Episode 36 truly aims to maximize your understanding and minimize your need for memorization.
Episode 36 truly aims to maximize your understanding and minimize your need for memorization. Understand exactly how the clefs work in order to never need to memorize a mnemonic device. Of course, I’ll throw in a few fun sentences just in case (1:33). Then, get a quick summary of all the rhythmic note and rest values (4:23).
Question of the day: What is the name of the clef that is two lines or a rectangle? (5:57)
Thank you for listening to The APsolute RecAP: Music Theory Edition!
(AP is a registered trademark of the College Board and is not affiliated with The APsolute RecAP. Copyright 2021 - The APsolute RecAP, LLC. All rights reserved.)
Website:
EMAIL:
Follow Us:
Hi and welcome to the APsolute Recap: Music Theory Edition. Today’s episode will recap Pitch and Rhythm
Lets Zoom out:
We’re in Unit 1 Music Fundamentals I
Topics 1.1-1.3
Our Big ideas are pitch and rhythm
The two largest components of music are pitch and rhythm. They are such a big deal, they make up half of our big ideas in this course. Pitches are frequencies that can be arranged into melodies. Music also consists of long and short sounds or silences. Rhythms can be organized into meters, where a pulse or steady beat can be found.
Lets Zoom in:
Pitches are often visually organized on a staff of music consisting of lines and spaces. They can be labeled with letter names ABCDEFG, and may include sharps and flats written to the left of the notehead but to the right of a lettername.
Accidentals can show enharmonics, when one pitch has two names. For example, C# is the same as Db, and E is the same as Fb.
The most common clef is the Treble Clef or G clef. It is important to remember the G in the name because the curl of the clef circles around where the pitch G would be on the staff. Therefore, if you were forgetting the mnemonic device you learned, just refer to where G is and count up or down from there. Just in case you do need a mnemonic device: the spaces spell the word FACE, F-A-C-E. The lines could be remembered with the sentence: empty garbage before dad flips, or every good boy does fine, or energetic grandmas buy dashing flip-flops.
The Bass Clef, or F clef is used to notate lower pitches. Just like with the G clef, you can use part of how the clef is drawn to help you remember pitches for the F clef. The two dots go on either side of the line that shows pitch F, as well as the starting dot of the clef rests on the F line. To remember the spaces you could think the sentence: All Cats Enjoy Games. A mnemonic for the lines could be Go Buy Donuts for Antman.
The C clef is most commonly used as the Alto clef for violas. The C clef can be moved to rest on any line. This means that you could count and label any note, as long as you notice which line the two backwards Cs come together on. That line is middle C.
Pitches are grouped together in melodies using half steps and whole steps. These can be easily identified on a piano. The distance between a white key and the neighboring black key is a half step, but so is the distance between the two white keys of E and F and B and C. Two half steps will get you a whole step.
Now moving on to the other most common element of music: rhythm. Here is your rhythmic value breakdown in common time. Whole notes and rests equal four beats. Dotted half notes and rests are three beats. Half notes and rests are two beats. Quarter notes and rests are one beat. Eighth notes and rests are half a beat, and are often grouped in twos. Sixteenth notes and rests are a quarter of a beat and are often grouped in fours.
Dotted rhythmic values such as dotted half note and dotted quarter note, are found by adding the original value of the note without a dot, plus half of that original value. So, a dotted half note in common time would be a half note, two beats, plus half of a half note, one beat, equallying three beats total. A dotted quarter note in common time would be a quarter note, one beat, plus half of a quarter note, an eighth note, which equals one and a half beats.
To recap……
The two largest components of music are pitch and rhythm. Use the name of the clef to help you remember note names when mnemonic devices slip your brain. G clef, F clef and C clef are the ones you’ll need for the exam. Rhythms can be organized into meters, where a pulse or steady beat can be found. Some important rhythmic notes and rests to remember are: whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth and dotted note values.
Coming up next on the Apsolute RecAP Music Theory Edition: Rhythmic Patterns
Today’s Question of the day is about clefs
Question: What is the name of the clef that is two lines or a rectangle?
