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Music Theory Word of the Week: transposing instruments
Did you know that musical instruments themselves are in different keys? Many of them are in the key of C (like the piano, violin, cello, flute, and oboe, among others). We're all familiar with how to read music written for an instrument that's in the key of C: When you play a C, it sounds like C. When you play an F#, it sounds like F#, and so on. But some instruments, including the trumpet, clarinet, and French horn, are actually in keys other than C.
Let's take the French horn as an example. It's in the key of F, which means that when it plays a C, it actually sounds like a F. Any note played on the French horn will sound a perfect fifth lower: D sounds like G, B sounds like E, etc. As another example, the most commonly used trumpet is in the key of Bb, meaning that a C played on the instrument comes out sounding like a Bb. Any note on the trumpet will sound a major second lower than it is written. Instruments that work this way are known as transposing instruments.
When writing music that involves any transposing instruments, a composer must know what key the instrument is in and transpose it accordingly on the page. If they don't, the piece will sound just terrible because the transposing instruments will play the wrong notes! Keep in mind that the key of an instrument has nothing to do with the key of a piece. The French horn is always in the key of F (sounding a P5 lower than written), for example, regardless of the key of the piece.
Why do some instruments transpose? There are several reasons, but one common one has to do with the fingering used when playing the instruments. Many transposing instruments are part of a larger family of instruments that are similar but span different sizes and ranges, like the soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones. Each member of the saxophone family being in a different key allows the fingering to stay the same throughout the family. This makes it possible for the same musician to play each of the saxophones without having to learn new fingerings for each one.
Click here for a list of instrument transpositions.
Theory in a Box School Edition - The List Is Growing!
Third Street Music School Settlement in New York City and Norwalk High School in Norwalk, Iowa are the latest schools to join the Theory in a Box Member Schools program. Welcome!
New Member School Announcement
Welcome to the newest Theory in a Box member school, the University of Tennessee at Martin Department of Music!
Special Holiday Music Theory Challenge
Happy Holidays from Theory in a Box! Here's a theory challenge in honor of the season: What is the meter of the well-known carol What Child Is This? (also known as Greensleeves)? Also, do you know what scale is used? Hint: There are two different versions, each using a slightly different scale...and one of them is tricky!
Don't know Greensleeves or do you have a holiday carol or song you like more? Try to figure out its meter and scale, and post it along with the name of the song on the Theory in a Box Facebook or Twitter pages!
More on compound vs. simple meter
Last week, we asked if it would be common to see a half note in a piece of music in compound meter. The answer is no! In compound meter, eighth notes are notated in groups of 3s or multiples of 3. Longer note durations found in compound meter include dotted quarter notes (a group of 3 eighth notes) and dotted half notes (a group of 6), but not half notes (a group of 4) or whole notes (a group of 8). Take a look at how the same rhythm would be notated in 3/4 and then in 6/8:
Beaming also works the same way. In simple meter, eighth notes should be beamed in groups of 2 or 4 while in compound meter, they are beamed in groups of 3 or 6. Here is the same rhythm beamed correctly in 3/4 and then in 6/8:
Why does all of this matter? Because we naturally feel certain meters with certain groupings and subdivisions, and the more the notes on the page match this feel and look like they sound, the easier it is to play!
Music Theory Challenge
Based on the blog post below (simple vs compound meter), do you think it would be common to see a half note in a piece in compound meter? Be the first to post the answer on Twitter @theoryinabox or on the Theory in a Box Facebook page!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Music Theory Words of the Week: simple vs. compound meter
Time signatures, also known as meters, are not all created equal. Or, it might be better to say they aren't all FELT the same way. There are two kinds of traditional meters-simple and compound-and the difference between the two all comes down to how the subdivisions of the beats are felt and how they relate to the bottom number in the time signature. In simple meters (like 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4), the primary beat is a quarter note and it's subdivided into groups of two:
In compound meters (6/8, 9/8, 12/8, for example), the primary beat is the dotted quarter note, and it's subdivided into groups of three:
Another way to understand simple vs. compound meter is to see how the bottom number of the time signature in each kind relates a bit differently to how the music is actually felt. In simple meter, the bottom number tells you what kind of note gets the beat while in compound meter it tells you what kind of note gets the subdivision of the beat. That means that in 6/8, for example, a musician would actually feel only 2 primary beats, with 6 subdivided beats (1 2 3 4 5 6).
New Member Schools
Theory in a Box is proud to announce the addition of the following New York City public schools to our Member Schools list:
- Enterprise, Business, and Technology High School
- High School for Professional Careers
- School for Legal Studies
These three schools, located in Brooklyn, NY, will offer Theory in a Box to all of their music students. Welcome aboard!
How to Get Help with Theory in a Box
Don't forget, you're not completely on your own with Theory in a Box. Did you know your progress and quiz scores are saved and can be viewed by your Theory in a Box teacher or coordinator? This allows them to offer you help when you need it and also to keep track of how you're doing. Need some help or technical support? Here's how:
Solo Edition: Send a request for help from your Help screen. If you're not able to log onto Theory in a Box, send an email to info@theoryinabox.org
Studio Edition: Contact your teacher for help.
School Edition at Bloomingdale School of Music: Make an appointment for help any day Monday-Friday from the Help screen or by emailing tiabhelp@bsmny.org
School Edition at Member Schools: See your Help screen or contact your Theory in a Box Coordinator for more information on help available to you.
Music Theory Word of the Week: double whole note
You might have thought the longest note in music is the whole note (4 beats), but you wouldn't be quite right. You may have figured out that a dotted whole note is even longer (6 beats), but there's still a note that's even longer! It's called a double whole note (or breve in British terminology), and it lasts for the length of two whole notes. You don't see it all that often these days, because it's only used when the time signature is 4/2--a meter that is rare today but very common in the Middle Ages. In 4/2 time, a double whole note takes up a whole measure. How does it look? One of two ways: It can be written as a whole note with a vertical line on either side of it, or as two whole notes side-by-side.
Have you seen one of these?
Music Theory Challenge
The whole-tone scale and the major and minor pentatonic scales are "anhemitonic" scales. Can you figure out what kind of scale(s) would be "hemitonic"? Be the first to post the answer on Twitter @theoryinabox or on the Theory in a Box Facebook page!
Music Theory Word of the Week: pentatonic scale
Strictly speaking, a pentatonic scale is simply any scale with 5 notes per octave, in contrast to the major and minor scales, which have seven notes per octave (the term for a seven-note scale is heptatonic). There are dozens of different pentatonic scales found in different musical styles and traditions across the globe, but in Western classical, folk, and popular music, there are two that are used commonly.
The major pentatonic scale is formed by omitting the fourth and seventh scale degrees from any major scale. The minor pentatonic scale uses the natural minor scale and omits the second and sixth scale degrees. Just like the major and minor scales, pentatonic scales can have relative relationships. Take a look at the C major pentatonic scale and the A minor pentatonic scale (its relative minor) below. They use the same five notes, but center around a different note as the tonic:
Quick quiz: Can you find a piece of music or a song that uses the pentatonic scale? There are many. Post your answer on Twitter @theoryinabox or on the Theory in a Box Facebook page.
Theory in a Box Welcomes You Back to School!
Best of luck on a new school year and good luck with your theory studies. Contact your school for information on signing up for Theory in a Box School Edition. Register right here for Theory in a Box Solo Edition!
U.S. Education Dept. Study Shows Online Learning Might Be Better
A recent article in the New York Times cites a United States Education Department report that examined nearly 100 studies comparing traditional classroom studies with online studies over the 12-year period from 1996-2008. The report concludes that "on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction" under tested conditions. Experts attribute the impact of online learning to its focus on interactivity and the availability of high-speed video and collaborative tools such as social networking and instant messaging.
What do you think? We want to know! Read the article here and chime in on the Theory in a Box Facebook page or on Twitter!
Music Theory Word of the Week: whole-tone scale
If you've studied a musical instrument for a few years, chances are you've learned major and minor scales pretty well. You may even have learned the chromatic scale, but did you know there are many other musical scales besides these three? They may not be used as commonly as major and minor, but you do find them in certain periods and styles, and they each have their own unique qualities.
One of these non-traditional scales is the whole-tone scale. Just as it sounds, it is made up only of whole steps. There are no half steps in sight. How many whole steps does it take to get from a note to the same note one octave higher? The answer is 6, which means that the whole-tone scale is a relatively short scale. The most interesting quality of the whole-tone scale, though, is the tone or mood it creates. The mixture of whole steps and half steps in the major and minor scales creates a tonal hierarchy. Certain notes sound more stable than others, some notes sound as though they should lead to another note, and the first scale degree sounds definitively like the home note of the scale. The whole-tone scale, with only whole steps, is actually perfectly symmetrical and has no hierarchy. This makes every note sound just about as stable or unstable as the rest, creating a sort of hazy or blurry effect. In fact, many film and tv composers use this scale for dream sequences for just this reason.
Can you build a whole-tone scale? It's easy! Just start with any note and then add a whole step above, another whole step above, and so on, until you get back to your original note. Take a look at this example:
And finally here's a quick quiz for you: What is the quality of a triad built on the whole-tone scale? Post your answer on Twitter @theoryinabox or on the Theory in a Box Facebook page.
Music Theory as Forensics in Coldplay Plagiarism Claims
British alternative rock band Coldplay has spent much of the last 9 years on the top of the charts, but after their most recent hit song "Viva La Vida" won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year, several other artists stepped up to claim that it contained material plagiarized from their own songs. Guitar legend Joe Satriani filed a lawsuit against the band in December for copying part of his 2004 song "If I Could Fly", while Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) claimed that elements of his "Foreigner Suite" were stolen for the song but has not threatened legal action. Is there a valid complaint or does Viva La Vida just use a common chord progression? Guitarist and teacher Andrew Wasson has a series of videos on YouTube (Joe Satriani video, Yusuf Islam video) using music theory to get to the bottom of things. Did you know music theorists are often used as expert trial witnesses in copyright infringement cases?
Music Theory Word of the Week: melisma
When composers set words to music, they have several choices of how to coordinate the two elements, and these choices have a major impact on the sound and style of the resulting melody. The melodic style wherein each syllable of text is sung to a single note (as in Happy Birthday) is called syllabic. A single syllable of text sung to several different notes is called a melisma (and a melody that uses this technique is called melismatic). Melisma is common not only in classical music, but also in musical genres from India, Africa, and Asia. In the popular realm, artists like Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, and Beyonce are practically defined by their use of melisma.