ~!~§~ II~
~~g~~~ . T hey are not normally beamed across the middle of the bar in i , so
/e j
middle C. Thus these passages all sound exactly the same -
The note m • brackets is
? .J Im .J l is N OT standard practice: l .J nn
.J I is to be
preferred . In za dotted crotchet followed by three quavers is best grouped

~ %J JJ 14 J l:.i II IIE 1 r U IJ J Ir II z J } n l (it is true that they are freq uently written zJ m I instead,
bm that grouping may cause confusion since it suggests gnot 1).
IIR2 f a Ir r If II II Notes shorter than q uavers are beamed together in bears -

~ is generally referred to as the 'alto' clef, and ~ as the 'tenor' clef. z lffl~ I
However, demisemiquavers may also be grouped in half-beats -
Today they are scarcely ever used for vocal . -- .
Part II, some orchestral . music, but, as will be seen in
.
K ey s1gnatu res m
·
instruments use them z ~JJJJJJJ.J J.l.lJJJJ I ~ Jffllffllffl ..~ I
these clefs are arranged ·thus
·
-
T here are other ways of writing the same thing -

IK ll•-11••11 tt$t= :Sjrft= ~ z JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJI JJJJJJJJ.JJJJJJJJI

l_
34
TH E GROUPING OF NOTES AND RESTs I S/2 REST GROUPINGS IN SIMPLE AND COM POUND TIM E 35

CoMPOUN D TIME Notes la

sting rwo beats are usually written J rather than In quadruple time, however, a 2-beat rest should be used for either half of
J...__.,J in compound time - the bar but not in the middle. Thus and i
j .-. are correct; .A.. J I i I
I NOT J...__.,J I
g ill J I NOT mJ .J '-'
1 but i J .-. J I is wrong: it should be i J t $ J I - Similarly,
l J ~ .-. I cannot be replaced by i J .-.· I . Less unsatisfactory is
mlirnT J...__.,J m, wJ J I NOT J....____,,J J' - 'J I
l . . .. J I but the conventional notation is i $ J I.

Notes lasting a full bar in g and \r are written - Halving the notes and rests in the z patterns at the bottom of p.34
(_h •, i and ~ ·, Ji ) shows how semiquaver rests are arranged when they
S J..____,,J I J J J I J...__.,J
...__.,...__.,
r-oT NOR
occur as part of a J beat: ) :; 7 and 7 :; ) . (Similarly, a further
~ C) . I NOT J..____,,J I subdivision will show how demise miquaver rests are grouped.) In other
words, the rests correspond with the subdivisions of the beat:
Apart from the above, however, compou nd time rhythms are written so
that the eye can easily pick out where the beats occur. T his means that tied 7, ) :; ' 7 :; )
c___JL-) [___J L - J
1. However, not all modem composers invariably follow
notes often have to be used - is someti mes to be found
the orthodox procedures in this respect: 7· )

g J...__.,m I cJ NOT n I g m-J I n J NOT 1 instead of the 'correct' 7 :; ) , and ) 7· instead of ) :; 7 . It cannot
z )7· I
-
SJ J ) I NOTo )I
Similarly, quavers and shorter notes are beamed so as to show the di vision
of beats -
be denied that
than z ), :; 7
COMPOUN D TIME In~ , or
7 :; ) I-
7·

g \r ,
) is both unambiguous and easier to read

a silence which lasts one complete beat can

be shown as eicher t· or t 7 . If only the first two quavers of a dotted
crotchet beat are silent, they are best shown as t ) , though they are
g 1TI 1TI I NOT JJJJJJI sometimes written as 7 ·, ji ; but if the lase two quavers of a dotted crotchet
g mmmm1 NOT J:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;, beat are silent, they should always be shown as 7 7 ( ) $ is incorrect). Ji
gJ ~»n I NOT J n,:;n 1
T hus one may think of the three units of a compound-time beat as being
grouped 2 + 1, like a crotchet and a dot, not as I + 2. The way the rests are
grou ped in this example demonstrates the standard practice -

5/2 Rest groupings in simple ( $) and compound ( n time gt ; ;)7, 1Jl 7 7 t Jll JTJ :-
Otherwise, eve rything that was said about rests in simple rime can be
applied to rests in compound time, bearing in mind the general rule that ·every
SIMPLE TIME The general rule is that every beat should have a rest of its own -
beat should have a rest of its own' now refers to a doned note ( • · ) -
I NOl
I\ , .
J '; I ) s ·, I
NoR
g J 7 t· I J OR 7 t 7 I r-; OT J I :--. o R J
7 ~ NOT $- ) I 7 $ )I
NOR g Jn 7 r IOR) 1 7 7 I :S: OT )it /.
r I :S l) R . ~' .-

s JI NOT .. JI zJ $ t I /\O T J~ I i t· t· J I OR $ ., t 7 J J I
I , L1 r --.·
So long as this rule is complied wi th, as fe w rests as possible should be used - ~ J t· i · I J OR
., $ 7 I :-:or J
-- I
7, ) , $ I NO-I ) , 7 7 I ~ $ 7 ..hi /\OT 7 7 7 .Pl \r J t· r J I J OR 7 t 7J 11\,)1 J . . J I
 .lo
-, 37
__________________________ __:_=:_:._:
THE G ROUPIN G OF NOTES AND RESTS ~ 3
GROUPING IN
,; ;_:~~~~~S~ ~O~T~
H=E R~T~I.:._:
M=E:_S_ I_G_N_A_TU
~ R- E_S~ ~ ~ ~ - - ; ~~ ~ ~ ~ - --

. ·1arIy, w h en e1"th er ha If o f a 12
S mu 8 bar is silent, a ---· rest should be used _ 2 _i..., 7 ,r I becomes 2 1
2 - ~ I or S ) 17 1- Similarly,
4
g ~ Jl)', 7 7 I J)7 7 i Jll DJ $- I becomes
JJ i J
_ Rests _forming part of a compound-time beat ( J) invariably follow the 2 - J J ~ ~ I J i ~ ___ J IJ J J---· I or
Simple-ame conventions explained previously, i.e. the subdivisions of the beat l3 7 1 7 I) 1 1
)) ) I ~ .,. I. Thi_s
7 can be confirmed by
must be shown. Hence - · these further examples of standard pracace -
stud ymg
J. S . Bacb,
g )1 ., ., ~- I NOT Jh· ., r I g ., )1 ., ~- I NOT 7 Gigue ~ ~
Pa.r tita in D for ke yboa rd
E::e3
The following quotations illustrate points made so far - =@~II ik J~ffi?-01 ;flt, ~· -r I ;fiiJ:fl1 JDJ_LJfJ I
@· ,~~r f
,.--..._ Beethoven, Violin Sonata in D (Rondo)
Sibelius, Symphony No. I ( ht m,"t )

~ I - ~ Fl EEfr
(All. . ~ )
· II § ! 7 ! Ji1F' [ [j p1EC;r EI r I ~j ;J $] IF ffc:--r~ etc-
J
Copyright Breitkopf & Hanel, Wiesbaden
% Allegro vivace Mozart , ' Jupiter ' Symphony ( 1st mvt)
(Lento) ~ Delius, Violin Son.a:ra S o2

~ CJ ·}jJ zjjfil ! r t I $u r If J'·, t#~rrl v J ~r i J.iJJ 51]1J ,J_ etc-

ti I! j' . ~f' j'.~j'

(Moderato)
7
J. S . Bac h , Toccata

lmJ ' g JJ;J.l

& F ugue in C fo r organ

JJJI )n ! Jli
Elgar, Ce llo C oncerto ( I st mvt)
The grouping of notes and rests in bars of five or seven beats ( quintuple or
septuple time) is a problem of a different kind. Bars such as these, in practice,
are almost always understood by the listener as combinations of two and three
'-----"'

beats: 5 as 2 + 3 or 3 + 2; and 7 as 2 + 2 ( or 4) + 3, or 2 + 3 + 2 etc. The following

•h J JI Ji 1
familiar themes from the 2nd movement of Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony are
@tt WJ J v:J r r r t· typical examples (both are made up of bars of 2 + 3 beats) -
( Allegro co n grazia)
Beams may be continued over rests occurring in a group of quavers
or shorter notes. Most commonly they are used over a single rest, as in
the examples on p.19 and in the quotation from Sibelius on p.37.
·rn:12 r r r,rrr r 1
r r r r r qrr f f r f I 1

JI
5/3 Groupings in other time signatures In s~c~ . cases, the grouping of the notes and rests corresponds with the
Everything that was said earlier about the grouping of notes and rests assumed subdivisions of the bar, as in the oboe melcxiy at the opening of the 4th
that the beat was a Jin simple time ( z, z, t ) J
and a in compound ti°:1e movement (/ncermezzo Imerrouo) in Bart6k's Concerco for O rchestru -
(g, g, \r ). But as has already bee n explained, a beat can be repre sented m
Allegretto

other ways, e.g. as a J in simple time ( ~ , ~ , 1)or a Ji ( ~, ~ ,! ). Similarly,

in compound time the beat could be a J ( 2, 2 , ~ )or a J) (ti, ii, fg ). ~he
@; t dr ,t dr Ig trrgt I; t Ujg i7T rUft
conventions about grouping are unchanged when these equivalent ume
signatures are used. Consequently, the examples which have already been
given still apply, but the values of the notes and rests must be doubled or
¥ W1 aPr Eotr rErn- tw , -C' Cup~nght 1'1-k> b~ Hu\\kc-,, & S.m 1L<>oo<>ol l.JJ
R"P""-lu,·..-J b) p,,nn, ,~"'" -,1 80o.-.;~ & H.1" I.."' !\l u~il: Publ1.>.hc" L<J
halved to conform with the equivalent time signatures. For example -
f
I
THE GROUPING OF NOTES AND RESTs THER 1RR.EG ULAR TIME DIVISIONS
38 5/5 ~ o ~ = - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -~39
each of these examples,. the irregular group takes the t·une of one
5/4 Duplets In
•
cro tche t · Note, however, the time values employed·· 3 (triplet) are wntten as
Just as a simple-time beat can be divided into three equal parts, so in avers; 5 (quintuplet), 6 (sextuplet) and 7 (sepruplet) are written as
qu . ( . .
und time a beat can be divided into a group of two equal notes called semiquavers, while 9 no spec1a1_name 1s used) are written as demi-
compo b h dd . . semiquavers. To _sum up_: when a ume value which would normally divide
a duplet. They are sometimes shown Y t e a ltlon of dots _
g m n.I(n. l,h)) , = but it is more usual to show them by the
into 2 is divided mto an megular group of equal notes _
notes are written in the values appropriate to 2 of the same kind;

figure 2 - g mn I 2
as in this example -
Tchaikovsky, Serenade for S1rings ( I SI m vt )
3
S, 6, 7 notes are written in_the :,,alues appropriate to 4 of the same kind;
9,
1o, 11 , 13, 15 notes are wntten m the values appropriate to 8 of the same kind;
(Allegro non troppo) I 7, 19 etc. notes are written in the values appropriate to 16 of the same kind;

,~ r rF1r- U It57rf1 FIF" 2

ere. Thus, a group of 5 notes in the time of a crotchet uses the values it would if
there were only 4 of them, i.e. semiquavers. Similarly, a group of 9 uses the
Triplets and duplets can both be thought of as irregular rhythmic groups values it would if there were only 8 of them, i.e. demisemiquavers. If they were
performed in the time of a minim, however, a group of 5 would be written as
since they go against the normal pattern: a triplet is a division into three where
a division into two would be normal; a duplet is a division into two where three quavers and a group of 9 as semiquavers, e.g. -
,---3- , .J

J ~ J I s .h J
3
would be normal.
zJ J J J I~ j
5
J j
5 5

5/5 Other irregular time divisions zJ Jjjjjj~ j JJJJJlsJ J 3 J 3 3 9

Basically, any time value can normally be divided either into two or into three z~ jJJJJLJJI ~ J
9 9
J:U5.J.l:UJI ~ ) JJJL:J..,d
equal parts. This is not merely a matter of a simple or compound time The quotations below are typical examples of how composers have used
signature. As already mentioned, divisions into three are not restricted to and notated irregular rhythmic groups - Bizer, L ·..-1 rlh ,enne Sul!i~ No. I
compound time but can also occur in simple time (i.e. triplets), e.g. s
Ad agietto
i J mI z J
3 3
JfjJ I
r--y--i
z J J J I. Similarly, divisions into
@bi t $ j .J J; JJJI~ <IC.

two can be found in compound time

.J
gJ n I;2
and so can further triplet
Adagio
Brahms, String Quintet in G (2nd mvt)
5
gJ I.
@5 z Rw IJJJ]J□-~9 w
subdivisions ~
An irregular rhythmic group, therefore, is one which does not correspond
with the 'normal' division into two or three. (Alleg ro moderaro) Srravin.sk, , p, rnn,.ILtJ

5/Sa Irregular divisions of simple time values

=J
:tw zJ4JJJ J□ g
7
rrrEJ
7
,··
1 0 ~ 1
~
rrI
Copyng ht 14 1! b~ EJ ,uon R11>--< <I< \I ~
!)
1

t H.1" ~<' In, l\.lC ..ill ,-.,un .... .

~

Cop) n o" ht a,,,i~.... n,·J 19-17 l\J B' "'"')h ' I ~ b, B..:x~, .....'- 'LI.av.. •.
"t.: ' I.De
The following examples illustrate how a note value which normally subdivides Rcvi,~J ,er" '"' t' Cupyng 1 • .... ~1..n.:r- UJ
into 2 (e.g. J)
may be subdivided into irregular groups of 3, 5, 6 etc. - R.cpro<lu,·eJ by perm ,,,1011 ot ,=<~ '
B t HJ"~"' Mu.."'- '"'' <
, , 1 ooo,· :,_.,_' l:x,J mH l
J s 6 (Mode raw co n anima l 1 chrukos,k, • • yn r -
iJmlzJ ~ I iJ JJ.)JJJ1
J.)JJJJ.l1 z J J,33333331
9
~ M f F:E-lf- f f ~
 a \
I

THE GROUPING OF NOTES AND RESTS

40 41

5/ Sb Irregular divisions of compound time values CHAPTER 6

when a J· beat is subdivided into two equal parts, they may
be wntten
. n n
As we ha ve seen,
. .
or
·
2
However, composers have sometimes used yet
Rhythm: Words, Syncopation
have been even less consistent about the notation of
another me thod , and
other irregular compound time values. The most common occurrences can 6/1 Rhythmic notation of words
be summarised as follows -
When music is set to words, they are placed immediately under the notes to
J is usually divided into n 2

but occasionally into

4
I

J J
2 I

4
which they belong. A recent practice, now accepted as standard, is for notes to
be beamed together rhythmically according to the conventions described in
J is sometimes divided into 1'TI and sometimes into J JJJ Chapter 5, e.g. -

J is sometimes divided into n and sometimes into

2
J J
t JJ 1J t z
Handel, .W=iah

J .J JIn
J is sometimes divided into IITJ and sometimes into
4
.-J--J--J--J For un-to us a child is born , un-10 us a son is given
ete .

The following quotations are typical examples - although formerly they would have been wrinen with every syllable under a
separately stemmed note -

'#
(Asscz vif) Debussy , String Quarter (2nd mvr )

~
§ 7 i' ),,a£J IO -Op 1-$/Ji# l I J
2
j· $ "/ I t~ C f
For
)Ji~ ~ ~ ~
un- to us a chi ld is
I fr !
born ,
! }j)I j £
un- to us
7 JJ)JijW)j)m.
a son is givrn
( Allegro con fuoco ) Brahms, Piano Sonata No. I (Finale)
,.,,.--._ ~
The ,--., sign over 'born' (not to be confused with a 'tie', which has a different
&§ r- t cr ,~r r f' function - see 3/2) indicates that the two notes are to be sung to the same
syllable. It is not strictly necessary in the second example, since beaming the
( Allegro tranquiUo) Vaughan William s, Th e L ark A scending notes together serves the same purpose. The older method is still commonly

lffi rTif%£l I
found - as, for example, in most of the vocal passages quoted in this book,
@•~ W (le} l_J © 1925 by Oxford Unive r, it y Press
which follow the original notation. However, there is no doubt that the new
one makes the music easier to read. Compare, for example, Sullivan's notation

(L
CD
to)
r' : 7 $~
,,,--....,2" ~
Re produ ced by pe rrni " ion.

Schumann, Fantasy in c
of this phrase from The Mikado -

@WE ~ E t f t t I r ttr f f (ifr) I t_}c 9 1c

The sun whose rays are all a-bla.te w11h ev - e r liv - rng glo -
?
ry
7

( Allegro) Holst , The Planets (' Uranus ')

with the way it would be wrinen today -
2 2 4
J □ ,J ~- I;j "-I J r JJ J J J ; J JJ J g;=J r j ]
~

The , un who,e ravs are ull a-bluze with cv - er h" - ,ng gfo - ~-
The situati~n becomes even more involved when smaller subdi visions are
used, but smce. they are relati ve1Y rare th ey need not be explamed
. . · . , el he end ofa word
at this . I n some foreign languages, particularly Italian, o ,ow act T.h
stage: full detaJls are given in Appendix A. ts · · · f the next word. e rwo
sometimes combined with one at the bt·gmrung 0
42
RHYTHM: WORDS , SYNCOPATION
6/2 SE
TTIN G WORD RHYTHMS TO M US IC 43 l
. . d ·th a tie e.g. 'rimanti in' becomes 'rimanti,_in'. This Leonard lkmstcin, U'' w S ,d, S 1or\
wets are usually Jome w1 ' . b , 1·ct , r----::J---,,

$f\. ii! ; , p , r=r-

vo . , . · n'· the two vowels are said to e e I . ed . The (a) Moderato con anima
J
process is called an e11s10 . .
. be
combined vowe 1s come
a single sound and are given one note, as m bar 3 of
r r J r r
this example - Ma - r i - a! _ __ I 've just met girl named Ma -
Monteverdi , L 'incorona::ione d i Poppea

,iaitrlJ Jrl J J I J /J Iff J. IJ.

Pop - pc - a, ri in pa
- man - ti..__,
- - -
'-__./ '-__./
ce; _ _ _ _ _ _
1ctc. t,Ji( . . p- ~ 11,J)JiJ1J.J. ~ 11.J1J,J1;J J IJ
- ri- a, --

c
And sudden ly that name Will ne- ver be the same to

Copyri ght 1956. 1957. 1958, 1959 by The Estate of Leonard Berrhtein and Stephen Sondhcan
me.
e1c

Co pyri ght renewed. Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company U C. publLsbcr

Boosey & Haw kes. Inc., ,ole agent lntemauonal copyngbt 'iCCUJ<d
Reprodu ced by perrmsston of Boosey & Ha" kes Mu,,c Pubhsha, Ltd.

(b) Chns tmas hymn

6/2 Setting word rhythms to music
In speaking, two things can affect the meaning of a word or a group of words.
t jc J 1J 0 co me,
J J 1J J Ir
a ll ye fai th - fu l,
J
Joy - ful and
r r Ir .J j
tri - um - phant ,O
I
The first is whether the voice rises or falls, or stays level. In asking a question,
for example, the pitch normally goes up at the end: compare how one says the
word 'tomorrow' in these two sentences - ' Are you coming tomorrow?' and 'j J J J 1g J J r IJ'---"J. Jl IJ. $
'You must come tomorrow'. Even more important to meaning is the way in co me ye , 0 come_ ye to Beth le - hem .

which syllables are accented. 'Refuse', for example, can mean two quite
different things, depending on which of the two syllables is stressed: ' refuse' (c) (A llegro grazioso)
Sullivan, The Yeom,n of th~ G,urJ

(the accent marks the stress) is a noun meaning ' rubbish' or ' litter'; 'refuse' is a
verb meaning ' reject', 'not accept' etc. @Jt 1 J) IJ J Ir:
Indeed, accenting different words in a sentence can give it different shades then all the world be - side were not too
W e re th y bride ,
of meaning, even though the words themselves are unchanged . The phrase, ' I
will go', can have varied implications according to which of the words is g. j. J5 Ji J111Ji 1J> l
J I~ J IJ r Ir· etc .

'*g.
emphasised. These are suggested below by the word s in brackets, although in
spoken lartguage emphasis alone is sufficient - wi de T o hold m y wealth of lo ve. Were thy bmk '

I (myself) will go.

(d)
I will go (and nothing will stop me).
I will go (but I may not come back).
When words are set to music, the accented syllables are normally put on
t I~~~ r· ~ 1~&p-=.GJJ;.¥)11i.J. Jit
_ ne.s:,hade,, me,
da rk -
accented beats and weak syllables on weak beats. So ' I will go' needs different Th y h and , Be l-i n - da !

rhythms according to which sense is intended -

; ~ 2r J\)$1 tH ~ I! W $~ i n 11r I I )FJIT] t J>JD±-F

=
,\ \or~ 1
.:~ "l)uld,
~
but O.,atb tn-
bo \O lll let me re,t ;
I will go . I will go . I will go .

Accents in word s are called 'verbal accents' . On the opposite page are some
e"'.1m~les to demonstrate the usual ways in which verbal and musical accents
comc1de. -vad e~ n1e; D ~ath_ now_
 44
RHYTHM : WORDS, SYNCOPATION
- YJIICOPATI0N
6/ 3 S
45
. ·cat ts coincide with the verbal accents is the primary way
Here is another example of syncopation in vocal music _
Making mus1 accen
but it is not the only way. In the th rec serungs
. f 'I .
. th
of ,showmg e
I
;n:~
melodies helped to achieve th~ e~phas is which was
o will
===i= -_ > > >
Walton, Btlshaiza ,, Ftasr

J I( § t f rr rr ICU~ F I~ [ J1r 1~
> >
go , the shapeth 1
needed _ e.g. e move u pwards to a high note on 'will' m the •
second of the
,tc.
three Another way 1s o· t use a long note or a group of notes 1or an accented T hen sing _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ a-loud to God_ our strength:
·1 ( 'd kness' in the Purcell example above). A long note amidst © 1931 by Oxf0<d Uni,rniry p,,,.,
syllab e as ~n al ar
short ones 1s ways ,:L-ly
UM;
to seem accented (a type of accent called an Rq,mduccd by pemuss10n
'agogic' accent), as in this setting by Britten of words by Tennys on - The accents are shown by > signs; sf and sf: can also be used for this purpose
(Mantoso ) (see 10/ 2). They reinforc~ the syncopat~d eff~~ produced by the coinci-
Britten, Serenade f or Tenor, Horn & Se ring,

8g" t , (To The splen - dour falls _ on cas - tic walls_ _ And snow- y
dence of strong syllable s with weak beats ( -loud , God' ); and they also
syncopations in the long melisma on 'sing' by stressing weak parts of
The following passage from Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op.2 No.3 (first
create
bar 3.

movement), is an example of syncopation in instrumental music.

~ .,,--..._ The
~~cJ? ~~-tH t 7 J'ffld ~ F ~ J)cr ~ I music in the bass clef is completely regular, in cooformity with the
signature, but the notes in the treble clef include accents on beats (2
time
and 4)
summit.sol d__ in sto- ry: _ The long_ light shakes which are normally weak.
across the

,v· i, ['
lakes,
7 J, ~ ~
And the wild
1 cr
~'3'
~ cr r Er J', J, r7 FJi etc.
(\
[All egro con b r1' o]

,.
> >
·-
.. -!t..ll.e ~ .. .__ ..

- ... - -
ca- ta -ract leaps __ in glo ry. ti I
>
© Copyri ght 19+1 by Hawkes & Son (London) Ltd L_

- -- - -- - - -
Reproduced by permission of Booscy & Haw ke s Music Pu bii , her, - -
--
Ltd .
Here the relatively long notes on ' splen-', 'falls', 'long', 'shakes' and 'glo-'
them an accent although none of them coincides with a 'strong' beat; similarl
give -
y, In this last example, the regular pattern of strong and weak beats
the group of notes on 'leaps'. (A group of notes on one syllable is called was
a maintained (in the left hand) during the syncopation in the right
melism a.) Again, the shape of the melody helps: e.g. the leap upward s harui
to the Sometimes, howeve r, the regular pattern is suspended completely, as
first syllable of ' splendour'; the more gradual ascents to 'old', 'shakes' in the
and next extract, from another Beethoven Piano Sonata: Op.27 No. I
'cataract'; and the falls to the weak final syllables of 'story' and 'glory'. (last
movement). Now, neither hand maintains the regular pattern -
6/3 Syncopation
Accenting a note which would normall y be unaccen ted
is called
syncop ation. Syncopated rhythm s are felt to go against a regular pattern
of etc.
strong and weak beats (as indicated by the time signatu re). They are
easy
to SJX>t when they occur in vocal music, as in this opening of a Negro spiritua
l-

Notice not only that the syncopations are shown by if signs, but also_
that
the composer underlines the
0, write my name, _ 0, wr ite my name; _ 0,
JX>int by beaming · notes across bar-lineS
. .
Although the regular pattern of accents is suspended co~plerel~ m th
. de
, ~ r @ Ji 1J WJW JWJJ IJ AJ example above 1t
'
. had previou
. sly been fi1r ml fi ed in the listener s nun ·
Y ix, . • ...
Th us the passage beginning with the first sf 1.s felt as 11_disturt,ance·· tn ou,er
11
write my name, _ De An -gels in de hca- b'n gw, neter wri te my na me ._ of
words, it is felt to be syncopated In mus.ic where there 15 0 0 regular pancrn
' Name ' is a word which demand s to be accented, yet every time it · ... _
occurs , strong and weak beats (as in the Bart6k melody quored 00 P·37) there CAil lJ'<'
off the beat, at a point in the bar which would otherwi se not have been stressed
. no syncopation.
 F 9
TERVALS WITHIN AN OCTAVE
7/ 1 IN 47
46

The Jrd, however, is different and therefore needs a new name. It is called a
CHAPTER 7 •l]linor 3rd' -

Intervals and Transposition ~$

The intervals of the 6~ and 7th may o~ may not be different, depending on
7/ 1 Intervals within an octave which form of ~e ~mor scale (melodic or harmonic) is used . If (as in the
ascending melodic mmor scale) they are the same as in the major scale, they
An interval is the distance in pitch between any two notes. If the two notes keep the same names -

~
are played together - ' .::_ - they form a 'harmonic interval'; if one == ~l,b t10
9::
!Iii 0

---
major ---
maj or
comes after t he oth er - ' J ;f1 or ~
1
J
~ it is a 'melodic 6th 7th
But the descending form of the melodic minor scale produces two new
interval'. We have already seen one example: the octave (see 2/ 1), i.e. the intervals, the 'minor 6th' and 'minor 7th' -
distance from any note to the next note with the same name.
In counting the notes of intervals, both notes are included. C to D, for e
example, is a 2nd; C to E a 3rd; C to Fa 4th, and so on. Intervals are described
more fully than this, however: not only by their 'number' but also by their The following example now assembles all the intervals produced by the
'quality'. The interval from a key-note to the 5th note above it (the dominant), major and minor scales based on one key-note: in this case, C -
for instance, is not just a '5th' but a 'perfect 5th'. The following example shows
the full names of all the intervals between the key-note of a major key (in this
case, C major) and each of the other degrees - i ~
major
li:j:
minor
¼.
major
j)

---
perfect
e

---
perfect

$ e
''
e j) 2nd 3rd 3rd 4t h 5th

i i,:
II
4, #
major ma jor ---
perfect ---
perfect ---
major
---
major ---
perfect !10 ~e ~0
'j

2nd 3rd 4th 5th

The same intervals are of course produced by any other major key: e.g. in A~
6th 7th 8ve
minor
6th
----
major
6th
---
minor
7t h
---
major
7th
--
perfect
8ve
major -
The intervals illustrated above are those produced by the major and minor

I f8 B g .; z It
scales; as such they are called ' diatonic intervals'. All others are ·chromatic
intervals'. In the series of intervals based on C, for example, two possibilities
major ma jor perfect perfect major majo r perfect were not included -
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8ve

In a minor key, some intervals from the key-note are identical with those
from the key-note of the major key with the same tonic, namely the 2nd, 4th,
5th and Sve. Since they are identical, they keep the same names: e.g. in
¥iiu C:
because neither D ~ nor F~ appears in the major or minor scales on_ T~c_y are
C minor - th erefore chromatic intervals. But that does nor tell us what thetr tndiV1du~
names are, nor do we yet have names for the intervals fonned by enharmoruc
changes. What, for example, do we call this minor 7th -

major
2nd
pe rfect
4th
perfect
5th
perfect
Svc
t+:. if;, ;, spelt ,=i:_~~ ?
 INTERVALS AND TRANSPOSITION TERVALS WITHIN AN OCTAVE
•18 7/ 1 IN
49

t
The answc~ to these problems can be summarised - diminished perfec c augmemed
Lf the upper note of a perfect or major interval is raised a semitone, the
Unisons:
interval becomes augmented;
if the upper note of a minor interval is raised a semitone, it becomes major; (chromauc scml!onc)
if the upper note of a perfect or minor interval is lowered a semitone, it

t
d1min1shed / minor / ma,·or
becomes diminished; augmeoccd
if the upper note of a major interval is lowered a semitone, it becomes
2nd s: :J&o I :et>u I I
minor.
W- (d,amoic sem"~ " " ~ ...!!u

-w-
Thus, if the upper note of a perfect 4th - e.g. is raised a semitone

it becomes an augmented 4th. Similarly, if the upper note of a

3rds: ~
diminished ~jor augmeoced

major 2nd - e.g. ~ - is lowered a semitone-~- it becomes fit

a minor 2nd. But when ~ is re-spelt as ~ it changes not
diminished

~
only its quality but its number. C to B-anything is always a 7th of some kind,
but C to A-anything must be some kind of 6th. Since the A# is the raised form
of the 6th degree of the major scale on C, the C to A# above is an augmented
6th.
The interval of the minor 2nd, e.g. C to Db as above, raises yet another
4t hs: 1. . ,
-e-
- i'
~!;;.

/I .:. /I •.:.
problem: what would it be called if it were spelt enharmonically- C to C#? It diminished augmenced
cannot be any kind of a 2nd, because a 2nd must be C to D-something ( b, #, q 5ths:
etc.). C to C# must logically be some kind of' 1st', though itis never described
in this way. The word used instead of ' 1st' is unison: if two instruments play t.:_
exactly the same note they are said to be 'in unison' (the word literally means
'one sound'). The unison can be thought of as a 'perfect' interval, like the 8ve,
d1min1s hed minor ma1or augme.nred
i.e. it becomes augmented if one of its notes is raised a semitone -
~ I~ ::;_ I
~ . However it is spelt, this interval remains a semitone, but C to
C# is a 'chromatic semitone' while C to D b is a 'diatonic semitone'. (Cand C #
6th s: Ii:_ I
-
ijo

do not co-exist in any major or minor scale, but C and D b are found together
d1minished_ ~_ _mi nor

-
ma1or augmtot~
in several: e.g. Ab major.)
4___==--ie- ~ --=fo- _j
Intervals of a 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th can therefore be: DIMINISHED, MINOR,
MAJOR or AUGMENTED; but the intervals of a 4th, 5th, 8ve and also the unison,
7t h~: --\h.e-
---- - -~ -
~ - o-
~ --
can only be: DIMINISHED, PERFECr or AUGMENTED. This is all summed up in
the table of intervals, based on C, on the next page. The arrows connect
intervals which sound the same but are spelt differently, i.e. intervals which di Ql ini~hed
are enharmonic equivalents. }a
Svcs:
t- 3:-- -=r 1

L
 II
INTER VAL S AND TRAN SPOS ITION
TERVAL S WITHI N AN OCT AVE
50 7/ 1 I N
'ii

.
'bl ·
Some poss, e mterva
,.:
from C to G r,r,
h'
ls are still missing, such as the interval from C to D x .
·s
Strictly speaJ'Jng, t ts t a 'doubly-augmented ,
d' . ·1 I th .
2n ; sirru ar y e mterva}
I . . .
,s a 'doubly-diminished 5th . Fortunate y, m practice 1t is
11 •
-
flo
rarely necessary to venture into such deep waters. .
An interval can also be made larger or smaller by l?wermg or ra1sm? the
. . ~~!.$
~ Ir~ IN
-
etc .

bouom note. Clearly, lowering the bottom note of an mterval b y a semnone

widens it to precisely the same extent as raising the_upper note b~ a semitone; beCa use it is always described as though
.
the bottom note were the k
ey-note. In
t he a
bove examples the bottom note 1s always C#, and the A above ·tt 1.s r,ound
and raising the bottom note of an interval by a semitone narrows 1t to the same .
in the minor (not the maJor) scale on C~ -
extent as lowering the upper note by a semitone. So the ' Ifs' on p.48 can be
expressed differently but still come to the same thing -
If the bottom note of a perfect or major interval is lowered a semitone, the
interval becomes augmented;
~ ~~- . - •
As a final illustration, the first two notes of thi s theme (in Db major) from
if the bottom note of a minor interval is lowered a semitone, it becomes Tchaikovsky' s Fantasy Ove rture Romeo and J uliet -
major;
if the bottom note of a perfect or minor interval is raised a se mitone, it
becomes diminished; 1,J J J .J 14 J J~J etc .

if the bottom note of a major interval is raised a semitone, it becomes minor. form the interval of a minor 6th : the interval is counted from the lower of the
When we begin to apply this in practice, however, the matter becomes
rather more complicated. It is absolutely fundamental to the description of all
two notes, .C; a~d A b is a minor 6th above the C - ~ (as in the scale of
intervals that they are calculated from the bottom note. Even if it is a melodic C harmomc mmor).

interval and the top note occurs first - e.g. $ zl J - one still counts
7/2 Transposition
from the bottom note (F in this case). So if we alter the bottom note, we
change the basis of the calculation . For example, we alread y know that the

interval from F to A $ ,j J
If this scale of C major -

@8 1. jJ n □ J i v-
or ~ - is a major third, because
A is the third degree of the scale of F major. But if we raise the F to F ~ - 11
~ - we must now calculate the interval from a scale starting on F ~: is written with all the notes an octave lowe r -

the A now becomes the third degree of the scale of F ~ minor, hence the
interval of a minor 3rd . Here is another example - II
it _is _said to have been ' transposed ': here it was transposed 'dO\rn an octu\-e'.

~ = minor 6th c1t=~ )

Similarly, if this scale of B minor (melodic) -

~ T -JTlf EWRr ~
~ - = ma1o r 6th ( 1 bb_k
0
O_
) 15
transposed ' up an octave' it will become -

An interval is calculated from the bottom note even though the bottom note
may not be the key-note. Thus the interval from C ~ to the A above it is always
~ :=rr=lt ~ , J ..
a minor 6th in whatever key it occurs, e.g. - Moving a series of notes each the same distance, is cnUeJ ~os~ 000 "-
T
ransposing up or down, one or more octtwcs ts the eu~, - n~do 1
~
 i.P •
INTERVALS AND TRANSPOSITION MJ>OUND INTERVALS
7/ 3 co ~ - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -- - -_ _ __.:..:53
52
.. all the notes keep their same names when they are Compound intervals
rransposioon, be~use be transposed to a,ry interval. This series of notes _
713
moved. But music can '[he numbering of ~tervaJs continues in exactly the same way after the octave
,,, ~ 2 J I J ~r F J IJ I
-
(Sth): e.g. in C maior -

-- .Q.

'4'
0

- -- -- - -- --
if rransposed up a tone (=up a major 2nd) would become - B ii B

''
--
I I e
ii B
:S- -e- -e- -e- -e-
,., ' 2 J I f r F ilJ I J II 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th Sve 9th 10th I Ith 12th 13th 14th 15th

or if transposed down a minor 3rd - Thus an interval of an 8ve plus a 5th is a 12th (not a 13th), and an interval of

(,·) t t J 1J J 11
J p IJ I
two 8ves is a 15th. Intervals of more than an octave are known as compound
intervals: a major 10th, for example, can be calJed a 'compound major 3rd'.
Compound intervals have the same qualities (major, minor etc.) as the

,~ --
In (b) each note is a tone higher than the corres~nding note in (a); in (~) each
note is a minor 3rd lower than in (a). The melodic mtervals (e.g. the maJor 3rd corresponding intervals within an octave -
between the first two notes) therefore remain the same. Example (a) is in the I\

~ -
ii l111
key of F major, therefore (b) is in G major, and (c) in D major. Written with
their appropriate key signatures, the three examples become - #- tJ

$ t .J major major minor minor

--
,~ IJ r r J IJ
'' •
/a) & I 3rd 10th 3rd 10th

diminished diminished
5th 12th
(b)
t J Ir r r J IJ I
(<)
,-ii t J IJ J j
J IJ. I
Any accidentals which occur in the original may or may not need to be
7/4 Inversion of intervals
changed in a transposed version. Compare what happens if this passage in Here are two fragments of melcxiy, A and B -
G minor -

@&I, 2 J Ir II r A$t J J rr IV- r rr J Iii I

(if) r r Ii.J J II J I 1r
is transposed into F minor -
B@l J J J J Ir· r IJ J J J le I
(t ) $~'v t J Ir •r r J 1~J qJ J 11
The C sharp (sharpened 4th in G minor) becomes B natural (sharpened 4th in When they are played together they fo rm harmonic intervals -
F minor). Similarl y, the F sharp (leading-note) becomes E natural, although
the flat at the scan of the last bar (flanened supertonic) in G minor stays flat in
F minor. Had the piece been transposed into B minor (i.e. up a major 3rd), the
A flat would have become C natural -
maJ mu1 maJ, maJ. m,o

u, t#fEr l E ~ N-ii-p ma1 . pert. min. perf.

3rd 4th 6th 5th
maJ.
3rd
oth 7th W 1nd oth
:'"~ -- -- - - - - - - -- - - ~ ~ ~ - : - - - - -
.
INTERVALS AND TRANSPOSITION

h. her and then combined with A, the two melodies

If B is written an octave igh but the resulting harmonic intervals are
INVERSION OF INTERVALS
7/4 ~~- - - - - - - - - -- -- - - -- - -~55
,
will still sound well toget er,
different ~o 4-> .;;. It:;
major minor
J J minor major ,e..
perfect I,augmented I,dim ini~hed l

r ir t ~ ~ 10 3rd ,

i IV' 2nd 2nd 3rd

~ ~ ~
4th : 4th : 5th
~
¥&:
I
B ,r-
A ~i --, I

min . maj. min . min . maj .

~g ~
mm . perf. maj. perf. min. major minor major minor perfect
6th 5th 3rd 4th 6th 3rd 2nd 6th 7th 3rd 7th 7th 6th 6th dimin ished augmented
5th
5th 4th
(Not all pairs of melodies can be interchanged in this way . When they can, 7
lio I
--
a Ii
they are said to be 'invertible'. ) . -&-
~e a ho
-e- I
I
I
I
The same intervals can of course also be produced by playmg A an octave -9- .. I .. \
perfect ,augmented 1 mmor major
5th ' 6th 6th minor : major I diminished'
lower and combining it with B - 5th
7th 1 7th : Bve 1
I ,r - ~ - - ',' -~!::.._7 I
g \.0 0 iell I ail I '11~15 fl
perfect diminished ma jor minor major minor augmented
4th 4th 3rd 3rd 2nd 2nd unison

The conclusions to be drawn from this list can be summarised thus _

The intervals of the ! combinations are described as inversions of the ~ a 2nd becomes a 7th
When an interval is inverted,
perfect stays perfect
original. So an interval is inverted when one of its notes is placed above or a 3rd becomes a 6th
below the other by being moved up or down an octave. For example,
buc
a 4th becomes a 5th major becomes minor
J a 5th becomes a 4th (Number) (Quality)
~ becomes either ~ or E when it is inverted. In a a 6th becomes a 3rd
minor becomes major

r
compound interval, howeve r, one note has to be moved 1wo octaves for there
a 7th becomes a 2nd
augmented becomes diminished
diminished becomes augmented

to be an inversion. If the A in this interval ~ is moved down an

7/5 Concords and discords
octave, there is no inversion because the A is still above the D . The A must be

moved down two octaves to below the D - ~ - for the interval to be Both 'concord' and 'discord' are words frequently used outside music, with

--
inverted; alternatively, the D may be moved up two octaves to above the A -
very broad meanings; and even in musical contexts, 'discord' in particul~ is
?f~en employed very loosely. When someone describes a piece of mu~c as
discordant', that is usually no more than an expression of personal~; it has
to be remembered that ideas · sounds are pt.,.:u,
,.na or not
about whether certaID ~
have vane· d greatly durmg. the course of musi·ca1 hiStor).· 11uuch
'' 1 mus.tc '
now
unhes·ltatmgly
· accepted as sweet and well-manne red . once thought harsh
. , was
On the next page is a list of the more common intervals (based on the
~tj•m. .
chromatic scale, with some enharmonic alternatives) and their inve rsions. It is However, both words are . hnical SC!nse lt 1s rrue
also used in a precise, tee . d. th t they
not as comprehensive as the list of intervals on p.49 but it illustrates all the that th ese mearungs
· . cd
have somenmes chang over t he cenrunes an a
essential points - . - ch
cont"inue to evolve, · 1s agn.-.:J. 1n ~u
but their application co cooa I music
- 56

.
INTERVALS AND TRANSPOSITJON

d d discord (they are not derived from the wo d

·>rtdt;q

57

music both concor an . . al r caAPTER 8

to classify harmoruc mterv s.
'chord') are terms used · rti
. 'ded into two categones: pe ect concords, being th
Concords are dtvl
.
1
pertiect mterva s o , .
.
. all 2 d d7
. e
f a 4th 5th and 8ve; and 1mperfect concords, being mai· or r riads and Chords
and mmor. 3rds and 6ths · AU other mtervals. - 1.e. n s an tbs, and all
augmented and diminished intervals - are discords.
The augmented 4th is a particular discord with a name of its own, the Sil Triads
tritonc, so called because it embraces three whole tones -
..n.at distinguishes Western music more than anything 1.._ f

F = ' ,( T ., +
0
' T i, +
0
'

Toe same interval is still called a tritone when it is inverted, thus becoming a
T ;; ~
wu .. . h . . d . . el,')(; rom other
musical rra_dmo(ns 1s t at 1t) 1s ~a e up o_f ~tures of simultaneous sounds of
different _pitch ha~on~ , o ten c~mbm~d m very compl,cx ways. (Tb.is has
been achieved
. at a pnce: .m .companson
. with
. .other musical culturcs, e.g. that
of India, Western music 1s re1atJvely lirruted in rhythmic and lodi
diminished 5th - ~ because a diminished 5th is an augmented 4th subtlety.) Two notes formin~ a harmonic interval (as described in Cba~r ~

~
are the simplest example of different notes performed together. The nen
spelt differently (an enharmonic equivalent) - or ~ . simple combination is the triad, which - as its name implies -consists of=
The interval between the 4th and 7th degrees of the major and harmonic notes.
minor scales is always a tritone, regardless of which note is at the bottom: e.g. These three are the note on which the triad is based (the root) plus the 3rd
and the 5th above it -
in C major and C minor - $ g I: I ' v,. ~g fEg . In the 3rdEffl
5th

Middle Ages, when the tritone was thought to be very unpleasant, it was Triads can be built on each degree of the major and minor scales, e.g. in
referred to as diaholus in musica - the devil in music! C major -
What characterises a discord (or a 'dissonant' interval as it is also called) is
that one of its notes seems to want to move up or down one degree, so that the n u 0
interval becomes a concord (either perfect or imperfect) -
They take their names from the degrees of the scale on which they are ~d:
zj J
T r I..J 1d ,J lj
the triad on the tonic (key-note) is the 'tonic triad'; the triad on the dominant is
z1
-
'
the 'dominant triad'; and so on. As a shorthand device they are also referred to
by roman numerals: I, II, III, IV, VI, VII for tonic, supertonic, mediant
Concords, in comparison, do not need this 'resolution': perfect concords are etc. The triads on I, IV and V are known as the 'primary' triads because, as will
completely stable, imperfect concords reasonably stable. That, at least, is the be explained in the next chapter, the chords derived from them have a
theory. Unfonunately for theory, one so-called perfect concord - the perfect
particular importance.
4th - often seems to need a resolution: $J j . This matter will be Triads are classified as major, minor, augmented or diminished. A major
triad consists of a major 3rd and a perfect 5th; a minor triad of a minor 3ro
returned to in Part II, Chapter 16/4, but the essential point is that a 4th and a perfect 5th; a diminished triad of a minor 3rd and a diminished 5tb;
between upper notes in a chord is relatively stable, e.g. - , whereas a and an augmented triad of a major 3rd and an augmented 5th. From the last
music example above it can be seen that in a major key the triads 00 l, IV an~
them·oo on Vll 1s
4th from the lowest note is not - e.g. ~ . The last chord, for example, V are ma jor; those on II, III and VI are minor; while ·
diminished.
suggests the continuation: ~ . .
In a nunor . b aiads 0 0 all the other
key the tonic triad (l) is always aunor, uc d
ct · fOnnsofthe6than
egrees of the scale are variable because of the alreroanve ·
I 58 TRIADS AND CH
0 ans '[Ri_..DS 59
'""5fflfh~
I
7th degrees derived from the harmonic and melodic scales. Thus the k
. .d
~
. 'd to be in 'close position' . If, however, the notes are spaced out . th'
I
eyofc
minor produces the followmg tna s - it 1s sat
~
10 1s I
fashion - I
~g•j, 1 H u 0
minor diminished minor major augmented minor ~
L-------- L - - - - - - _ _ _ J \_ _ _ __ rn_a .ior . d is in 'open position'. An open-positi on triad is still described be'
II III IV
the trta . . . . as mg
-J . root position, or m first or second mvers10n, accordmg to which of ·ts
1 notes

~@·j, u •n 0 u 10
is at the bottom.

minor major major diminished major diminished

' - - -- - - - - - ' L_ _ _ _ __ _ _ J

V VI VII
8/2 Chords
All the triads so far have been in 'root position', because the root is th
A triad is the simplest type of chord. The word 'chord' itself docs not have a
bottom note in each case. But the notes of a triad can be re-arranged so th e
either the 3rd or the 5th is at the bottom - very precise meani~g: it ~o~d be defmed as 'three or more notes sounded
at
together', but there 1s no limit to the number of notes in a chord (apan from

W1a. ~r:i · ~ ~·
~en the 3rd is at the bottom the triad is in the 'first inversion'; when the 5th
practical considerati ons, e.g. a pianist has only ten fingers! ). Over several
centuries Western music gradually evolved an elaborate system of chords and
their relationship to each other. In the hands of many composers this system
1s at the bottom it is in the 'second inversion'. This can be confusing. In the began to be superseded around the beginning of the 20th century, as will be
first and second inversions, '3rd' and '5th' continue to refer to the intervals seen in Part II, Chapter 24. Neverthele ss it is still in use, especially in 'popular'
from the root in the root-positio n triad: they do not refer to degrees of the music, and it continues to form the basis of our musical experience..
scale, or to the intervals from the note which is actually at the bottom of an The phrase used above - chords and their relationship to each ocher - cannot
inverted triad. Indeed, it is worth noticing that, although triads in root be too strongly emphasised . What is important about chords is the way they
position always consist of two intervals of a third, lead to and away fro m each other: they are not isolated events. However, this
aspect of the matter will be considered in later chapters (see Chapter 9 and, in

••ia 9
+

inverted triads always include a 3rd and a 4th -

+
Part II, Chapters 16-17). What must first be explained here is the way in
which the basic chords of diatonic music are constructed, the rerms which are
used to describe them, and the symbols which are used to represent them.
We have already seen the three notes of the triad arranged in two different
ways: in close and in open position. In other arrangements they are called
'chords'. Such arrangemen ts do not apply only to the repositioning of the
0 th ree notes: they can also apply (and usually do) to
+ the repetition of one or
mo~e of the three notes at different pitches. For example, the tonic triad of C
When Roman numerals are used to denote triad s, the small letters 'a', 'b' maior can produce all these chords -
and 'c' may be added to indicate ' root position', 'first inversion' and 'second
inversion' respectively. Thus 'Vb', for example, means the first inve rsion of
the dominant triad, and ' IV c' means the second inversion of the subdominan t
triad.
If a triad is arranged with all its notes as close to each other as possible -

"* - and many more besides. They all, how~ver, consist of the nores C-E-G.
 TRIADS AND C}{
~
61
60 ORl:)S

• ul chords have been laid out so that they can ~

Th~e partlbc ~ y the layout of a chord is affected by the ins~~-on
the piano, ut na
.
(or msmnn<D
. .
i II rfi . - ~..:n
ts or voices) which are gomg to pe orm 1t. A chord d . t

from the dominant triad in A minor -

"'""1
- could be arranged
i~ the first in~ersion of_a diminished chord: it could be
either Vllb m E~ ma1or or llb in C minor

for guitar in ways such as these -

~~ 1.; is the first inversion of an augmented chord: IIIb in
i D minor

but for a choir consisting of sopranos, altos, tenors and basses in ways such as
these -

is the second inversion of a major chord: le in D major

More elaborate chords can be devised using not only the 3rd and 5th from the
(Further information about the layout of music for vocal groups is given in root but also the 7th, e.g. in C major -
Part II, Chapter 14.)
Chords are identified in exactly the same way as triads: a chord made up
from the notes of a tonic triad is therefore a tonic chord, one made up from the B I n I 0 t
notes of a dominant triad is a dominant chord, and so on. Similarly, if the root
of the triad from which a chord is derived is at the bottom (= 'in the bass'), it They are called '7th' chords: 'tonic 7th' (shown as F), 'supertonic 7th' (IF )
will be a root-position chord; if the 3rd is in the bass, it will be a first-inversion and so on. (The 9th, 11 th and 13th are used too: they will be discussed in
chord; and if the 5th is in the bass, it will be a second-inversion chord. Chords Part 11, Chapter 16/ 5.) By far the most common 7th chord is that of the
can also be represented by the same symbols as triads: I, II, III etc., and dominant - the 'dominant 7th' (V 7) . Since a 7th chord is made out of four
a, b, c. Finally, they are major/ minor/ augmented/ diminished like their notes, there are chree inversions in addition to the root position. The third
corresponding triads. inversion is indicated by the small letter 'd'. The following examples illustrate
All this can be illustrated by a detailed description of a few examples - this. Again, notes may be used more than once in a chord -

is the root position of a major chord: Va in G minor

7
V a in V 1 b in V 7 d in V 7c in V7c in V 7d in V7a in
D major Eb major F minor E minor Bh mmor F major G minor
As these ex~mp Ies show, m .
. mmor d ·
is the first inversion of a minor chord: it could be ?th keys the 3rd above the root of the omm.ant
either Vlb in E major or l b in C ~ minor chord (1.e. the leading note) is always raised a semitone.

., ..
 TRIAD S AND Cl-Io NOTATION IN JAZZ ETC.
R.Ds s/3 c J-IORD

· · · zz etc :---
of the above symbols, however,
63

8/ 3 Chord notauon m Ja . None 11 f

demands that the root f
· o the chord
e in the bass: norma Y any o the notes may be the b
sed so far (I lib, V7 etc.) were designed for st d tias to b h . ass note, at the
. f the performer. O n t e rare occasions when the bass . .
The symbols we have ud in perform~nce. Two shorthand ways of indica~-y ho1ce o . . af . note
~~~~ ~ tt r name 1s given ter an oblique stroke (/) follow · 1sthspecified'
purposes ~
.se out of the practical need s of performers. The first 1
its e_ e_ Cm/G, implying -
d did however, art . descripuon, e.g. mg e chord
, f ,
h
c or s ' . sed in jazz and other iorms o popular' music. This
the chord notanon u
h Id . the 'figured bass' system use d m

~
. . . f e
second is muc o er. music o the baroqu
th th .
. hl f m the beginning of the l 7 century to e middle of the
pe nod (roug y ro . . th .
of these methods md1cate e essential notes of chorde
18th century )• Both . . s etimes this may be found written as 'Cm (G bass)' or as 'C mi (root G)'
. . th Som
while leaving e performer free to 1mprov1se the layout and, perhaps' the although the latter 1.s t h oroug hl Y confusmg
. ·
smce this is not the standard'
decoration of the chords. . . . meaning of ' root' .
The basic harmonies used m Jazz are generally _very simple. When . .
It cannot be too strongly emphasised that Jazz chord notation shows onl
complexities do occur, they are usuall~ the result of an zmprovz~ed decoration
he bare outlines of the harmony. A great deal of latitude is left to th~
or elaboration of what are basically s1mpl~ chord patterns. ~mce any such
~erformer, who may freely decorate the given chords or enrich them with
complexities are improvised, all the notation need~ to show _1s the essential
additional notes as the spirit moves.
notes of the chords around which the performer 1s free to improvise. Jazz
chord notation does not, therefore, need to be very detailed or complicated;
nor is it. The letter name of the root of the chord is shown as a capital letter;
and from this the 3rd and 5th can easily be deduced. The chord is assumed to 8/4 Figured bass
be major unless shown otherwise: 'm' after the letter-name signifies a chord
made out of the notes of the minor triad; '+' means that the triad is augmented; Usually all baroque music, except that for a solo player, included a pan for a
and 'o' means that it is diminished - continuo instrument . The continuo could be any instrument which
produced chords, though normally either the harpsichord or the organ was
used. It was the job of the continuo player to ensure that the required
C Cm C+ Co
harmonies were complete and clear. If essential harmony notes were missing
(Sometimes 'aug.' and 'dim.' are written instead of+ and o.) from other parts, they would be provided by the continua. Sometimes,
Any figures which are added represent intervals from the bass: C 6 is a chord indeed, the other parts were just a solo melody and a bass instrument -
consisting of the notes of the C major triad (CE G ) plus the 6th from C (A) - perhaps just the bass instrument - and then the entire responStbility for

~ i'
supplying complete chords fell upon the continua player. The music actually
played consisted of the bass line (as performed, for example, by cellos and
double basses in an orchestra), underneath which were written figures. These
c• figure s represented the intervals above the note, and the required chord was

~,
A figure 7 by itself implies the addition of a minor 7th -

C'
made out of these notes. For example, fj: J
s
means that the chord is

constructed from the bass note (C), the 3rd ab~ve it (E) and the 5th above it
(G). It could be laid out in any way the performer pleased, e.g. -
If the major 7th were required, the chord would be written 'C maj7' -

~t
Cmaj1
(Note that here ' m ·, •
aJ re1ers to the 7 and not to the C.)
 ~ fJCift
TRIADS AND Cl-IOllDs
~64----------- --~-~----.: ..:___ ~
FIGURED BASS
~

t-position chords. The figures for a first inversion ar 6 ~ E~-G-C. If the 3rd has to be chromatically alt cd ..
All ~ chords are roo e J, IIle er , It 1s shown b th
e.g.
~:
== =: H
I := . ere
the chord is to be constructed out of the bass note (E)
apP
ropriate accidental underneath the 6. Hence ;'}! g
~ I t ~ . : e
--=- unplies a
'
6
i . (G) and the 6th above it (C). Again it is up to the perform h rd of E~, G ~ and C. If the C were to be flattened as well th • fi .
the 3rd above 1t . fi . . er ~ I
to be distributed: these are 1ust a ew possibilities _ c o .e igunng would
how the notes are ..,.,ome __ t I
IJ'oo
F
60
• C F -; •.

(iv) The full figuring for a 7th chord and its inversions would be: 1 -
6 . . ) 6 ( . . • ~ (root
sition), s (first mvers1on , 1
second mversmn), and : (thi d . .
Po (G;tC.. 3 c >= z G 3 ~ version). r3 l r:
ractice, these are generally contracted to 1 JSJ • and • -..-•---
In P 6
l z,~they
have to be written out more fully so that any necessary accid tals
A second-inversion chord is shown by the figures ! below the bass note. . bill en ~be
shown- These pomts can e ustrated by the following, which represent the
Thus ? M§ j implies the notes A, D (the 4th) and F #(the 6th) - F sharp figured-bass notation of the dominant 7th chords at the bottom of p. 61 _
•
because of the key signature. Here are a few of the many ways in which it can
be 'realised' (this is the term used to denote the way in which a figured bass is
~: •n j 11~ ·1. F II ~1i,t. F 1 •
l'\ ~
1

tt :i
II ~I.I,~~ J 115
1
r r 11~ 1
• -
1
I
actually performed) -
I I I ...- '1 1
/\ 1i"
t ~
~q
J
6q -; 4
2 •·-
7
I ~ *
i;t },·,

l'I LI

., .,
-.,
~

-
~

~
~

-.,
I
-

- ~

I
Some writers on music combine figured-bass symbols with the Roman-
figure chord symbols explained earlier: thus I t rather than lb may be used
;;,

eJ ~ for the first inversion of a tonic chord, or V ! rather than Ve for the second
I inversion of a dominant chord (see Part II, Appendix D).
.I
- ~
- ~ ~

I I -
I l
~

I
~

-
Some other points which should be mentioned in this introduction to 8/5 Chord layouts
figured bass are:
(i) An accidental placed immediately next to a figure (either before or after On instruments which can play chords - the piano is the most obvious
example - chords are frequently played not with all the nores sounding
it) refers to the note it represents. Thus 9: ~1•1. J means a chord together simultaneously but with them broken up in various patterns.
6\
• • 4 J. S. Bach's first Prelude in the ' 48' (in C major), for example, begins -
conslStlDg of the notes G, C and E natural (in spite of the key signature)' .
(ii) The ~ is usually omitted under root-position ch ords: a bass note
without figures is understood to be a 3 (root-position) chord. An accidental
by itself under a note, e.g. :--,: r , applies to the 3rd of a ~ chord (thus, in
this case, E-G sharp-B). '

(iii) ~ chords are usually represented b y just the figure 6, e.g. 9: 1

&·1.
6

' Inonthet
• b~,bue period, a stroke through a figure (i, 4., s, &, 1 or 1 ) was often used to indicate
a ~ raucu y a chromatic semnone.
· I t should also be noted that baroque composers d1'd not
al ways fi1gure the bass full • Oft.en th
the amtinuo pla er rrught ey onJy put m• figures here :md there, where they thoug h t
figures would y ~ guess what was wanted. In such a rcumstances, a chord wnhout
not necessarily be a f chord.
 TRIADS AND CHORos
67
vious page is just an elaboration of -
The passage on the pre CHAPTE R 9

~
I! $.
2
I
~
..p.

I
: I
!!
~

I
In figured-bass notation it could be represented thus -
Phrases and Cadences

91 1 The phrase
Q
The way in which words_are gr~uped together to make phrases, sentences and
paragraphs is paralleled m music. I~ fact all three words - phrase, sentence
4 Ii and paragraph - ar~ also used m analysing music: phrases are grouped
2 5
together to form musical sentences, .ai:id se1:1te~ces are grouped together to
Chords arranged as successions of notes in this way (with or without
form musical paragraphs. Already this is begmrung to take us into the study of
repetitions) are called broken chords. One partic~ar form was much used in
musical form which is not the subject of this book. Nevertheless, something
the left-hand part of 18th-century keyboard music, e.g. -
must be said about the simplest of these groupings - the phrase_ because of
Mozart , Piano Sonata in C, K .545 ( I st rnvt ) its intrinsic musical importance and because it is associated with other basic

i : ~I:•~J ~ ~
features such as cadences.
'Phrase' is defined in Chambers 20th Century Diccionary as 'a group of
words .. . felt as expressing a single idea or constituting a single element in the
J; J J I~- J j : ; J JI sentence', and in its musical sen se as 'a short group of notes felt to form a unit'.
A simple example might be -
Traditional , 'Twinkle , rwinkl~. lml~ m1r
where the music on the lower stave is merely an elaboration of
0

@z JJ 1.J .J 1J J 1:J IJ J IJ J IJ J IJ I
t
!,
I'
1
I
I J
V 7c
1 There are no hard-and-fa st rules about phrases - ' felt' is an important word in
both the dictionary definitions above - and musicians do not invariably agree
This type of figuration is known as an Alberti bass, after the Italian
about the phrasing of a piece. Some might argue that the example above
composer, Domenico Alberti, who popularised it.
consists of two phrases: bars l -4 and 5-8, indicated by marks here -
A chord arranged with all its notes in ascending or de scending order is an
arpeggio (from the Italian word for ' harp', an instrument which is
particularly well adapted to this kind of playing). These, for example, are two-
octave arpeggios of the chord of C major -
=@z JJ 1.J J 1J J liJ I J J IJ J I J J I; I
Cr----~ markings are a convenient method of indicating phrase le~s
for st udy purposes and will be used for this purpose again in larere.x~ples ID
th is chapter. They are used here to prevent confusion
with the phrasmg marks
or amculatton
· · marks which are used m • music · mreo
· ded for acrual
pe r1,ormance . Smee
. __ -J .i al .
the laner often show a guuu Le mo than the mere
re
d
beginnmgs
· · and endings of phrases, they are necessan·1Y rn ore subtle an
deta,·1ed . This · ,..~ ·in Chapter 11 )
aspect of the maner will be explamcu ·
 7P '..,. . . -
I PHRASES AND CADE
NCEs HE pHRASE 69

~
68

t to music the phrases often coincide with the line ( Nontroppo _al_le_g_ro_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _--,
When verses are se . . s or

□' r 'r I c•r er "r Tu

' . .
. . f lin s) of the verses.
with pairs o
such as hymns,
e
This 1s
, 1k
nearly
carols nursery songs, 10 songs an
' • · d
always true
d th lik
m simple
e e, e.g. _
for
ms
~ 1r .J F J Ir
As sweet Polly Oliver lay musmg m be ' ---,r ~ I

~~r f fritrr r r 1r fr WerJ ,J ;Fi

trange fancy came into her head;
A W dd ~ S . f~I I
'N or father nor mother shall . make me iUSe prove. 1
,
I'll 'list [enlist) for a soldier and follow my 1ove.
---,
Folksong
r--:-
F r 1.JJ3 J lfJJ J IJ *1~ © Copyright 1926 by Edi tion Rus,e de Musique
Copyright a,signed 1947 to Boosey & Hawkes Inc. for all countncs
As sweet Pol - ly 0 - li - ve r lay mu - si ng m bed, A
Reproduced by permission of Boosey & Hawke, Music Publishers Lid.
r--
@#:1
r r r 1r? J d] 1r - to
j ,J j~ In such cases, the convention about balancin~ an incomplete opening bar with
an incomplete bar at the end (the two adding up to one complete bar) is
sud - den, strange fan - cy ca me in her head; 'Nor
generally observed. A piece which starts z J,
I , for example, will finish with
2½ crotchets, e.g. J } II or
@~ii Cr f r
a bar containing the equivalent of
Ir [) 0 IJ. \.._,
}J I r r J i II
etc. However, this convention is not always followed
'-._/

fa - ther nor mo - ther shall make me fa lse prove! I 'll

nowadays, and in longer pieces (such as the first movement of a sonata) it has
never been very consistently observed.
v-:1
~( r r r 1.(J J
tJ
j IJ J J 1 I J 1
\,,,_;
A weak-beat opening to a phrase (as in ' Sweet Polly Oliver' and in the
Prokofiev Gavotca above) is called an anacrusis - a term also used in poetry.
'list for sol - dier and fol - low my love! '

In such cases the phrases are often of the same length, usually two or (as in the
9/2 Cadences
last example) four bars. A consequence of this is that the beginnings and
endings of phrases normally complement each other: e.g. if a phrase in 1 9/2a Cadence and phrase
starts on the third beat of a bar (as above), it must end with the second (as on
'bed', 'head' and 'prove') so that the next phrase can also begin on the third. The end of a phrase is a point of rest or relaxation in the music: it is c-.illed a
Similarly, if the same music is repeated for another verse of the words, the fir_st cadence (from the Latin word meaning 'to fall '). The most complete point of
verse will have to end with the second beat so that the next verse can begm rest is obvious)y the end of the last phrase in a piece, since the music then stops
again on the third - altogether; but the end of each intermediate phrase also has a fee.ling of
'.elaxation. It is a sort of breathing space - for wind players and ~
~ j (<ad of •«~ I) Vmel

JJ J J IJJ J 1 u II J Ic r r tta J J~
indeed, it almost always is a breathing space. Something bas fuushed;
11
something else is ab~ut to begin. . - The
Cadences are not Just a maner of melody: chords also are mvolved. .
Much music which is purely instrumental has this kind of regular phrasin_g Panicular chords used contribute towards the feeling of re.la.urion and make ic
too - particularly shoner pieces such as dances, marches etc. An example is rnore
. · Indeed, cadences are categon·sed aero ro1··0 0o to che chords
or Jess defiL111te.
the Gavoua in Prokofiev's Classical Sy mphony the opening of which is shown involved . ph · d that the use of
. , as we are about to see . But first 1t must be em asise
below. To indicate the phrase structure ' marks have again been st
Particular chords does not in itself produce a cadence. The chorcis_m~ bcof
·
added (D' reCtions ' ·1( be · time i.e. at the end of a phrase: they rei·n.1·Orce the tttling
used at t he nght
e 1a·. _1 concerning repeats and violin bowing, which w1 .
xp med 10 Chapters 13 and 19, Part II, respectively, have been omitted .) relaxati on already given ' to the music by the rhythm an d t he m . cJodic shape.
 PHRASES AND CA DE"' 71
"CEs 9/ 2 CADENCES
--
70
·on tonal music ends on the tonic chord. The ·c in the melody as well as in the bass. These are ryp·ca1
1 perfect
. all ·thout excep tl , . re the co nts laid out for key hoard m
· the key of G major _
V1rru y w1 ·s As was explained in Chapters 2 and 4, the pitches of the d e
is a reason for tlu · . ·s made can be represented as .a scale based on the

~; I! Ii II; I! Ii.. i
f which a piece 1
notes rom . all th 0 ther notes are related (see especially 4/ 4). The tonic
toruc,· t0 which d . e f the whole thing. Consequently, the root-position
• the foun anon o
note is .
chord built upon
. the tonic chord _ is the most stable of all chords: all other
. it-
It 1·s often compared to home: 1 one t
"f · to a
hink s of listemng 11; 1!
lead to fi 1tome · the point at
· ch ord 1s
chords
. . it .
kind of musical journey, the ma I I - ~
-.
I
fl u -
-
~

piece of music as a . ~

. ~

. ..
l
which one arrives home again. I I
nd on the tonic chord, therefore, have. a particularly 'final'
I

e ~
Cadences which -IL I
feeling. Although they are used no_t only at ~he end of a piece, ther~ is always a .__,...._ - - I.ti. I
"bil·cy that , if they are used m the middle, they may make It .sound as
--
~
~

poss1 1 . . f;.1 . I
\ I I
' I I

though it has come co a prem~ture halt.. Thus 1t 1s use w to ~1stmguish

The dominant 7th chord (the dominant chord containing also the 7th from
between cadences which end with the tome chord and those which do not
the root) prepares the tonic even more powerfully because of the need for the
those which can end a piece (even though they are sometimes used in the
dissonant interval of the 7th to be resolved (see 7/ 5). Thus in a dominant 7th
middle too) and those which are never used at the end. Four types of cadence
are especially common and have been given individual names: two which end to conic progression the essential elements in the perfect cadence become _

I!~;: !;: 1~ !
l~; 1~ I ~
on the tonic chord - the perfect cadence (or full close) and the plagal cadence;
and two which are used only at intermediate points - the imperfect cadence
(or half close) and the interrupted cadence.
= s

9/ 2b Perfect cadence
The chord which most powerfully leads to the tonic chord is the dominant
chord, and the progression from a dominant to a tonic chord at a phrase
ending forms the perfect cadence. One of the reasons for the dominant
chord's special power is to be found in acoustical considerations - the 5th
:'
l_ ,

L~; I'.: I
I I : 1:

: =
I

l
being the next harmonic after the fundamental note and its octave - and need
The following examples, also for keyboard, show typical uses in various k:eys -
not detain us here. But the other reason has to be emphasised : the presence in Bb ma jor
H major E minor
the chord of the leading note of the scale. It is a fact of melody that the leading
- -·-I
f, I ri jj fl
note, as its name implies, has a tendency to move up a semitone to the tonic. , ~ ~

.
L
,_
Consequentl y, the essential elements in a perfect cadence are a move from the ~ - @)
- -
I t I

dominant to the tonic in the bass, and above the bass a move fro m the leading
- I... . ... ... - •
note to the tonic, e.g. in C major and C minor -
,,
: n

- ~
'" -

)·: ie:~ :: :] l r
I I
D minor B minor ,-\ ~ ma1or

The move from lead· . ~ ~ ~ =-i._ _:_ - - --

mg note to tome can be at the top or in the middle of the
chords, although
. ·h
· is stronger when the music ends wit
the feeli ng Of fimality
 PHRASES AND CADENCES
cAIJENCES 73
912
72
. f th two chords may be inverted, e.g. in C major- d Imperfect cadence
EI ther or both o e I I
912
I
,., I
- .... ---
e dominant chord itself can make a temporary resting-place d
'

I '
.
· ~

~ Th ing on the . . call d . ' an a cadence

-:- + dommant 1s . e an 1mperfect cadence · Va nous · chords can

l
~
?" end
ti • used to precede the dommant:· I, II, IV and VI are all common. These two
'
- be th
.....,perfect cadences at e operung .of the second movement of Beethoven's
1,..
~
= Piano Sonata, Op.14 No.2, are typical -
v 1b lb V7d lb
Vb Th
. . . Andan te
although at a final cadence the tonic is always tn root pos1non. e progression l
VIIb-1 is very similar in effect to V7c-I and can be regarded as a type of perfect ~ - - -
. ... -.v ... . . :

::~> l
I
fl I ~
,
, f,-
~ ~
- . .. . - - - . - .
andl '~,: ~

- r r
:
~
17 r'
~
- ~

-
I I
Ilb V
Vllb
Both are relatively weak as final cadences, since the effect of the bass is more
powerful if it moves not by a single step but by a jump from the root of V -
f', , I

IV V

The perfect cadence is by far the most common cadence used to end pieces;
in fact one may search a long while through a book of songs or hymn tunes or
9/2e Interrupted cadence
sonatas etc., before finding any other.
The interrupted cadence, which might be bener called the 'interrupted
9/2c Plagal cadence perfect cadence', occurs where a dominant chord leads the listener to expect a
tonic chord (and hence a perfect cadence) but is in fact followed by any chord
The plagal cadence consists of the subdominant chord followed by the tonic
except the tonic. There is a splendid example near the end of Bach's
chord. Its effect as a final cadence is less compelling than that of the perfect
ha~monisation of a chorale usually sung to the English words, 'Sleepers wake'
cadence sine~ IV is less powerful than V as a preparation for I, lacking as it
or Wake, 0 wake ' -
does the leadmg note with its push towards the tonic. In the 16th century the
~lagal cadence was used to end pieces much more frequently than it has been J. S. Bach, 117achlr Au/
smce. _Ne~ertheless, some later composers have been especially fond of it,
e.g. Sibelius: a very clear example is to be found at the end of the first
movement of his Third Symphony (in C major). A more familiar example

i~:m(!"f:Kif: -I: j
1

"' V \'I

IV
a PHRASES AND CADENCES
75
74

9/ 2f Other cadences
cJ-IAPTER 1O
d interrupted cadences are the most common but
'
J
p ~ ct plagal impenect an
h VI-IV
th d f '
cadence, here shown at e en o the second
Tempo, Dynamics and Mood
e e ·•
there are others: e.g. t e
line of Parry's Jm1salem -
_Music notation w~s at firs~ concerned _onl~ with.the barest facts: the pitches of
the notes and their duration, later wtth time signatures and key signatures.
etc. Even J. S. Bach very rarely gave any instructions about speed, or about
ofmess and loudness (dynamics), or about how notes are to be grouped into
s hrases or smaller units (phrasing or articulation). These things could
~metimes be deduced from the character of the music - people were more or
less agreed about suitable speeds for different types of dances, for example_
VI IV
but a great deal was left to the performer to decide. However, by the time Bach
died in 1750 he had become distinctly old-fashioned in this respect. Indeed,
from the late 17th century onwards composers became more and more
concerned to show as precisely as possible bow they wanted their music
9/2g Feminine endings performed, until by the early 20th century very meticulous directions were
given, and the freedom of performers to decide things for themselves was
More often than not, the last chord of any cadence occurs on a stronger beat vastly reduced.
than the first. But when the second chord is less strongly accented, the phrase Good performers, it should be said, do not resent this. After all, they are
is said to have a feminine ending, or the cadence itse lf is described as seeking to rum into real sounds the music which the composer bad in his
'feminine'. The perfect cadence in bar 4 of the Schumann passage quoted on imagination; the more they can discover what exactly be had in mind, the
p.81 is an example. An imperfect cadence, with Ic-V used as a feminine more they are helped. And they are still left with important responSibilities of
ending, was almost a hallmark of music of the classical period (c. 1770-1830), judgement. What is 'loud' in a concert hall, for example, will be far coo loud in
as in the last bar of this extract from a chorus in Haydn 's oratorio, The a small room; a contrast of speed or a balance between melody and
Creation - accompani ment, which might be right in some circumstances, might not be
satisfactory in others, and so on. Music can never be written down so exactly
All ~gro I and in such detail that performers become simply mechanics: always their
,/ I I
-- -
I

;=-
I
~

:
~
I
:
~
~
I ~

:
~
I
--I -
~
I
1--------_, artistic sensibilities are demanded.
!) I r r I I I I I I I

I I J; ,.J .J 1 J J ..l Jd 10/1 Tempo

- - - - It was explained in 1/ 3 that there are two ways of specifying the speed at che
I I I I I.._/

T he hca - ve ns arc
I
'
tel - ling the glo - ry of God _ _
beginning of a piece: either a metronome mark or a direction in _words.
Metronome marks are sometimes written with 'c.' (for circa = 'about') m Crone
0f the figure, e.g. J= c. 11 2. Probably no composer ever ex-pn"tS his memodified
aooome
speeds to be observed absolutely exactly, and speeds lll3}' have to be ave.rv
~ · ce tn
sli h ·
g · tly m the light of practical circumstance s, such as a pertorman 5 ··bk
1
~sonant building. Nevertheless, metronome marks are tbe cleare r_pos5.
' nd ications of tempo and must always be taken seriou_sly. ro play a piece ..~~ry
m h · resents w""1 a
uc faster or slower than a given metronome mark nusreP
 TEMPO, DYNAMI CS AND M
OOD
76 JO/ I TEMPO 77
ts I One trap people sometimes f'.111 into is to misread not the
There is a particular device of notation which can occur at ban .
composer wan · aJ e· e g J =60 might be nusread as J =60, resulting i c gesof t:1me
figure but the note v u • · · na signature, e.g. -
,LJ

t n m,m 1r
rformance at only half speed. .
pe . . .
Direcoons in wor
and they have other P
ds do not pretend to be as precise as metronome mark
. . s,
itfalls The most obvious 1s that they may be written in a
·
. h the performer does not understand (see the Glossary of
w. 12 u u r: 1r ,
1
j
language wh1c .
. W ds used for Performance D1recnons).
.
Fortunately,. Italian was J· == J here means that the
b
crotchet beats in
· 6 •
l
have exactly the sam d
eurat:1on
.
Foreign or . as the dotted crotchet eats m 8 . This type of direction is ""'"'ectl . 1 .
for so long the international language of music that all the_words It commonly 'th h h b . Y'-"' y c ear if
written as above, w1 t e .= over t e ar-line, the old note value to the left of it
used for music_ e.g. adagio, andante, allegro etc. - are un,~ers~lly understood the whole fonnula used to. be
b musicians and are still universally used. Today, English 1s probably the
and the new one to the nght. . Unfortunately,
.
placed after the change .o f ~me s'.gnature, with no consistency about which
n:rest thing there is to an international language, but English-speaking
note value relates to which nme signature. This, for example, is ambiguous _
composers also tend to follow the convention of using Italian terms for speed
LJ
and other directions.
Another pitfall is that, even assuming the words are understood, they may
be exaggerated. Allegro, for example, might reasonably be interpreted as
r It r 1r r
'quick', but it does not mean 'very quick', still less 'as quickly as possible'. It probably indicates that a minim in i
= a crotchet in i,
but it could be
Words which denote gradual changes of speed are often exaggerated or understood to mean that a crotchet in j = a minim in i.
Fortunately, a srudv
distorted. A ccelerando (abbreviated as accel. ), for example, means 'gradually of the context combined with a little common sense usually clarifies what ~
getting faster' not 'suddenly faster': the listener should only grad ually become wanted, but the notation of the previous example precludes confusion and
aware that the music is speeding up. Similarly, ral!entando (rail.) and should be regarded as standard.
n·rardando (n'r. or n'tard.) imply a gradual slowing down, not an abrupt change The sign called a fermata- ~ above (or \;,I bdow) anoteorrest- isnow
of speed. the standard indication of a pause ' . How long a pause is a matterof discretion,
Yet another pitfall is that words sometimes gradually change their meaning but again there is a danger of exaggeration: if a composer wants a long pause he
over the centuries. Allegro, for example, was originally used to describe not so generally writes lunga pausa as well. ' G.P.' (=general pause) added to a pause
much speed as a mood: 'cheerful' or 'lively' (the literal meaning of the word). mark over a rest is a sign only used when a group of players (as in an orchestra)
Largo, which is usually thought of as implying a very slow tempo, was is involved: it warns them that they are all silent at the same time.
described by Henry Purcell (in the Preface to his Sonatas of I II Pam, I683) as Sometimes a regular beat is abandoned altogether and note values have no
a 'middle movement', meaning a medium speed. R itenuw (rit. or rilen.) is precise significance. T his happens particularly in florid passages (often joining
another case in point: literally it means 'held back' and thu s a sudden change sections) as in this example, near the end of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in B ,
to a slower tempo, but it is now generally used in the same sense as ral!entando Op.27 No.I -
and ritardando, i.e. a gradual slowing down, though possibly a more marked _t':'I

slowing down than the other words imply. Indeed, rit. is used as an
abbreviation for both n·renuro and ritardando: it might be logical but it would
also be unrealistically pedantic to suggest that it should be reserved for one or
·
theoth er, ?rthat ntenwo ·
can only mean a sudden slowing down. Inc1denta 11 Y,
any speedmg-up or slowing-down direction remains in force until a new
tempo direction - or a tempo (= 'in time') - is reached, although composers do
I
not always remember thi s. (The signs under the last three notes are explained in 11 /3.)

'A metronome mark print d · h'10 dicor 'In ba __ _, uS<J re.ly to show !10
and d
oes
. e wit
not necessarily e
square brackets is the tempo recommended by an e
h . al ·s of
·
iropa
roque and earlier music howe ver the sign was comaJU1uY
' • J s me r. . n!~
Ba,.."h ,or aam,. ,,
confli- i'ng r present t e composer's intention For an interesung an ysi Illa /tam structural point, e.g. the enJ of a secoon m the mUS1c. · : ' th but 001
~• metronome ma ks · · · · che r ed th e ends of the lines (phnises) of his cboraks with a,:,,, , implymg a brei
Associated Boa d di . r in a panicular work, see Howard Ferguson's inrrod ucuon co
·
r e uon of Schu mann •s K mderscenen, normally a halt in the moveme nt.
Op. 15.
■ TEMPO, DYNAMICS AND Moon
79
10/ 2 DYNAMICS
78

. ak . from a movement which is actually in z, and the bass

ThC
full name for the piano (the instrument) is of course 'pi·an c ,
. r
' b o,orte '
This example is t. ethn . . vertheless the treble stave does not. All that can be sornetimes abbreviated to p ; ut pf used as a dynamic mark means poco
nforms with is, ne . . f
stave co
.d . th t after a pause o
n the first note there is a rapid run o notes, shown as forte (slightly loud). Hlow;verd ~ reverse, df_p-which is much more common
sa1 is a f . avers followed by three much slower notes at a free _ means forte piano: ou an en 1mme 1ately soft. Rather similar are the
one long group O senuqu ' . · 11 ( h ) th ·
. tions sforzaw and sforzando (both abbreviated as either if or J... ) ,
.s are usually pnnted m sma type as ere , ough it is
thl d' d ,c . , . f' ..,,.
tempo Runs e lik . . direc
· for them to be written as dem1senuquavers rather than ally meaning 'force an ,orcmg -me iectasuddenaccentapp liedtoan
perhaps more common . . Iiter R. ,r .
. Th are also some word direcuons which free the performer . dividual note or chord. zn1 orzato and nnforzando ( rf, rfs or rinf ), literall
semiquavers. ere . , . . , . in ' ·_c . ' f d . h th e same meaning, thoughy
from a strict beat, such as ad /ibicum (ad lzb. ), at discretion , and senza mzsura, ' reinforced' and reuuorcmg , are. o ten use wit
they may imply a sudde~ growth m volume (~rhaps applied to a short group
'without measure'. . .
Another word which gives the performer some rhythmic freedom 1s rubaco f otes) or that a part 1s to stand out prominently.
0
~ccenruation can also be shown by the signs >, written above or below a
(literally meaning 'robbed', as in cempo rubato). T~is can have two, som~what
te or chord, and " written above or v written below. Often no very clear
different, interpretations. In the first, the underlymg pulse ~f the music as a no th b h · ·
distinction is made between em ut, w en it 1s, " and v are stronger than
whole becomes slightly flexible . In the second, the accompamment remains in
:;,, ( ""'- is never used .) Accent mar~s are used in soft music as well as in loud
strict time but the melody is flexible: a technique which jazz soloists, playing ·
and must always be scaled accordmg to the context: > occurring in a soft
or singing with some freedom against a strict-time backing, have made
familiar. This, however, was not a 20th-century innovation. Both Mozart and passage, for example, ce_rtai~y does_not imp!y a violent explosion. (Two other
Chopin, for example, used what is essentially the same technique in playing signs involving emphasis will b~ discussed m 11/3.)
Gradual changes of dynanuc level can be shown by words or signs.
the piano when they accompanied an expressive, 'singing' melody in the right
Crescendo (usually written in abbreviated form as cresc.) means 'getting
hand with a left hand in strict time.
louder'. Diminuendo (dim. or dimin .) and decrescendo (decresc. ) both mean
'getting softer', though the former is the more usual term. Sometimes these
10/2 Dynamics words are spaced out, e.g. ere - - - seen - - - do. This can bea useful reminder
to the performer but is not strictly necessary: even in an abbreviated form (e.g.
Word directions concerning softness and loudness are nowadays always cresc.) the direction always continues in force until a new dynamic level is
written as abbreviations, e.g. f for Jorie (loud), mf for mezzo-Jone (medium reached .
- literally 'half - loud), p for piano (soft), mp for mezzo-piano (medium soft). Unfortunately, composers sometimes forget to show where the dynamic
Very loud is written as ff (for f onissimo), and very soft as pp (pianissimo). change end s. This is not a problem if signs are used instead of words:
Thereafter composers sometimes get carried away and go on adding f s and for 'gening louder' and ====-- for 'gerting softer'.
p s regardless - fff , pppp etc. There is rarel y much real meaning in going (Musicians often call these signs 'hairpins'.) Both have a clear beginning and
beyond three f s or p s, however: when Tchaikovsky marked a bassoon solo ending although, unless a d ynamic mark is put at the end, it is still not clear
PPPJIJIPin the first movement of his 6th Symphony, he certainly ensured that - -=======
just how much louder or softer the music becomes. p by itself,
the player would not miss the fact that the passage was to be played very softly for example, could imply p - -===== - ==== m.
,,,.I or p It is
indeed, but it is difficult to see what precise difference one p more or less not practicable to draw - -===== ===-and signs ove:r more rhan a
would have made. few bars, whereas word directions can remain in force for pa.,aes if necessary.
But if composers sometim~s exaggerate, so too do performers: f should Gradual changes of dynamic level can be qualified by words such as poco a
not be interpreted as 'as loud as possible' nor p as 'practically inaudible'! P0 co (little by little) and mo/to (much). But with or without c.bese
Dynamic marks can never be exac1indications of the vol ume of sound needed: qualifications, and however the y are notated, they n~"Cl ~ and even
they always have to be assessed in relation to other dynamic marks in the piece, grading. This is particularly important where the y begin: as wtrh gradual
and to the mood of the music as a whole - and also to its style and historical changes of speed the listener should not become insmntly aware th at a change
period . A late sonata by Beethoven, fo r example, can be expected to ha ve a is taking place.
wider dynamic range and more extreme contrasts than a sonata by, say,
Mozart.
 TEMPO, DYNAMICS AND
~so:________________________ M
----..:....:.::oon
81

10/3 Mood CHAPTER 11

Word directions are often given to describe the general m?°'1 or character of
the music: words such as risoluto (resolute), mesco (sad), gzocoso (playful) anct Articulation
rranquil/o (peaceful). Invaria?ly such directions_have implications c~nceming
tempo or dynamics or phrasing (see the following chapter), or possibly all of
these. It would clearly be inappropriate to play a piece marked tranquil/a very 11/ l Phrasing marks
fast or very loud or in a very jerky way.
Many such word directions are listed in the Glossary of Foreign Words •,(
The fact that the note s forming a phrase are 'felt to form a urut see 9/ i) does
used for Performance Directions where their meanings are given. not mean that the y cannot b e separated from each other Ph
· ·d d · ll f • . · rases are often
subdivi e mto sma ber grbodu~~do dnobtes with tmy gaps berween them; some or
all of the nptes may e .su 1vi e y means of signs to be exPlained shonly·
and phrases may even include rests, e.g. - '
Schumann, 'Soldier's March ' (Alb um f,OT I At
Y"""&')
I\ ~ I.._ \- .
- '
i.
~
~

.
- f)
';' :
V V
-
-- . --
f
-
..-
.~ 1..-.
. ~

- r

Here there are two phrases: bars 1-4 and 5-8. Although there are no marks to
show the phrase structure , several factors make it clear to the listener, such as
the ~epetition of bars 1 and 2 in bars 5 and 6, the rhythmic repetition of bars
1-4 m bars 5-8, and the perfect cadences in bars 4 and 8 (in G and D major
respectively). A similar example is the passage by Beethoven quoted on p.73.
When composers use what are often loosely called ' phrasing marks', they
generall y show a good deal more than where phrases begin and end. They are
more conce rned to indicate in detail how the notes within a phrase are to be
perfonned: whether the y are to be separated f rorn each other, whether they are
to be played smoothly in groups of two or more, and so on. Often, indeed,
com?osers' directions are precise playing instructions designed specifi~y_for
pamcular instruments, suc h as bowin<> marks for strings. Signs glvmg
technical directions of thi s kind will be ex;lained when indiviJual in5crun:ienrs
are discussed in Chapte rs 19- 21 in Part II. Meanwhile, th.is chuplt"r wtll be
concerned with directions which have a general applil'lltion ro Llil performc:rs.
 ART ICU LATJoi,.
11/ 2 THES LUR 8}
-
82'------~
The small break in sound implied by consecutive slurs, e.g. _
ll/2 The slur
.
Signs showing w
hether notes
'bed as
arc to be separated or grouped together are most
nl .
. ulation marks. The o y circumstance in which
aruc .
~ 1f Ifu_p ~
accurately descn . cides with a complete phrase (and nught thus be . sometimes shown instead by a comma above the stave _
. ul . mark also com . 11 d 1s
an aruc anon k') is when a curved line ca e a slur stretche
' ~
~" cr It£Y J r Ir f r: rr
. called a 'phrase mar s ,,--.._
literally f th phrase to the last, e.g. -
from the first note o e e,c.
Debussy, ' Hommage a Rameau' (Images)
Although they look the same, a slur linking two different notes (e.g.
-
joins two notes of the same pitch (e.g. m)
) should not of course be confused with a tie, where the curved line
to produce one extended sound.
The smooth linking of notes is sometimes implied by unconventional

a j ffl miJ) ~ beaming. An example occurs at the opening of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in
D, Op.10 No .3, where, contrary to normal procedure, notes are beamed
together across bar-lines -

Used in this way, the slur means that all the notes within it are to be played
smoothly (legaro ), without any breaks between them . (A short vertical stroke
through the middle of a slur ------ merely indicates that the slur has
been added by an editor. Small brackets either side of a slur ( ,.,---...__ l or a
broken slur , ----, are other ways of denoting the same thing .)
A slur has exactly the same meaning when it embraces a smaller group of
notes, e.g. -
Barc6k, For Children, Vol.I No.3
Quasi adagio J = 66 Although Beethoven here uses slurs as well, the beaming makes dear his
intentions eve n more compellingly than slurs alone would have done.
Beaming like thi s became more common during the 19th century, though
often with additional im plications concerning accentuation and rhythmic
grouping.
For the use of the slur in connection with triplets and word underlay, see
3/ 3 and 6/ 1 respective ly. Its special meaning for string and wind playe~ will
~ ~ be explained in Part II , 19/ 2 and 20/ 6 respectively.
'" Cop) righ1 19~6 h) Boo,cy & Ha11 ,e,. Inc.
Reproduced b) perm",ion of Boo,c) & Ha11 ,es
Mu , ll· Publi,hers Lid.
~ performan~ , the end of a slur implies a slight shortening of its last note,
1th
a bnef silence before the next note. T hu s, the melod y of the example 11/3 Staccato signs
above would be played approximately

~
Several signs are used to show that a note is to be shortened. The most
ti r E--£-f-1--r
~1;
(There is no need t0 h
follow d b .
Q- rlEf 9C; 1tf==gG
I dy
s onen the left-hand minims since they are a rea
e Ysilences - both h
ave rests after them.)
head: i J.
appropriate stem: "*
common is the s taccato dot, normally positioned above or bdow the nore-
Where there are two parts on a stave, th~ Joe 1s rositionni by th e

. - =~kb ~
~ r --
 ARTI C ULATION I J/ J STACCATO SIGN S
85
84
·s to be shortened will depend upon its value and The use of a dot to indicate a staccato note was n t .
Just how much a note I . ,o tntroduccd until the
upon the tempo. This, for example, latter part of the 18th century. Earlier a short stroke ( j 1 )
' - or a wedge-sha d

t 1r 1
t 1J r r J 1
at a slow speed might be played (
s1
·go ( I' I) was used for the same purpose. Eventually th,
I 1 . .
standard direcnon that. a note
· d d M
.
. · e wedge becamepethe
1s to be played as b ne
staccatissimo), whatever Jts wnnen value or the tempo. But. Of
suggest an accent too: m ee , ozart sometimes (not alwa ) d .
. fl y as poss .bl
I
It ten appears to
e

l' 1 r , r ,1h p p]l~ .

but at a quicker speed (where there is less ume to hold the notes) might
·th h
an accent w1 out s orterung.
·
The opposite of staccato may .be shown
abbreviated to ten.). Any notes to which
.
this
ys use It to show

by the word tenuco (often

direction applies are to be held for
.
become their full value
. and not
• shortened many
- way. (In some circumstances., cenuco

1/ i r r IJi ~ ~ J,' I
s s t ' '
Staccato dots, therefore, do not mean that the notes are to be made as short as
may even imply a slight lengtherung, occasionally even a short pa . th
however, are not the nor~al implications of the term.) A horizo~
above or below a note ( I ))
may also indicate tenuto (and hence it is
~
possible. Indeed, their effect can be m~ified further when two or more sometimes call~d ~ 't~nuto mark'), although this sign has come to be used
primarily as an md1cauon of pressure or emphasis - which, in practice, entails
staccato dots are linked by a slur. Thus, 1f
a slight degree of separation between notes so marked. Consequently, ~ Jis

·&24 4 J J IJ O J similar to JJ but rather weightier. Slurring notes with horiwntal

( ~ ~ ) mayindicate a somewhat smaller separation, but in practice the slur
dashes
were to be performed .__,
~ake~ little difference - except to string players, to whom it is a bowing
' %Ji'J' j ,1 ) 11 I j l'f Ji' J
the following variations at the same speed might be played as shown -
direction (see 19/2). On the other hand, the combination of staccato dots with
horizontal dashes ( 1 ~)
irtcreases the separation or, to put it the other way
round, gives more emphasis to a note marked with a staccato dot.

~ JJ J .J IJ p .l I •
·-..:_.---
$J rJ O fJ\; IJi? J) d I
11/4 Double phrasing

' JJ J .J IUJ I·
,._,,. ,._,,
. @1¥J' JO• IJ, iJ;d 1 Extended slurs are sometimes superimposed over groups of notes which are
already articulated by subsidiary slurs and/or by staccato dots and other

t ~ J IUJ I - @Ji'J¥}0' IJ 1;,r:l 1

separation signs, and even by rests, e.g. -
1 Brahms. C,prrco,,, Op.io ~o.i

As ca~ be seen above, two staccato notes of the same pitch linked by a slur
'ff 'f'"@ • PP•@
K 11•s
ij
&~ 1&~ 1p§
'--".
J IJ.>J... ~ 1 -....._/
are not lied notes. A more ambiguous situation arises if only the second note
A superimposed slur shows that the notes within it still be.long co each other as
has a Staecato dot, e.g. ~ . String players will readily understand thi s as
a group, in spite of the small breaks in sound between some of them. Thus,_
two separate notes played in one bow; pianists and others should also reiterate When th e ab ove passage · th acit· coosists of
is played, it must convey the feding
~he second note. If, however, the dot is placed outside the slur, - , th e
implication is that the no t es are uc
· d , 1.e.
· the second note is not reiterate
·· d'
j •but th c pi,:,::,:a,a~hok1.>tn •~
' ln effec1 h -
though shonened in value. ' 1 e fi rst three ba.rs of the mdody ) hown here ~ lll
 ARTI CU LATJoi,;
87
86 ---
. ay of achieving this is to make relatively larg
The pnmary w • ll e CHAPTER 12
I + I + 2 bars. ll by playing each as a quaver 10 owed by a quav
the cwo A1ts, e.g. be h . er
breaks after .. s _ often too subtle to s own m notation_ ma
rice other iactor . y
rest. In prac ,
·b to a mus•
·cai and clear sense of phrasing: for example small
'
ornaments and Embellishments
also contn ute f dynamic levels, touches of rubato, and so on.
shadings and contrasts o

One of the most familiar features of music today is the way lD • h. .

. . W 1ch Jazz
11/5 Textual and stylistic problems layers improvise elaborate decorauons to the melody. Although h
P · · I · lf · t e sty1e has
changed, the prmcip e . itse 1s not new. In earlier centun•es also, the
. .
. . .1.: h ter it has to be said that composers are not always careful in improvisauon of decorat10ns was often regarded as an imponam f
Finally m uuS C ap , . . . ·u . F ar from ob Jectmg
. . pano a solo
. f hra · g marks What appear to be mcons1stenc1es, even mistakes ' pe rformer's ski to this, composers (who were often
thm~op ~ · · . . . .
mmon· and finding solutions to the performance problems which performers too) wrote the1r music m ~e expectation that it would be
are not unco , d . . .
· demand considerable thought an mus1c1ansh1p. decorated. A bare performance of the wntten notes, particularly of a slow
they raise can
Moreover, conventions have changed over the_years. For example, the use melody, would have been thought very dull.
of long slurs to indicate an extended leg~to (as m the _Debussy example on Various decorative patterns became standardised, and composers were able
p.82) or a phrase length (such as the supenmposed slur m the Brahms passage to indicate them by means of special symbols - a kind of musical shonhand.
quoted above) originated only around the early 19th century - though it An absence of such symbols did not, however, mean that the music was to be
developed relentlessly thereafter. Composers of the classical period would performed without ornamentation. From about 1600 to the second half of the
usually have divided a legato phrase into smaller sections each with a separate 18th c~ntury, an en~rmous numbe~ of different symbols were used, varying
slur, usually ending at the bar-line or before the last note, e.g. - accordmg to the penod, to the locality, and even to the individual composer.
S~me compo~ers (J. S. Bach among them) drew up lists of ornament symbols
with explanations of how they were to be performed; and sometimes there are
instruction books and other sources from the period which gjve guidance.
In such cases, a break in sound at the end of the slur was not necessarily N~v~rtheless, these explanations do not always cover every circumstance.
intended - which is not to say that it is always inappropriate.' Nor 1s It always certain how far they applied to music of a slightly earlier or
The difficulties of interpreting music of the classical and earlier periods la_ter date, or to music from a different region. Consequently, it is now often a
have been seriously compounded by many editors until quite recent times. dif~cult and controversial matter to decide exactly how to interpret a symbol
wntte . n tw o centunes · or more ago; and unless modem performers have made a
Often they altered phrasing marks (and indeed other directions), substituting
what they believed - not always correctly - to be implied by the original special study of these problems, they are likely to need expert advice.
notation, or to be more appropriate to modern instruments. And where none ~ortunately, modern editors of early music sometimes give this advice either
10
~xi sted in the original, they did not hesitate to add their own phrasing marks - a preface or in the music itself ( usually by writing out the ornament in full
above them · text or by way of a footnote) or by translanng . an obsolete
map~ropriate though these often were to the style of the music. In neither case . usic
was 11 revealed just what had been altered or added. Today's editors are symbol mto modem notation; but such advice, as most editors point out,
cannot
f. · · and usually represents no more than one of several ways
be d e fimnive
usually more meticulous and will show as precisely as possible what th e
o Interpreting an ornament symbol.
composer actually wrote, distinguishing clearly any additions or revisions
suggested by the ect·itor. Th.1s 1·s not to guarantee of course, that modern From the laner part of the 18th century the use of ornament symbols
.. gradually d · · · h . . · _ · r,;.11
edmons · · . ' ·· •minis ed : composers mcreasmgly wrote out the musK 10 wi.
are 1_nvanably reliable, and it goes without sayin g that a bad edinon, 0
Id
o or new, is no ben ,.. h . nly a few symbols are still in regular use today and these will be d~-nbed
er 1or avmg been recently reprinted . fiirst of 11 A ' . ti
. a · fterwards some of the more common symbols trom ear er
Periods Wt·11 b e considered. . '
' For fu rther information sec H d Uni ve rsity
Press, London 1975 ) ' "fi oward Ferguson's Keyboard fnt erprew11011 (Oxfor d Paul
3
Badura-Skoda\ /,uer~ spec, ~all y pp.64- 5; and, in more detail, Chapter 3 of Eva ~ )
2
m mg ozar, on the Keyboard (Barrie & Rockliff, London 19 ·
j
ORNAMENTS AN D EM BELLISI-{••1
tNl's
► I SYM BOLS STILL IN REG ULAR USE
--
~ - - - - - - - - - -- - - ---- _!_899
"
12/
88
During the 19th century it became increasingly common for com
12/ 1 Symbols still in regular use ect grace notes such as these to be placed before the beat (as seemsposers to
exp d th " . h . normally required in 20th the be t
. turion here); an is w at is ~
12/ la Grace notes . JS
· · <entury music
·sed by two features: (1) they are printed as smal) - so Nevertheless, it· may not mvanably be what is want d F
so e · ortunately'
can be recogn J
al · · I _. •
s m no doubt about h .
Grace notes d. garded so far as the rhythm of the full-size notes .IS mposers sometime s eave penormer ow grace notes are
C) they are 1sre co th • II . . . .
11
siu notes; _ · h h values 'add up' to a complete bardwithout them
to be performed . In e 10 owmg passage, for example the c• imphcanon
med I e. the r yt. mbown as a small-size . .th " . • th e b ar-1·me 1.s that they are to be 'pe_. ieared L-
conce , · quaver wi a iagonal strok utting them be1ore u orm ucfore the
A · gle grace note 1s s . . e of P
sm . ~ ally i·oined by a tiny slur to the following full-size note (the
. beat -
through it - J' ' usu ( Anda~te tranquillo ) Irela nd , ThL Holy Boy
. . ) L
---r . This can be played m one of three ways:
~
pnnapal note -
),
z rr '"'
U'i7
( i) just before the beat - =
:0 Copyngh1 1918 . 1938 b\'
(ii) on the beat (but with the accent on Hawkes & Son (London ) Lid
=~ Reprod uced b) permis.,,oo o/
the principal note) Boosey & Hawkes M~c
Publisher< Ltd .
(iii) simultaneou sly with the principal note
=~
(on the beat), but then immediately released while in the next one there is a verbal instruction that they are to be played 00
the beat -
The first method is the most usual, or the third if the Jl is used in a very rapid
Deb ussy, Pre ludes Bk. I: ' Minstrels'
passage. But in practice it can be difficult or even impossible to distinguish
between the three; and not all instruments can play two notes simultaneously.
Whichever way it is performed, the Ji is generally called an acciaccatura,
although strictly speaking the term applies only to the third (simultaneous)
method (the Italian word derives from a word meaning to 'bruise' or 'pound';
'crushed note' is sometimes used as an English equi valent).
Groups of two or more grace notes are shown as quavers or, more often,
notes of shorter value, beamed together. They are performed as quickly as
possible, slipped in just before the following full-size note; though in a lyrical
l P /es " gruppe11i " su r le cemps

In the 18th century (as we shall see shortly), it had been conventional for
and expressive melody it may be appropriate to play them more deliberately.
orna_ments to be performed starting on the beat, and many compose.rs
What is not always certain is whether they should be played on the beat or
connnued this tradition into the first part of the 19th century. Chopin, for
before it: for example, whether the grace notes in the following passage should
example, left evidence of this when he drew dotted lines into a pupil's copy of
take their time from the F # before the bar-line or from the dotted quaver A
tbe Nocturnes to show which notes were to coincide, as in the following ' -
after it. Which note in the melod y coincides with the low A in the bass?
Chopin, N octurne, Op .37 No. I
Dvor:ik, Silhouette, Op.8 No. I I Lent o sosten u1 o
a'\

Pt-6,,
'Qouoted by Howard F
L ndon 1975 ) p_1 _ erguson in his KeybourJ I merpre1Jni>t1 (Oxio.rJ t ·nirn·sHy
27
J'fl rW ORNAMENTS AND EMBELLIS!iME
Nl's
► sYMB OL
S STILL IN REGULAR USE
91
90
Tn·us 1•n music wrinen. since about the
od he revealed here can b~ regarded as broadly typical second quaner of the l9th c
But although the methm sers of his generation, it can no more be assened as . entury
start on the wnnen note, as m the above examples. But a trill
usic written by co poall ce notes in the early 19th century should be norrn all Y if . . . . may
0f m
1 that graall grace notes later m · t h e century should be ~ ro
start on the upper note n 1s immediately preceded by a q .ck
w
ah
ard-and-fast rue
be than that
played on the a~at. There can be little doubt, for example, that in this
. If
statement of the wrinen note 1tse . For example, ar rtr
might be
P
layed before the . ,
. by Chopin s co
,ece
ntemporary, Mendelssohn, the grace notes in
performed Q [[ rcccrrr because a sta " on the wrinen note
familiar P
every case
Alltgr~-
,
come be1ore the beat -
• 0
Mendelssohn , S ong wirhour W ords, Op.62 No.
6 ~an U ard or
'J
j would produce a quick repetition (at•) which would
even impossible to play.
be awkw
If the upper note of a trill n~eds to be altered by an accidental, the accidental
may be shown above the tr sign -
p ~ etc . I
tr-- §~ -
~ ~ ;l arr¥ ~
Alternativel y, it can be indicated in brackets - £~
ei
gr' 1 . An acci-

dental which is already contained in the key signature is not shown (unless
there might be some doubt).
12/ 1b The trill (shake)

The letters 'tr' above a note ( f ), sometimes followed by a wavy line

(f-- ),indicate a trill (also called a 'shake'). The note is performed in 12/ lc Arpeggiation
rapid alternation with the note above it - rrrrrrr Very often, the
CI C •

trill is ended by a formula in which the last repetition of the p rincipal note is
The sign Iplaced before a chord shows that the notes of the chord a.re to be
played one after the other as quickly as possible, starting on the beat from the
preceded by the note below it. This can be shown by the add 1t1on .·
°
f grace
bottom note. T hus ~ is meant to be played approximating to
?
notes: e.g. Pr- and pJ-- might be played Fr F[ [ qar 1JJ:i] . A chord performed in this way is said to be ·arpeggiatrd' or.
and Lr Lr (C( Fr J .However, the absence of grace notes does not imp
J . ly
more simply, 'spread'. The arpeggio sign can embrace rwo smves -
that the end-formula may not be used .
The number of alternations depends upon the tempo: clearly, th e
· ke r the speed, the
quJC · · Thus
fewer the notes which can be fined 10 )~ ~~
~
= approximately

~~~
~ ~
~ . h
at a moderate speed ' or
J
I 1_ llllg . t be played -rfrf-~,,-rf-
~ ~ J ~
mrr
I
~ at a quick speed, or just or ~~ 0 ccas,onally,
· .,.,.1 J .,. n·1t1rds by using
co m posers ask for chords to be arpegg1·act'\., m., ·
at a v~ry fa st one. But there is room for a good deal of flexibility, a nd i~ 15
often inappropriate to h h . .
t e c aracter of the music to pla y a tnll 10 a way
which
such signs as ~ and :j"= to imply ~ ·
sounds mechanicall y regular.
 ~--------------
ORNAMENTS AND EMBELLISHMEt,ns soME EARLIER SYMBOLS
12/2 = - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -~93
ther way of showing arpegg1at1on - ~ (see the ..) -n.e termination of a long shake is rarely indicated Someti· th
Grace notes are ano . (u , " . b . mes e end-
quite the same effe l a mentioned m 12/1 , should be employed· but at th .
xuact on p. 90)' but they do not have
. b ct.
formu , . . •
shake may stop on the mam note without the addition of closing notes.
o er times the
Mendelssohn e aft the early 19th century 1t ecame normal to pl
th
Apart from the fact at er !so not held on. Thus if the last example abo:y ... ) Other symbols were sometimes anached to the bee-innino or end of a
beat they are a f, e (111 . cr--~-'f:>
them before th e ' b -line it would be per ormed approximate! wavy line to show decorated starts or firushes to a trill but after th baroque
· ' e
ar ' y
were to OCC
~
J
ur
.
at a
be sed however, to show that all the notes are to be period these were gradualJy superseded by grace notes (e.g. f became

~=«E
held-~ .
T1escan u '
Thi.
suse
of ties is exceptional, but it is clear and much less
~
J!if- and f became ~)- or were even written out in full.

4'.,__,,
cumbersome than the 'correct' notation - ~ __ _ . (iv) Particularly i~ slow, lyrical music, shakes may sometimes be played
more slowly and deliberately than would be the custom in modem usage.
(v) The signs tr , .w etc. might in some circumstances imply only a single
alternation, beginning on the wrinen note - e.g. when the wrinen note is
preceded by the same note in a lively piece of music. In his book on Bach's
l 2/2 Some earlier symbols
Ornamenrs, Walter Emery suggested the following interpretation of the
IV2a Trills (shakes) and related ornaments opening theme of the last movement of J. S. Bach's 2nd Brandenburg
Concerto -
In the past, trills have been indicated in many ways. During the late baroque Allegro a ssai
period (e.g. in the music of J. S. Bach and his contemporaries) the most i_
@•~ P E.trlr:rt~ m~r.: ~' ijp Z _a !IfIFiO
tr
common were tr (sometimes wrinen with an attached wavy line, tr--), t,
,_, , _; and these symbols continued to some extent into the early classical
period (e.g. in the music of Haydn). They all tended to have the same This type of short shake was called a Schneller.
meaning, with no distinction being made between short and long wavy lines, The normal baroque practice of beginning a trill on the upper note survived
which in any c;a,;e were often wrinen somewhat carelessly. Unlike modern well into the 19th century, but its disappearance was a gradual, not an abrupt
trills, they nonnally began on the upper ('auxiliary') note, although there were process. Even in music of the late-18th century it cannot 1mariah/y be
cenain contexts in which this convention was not applied . assumed that the earlier convention should still be observed.
C.Ontext, indeed, is always a vital factor in the interpretation of these trills Another type of shake in the baroque and classical periods involved the nore
and shakes; and it was assumed at the time that performers would know how below the wrinen note. It was called a mordent (or M ordanr in German), and
to exercise the necessary individual judgement. Any of the above signs might was indicated by the sy mbol ,w . This could imply one or more alternations,
be ~terpreted in several different ways during the playing of a single piec~ of beg~ing on the wrinen note and on the beat: e.g. f is usually played
music,. depending upon the length of note, the preceding and succee~m_g
no~, 1~ harmonic situation and even occasionally the melodic line. This is
too mtncace a subject to be explored in detail here but the following points are
w -mr- but or GFFrFri are possible in certain conrem. 1k
s_ymbols ~ and Mi'\t were also occasionally used to specify long mordents
worth noting: '
(1.e. several alternations ).
(i) The_altemation does not necessarily continue throughout the full value . I_n the 19th century, '"' and -w continued to be used but with a more
of . more likely to indicate a long shake and
the wnnen note · Alth oug h tr 1s · · The former came invariably to mean a smg
hmtted aPP1•cation. · Ie s·nuement
..., a short shake f
' any O these symbols may denote either. Hence, r
tr ,
of th e upper note (e.g. ~ ), and the latter its inversion (e.~. "'[#~).
I
I

I ' ~I
-

and J't could all mean rrrrrrrr but might also mean
Unfortu
;ct
I 9...1
nate Y, the names by which they were known un~t' ·
h -

13
confused:.
(which was, in fact, the old S chneller) was someci~es called ·mo~e~~
~ (or ~ etc.). consequently -w (the old mordent) became an 'mverred ruorden .
Prevent · ~ refrrreJ to as
misunderstanding, the cwo are nowuJays 0llen
 ORNAMENTS AND EMBELLISH OME EARLIER SYMBOLS
M ENts ,212 S 95
94
resnPrtively. Notice that an accidental req . after a dotted note can present many possibilities alth h all
, r' morden ts r--·· Utrect A turnthe dotted note itself: the rhythm of the follo~ng oug ap~ly
'upper' and 1owe ay be written above or below the ornament onlY to N notes remains
r or lower note rn 'e.g.
by the up pe ~
unchanged. Thus fff" might be performed or
i ~ i l . ~. . (Earlier composers rarely
~ - ~·~~ ~ or ~Cf f or [ly'Cff etc., according to
eJ ' J J
marked them.) circumstances. .
Much less common ~han _the standard turn ~escnbed above is the invened
.
s as its name 1mphes, replaces the basic pattern • • • • W1•th Its
turn, Thi ' .
inversion • , • • . The tw~ are somettmes distinguished as 'upper' and
12/ 2b Tums 'lower' rums respectively. The inverted (lower) turn has been represented by

The symbol N represents a melodic deco~ation called a tur: I ts essential

various symbols, e.g. c;-, , * and l , but none of these has ever become
standardised, and all are open to confusion. Moreover, Haydn frequently
shape can best be demonstrated by a simple example: I might be used ,-1,, to indicate an upper turn! Possibly to prevent misunderstanding~
performed W , i.e. the orna~ent starts on the note above the written Haydn, Mozart and later composers sometimes indicated turns by small-size
note then goes to the written note melf, then to the note below, and finally notes (e.g. ~ instead of -fj- ), or even wrote out the
bad to the written note. Again, any accidentals required by the upper and/ or
lower notes may be written above and/ or below the symbol - decorations in full. During the J9th century, the use of grace notes and
I
written-out turns became increasingly common, although some com~
N
continued to use the symbol. In 20th-century music it is rare and can
+- ·W nowadays be regarded as virtually obsolete.
The rhythmic interpretation of the symbol is, however, not so clear-cut. It
depends upon where the N is placed in the music, upon the tempo, and - to a
considerable extent - upon musical feeling and taste. A distinction has to be
made between a N placed directly over a note and one placed between notes, 12/ 2c Appoggiaturas

e.g. between ff--ff- . The former might be performed

and The word appoggiatura literally means 'leaning' and refers to a note, usually

CWi at a quick tempo, err r I at a more moderate one, or

J
dissonant, which resolves on to a weaker beat, or a weaker pan of the bear, as a
.
consonance in the same chord. In the following examples the appoggiaruras

bUfr i at a slow tempo. If the rum is placed between two notes, it has
are marked • • ~ . Although there were one or iwo
~ceptions ~
J

to be thought of as a decoration leading into the second, and so it occurs juSt . .

m the
th
18th century, it can be taken as a general rule at an
before the latter. Thus -ff- might be performed -r-mrr-' or - at appoggiatura moves to the next note above or below when it resolves.
'Yhen it is written in full-size notes (as above), there are no problems. But
slower (and decreasing) speeds - as ~ or -r,,. . _cmrl ere. un~il about the end of the 18th century, the appoggiarura was most comm~nly
Written as a small note, with or without a slur connecting it to its resolunon.
~ and
5
At a quick tempo 1·f th filrSt note is relatively short, a rum between no res The ab .
. ' or e ove examples could have been wntten ~
· g
nught have to be pla d
ye as a group of five equal notes, e.g.
N
r1
becomtn
.
. .
· Nottce that the rhythm values ot the sm size
a11- · ~~~

@ti
s
, but they m USt
· no re·
sti-11 be fe lt to lead to the following ignored·· th e full-s1.ze notes add up to a complete bar Wt·th ou c them ·
 96 ORNAMENT S ANO EM ARLIER SYMBOLS 97
- - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -= ·BELLis1-1M soMEE- -=-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - ~
this method ofn~
1212 -

For modem performers , the disadvanta ge of . - - -~b~ - - . f introductio

-
n which has been given, it will be realised thanan
. . · •L
otat1on 18
it is not always dear JUSt how Jong the appogg1at ura should be _ . ... ,at frorn . ·nterpretat ion of earlythornament symbols often needs speciali'st
.
. meanmg.
. th e1r
0 r rntght be
T he value of th ~rel . be . .
not
. 'd m - appro P I As was p<)lnted out at e gmmng of the chapter, this is an area
for the symbols were ngt wJedge. ,_, d di
J e sma11 note
. . . .
itself cannot be relied upon as an md1cat10n: both j I and ~ z 1cno the guidance of an uuorme e tor -can be particularly valuable.
where 1ess, while there may be many wrong .
ways of performing an
for example, would normally have become Zrj I , but might al
SO have
'
-..r
r.,eve
rrhe
rnament,
there is frequently
'
more than one
tly' I
nght
·u
way. Nor is it ever sufficient
rtainl
:erelY to play an oma~entl codrrec_th . t W1 _c e_ ify ~ d wrong - and
become z Vffj· Iin certain circumstan ces. C. P. E. Bach did h'1s best to rong _ if it 1s p aye w1 out conv1ct1on, n feels awkward or
hence_,bertable
w ·-
· distorts · me lod y rather than adds to its
th e un d erIymg
devise a rule-of-thu mb when he wrote: 'The general rule for the length unconuO ,
or if 1t
appoggiatu ras is that they take half the value of the following note if it is dup~; expressiveness.
1
and two-thirds of its length if it is triple.' Thus z Jj I would become

~ rj I while _z Jj . and r-I would become ~

~ J j •~ r r-1
and ~ f ~j ~ I . C. P. E . Bach's explanation is as good a generalisation as
one is likely to find, but it does not fit every situation.
For much of the I 7th century, and throughou t the 18th, the use of an
appoggiatu ra was commonly assumed in certain contexts, even when none
r r.
was shown. Thus j I
small-size note -
obligatory.
+ - would often have been performed j I j A

made it plain that an appoggiatura was

J
Appoggiat uras were also wrinen as semiquave rs, e.g. __,CI/'.......,.._ f o r ~ .
However, during the classical period and into the 19th century there were
many variations in practice concerning the use of small-size notes of short
value. Mozart, for example, regularly wrote ) , not Jl, to denote a semiqu~v~r
appoggiatu ra (editors generally alter his notation in this respect), though
1 m
also likely that in certain situations he meant hi s ) sign s to be interpreted m
hand, used a small-size Jl (wi th00 t
the modern way. Schumann , on the other
the stroke) when he intended the modem j . For at least the first quarter of
the 19th century there was no certain di stinction in notation between short,
yet rhythmical ly measurable, appoggiatu ras and notes to be played as quj~~~
as possible. It cannot be assumed that ) always meant the former andnd )
laner. Subsequen tly, however, the use of ) wa s generally abandoned a
became established, with the implication s which the sy mbol continues ~o have
today. Meanwhile, the use of small-size notes to indicate long appoggiaruras
had virtually disappeare d.

*
'C : .p · E · Bach , Versuch u"be r d,e
* * . z11 spte
' wahre A rt das Clav ier . I en, 1753·' rranslared by
L ndon,
' Fo r
rev. versio
.
r Urther reading ·· R0 be rt. Donmgron, (F '-- London •
Th,, /nurpnu,u,011 of Ear(v Mu.m: suer,
rd
Ferguson ~ t 9 ); Walter Emery, B ach ·s Omw1MIIS ( Novello, London 1953); Ho"':l
(Cassel 1' 0 74
J. Mitchell as Essay on 1he
Williau.i _ True An of Playing K eyboa rd / ns1r11111ents
2nd ed111on 1951 ). ' eyboa rd lmerprec,.uiu11 (Ox.ford U 111,,ers.ity Press, London 1975).
 $ q
98

CHAPTER 13
Reiterations and Repeats
---
~
nt1STS OF MORE THAN ONE BAR
(J/ 1 "" ~ - - - -- - - - --
10
I I etc.

Indeed, this method is now used for any number of bars' re

------- 99

st
upwards , although other symbols are also used for thi·s purpose _from two

signs explained in Chapter 12 have the advantage of 5 5

t
ManYof the ornamen
d wn·te out a number of notes m · full . Suc h labour-sa
vm·
~the~ ro
avo~ nl a help to the composer, but they also make the musicg
devices are not o Y . . .
. d Th y can even bring about an economy m pnntmg, since they
easier to reaApart
· efrom those which
we have alread y seen, there are a number 13/2 Reiterated notes
save s~~~ thods of economising in musical notation by simplifying the
of stanUlllu me
representation of: No explanation of these shorthand devices is needed apart from their written-
1) restS of more than one bar;
out equivalents -
2) reiterated notes;
3) repetitions of groups and bars; .
4) repeats of whole sections of music.
-
~= rrr ~ = rrrrrr
13/ l Rests of more than one bar
Orchestral players, particularly brass and percussion players, frequently have
nothing to play for many bars on end. It would be no help to them to write
~ = r:rrr ~ = rrrrrrrr
I as many as 30 or 40 times, or even more: with nothing to
catch the eye, they would simply get lost. The methods actually used assist
~ = r:r:r rr:r: r:r
comprehension as well as save space. Traditionally rests of up to eight bars had
individual signs - fiE = 5rf r
Further subdivisions are indicated by additional strokes; thus three strokes-
■ = 2 bars' rest 1
■ ■ 6 bars' rest ( etc. - represen t demisemiquaver reiterations.
Patterns of alternati ng notes can be shown similarly -
■
= 3 bars' rest
■ ■ 7 bars' rest
jJJJ ~or~ = J
■ = 4 bars' rest
■ ■ 8 bars' rest

■ = 5 ban;' rest
PJJpJJ tmJm
These fsymbols
. are now virtually
· · g
obsolete, but the traditional way of showtn
~ ; JJJJJ)
rests o rune or more bars is still used - 1
It should be
eg . noted, however, that the same signs ~re ongu--~l lu uscJ !ti ornament sigJlS,
hen r,vo
. · in English and Dutch keyboard music of the late 16th- 17th crnturk:S, w ... .... strokt:i
wu1
This is thr sa
1
,.._ the
me as luc breve rest: see 31 1. ough a st
. J · dicure a s...... .
em, or above or below a nore, wt!n- romruonl)' use 10
Ill
 REITERATIONS AND 0 ,_
~
100
"-"PEI\Ts i J/J
~ --- --- --- -
REPETITION S OF GROUPS AND BA RS
101

~ I be found written as ~ ' but the latter notation . G roups consisting of a mixture of rhythmic values may be
~ mayaso 1s oblique strokes wt·th dots et·ther st·cte - shown b
y two
~
1
~~ J-, r9 &;F;.t I
~-
f d . is easier to react th
now out o ate . an
~ JI F Js F f ;i f r' Lj . Similarly ~ and ~ or ~ are J w.
d a complete bar, which can be repeated as often as neces b .
~ and ~ , though identical in meaning an
blique stroke wi.th d ots et.ther st"de - sary, y a single
preferable to ~ ~ ·

n,
More rapid alternations can be shown by the same method:
for example, mean alte~ations of) s. However~ if very s_hort time
andn 0

~M E[F F f
~ ~
ftf F&I "- Y. 1
are used or if the tempo 1s very fast, all that may be intended 1s that the The repetition of a short passage - rarely more than two or three b _
va Iues b. ( . ) . ars may
alternation of the notes should be as quick as posst"ble, 1.e.
.
not strictly counted. be shown by the word 1s twice m the middle of a square bracket above it _
Careful composers add the word tremolo (or crem.) when they want this effect.
~R rrrcuic.ar ;1rrrc u1ttrr JiJ
may be written as -
13/3 Repetitions of groups and bars - - - - - bi s - - -- ~

r Fr f u IEU F JI
~,,,,
When a chord is repeated exactly on every beat in a bar, the repetitions do not =@g
always have to be written out in full -

!) f
!>=§ ,~ ,,. Imay be 9=?

I
written if
!>= R f ,,
I l
I
I
I 13/4 Repeats of whole sections of music

There is another way of showing that a passage is to be repeated: by placing

dots (either two or four) in the spaces of the stave inside a double bar-line at
the beginning and end of the section to be repeated -
!J: f f ff I ,,
nt f • f • I

Repetitions of quaver groups may also be shown by the same oblique stroke
I

1~1· ~~and ====~:ll or iErn~~ and ====:=:.i:11

(In the following examples two dots, which are more customary, will be used
between the second and fourth lines of the stave - for repeat signs, but four dots could be substituted in each case.)
If the passage to be repeated occurs at the very beginning of a piece, the first
ng d f cJ f 1:;i~t~~ n R cf f 1 set of dots is omitted. At the first repeat sign in a piece, therefore, one re~ts

~i aaa
but repetitions of se ·
1.. .. $2 v:,
. two
'
I
from the beginning, but at all others one goes back to the previous repeat SJgn.
Thus

l 8 er r m Ittr r JHI w,Jw Ire ••H

rruquaver groups require strokes -

~$2 r fr r O 0
is to be performed

and demisemiq
uaver groups three strokes - ~HEr (LJ IUJr JI FEf Url tur ll
Mt#r81$f ¼uJ W wr- ~w 1 rrrJ. J

b
 REITERATIONS AN D REPE
C
TS OF WHOLE SECTION S OF M US IC
ATs 13/ 4 REPEA 103
102 _ _ _ ---
. be 1 ced at any point in a bar, not just at the end re two other standard directions for repeanng · se---: f .
A repeat direcnon can .dcilp a fa bar however, the time values must be · 11tere a rl d . -.uons o music
. the m1 e o , so . h have already been pe o~e . The first 1s the instruction Da Ca
When it occurs m uld be complete if the passage were written out • whtc bbreviated as D.C., meanmg 'from the beginning': i.e. the no..r ~ ,
arrange d tha t the bars wo l11 often a • · f th · . ~ 11 ormer 1s
ain at the begmrnng o e wrmen music. The place to fi • h .
to start ag •
full. Thus • • the word Fme (I ta lian 1or
' , d' irus is then
en ), or by a ~ (not observed
~ g Jil rIT rCT IID r ,n,JI jJiJ w Itfj~ shown bY
.
ome ro
A s1
und) or by both toge er.
, . .
·rnilar instructton 1s Da
. . .
th
I Se
goo, or D.S. for shon meaning 'f
. . . '
th fi
e irst

rom e
th
is to be performed . , Toe sign 10 question 1s shown ~ or -%- , so the performer retu
sign . . .1 h ms to
~a J>I rcr rr, 1ttr r Ji 1rrr cu I Eur J po1·nt and plays . on agam
. untt e. comes to the word Fine and/or I'.'\ .
.
this
Sometimes the mst~ct10ns are wntten out_m~re fully but with the same
meaning: Da Capo al Fzne (~epeat from the ~gmrnngas farasFine);Da/ Segno
'
~&JJ@ J tu I EE' J Ji I JiJ •J c.IJ I tfj? J ~
al Fine (repeat from the sign as far as F~ne). ~owever, more complicated
instrUctions are also to be found, usuall~ mvolvtng the phrase 'e poi' which
' .
(The two notes marked • are not docced crotchets, because the sixth quaver of
means 'and then', e.g. D. C. al Segno e poz la Coda (repeat from the beginning
s far as the sign, and then play the coda).
the bar is provided in the repeat.) . . a In practice, composers' instructions about repeats are not always observed.
The end of a passage which is repeated can be altered when It 1s played the
Generalisations about whether or not this is justified are dangerous, but then:
serond time by the use of ,.-----i and ~ directions. These mean 'first
may sometimes be a case for ignoring a repeat sign shown by dots. One place
time' and 'second time'. Thus
I1 I IT 7 where it is even customary to do so occurs when a section is played again

~' 2(f £tr U IO t ICr ~ I ffi]:11:

following a D. C. or a D.S. instruction, as, for example in the repetition of the
11 Minuet after the Trio in the classical minuet-and-trio form (e.g. in the
symphonies of Haydn and Mozart). To ignore a D.C. or a D.S. instruction
itself, however, usuall y upsets the balance of the music asa whole. Indeed, the
two directions often occur on chords other than the tonic, where the music
cannot stop but must continue until it reaches the end as shown by Fine etc.

The first- and second-time directions can embrace more than one bar, as in
the next example - which also shows (underneath) how bars are numbered for
reference. Notice in bar Jb that the ~ is unclosed at the end since it
leads into fresh music; the repeat dots at this point show th at the following
section will also be repeated.

~ . ~
~ (J 1/ U tJ I(Jr
1

2 2
t I( .. p 4 It}~
h ~

=$' ~-u. I ~ l = tJ
• I f?EJ;
§I s I_t~ ~ ere.
lb 4b · 5 . 6
Although the repeat d · h t
m h1
uc onger repeats e0 f passages
f
m the above examples are all ve ry s or '
- ten o several pages - are also common .
p
XJI
• XIII

APPENDIX B
APPENDIX A
Irregular Divisions of Compound T ime Values Notes and Keys in
. . . b implies, two different methods of writing irreguJ
English, German, French, Italian
As the infonnaoon m 515 J'k I ar
... m und time values arc used. Both are I e y to be encountered -
div1s1ons of _co po rsc of a single piece! The essence of the matter may b German French
somcnmcs m the cou e English Italian
summarised thus - SYS~EM A SYSTEM B C Ut
C Do
either n 4
Or J
I
2

4
J
I C sharp
C flat
Cis
Ces
D
Ut diese
Ut bemol
Re
Do diesis
Do bemolle
Re
JJJJ , JJJJ D
D sharp
Dis Re diese Rc ciicsis
J can be divided into 5 5
D flat
Des Re bemol Re bemolle
JJJJJ " J J J J J
7 7
E
E
Eis
Mi
Mi diese
Mi
E sharp Mi dicsis
jJJJJJJ jJJJJJJ E flat
Es
F
Mi bemol
Fa
Mi bemolle
Fa
J s in System A and as
Li.kc groups of 7, irregular groups of 8-11 would be written as
F
F sharp Fis Fa diese Fadiesis
)! sin System B. Irregular groups of 13-23 would then have to be wrinen as J sin F flat Fes Fa bemol Fa be.mollc
System A and as ) s in System B. G G Sol Sol
Divisions of other compound units can be obtained by adjusting the time values in G sharp Gis Sol diese Soi diesis
the above table, for example - G flat Ges Sol bemol Soi bemolle
SYSTEM A SYSTEM B A A La La

j
1
A sharp Ais La diese La diesis
J can be divided into either j 2 j or j 2
A flat As La bemol La bemolle

). n n2 2

etc.
B
B sharp
B flat
H*
His
B*
Si
Si diese
Si bemol
Si
Si diesis
Si be.molle
As outlined above, each system is consistent within itself. (In System A the time
major Dur majeur maggiore
taken by each irregular group would always be shorter if the figure were removed; in
System Bit would always be longer.) Confusion can be avoided by sticking to one minor Moll mineur minore
sharp Kreuz diese diesis
system or the other, and not mixing the two. Thus -
2 , 7 5 double sharp Doppelkreuz double diese doppio diesis
~ J. _ n IJ J J J J7l lJJJJJJJJJJJJI J
is unsaosfactory; at first glance it is not at all obvious that the first note of the second
I flat
double flat
Be
Doppel-Be
bemol
double bemol
bemolle
doppio bemolle
natural bequadro
~ is exactly half the length of the note before it. The passage would be better written Auflosungszeichen becarre
111 one of the following ways _ or Quadrat

SY~EM BJ n2
i iffl
4
m
Ij JJJJJ J.J J J J J IJ
7 5

~ ~
SYS~EM BJ '27 4 7 5 • Note that in German is called B and is H. Thus it is
· j j IIITJffi IJJJJJJJJJJJJI J .c
· c1early on the side of System A although in
Logic, it may be th ought, is . ·
pracnce poss ible to write BAC H in musical notes: ~ ~" u_~
composers often use it on! i d 1 ' . · in ,
Syste B F Y or up ets, all other irregular groups being written
m · onunately what ·
is mten • usually clear because it can be deduced
ded IS
from the ti • '
me signature and the remaining notes in the bar.
xiv
• FOREIGN WORDS US ED FOR PERFORMAN CE DIRECTIONS

Spitze (G ) see ti la pointe

xv
1

anerd .. ( ..
GLOSSARY .
. _. .. (I) soul, spmt can amma 1s ambiguous , meaning CJ.th. er 'with
aJllu- feeling'
'spirited') or
Foreign Words used for anunando (I) bec_orning m~re lively_
aniJnato (I), anime (F) arurnated, lively
Performance Directions apaise (F) calmed .
. cere (I) at pleasure, meanmg that the performer is not bound to folio
a pta w
the given rhythm exactly
assionato (I) with passion .
(Abbreviations: I = Italian, L = Latin, F = French, G = German, lit. = literally) app ./
a punto d'arco (I ) s~e a_ a pomte . .
(I), 8 (F) at, co, by, for, in, in the style of arco (I) bow of a stnng mstrument,_a direcnon after pizzicato (sec 1912)
3
assai (I) very, extreme}~ (but sometimes _used in the same sense as as.1ez)
aber (G) but (but somenmcs used in the same sense as assai)
a cappclla (I) unaccompanied (referring to choral music - lit. 'in church style') assez (F) enough, sufficiently
. d' .
.
accderando, acccL (I) gradually getting faster a tempo (I) in um~, m 1ca~ a ~tum to _the original speed after e.g. ric., rall.
adagietto (I) rather slow, but faster than adagio attacca (I) go straight on, md1canng an immediate move to the next section
adagio (I) slow (lit. 'at case'), generally held to indicate a tempo between andante of music
and largo Ausdruck (G) expression (ausdrucksvoll: expressively)
a<km, a2 (F), a due, a 2 (I) for two performers or instruments (in orchestral au talon (F) use the bow (of a string instrument) at the heel, i.e. the end
or band music, it means that a part is to be played in unison by two instruments) held by the player
ad libitum, ad lib. (L) at choice, meaning either that a passage may be performed avec (F) with
freely or that an instrument in a score may be omitted ben, bene (I) well, very
affettuolo en tenderly bestimmt (G) with decision, definite
affftttando, affrct. (I) hurrying bewegt (G) with movement, agitated
agitato en agitated
bis (I) twice, indicating the repetition of a short passage (see 13/ 3)
al, aila (I) to the, in the manner of bravura (I) skill, brilliance (con bravura: in a brilliant style)
a la po~e (F) use the bow (of a string instrument) at the point, i.e. the end breit (G) broad, expansive
opposnc to that held by the player brillante (I), brillant (F) brilliant
alla breve (I) with a minim beat, equivalent to ~ ( ¢ ); i.e. implying a faster brio (I) vigour, animation (bn'oso, con bn"o: with vigour)
tempo than the notes might otherwise suggest (see J/ 2)
aUa marcia (I) in the style of a march calando (I) getting softer, dying away (and usually slowing down)
~ o (I) broadening, i.e. getting a little slower and probably also a little
cahnato (I), calme (F) calm, tranquil
tOuder cantabile (I) in a singing style
allegretto (I) fairly quick, but not quite as quick as allegro cantando (I) singing
allegro (I) quick (lit 'cheer(uJ') Capriccioso (I), capricieux (F) in a whimsical, fanciful style
als (G) than cedez (F) yield, relax the speed
alt (I) high (in alt is used 10 · ocal · col, coll', colla, colle (I) with, with the
treble . v music to refer to notes in the octave above the st
· ·
stave, starting with the G· · /IISsimo, · colla parte (I) keep with the soloist, a direction to an accompani
al talion• (I) see au talon 'ma m the octave above that) st
- colla voce (I) keep with the singer a direction to an &n"Ompani
amabile (I) amiable, pleasant col legno (I) with the wood, a drre::rion to a string player to play witb tbe wood
am Frosch (G) see au La/on of the bow rather than with the hair (see 19/ 2) -
amorc (I), amour (F) love coll' ottava (I) with the octave, a direction to a keyboiud player to double notes
amoroso (I) loving an octave higher, or lower if bassa is added
andante (I) at a walltin ce . , . . . . ..
and mo/to anda g pa (lit. going'), md1catmg a medium speed (p1u andante come (I), comme (F) as, similar to
me are somewhat 1
. s ower
) come prirna (I) as before (not necessarily as at t.he beginning)
andantino (I) Ii h . . I r·
s g ti Y faster than nd
a ante (but It can also mean shghtly s owe · come SOpra (I) as above (= come pn·ma)
the term is ambiguous)
comodo (1 ) convenient (tempo ccmwdo: at a comfortable speed)
 0
GLOSSJ\R.y woRDS USED FOR PERFORMANCE DIRECTIONS
xvi FOREI:G~N~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-- - - - -- - =
~"

feroce (I) fierce

coo (I) with . . s (sec una corda, ere corde) feurig (G) fiery
corda, corde (I) smn8, (~uall y getting louder
crescendo, cretc., cres. (F) fine (I) end .
fin ' unge Flzg. (G ) fluner-tongumg, a direction for wind ins•~·--
Flatterz ' "="'nts
da (I) from fro the beginning (sec 13/4) (see 20/ 6) fl lik dire .
da capo, D.C. (I) m · (sec 13/4) (lautato, flautan do (I) ute- e, a cuon for natural harmonics O tnn
dal segno, D.S. (I) from the sign · ns · g
insrruments (see 19/ 4~ . .
Dampfe r (G) mute . . (lessibil e (I) flexib_le, 1.e. not m stnct tempo
decilo (I) with dctcrmmaoon . f ruessend (G) flo~mg
decrescendo, decretc., decres. (I) gradually genmg so ter
flottant (F) floanng . .
delicat? (I) dclicahcdtc ally applying to bowing on string instruments f (I) loud (formsimo, ff, !ff: very loud - sec 10/ 2)
detacbe (F) dctae , usu forte, • h . d' l f
.
diminue nd~ dimin., dim. (I) gradually gemng softer fortepta 00, f,p (I) loud, t . en 1mme iatc y. so t
. . . forza (I)
force (forzand o, Jorzato, f z: forcing, strongly accenting )
divisi, div. (I) diVI'dCd' a direction to orchestral players (usually strings) to d1v1de frei (G) free
into two or more groups (sec 22/2)
fretta (I) haste
doch (G) however, yet . . frisch (G ) vigorous
dolce (I) sweet, soft (dolcissimo, dolws.: as sweetly as possible )
frohlich (G ) cheerful , joyful
dolente (I) sad, mournful
fuoco (I) fire
dolore (I) grief (doloroso: sorrowful)
furioso (I) furious, frenzied
doppio movime nto (I) twice as fast
douce, doux (F) soft, sweet (doucemenc: softly, sweetly) gebunden (G ) joined
duolo (I) = dolore gehend (G) at a steady speed (lit. 'going'), equivalent to andante
gesangvoll (G) in a singing style, equivalent to cantabile
e, ed (I) and
geschwind (G ) quick
egal (F), eguale (I) equal
giocoso (I) playfu!, humoro us
ein (G) a
giojoso (I) joyful, merry
einfacb (G) simple
Empfind ung (G) emotion, feeling (empfindungsvo/1: with feeling) giusto (I) proper, exact (tempo giusto: in strict time)
.
glissand o, gliss. (pse udo-I) slide (a rapid scale passage produced by
emporte (F) fiery, impetuous e.g. dmring
en animant (F) becoming more lively a thumb or finger-tip along the white keys of a piano, or by sweeping the~
en cedant (F) yielding
across the strings of a harp see - 19/7 - or by sliding the finger along a
smng of
en dehors (F) prominent (lit. 'outside' ), a direction to make a string instrume nt
melody stand out G.P. (G - Genera/p ause) an indication to individual performe
energico (I) energetic rs that all arc
enlevez (F) take up, take off, a direction for a pedal or a mute silent (see I 0/ I )
en me111.re (F) in time gracieux (F) graceful
en pre•ant (F) hurrying on grandio so (I) grandly
en retmant (F) holding back (slowing a little) grave (I, F) very slow, solemn
en serrant (F) becoming quicker grazios o (I) graceful
espreui one (I) expression ~mmer (G ) always
e~re•iv o, espras. , espr. (I), express if (F) expressive ~mpetuoso (I) impetuous
e5linto (I) as soft as possible, lifeless
~ncalzando ( I) getting quicker (lit. ' pressing forward')
et (F) and
~nnig (G) heartfelt , sincere
etwas (G) somewhat, rather 1n ·
. qweto (I) restless
1n u _ _,...A tsnd out
f sec Jorie . · to make a lilC-""'
re evo (I) prominent (lit. 'in relief), a direct1on Ys
facile (I, F) easy
ioyeux (F) joyful
felice (I) happy
kriiftig (G) strong

w
 GLOSSAR,y
• FOR PERFORM ANCE DIRECTIO NS
xviii FOREIGN W O RDS USED xix

( I) sad (lit. 'tearful')

. do, JagrimOSO nusura (I) measure (al/a misura: in strict time; senza misura: in free time)
lacrimOSO, lagrtmaD .
th
Jamcntoso (I) lamen~ lent to adagio and /en10 mit (G) wi d' , (F) at a mcxierate speed
Jangsam (G) slow, eqwva modcrat o (I), mo ere
moins (F) less
targamente (I) broadly but slightly faster than largo molto (I) very, much
largbctto {I) rather slow,
ln-o (I) slow, stately . morendo (I) dying _away .
... e . 1 uivalcnt to vivace with monon, arumated
Iebbaft (G) hvc Y, eq_ 'b~d' ' 'tied'), indicating no break between notes mosso (I) . nto (I) movement, mon·on
legato (I) smooth (lit. oto mov1me .
. . . smooth as possible) . m ' ent, m ouvt (F) movement, monon (au mo1tVeme111: in time; premier
mouvem
(ltgamsmro.F)as I • (I) lcicht (G) light, rumble
cggicro , wful) (Jer) mouvemenc: original tempo)
u...-nw,nt (
-e.H -·-- . / . (/tidvoll, leidmsvo/1: sorro . ter (G) lively . .
Lead (G) gne' punpassion. (lei·denscha'cl ich: passionate) •g
the tunmg of a kettle drum or in transficrnn
Lcidcnsch aft (G) ~• muta (I ) change ' e.g. as in changmg
mun
. strument to another
lcisc (G) soft, gentle from one m
lent (F), lento (I) slow (/en1emen1 : slowly) . . . . .
. . nach und nach (G) gradua~y
libcramcnte (I), librcmcnt (F) freely . t ( in the ordinary way, a direcnon to a smger or tnstrumenllllist
with some freedom, parttcular ly naturaIe, na • I )
licenza (I) licence, freedom (con alcuna lzcenza:
rhythm) to resu me the normal methcxi of performance (e.g. after a col /egno passage in
with regard to tempo and
string music)
licblich (G) lovely
nicht (G) not
J'istcao (I) the same (/'iscesso tempo: at the same spee~) .
niente (I) nothing
loco (I) at the normal pitch (used to cancel an 8va direction - see 2/ l - or to nobilmente (I) nobly
confirm that one is not intended)
noch (G) still, yet
lointain (F), lontano (I) distant
non (I, F) not
lourd (F) heavy, equivalent to pesame
nuovo (I) new (di nuovo: again)
lugubrc (I) mournful
is
lunp (I) long (lunga pausa: long pause - see 10/ 1) obbligat o (I ) obligatory, indicating that an instrument has a special role and
l111ingando (I) coaxing; in a sweet, persuasive style essential (though the word is sometime s incorrectly used to mean 'optional')
lustig (G) cheerful oboe (G) without
m sec main, mano, mezza ossia (I) or, alternatively (often used to indicate a simpler version of a difficult
passage)
ma {I) but (e.g. allegro ma non croppo: quick but not too quick)
macstoso {I) majestic ostinato (I) persisten t, generally referring to a persistently repeated rhythm
or melcxiic figure (a basso oscinaco is a bass line with this feature) .
main (F) hand (main gauche, m.g.: left hand; main droice, m. d.: right hand) bassa: octave lower; otcava a/ca: ocmve higher)
maia (F) but ottava, ott. (I ) octave (occava
mano {I) hand (mano sinistra, m.s.: left hand; mano descra, m. d. : right hand) p see piano
mancando {I) fading away
parlando (I) speaking, a direction to sing in a conversational style
marcato, man:. {I) emphatic, accented t · · deep feeling, with pathos (not , pa thenc
(I ) with · the sense of feeble!)
· , ID
pa euco
~rt.cl~ (F), martcllato (I) strongly accented (lit. 'hammered'), generally used pausa (I ) a pause
m ~ m':'8ic to denote a particular type of bowing, but can also be applied
to pedale (I), pedale (F) pedal
music for piano or other instruments per (I) by, for, through, to
manialc {I) in a military style perdendosi (I ) dying away
mlisaig (G) at a moderate speed Pesante (I ) heavy
mcno (I) less
mcsto {I) sad ~u (F) linle (peu a peu: little by little, gradually)
· mp- P1acevole (I) pleasant
mczza, mezzo {I) half ( , ·
od mezzo 1°rce, mf: moderately loud; mezzo piano, P!angevole (I) plaintive, in the style of a lament
-~ erately soft; mezza voce: in an undertone )
uuatcrioso {I) mysterious P~ano, P (I ) quiet (piam·ssimo, pp, ppp: very quiet)
Ptetoso, pietosam entc (I) tenderly (lit. •pitifully' )
x -------
~
piu (I) more ked direction
GLOSSAJly

for plucking the strings of a bowed

FOREIGN WORDS USED FOR PERFORMANCE DIRECTIONS

seconda,
segue (I)
secondo (I) second (seccmda volta: second time)
(Ii ,,
go straight on t . 1011ow
')
3
pizzicato, pizz. (I) P1uc '
instrUJDC11t (stt )9/2) scbr (G) very .
scroplicc (I) simple, plam
placido (I) calm, peaceful
seroprc {I) always . . .
plus (F) more ·n1 I) without (e.g. senza ngore: freely, ht. 'wtthout strictness')
hettino,pocb. (I) rather Ii e senza (
pochissimo, pocbiss. (I) very little . scul (F) alone . .
serrer, S...-rrez (F) hurry, quicken,
poc Ii-'- slightly <.poco a poccr. little by little, gradually) equivalent to scringendo
poco (I) u"", sforzato, sfz, sf (I) accented, forced (sec 10/ 2)
poi (I) then . . ) s fiorzando , . .
ndcello (I) bridge (on a stnng mstrumcnt . ' . , . . ii siro. (I ) conunue m the same way
SIID C, ( . , aJ ,_. .
po (I) slide from one note to the next (lit. carrymg ), a dtrection to a . • , (I) until, up to sm 1 rne: until the end)
SIDO, SID .
~~~~.J
VOICC, ouw,cu
· strUmcnt or trombone (but not to keyboard instruments since
m
. ) slargand o,
slentando (I) getong slower
. . . . .
they always play in 'steps' of at least _a _scrrutone . . {I) enthusiasm, impetus (cai slancio: wtth unpetuosity)
s1ancto d . .
possibilc (I) possible (e.g. presto possibile: as fast ~ possible) sroorzando, smorz. (I) ymg away m tone and speed
prccipiwulo, prccipitato, precipitoso (I) rushmg, headlong soavc {I) gentle, smooth
pl"CIICr, prellCZ (F) hurry . . solenne (I) solemn, grave
presto (I) fast, a tempo faster than allegro ~rest1ssimo: ve~ _fast )_ sonoratnente (I), sonore (F), sonoro (I) resonant, with rich tone
prima, primo (I) first (prima volta: first ~1me, used _to distmgw~h between two sopra (I) above, on, e.g. a direction for keyboard players to place one band over
different interpretations of a repeated secnon of music; tempo pnmo, first speed, the other (see also came sopra)
used to revert to the opening tempo of a piece of music) sordino, sord. (I) mute (con sordini: with mutes; senza sordini: without mutes_
see 19/2, 20/ 5 and 21 / 3b)
quasi (I, L) as if, resembling (e.g. quasi recicativo: like a recitative)
sospirando (I) sighing
ralmtir (F) slacken, slow down sostenuto, sost. (I) sustained
rallentando, rall. (I) gradually getting slower (see I 0/ I ) sotto (I) below, e.g . a direction for keyboard players to place one band below
rucb (G) quick (rascher. quicker) the other
repctizionc, replica (I) repetition sotto voce (I) in an undertone (lit. 'below the voice')
retcnu (F) held back, i.e. a little slower sourdine (F) mute
rigoroso (I) strict sous (F) under
rinforzando, rinforzato, rinf., rfz, rf (I) reinforcing (see 10/2) spiccato (I ) detached (lit. ' clearly articulated') a bouncing bow cechique on
ritoluto (I) bold, strong string instruments
ritardando, ritard., rit. (I) gradually getting slower (see 10/ 1) spiritoso (I) spirited
ritcnuto, riten., rit. {I) held back (see 10/1 ) staccato, stacc. (I) detached, short (see 11/3) (staccatissimo: very short)
ritmico (I) rhythmically stark (G) strong
rubato, tempo rubato (I) with some freedom of time (lit. ' robbed' - see 10/ 1) strepitoso (I ) noisy, boisterous
rubig (G) peaceful st retto (I) quickening the speed (also means overlapping entries of I fugue
subject)
saltando, sahato (I) see saucille
sans (F) without stringcndo (I) gradually getting faster
subito, sub. (I ) suddenly
sautillc (F) springing, a lightly bouncing bow technique on string instruments ul · (Ii 'on') the
s ' sulla (I) on the (e.g. sul G: on the G string; suJ poncue/lo: near t.
sc:enaodo, scbcrzo90 (I) playful, joking (scherzo: a joke; implies a fast speed)
sc ppco, schlcppcnd (G ) dragging bridge - see 19/ 2)
schncU (G) fast (sclme/ler: faster) suss (G) sweet
schwacb (G) weak (schwiicl,er. weaker) I
tacet (L ) silent, a direction that a particular part has nothing to play in section
SC:!~~~ {I) O:isp (lit. 'dry'), suppress the sound as quickly as possible - do
to connnue to reverberate (sec I9/2c)
of music
tanto {I ) so much
 GLOSSARy

erboard of a string instrument (sul tasco: on the finoerboar

tasto (I) the fimg dirccri -"6 d)
on to a continua player not
INDEX
or the key of a keyboard (c~to solo, T. S. : a
to add anything above the given bass)
tempo (I) speed (a cnnpo: in time) cadence 69
accelerando 76
tcncramcntc (I) tenderly accents, musical 44-5, 79 - , ~perfect 73
tcncrcaa (I) tenderness _ verbal 42 -, lDtctTuptcd 73
tcouto, ten, (I) held (sec 1113) . acciaccatura 88 - , perfect 70-1
tosto (I) swift, rapid (but often used m the same sense as troppo) - , plagaJ 72
accidentals 13-14
u,mquillo (I) '21m _ (in figured bass) 64 - , others 74
trauril (G) sad agogic accent 44 chords 59-{,6
trc (I) three (ere corde: three strings, a direction to pianists to release the left Alberti bass 66 - , broken 66
pedal - sec 2l/3b) alla breve 5 - (in ai~ences) 69-74
trcmolando, trem0lo, trcm. (I) trembling, a direction for the rapid reiterations alto clef 32 - (notanon in figured bas.,) 63-,·
of I single note or alternations of different notes (see 13/2, 19/2) anacrusis 69 - (layouts) 65-{)
appoggiatura 95-6 -hr(notation in jazz) 62 _3
lffl (F) very c omatic 30
arpeggio 66
trioafalc (I) triumphant arpeggiation 91-2 - intervals 47-8
tristamcntc (I), tristc (I, F) sad articulation marks 82-6 - scale 30-2
troppo (I) too much augmented - semitone 48-9
tutti (I) all, everyone - chords 60- 2 circle of fifths 23
un (F), una, uno (I) one (una cordo.: one string, a direction for pianists to - intervals 48-50, 55, 56 classical (period) 74, 96
- triads 57 - 8 clef 8, 32
press the left pedal - sec 21 / 3b)
- , alto (C) 32
und (G) and bar 3 - , bass (F) 8
uouono, unis. (I) in unison, with everyone performing the same notes, a direction -, first- and second-time 102 - (change of) 13
to cancel divisi bar-line 3
- , tenor (C) 32
- , double 5
vcloce (I) swift - , treble (G) 8
baroque (period) 62, 63, 92-4
vibrato (I) vibrating (see 19/ 5) close position (triad) 58-9
bass clef (F) 8
vicl (G) much comma 83
beam 3
vif (F) lively common time 5
bea(~ing (of quavers etc. ) 3, 20, 33 -4 compound intervals 53
viproso (I) vigorous, strong - m vocal music) 41
- (inversion) 54
vitc (F) quick - (to show syncopation) 45
compound time 19--20
vivace (I), vivcmcnt (F), vivo (I) lively quick - (related to phrasing) 83
beat I, 3-6 - (grouping of notes) 34
voa (I)' voix (F) voice ' undertone softly)
· (mezza voce: in an
- (grouping of !'e)°'tS) 35-7
volantc (I) flying,fast ' - (compound time) 18-20 34-7 compound time \lllues, irregular
voll (G) full - (simple time) 33, 34 _5 '
di vision 40, xii
vol ta (I) time (.prima volea: first time) - , weak (opening) 16, 68-9
concords 55-6
beats (fi ve to a bar) 37
void aubito, V.S. (I) tum (the page) at once - (seven to a bar) 37
continuo 63
VOl'lctrqco (G) brought out, prominent crescendo 79
black notes (keyboard)
breve 2 7 crotchet 1-2
Wenig (G) little
- rest 15,98 - rest 15
wiedcr (G) again
broken chords 66
zart (G) tender, delicate D<1 C,lf'<J (D.C. ) !OJ
C clefs 32 D,1/ St?g,I,) (D.S.) 103
zicmlich (G) moderately
zu (G) to, too C(2 ) 5 ,kgrees of scale (major) 11-12
- (minor) 24-5
¢ ( ~) 5 - (namc>s) 28-9
I
I

..J
 C

-- --
xxi,·_ _ _ _ _
_ , DEX
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ ____ 1.N
1NDEX xxv

grace notes 88-90, 92 ouava (8, 8va) 9

demisemiquaver 2 grouping of notes 20 leading note 28- 9
- rest 15 _ (in cadences) 70
- (compound time) 34 36-7 _ (in dominant seventh) 61 paragraph 67
diatonic 30 - (simple time) 33, 36~7 pause 77
- intervals 46-7 - (other time signatures) 37 ledger line 9
tter names of notes 7- 9 perfect cadence 70-2
- semitone 10-12 grouping of rests 20 1~ (in French, German, Italian) xiii perfect concords 55-6
diminished - (compound time) 35-6 -
perfect intervals 46-50
- chords 60-2 - (simple time) 34-5 Jines (stave) 8 performance d' . , 53- ,
- intervals 48-50, 55, 56 trectJons 75
- (other time signatures) 37 M.M. (Maelzel's metronome) 5- 6, - (glossary of foreign -80
- triads 57 --8 106- 115 . words)
diminuendo 79 half close (cadence) 70 75--0 phrase 67
discords 55--<> half note 2 major - ending 69-70
dominant 28 harmonic interval 46, 53 - chords 60
- intervals 46-50, 53-5 - marks 81 , 86
- chords 60-1 , 70-2
harmonic chromatic scale 3 l _ scales I 1-12, 21 - 3 - structure 68-9, 81
- seventh chord 61 , 71-2
harmonic minor scale 24--0, 47 , 51 58 phrasmg, double 85-6
- triads 57 - triads 57-8
harmony 57 ' piano (p) 78- 9
dot (after note or rest) 17 measure 3
hemidemisemiquaver 2 pitch 7, 10
- , double 18 mediant 28
dotted notes (grouping of) 33-4 melisma 44 plagal cadence 72
dotted restS (grouping of) 35-7 imperfect cadence 73 melodic interval 46 primary triads 57
double bar-line 5, 13 imperfect concords 55-6 melodic chromatic scale 31-2 pulse I
double dot 18 interrupted cadence 73 melodic minor scale 24-6, 47, 51, 58
double Oat 29 intervals JO, 46-56 metronome mark 5-6, 75-6 quadruple time 20
double phrasing 85--0 - , augmented 48- 50, 55, 56 middle C 7, 9- JO, 32 quarter note 2
double sharp 29 - , chromatic 47-8 minim 1-2 quaver 1-3
duple time 20 - , compound 53 - rest 15 - rest 15
duplet 38 - , diatonic 46- 7 minor quintuple time 20
dynamics 78-9 - , diminished 48- 50, 55 - chords 60 - _(grouping of notes and rests) 37
- , dissonant 56 - intervals 47- 51, 53-5 qwntuplet 39
eighth note 2 - (inversion) 53-5 - scales 24-5
elision 42 - , major 46-50, 53- 5 - triads 57-8 ral!enrando 76
enharmonic 11 - , minor 47-51 , 53- 5 mood 80 reiterated notes 99-100
- equivalents 27, 48-9 - (number) 46, 55 mordent 93 relative major/ minor kevs 25- 7
equal temperament 23 - , perfect 46-50, 53-5 repeats 98-103 ·
- (quality) 46, 55 natural I0, 13- 14 - (of rests of more than one bar) 9S-9
F clef 8 note 2
inversion of chords 60-1 , 64-5 - (of groups and bars) 100- 101
feminine ending 74
inversion of intervals 54-5 note names (leners) 7-9 - (of whole sections) 101- 103
fermara 77
inversion of triads 58- 9 - (leners in French G resolution 56
figured bass 62--0 Italian) I05 , erman,
irregular time divisions 38-40, xii rests 15- 16
Fine 103 note pans 3
first-inversion chords 60- 1, 64- 5 - (grouping of) 20, 34-7
jazz (chord notation) 62-3 note values 1-2 - (of more than one bar) 9S-9
first-inversion triads 58
notes (groupin of) rhythm 6
first-time passage 102 notes reite gd 20, 33-4, 36- 7
Oat 10-14 key-note 12, 28 , rate 99- 100 rhythmic notation of words 41 -2
- , double 29 key signatures 12 ri1if1J1~,uo, r111/or:11,,Ju 79
- (change of) 13 octave 7 nrnrJ,mdo 76
- keys 26-7
- (relati ve ma jor/ minor) 25- 7 - marks 9 rllrmlllO 76
Jorte (J) 78-9 open po . .
full close (cadence) 70 - (names in French, German, o s1t1on (triad ) 59 root-position chorJs 60- 1, 63-5
Italian) 105 rna111ents 87 rooc-position ui:ids 57-8
G clef 8 - (with flats) 21-3, 27 - (sy111bol · • nib,11u 78
- (ea I' . s still 111 use) 88- 92
general pause (G.P.) 77 - (with sharps) 21- 2, 27 r ic:r symbols) 92- 7
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _•'PNDEx
xx.vi

tempo 5-6, 75-8

scale 11
- , degrees of 28- 9 tenor clef (C) 32
- , chromatic 30-2 renuco 85
-,major 11-12,21-3 third-inversion chords 61
tie 16-17
- , minor 24-5
Schneller 93 - (in grouping of notes ) 33_ 4
second-inversion chords 60-1 , 64-5 - (in arpeggiation ) 92
second-inversion triads 58 time 5, 19
second-rime passage I02 - , compound 19-20
scmibreve 2 - , duple 20
semiquaver 2-3 - , quadruple 20
- rest 15 - , quintuple 20
semitone 10-12 - , septuple 20
sentence 67 - , simple 19-20
septuple time 20 - , triple 20
- (grouping of notes and rests) 37 time signatures 3-5
sepruplet 39 - (change of) 13, 77
seventh chocds 61-2, 65 time values 1-2
sextuplet 39 - (irregular division of) 38--40, xii
sfor.:aro, sforzando 79 tone 10-12
shake 90-3 tonic 28
sharp 10-14 - chords 59-61 , 70-2
- , double 29 - triads 57
- keys 26-7 transposition 51-2
si mple time 19-20 treble clef (G ) 8
- (grouping of notes ) 33 trem(l/0 JOO
- (grouping of rests ) 34-5, 36-7 triads 57-9
si mple time values, irregular division trill 90-3
38-9 triple time 20
si xteenth note 2 triplet 18- 19, 39
slur 82-3, 85-6 tritone 56
sraccaro 83-5 turn 94-5
staff, stave 8-10
soives, bracketed I 0 unison 48
stem (up- and down- ) 3, 9, 16
subdominant 28 val ues, note or time 1- 2
- chord 72
submed iant 28 wedge 85
supenonic 28 white notes (ke yboard ) 7
syncopation 44 - 5 whole note 2
word s set to music 41 - 5
The AB Guide to Music Theory is intended to help people
learning music to understand how music is written down,
what the various signs and symbols denote, and what is
meant by the common technical words used by musicians.
Arising out of this, it provides an introduction to the basic
elements in harmony and musical structure. In the main,
Part I deals with the subjects of the ABRSM Theory syllabus
for Grades 1- 5, and Part II with those which occur in the
higher grades. The information has not been broken up
to correspond with individual grades, but a grade by
grade presentation is adopted in a companion series
of workbooks, Music Theory in Practice.

Pro fessor Eric Taylor, M .A. D.Mus.(Oxon), Hon RAM, has

wide experience as a teacher in schools, music colleges
and un ivers it ies, and as an ABRSM examiner. His
publications include First Steps in Music Theory, Grades 1-5
and Music Theory in Practice, Grade 1, which has sold over
a million cop ies worldwide.

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AB G1 •ide To Music Theory, The 1

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