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Loading... The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory, 2nd Edition (The Complete…| 103 | 1 | 60,339 | 
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Solfeggio is a method of naming musical tones using a set of syllables - do, re, mi, and so on. These syllables come from the initial syllables of the first six words to the Hymn to St. John; the seventh syllable (Ti) is derived from the St. John, in Latin. [7]  Solfeggio and methods of naming tones by number are relative; two people might call two different pitches "Do", so fixed systems are used. "The accepted way of naming specific musical itches uses the first seven letters of the alphabet. [8] Scientific pitch notation puts a number after the letter (e.g. C1 as lowest on grand piano) to designate which octave is meant. [9] On a keyboard: F is the white key before the set of 3 black keys; C is the white key before the set of 2 black keys (C and 2 are lower in the alphabet / number line, F and 3 are higher). [9] The lines you add above or below a staff are called ledger lines. [11] In addition to notating music in the bass or treble clef, you can combine them as when writing for the piano: this is the Grand Staff. [12] There really aren't any rules for how to assign instruments to a percussion clef, so you're pretty much on your own. [14] The smallest interval in Western music is the half step; intervals are typically measured in the number of half steps between the two notes. [18] Two notes that sound the same but can be spelled differently are called enharmonic notes. [18] - this points up the abstract nature of notation; there is one sound, but the frame used to identify those notes allows for more than one designation depending upon whether a given note is flatted or sharped] There are also enharmonic scales, e.g. C-sharp Major / D-flat MajorHalf steps = semitones / whole step = tone [19] On a guitar, half step is a single fret [19] Music from other parts of the world often contains intervals smaller than a half step. Some Indian music, for example, divides an octave into 22 steps, each about half as large as a Western half step. [19] Degrees of a scale [20]
first (root) = tonic
second = supertonic
third = mediant
fourth = subdominant
fifth = dominant
sixth = submediant
seventh = leading note
eighth (octave) = tonic
(Mod-12 avoids this by counting half steps, which yields 12 intervals and avoids enharmonics, too.)
Musicians often refer to the intervals between notes in these terms, e.g. "let's raise that note a fourth ..." or "start on the Major 4th ..."
Those are major intervals; the minor intervals are the flats / sharps, "the pitches that fall above or below the basic notes" [21] Perfect intervals are those which "don't have separate major or minor states (although they can still be flattened or sharpened)" -- the fourth, fifth, and octave intervals.
(When sharpened they're called augmented, when flattened, diminished; this is distinct from a double-flatted note, which is also called diminished.)
There's no such thing as a minor fifth or a major octave.
These are linked to mathematical frequency ratios: a physical / auditory reason for these intervals being different.
A perfect octave has a ratio of 2:1 between the two frequencies, the octave is twice the frequency of the starting pitch.
Put into a series, each increasingly complex interval ratio forms what is called a harmonic series, and the intervals (in order) are called harmonics. [21] | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources.  Wikipedia in English (5)
▾LibraryThing members' description ▾Book descriptions Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0028643771, Paperback)
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory breaks down a difficult subject in a simple way-even for those who think they have no rhythm or consider themselves tone deaf. With clear, concise language, it explains everything from bass-clef basics to confusing codas. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:23 -0400) ▾Open Shelves Classification The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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What I find instead of a workbook is a systematic explanation of the basic framework of Western twelve-tone scales. Pretty much every page I find an "aha!" insight, such as: each minor key uses the identical notes from a major key, only the minor key begins with the 6th note of the major key's scale. Ah! -- that gives me some insight into why the minor feels different, yet retains a connection to the overall system. After all, without a system, what makes a "key"? Why not simply pick a random set of 8 (or is it 12?) ascending notes? (Answer: that would be a mode, which preceded scales and upon which scales are based.) This book helps make head and tails of such questions as these, though often I must read between the lines to get at my answer.
The accompanying CD fits in with the exercises, which is to say: not terribly useful to me. (