BASIC MUSIC THEORY

Robert Carelli The sound is the result of the collision of two bodies. When we h
ear a song, we heard the noise resulting from friction / hit / blow of an instru
ment. For example, when we hear an oboe playing, we're actually hearing the soun
d of air that the musician blows into the mouthpiece colliding with the inner wa
lls of the instrument. Music is an organized sequence of sounds. Over the millen
nia, man has developed ways of producing sounds and record them. The musical not
ation that we use in modern times took shape about 500 years in Europe. Written
by Western music, musical sounds can be divided into seven, called notes, with t
he following names: C, D, E, F, G, A, SI. (Click on each note to hear it). These
notes are written in a graphic sign of five overlapping lines, called PAUTA or
pentagram.
The sign on the far left of the staff called CLAVE DE SOL, and serves to indicat
e the line where the staff should be written the note G. This is due to the fact
that there are other ways of getting the notes on the staff. The treble is a gr
aphic stylization of the letter G, since in Europe note naming the Sun is repres
ented by this letter. In encryption chords, this representation of letters is us
ed to indicate the base of the chord, as we shall see later. A chord is the simu
ltaneous execution of two or more tones
The chord has three notes above, and as the bottom note is a D, this agreement i
s an agreement of D (click on the chord to hear). A SCALE is a succession of asc
ending / descending notes, and a musical instrument can play a scale with severa
l octaves (an octave is the space between one note and its corresponding nearest
acute or severe). The piano, for example, covers several octaves, from notes to
the region subgravid hyperacute. So, a note of, for example, can be played at d
ifferent times, more acute or more severe, as the eighth where he is (click here
to hear the note in various octaves DOH).
To write bass notes, it is customary to use the bass clef (picture above). There
are other keys, such as C, which is commonly used for sheet music viola orchest
ra (do not confuse popular with the viola strings dedillhadas).
The musical sound is made up of three elements: melody (ordered sequence of note
s), harmony (the combination of sounds played simultaneously) and rhythm (regula
r succession of sounds with different duration). The duration of a note is writt
en out using the so-called figures of sound, represented in the figure below:
Taking the Whole note as a starting point, each note is on the right half of its
duration. Thus, the least tough half of the whole note, quarter note to half th
e minimum, and so on. To set the tempo of a song, you use the staff an indicatio
n of COMPASS, which is indicated by a fraction placed after the clef. For a bina
ry rhythm (one beat strong and weak) is used fraction 2 / 4, which means two qua
rter notes per measure. The number four always represents a quarter note, genera
lly used as the base value for the definition of measures and movements. For a t
ernary rhythm (note a strong and two weak), it uses the fraction 3 / 4, and so o
n. Of course these are basic rhythms, and a piece of music has many subdivisions
of beats within each bar. Is how many notes are in a bar, the sum of their dura
tion times can never exceed the total value of that measure. Thus, a music rhyth
m quaternary (4 / 4) times the sum of the notes of each bar will have to be exac
tly four times a quarter.
Observing the compass above, see notes that were used with different duration, b
ut the sum of these gave exactly four times a quarter, or four quarters. Can be
used other types of bar, which use other values as a basis. A binary bar that is
based on the minimum is indicated by 2 / 2. If a quaternary based on an eighth
note, it is indicated by 4 / 8. It is observed that each figure is indicated in
the sound bar for a fraction of that number is always double the predecessor. Th
us, the whole note is indicated by 1, the minimum for 2 to 4 per quarter note, t
he eighth by 8, and so on. Bars are used over the binary (two quarters), the ter
nary (three quarters) and quaternary (4 / 4). Another measure used with some fre
quency is the ternary compound, where every time you have a ternary division. In
this type of compass, the denominator of the fraction indicative figure represe
nts the sound that's worth a third of each beat of the bar. For example, the bar
6 / 8, the numerator indicates that the compass is BINARY (because 6 divided by
3 equals 2), and the denominator indicates the quilt equals one third of the ti
me (remembering that this bar has TWO TIMES and every time you have THREE quilts
).
More rare are the uneven bars, such as a bar of 7 / 4 or 13/16. These indicate b
reaks rhythm during a part or a whole piece with an irregular rhythm. Interval i
s the space between two notes. Or may be Melodic Harmonics. Melodic Intervals be
tween two notes that appear below each other. The harmonic intervals are distanc
es between sounds that sound the same time, forming what is called Harmony. The
intervals are not all equal and to classify, measure the distance between the tw
o notes which constitute, with notes of departure and arrival. This distance is
measured in tones and semitones. The semitone in music system used in Western co
untries (eg Brazil) is the minimum distance between two sounds. In the East we f
ind musical systems with even smaller intervals. An example is the Indian music.
As stated above, the musical sounds are divided into seven. But there are five
sounds between them, called altered notes. Thus, in an ascending scale from the
note C will have the following sequence: DOH - DO # - RE - RE # - MI - DO - DO #
- # SOL SOL - la - la # - IS.
The # sign is called the pound and raise one semitone the sound of the note. If
this scale were descending, I would do - si - SIB - la - la b - SOL - SOL b - DO
- MI - MIB - RE - Reb.
The signal is called b-flat, down a semitone in the sound of the note. The sharp
and flat are the CHANGES. In the C major scale we find the following ranges: fr
om 1 TOM: the re, the RE MI DO SOL, the SOL THERE, THERE IS. ½ TOM: DO MI and S
I to the DOH a keyboard, is easy to understand the succession of tones and semit
ones in a scale. The white keys are natural notes, and black, the notes change.
The range of halftone, can be: 1) - Chromatic, if the two notes that form are of
the same name: the - the #.
2) - if the two diatonic notes that the form they have different names: DOH - Re
b, MI - FA to determine the name of any interval, it uses a very simple numerica
l procedure, eg the interval OF SOL: DO ( re mi fa) SOL 1 2 34 5
INTERVAL The above is a range of 5th (fifth). The number that names the INTERVAL
corresponds to the position of the last note in the first. However, to classify
a range is also necessary to specify the interval TYPE: PERFECT (P), GREATEST (
M), MINOR (m), INCREASED (AUM.) or MINIATURE (dim.), depending on the number of
pitches and facilities -tones used in their training. Based on the order of note
s in a scale and their positions on the first note, we can define the levels of
the notes. For example, in the C major scale, the notes have the following degre
es:
In this range we found two semitones in the 3rd to 4th grades (between E and F)
and the 7th to 8th grades (between Si and C). Among all the other notes we find
intervals of a tone. Therefore, this scale, the succession of intervals between
notes is a tom tom 1 1 ½ tom tom one tom tom 1 ½ tone scales with this sequenc
e of INTERVAL is called a major scale. However, if the sequence is this: 1 ½ to
m tom one tom tom one 1 ½ tom tom tom one. We will then have a smaller scale. W
ith these definitions, we can understand how the chords are classified, which ar
e formed with three or more notes sounding simultaneously. There are instruments
that can not play chords: the human voice, flute, trombone, etc.. They are melo
dic instruments or soloists because they can only play melodies - natural succes
sion of notes. The instruments to play chords are instruments harmonics harmonie
s make for that is through the chords. Examples of harmonic instruments: guitar,
piano, organ, etc..
If we note the DOH, we have omitted to note the note played RE MI, omitted the n
ote and touched note DO SOL, the result is: DOH - MI - SOL ie the chord of C maj
or, represented below:
We say that DOH is the Fundamental Agreement. The key is always the lowest note
and the chord that defines their classification. MI is the third of the Agreemen
t (form a range of 3rd to the fundamental). Quinta do Sol is the Wake (as a 5th
interval with the fundamental). If from re and based on the notes of the C major
scale, we get the Wake of RE - DO - THERE: D minor chord. The same applies begi
nning on any notes of the scale. These three chords sound: perfect agreement, ca
n be divided into four categories: * WAKE UP MORE PERFECT: Formed by a Major 3rd
and Perfect 5th. Agrees PERFECT MINOR: Formed by a minor 3rd and perfect 5th. A
grees 5th OF INCREASED: Formed by a 3rd and a 5th Largest Augmented. Agrees 5th
OF MINIATURE: Formed by a minor 3rd and a diminished 5th. These last two chords
that contain dissonant intervals: (5th Augmented and diminished 5th), are called
Perfect Dissonant Chord. Besides these three chords sound,€called Perfect or 5
th (Thursday), we have: four chords sounds called chords 7th (Seventh). Chords o
f five sounds, called chords 9th (Ninth). The chords can be found in the ground
state or reversed if the lower note of the chord does not match the fundamental
note. The triad may have two inversions: DOH - MI - SOL - Ground State
MI - SOL - DOH - 1st Inversion SUN - DOH - MI - 2nd Inversion The notes are the
same, though they are in different positions. As already mentioned, from each no
te of the major and minor scales are formed by third intervals, chords, to honor
the notes of the scale, will take the settings: Major, Minor, Augmented or Mini
ature. To build chords of four tones adds one more note to those chords at a dis
tance of one third, as it has the chords of three notes: the Seventh. If we thin
k of the chord of C Major, DOH - MI - SOL, respectively tonic, third and fifth,
the seventh note is the SI, the distance of an interval of a seventh-largest in
relation to the tonic. A chord of four notes is obviously more complex than a ch
ord of three notes, as to add one more note, increases the number of harmonious
relations. The chords may also have ranges ninth to eleventh, thirteenth, etc..
For example, the chord of C Major Seventh (7th) and ninth grades would be built
by: DOH - MI - SOL - SI plus note RÃ distance of a ninth-largest in relation to t
he tonic. There is another way of representing the notes beyond form with notes
on a pentagram. They can be represented by letters. In this case, the note THERE
is used as the basis for this notation, is represented by the first letter of t
he alphabet (A). The succession of notes looks like this: doh - C D - mi D - E F
- F sol - G there - the self-B This notation is often used in codes that repres
ent chords in notation of music for plucked string instruments, as the guitar an
d guitar. Thus, the chord of C major is represented by C. The C-minor, for Cm.
Musical instruments
Since antiquity, man sought to produce sounds using objects. In prehistory, the
most that should have been were the noise of percussive sounds, since humans hav
e not had great development manual for building melodic instruments. The first m
ore elaborate instruments capable of producing melodies, seem to have started to
emerge in antiquity. In Egypt, Greece, Rome and other ancient civilizations hav
e exisitiam harps, lyres, woodwind instruments. Also
Indians of pre-Columbian America were already making their drums, flutes and str
inged instruments. The most close to what we currently use have emerged in Europ
e in the Middle Ages. Precursor of the guitar, violin, trombone, trumpet, accord
ion, etc., already existed. Developing them was only a matter of time. In the ni
neteenth century, the acoustic instruments were already present in current form.
The symphony orchestra has had the training he has today: Violins, violas, cell
os and basses in the suit of cords flutes, clarinets, oboes and bassoons in the
woods, trumpets, horns, trombones and tuba in metals, timpani, cymbals and bass
drum in percussion . This was the basic training, but even Beethoven and his con
temporaries already included other instruments such as piccolos, tuba, tambourin
e, glockenspiel, bells, etc.. An orchestra may now have an infinite number of in
struments, limited only by the imagination of the composer. Below, a typical for
mation of the modern symphony orchestra: Strings: First and second violins, led
by spalla Violas Cellos Contrabasses Wind Wood: Piccolo 2 Flutes 2 Oboes 2 Clari
nets in Bb 2 Bassoons contrabassoon Saxophone (soprano, alto, tenor or baritone)
Clarinet low or Clarone English Horn Wind Metal: 2 Trumpets in Bb 4 Horns in F
3 Trombones Tuba Percussion: Timpani Dishes Bombo Tam-tam (gong) Celesta Xylopho
ne Glockenspiel
Piano Marimba Rattle Tambourine Castanets Chimes (bells) Fingered Chord Harp The
violins, violas, cellos and basses are bowed string instruments. The performer
rubs a bow on his strings to produce sound. The wind instruments are divided int
o wood and metal as the material used for construction of its parts. Woods often
have the softest sound and reach the regions most acute with ease and clarity i
n the emission of sound. The piccolo is the only instrument that can produce hyp
eracute notes of the scale with great brightness and clarity and can be heard am
id the many instruments playing simultaneously. The woodwind arriving to the mos
t serious are the bassoon, the bass clarinet and contrabassoon. The metal has th
e loudest and incisive. What you arrive at the high notes is the trumpet.€The t
ube is emitting sounds more serious. The percussion instruments are innumerable,
for indeed until a wooden box or a tin can be used to produce rhythmic sounds.
In Brazil, many percussion instruments used in popular music. We can mention the
tambourine, the tambourine, the opossum (which is a friction drum), the reco-re
co, the deaf, the rattle, etc.. The maestro Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) was t
he first composer to systematically include in symphonic works percussion instru
ments typical of Brazilian popular music. We can cite numerous other instruments
involved in other musical ensembles. Among them, noteworthy guitar, guitar, ele
ctric bass, mandolin, ukulele, all plucked string instruments. Some of them are
played with a reed, a small tongue hard for plucking the strings. The only guita
r strings are plucked with the fingers, but in popular music can be plucked with
both the pulp of the fingers as with nails, being attacked in the latter form t
ogether to set the pace and form the harmonic accompaniment of a song. This way
of playing the guitar is the easiest and is therefore widely used by hobbyists.
In classical music, strings are always strumming the guitar separately, which re
quires a technical field much larger part of the player. The piano is a percussi
on instrument. In it, the sound is produced by strings that vibrate when struck
with hammers powered by the pianist's fingers on the keyboard. Through the pedal
s, the instrumentalist can prolong the duration of notes or produce sounds veile
d (in the pedal mute). We should also mention the electronic instruments, where
the sound is produced by electrical equipment, amplifiers, synthesizers, etc.. T
he arrangers of popular music of recent decades has used a lot of electronic res
ources and studio, which may sometimes make the plays to lose a little warmth an
d spontaneity as it sounds, despite all the technological advances we have today
, even the machine has managed to replace most perfect human being in the execut
ion of musical instruments.