Prologue
Last December (2019), I received an email about a survey from Coursera. After filling it out, I was given the chance to take a course from Coursera for free. The options were limited to entry level lessons from a variety of fields, from which I picked The Fundamentals of Music Theory offered by The University of Edinburgh.
Notes for Week 1
Musical Notes
Early in the history, there was not a universal form for representing musical notes, nor was there audio recorder, so keeping record of a piece of melody became problematic, especially when the aim was to pass it on. The
stave (staff)
with musical notes was hence eventually formed to represent melodies in a standardized way.The lines on a stave are called
ledger lines
.There are seven alphabetical
note
names in ascending (⬆️) order:A
(La)B
(Ti)C
(Do)D
(Re)E
(Mi)F
(Fa)G
(So)
Notes on a keyboard (commonly piano):
When necessary, additional line segments can be used to supplement (extend the range of) ledger lines so as to mark higher (lower) notes.
The four ascending (⬆️) notes that fall prespectively in the four spaces in the standard 5-line stave are
F-A-C-E
, “face”.Middle C
: the lowerC
with one ledger line segment below the stave, normally at the middle (center) of a keyboard:
Octaves
The inteval between two alphabetically adjacent musical notes is called a
second
.- Similarly, there are
third
,fourth
,fifth
, up toseventh
.
- Similarly, there are
When the interval reaches 8, it becomes an
octave
Tones and Semitones
(Refer to a keyboard)
Tone
: the distance of a second that has a black key in the middleSemitone
: the distance of a second that does not have a black key in the middle- There are only two sets of semitones: between
B
andC
, and betweenE
andF
- There are only two sets of semitones: between
Scales
Diatonic mode
: natual octave scales- “When the pattern of tones and semitones is different, the scale sounds different - formally it has a different quality.”
- The seven diatonic modes
C
Ionian (same as C major): TTSTTTSD
Dorian: TSTTTSTE
Phrygian: STTTSTTF
Lydian: TTTSTTSG
Mixolydian: TTSTTSTA
Aeolian (same as A natural minor): TSTTSTTB
Locrian
- “Music doesn’t always start on its tonic, but it often finishes on it, … should feel like home.”
The C Major Scale
C
is the tonic- Diatonic scale: a scale that has a pattern of 2 semitones and 5 tones within an octave
- Some C major songs:
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- Frere Jacques (Brother John or Are You Sleeping)
- Mary Had a Little Lamb
Chords
A
chord
: Music notes played simultaneously to harmonize melodyTriad (chords)
: a three-note chord consisting of 2 thirds- Represented as three notes stacked
C major triad is the
tonic
of the C major scale.A minor triad is the
tonic
of the A minor scale.Perfect fifth
: a fifth containing 7 semitones (a tone is counted as two semitones)Major third
: a third containing 4 semitonesMinor third
: a third containing 3 semitonesA
perfect fifth
is:- A
major chord
if starting with a major third - A
minor chord
if starting with a minor third
- A
7 natural triads: 3 major chords, 3 minor chords, and a
diminished chord
Cmaj
,Fmaj
, andGmaj
Dmin
,Emin
, andAmin
Bdim
(diminished, as having an imperfect fifth)
The 3 primary chords
Tonic triad
: triad built on thetonic
(starting note) of a scaleSubdominant triad
: triad built on the fourth note of a scaleDominant triad
: triad built on the fifth note of a scale- For C major scale:
Cmaj
is the tonic triad,Fmaj
is the subdominant triad, andGmaj
is the dominant triad respectively
- For C major scale:
- Harmonization using natural (primary) triad chords