Understanding Music Better
Rhythm
Rhythm Happens in the Context of Pulse
aka āWhy does Mr. Ehler keep saying this weird phrase?ā
Cut Time or 2/2 Meter
Compound Meter (e.g. 6/8)
Pitch
Everything You Ever Needed to Know (AND MORE) About Accidentals and Key Signatures
(Under construction)
Other Resources
āScientificā Pitch Notation
Scientific Pitch Notation is a way of clearly communicating the octave of a given pitch with clarity.
Every octaveās numbering starts at the pitch of a C. āMIddle Cā (one ledger line above bass clef or one ledger line below treble clef) is C4. The B right below it is B3, and the D above C4 is D4 (because C started āoctave fourā right there.)
A few important pitchesā¦
- Tuba's first note is Bā1 - their second note is C2
- Tromboneās first note is likewise just an octave up; Bā2
- For flutes, your first note is Bā4
- Clarinets are right there on C4 to start
- Alto Saxes start on G4 - the G above C4, but before C5
Additional
Scientific pitch notation - Wikipedia
How memory works and its application in parsing note names
Intervals
(Under construction)
See also
Understanding the Circle of 4ths
An Explanation of Minor Scales
Relationship Between Major and Minor Keys
To make a major scale into a minor scale ā starting on the same note ā is a parallel minor scale. To do this, you add three flats to the key signature (remember that subtracting a sharp is functionally the same thing as removing a flat). You always add flats in the order they occur on the circle of 4ths.
See: Understanding the Circle of 4ths
When you add three flats, the notes that get flatted are the 7th scale degree, the 3rd, and then the 6th. So for example, in the key of C Major, when moving to the parallel C Minor, you would add Bā, Eā, and Aā. Or if you were in the key of E Major going to E Minor, you would āaddā your flats by taking D, then G, then C, and making them natural instead of their sharp versions from your original key.
Parallel minor scales are one relationship between major and minor keys, but the other is relative minor scales. This relationship is based on the same key signature. The most practical way to go from a major key to its relative minor is with the circle of fourths ā you would move three steps counter-clockwise on the circle to get from a major key to its relative.
-
(note)
āMoving counter-clockwiseā is moving by fifths rather than fourths. If you were, for any reason, referencing a circle of fifths, you would then move clockwise. If youāre just relying on the sheets Iāve provided you, you have nothing to worry about.
The other way to get to a relative minor from a major key is to find the 6th scale degree of the major scale. This will always give you the same note as the previous step. It is for this reason that, for Alburnettās choirs, minor scales start on ālaā rather than ādoā for solfege
+ A note on āla-basedā minor
In la-based minor, which Mr. Fagersten uses exclusively, it is fully embodying the relative (rather than the parallel) relationship with minor. Whatever note ādoā is (the major key), taking a scale on ālaā is its relative minor.
When dealing with the other forms (harmonic and melodic) this leads to using āsiā when you sharp the seventh, and āfiā when you sharp the sixth. It does, however, change the function of each solfege syllable from its corresponding major function.
The alternative to āla-basedā minor is ādo-basedā minor, used by some schools, which focuses on the parallel relationship. This keeps ādoā as the tonic of a minor scale, and changes the third, sixth, and seventhās syllabels (āmeā instead of āmi,ā āleā instead of āla,ā and āteā instead of āti,ā returning them to their āmajorā versions when necessitated by harmonic/melodic forms). Just a different conception, both have their uses.
- Relative example
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Three jumps counter-clockwise on the circle of fourths
To translate C Major to its relative minor, one would find it on the circle of fourths, and move three steps counter-clockwise (G is one step, D is two steps, and A is the third step) to get to A Minor.
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From the 6th scale degree
To go from E Major to its relative minor, its sixth scale degree (CāÆ) would give you its relative minor.
Or from F Major, its 6th scale degree is D
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Major keys and their relative minor keys (table)
| Major Key | Relative Minor | Key Signature |
|---|---|---|
| C | a | No sharps or flats |
| F | d | 1 flat(Bā) |
| Bā | g | 2 flats (Bā,Eā) |
| Eā | c | 3 flats (Bā,Eā,Aā) |
| Aā | f | 4 flats (Bā,Eā,Aā,Dā) |
| Dā/CāÆ | bā | 5 flats (Bā,Eā,Aā,Dā,Gā)/7 sharps (FāÆ, CāÆ, GāÆ, DāÆ, AāÆ, EāÆ, BāÆ) |
| Gā/FāÆ | eā | 6 flats (Bā,Eā,Aā,Dā,Gā,Cā)/6 sharps (FāÆ, CāÆ, GāÆ, DāÆ, AāÆ, EāÆ) |
| B (Cā) | aā | 5 sharps (FāÆ, CāÆ, GāÆ, DāÆ, AāÆ)/7 flats (Bā,Eā,Aā,Dā,Gā,Cā,Fā) |
| E | cāÆ | 4 sharps (FāÆ, CāÆ, GāÆ, DāÆ) |
| A | fāÆ | 3 sharps (FāÆ, CāÆ, GāÆ) |
| D | b | 2 sharps (FāÆ, CāÆ) |
| G | e | 1 sharp (FāÆ) |
Natural vs Harmonic vs Melodic (The three forms of minor)
All of the above explains how to translate to a minor key, rather than a minor scale. Because there are three different forms of minor scales.
The Natural form of minor just takes the key and plops it right in there. If the above relationship section were describing a minor scale, it'd be describing its natural minor. The two other forms of minor are alterations on the natural minor scale.
The Harmonic form of minor alters the seventh scale degree (of the natural minor scale) by raising it a half-step, or "sharping" it. If the seventh scale degree would be flat in the natural minor, the harmonic form turns it into a natural. If the note were already natural, it sharps the note.
The melodic is even more unique, because it is not the same ascending (going up the scale) as it is descending (going down the scale). Ascending, it sharps the sixth and the seventh (as the harmonic does the seventh). But descending, it reverts both of those notes to their natural forms.
In Summary
- To get to a parallel minor key, you add three flats
- (e.g. C Major to C Minor)
- On the 3rd, 6th, 7th (which is what the order of flats will naturally get you)
- To get to a relative minor key (same key signature), the 6th scale degree or three steps to the āleftā (counterclockwise) on the circle of 4ths.
- Natural minor scales are just in this minor key
- Harmonic minor sharps the 7th scale degree
- Melodic minor sharps the 6th and the 7th going up, but flats them again coming down.
See Also
- musictheory.net
- Minor scale lesson
- A little bit too concerned with steps for Mr. Ehlerās taste
- Doesnāt get into relative/parallel really
- Minor scale lesson
Transposition
Basics of Transposition, or āWhy is Bā different on different instruments?"
For many of the instruments in band, we read different notes than weāre actually playing. This is confusing and makes it a bit harder to communicate. Especially because thereās different notes that arenāt the real notes that weāre playing at once.
Flutes, Oboes, Bassons, Trombones, Euphoniums*, Tubas, and Percussion read the real notes that theyāre playing. Everyone else reads a different note than theyāre playing, which is called transposing. The table below lays out the notes in the order we tend to learn them in 5th Grade Band for each instrument. The āconcert pitchā is whatās called the sounding pitch for a transposing instrument when they play the written pitch below. For example, a trumpetās written pitch of C is a sounding pitch of Bā.
| Note "number" | Concert Pitch | Clarinet/Trumpet/Tenor Sax | Alto Sax/Bari Sax | Horn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B ā | C | G | F |
| 2 | C | D | A | G |
| 3 | D | E | B | A |
| 4 | E ā | F | C | Bā |
| 5 | F | G | D | C |
| 6 | G | A | E | D |
| 7 | A | B | FāÆ | E |
| 8 | B ā | C | G | F |
| 7ā | A ā | Bā | F(ā®) | Eā |
| 4āÆ | E (ā®) | FāÆ | CāÆ | B(ā®) |
There are some benefits to transposing, but there are some downsides. For one, itās harder to read music for other instruments that arenāt your transposition. It also makes it easy for miscommunication to prosper. I encourage you to check Transposition as it applies to scales.
Why do instruments transpose?
You might think that the fact that so many instruments transpose is dumb or frustrating. Mr. Ehler has no comment. But hereās an attempted explanation that a knowledgeable musicologist might have some critiques of:
Transposition originally comes out of historical necessity. Brass instruments without valves (namely trumpets and horns) could really only play in certain keys. A horn player might have one horn for things in the key of F and a different horn for things in the key of G. Before valves, horns had āhooks,ā which were like slides they could change out, but these were also pretty limited.
In about 1840 when Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone ā long after the rest of our woodwinds were invented ā he intended for them to be a family of instruments that would be easy to switch between. As a result, saxophones all transpose so that theyāre easy to change between.
Mr. Ehler does not know the historical reason that clarinets transpose. But changing between alto clarinet and regular clarinet (and bass clarinet) work the same as the saxophone.
What about other instruments?
There are a few instruments I didnāt throw up on that top table.
- The piccolo transposes up an octave (so a Bā in the staff actually sounds as the Bā above the staff)
- The English Horn or cor anglais is F transposing like the horn.
- There are Alto Clarinets that are Eā transposing like the alto sax
- Soprano saxes transpose Bā
- Some horns can transpose Eā, but itās somewhat rare today
- Parts for Euphonium can be written as ātreble clef,ā in which case they transpose as Bā instruments and also read treble clef, so itās easily transferable from trumpet
- String Basses transpose an octave down (like the piccolo but in reverse)
Other peoplesā resources on it
Toby Rush MTfMaNP - Transposing Instruments.pdf
Transposition as it applies to scales
While the other explainer covers transposition more broadly, this one is just here to summarize it with regards to scales.
Concert pitch instruments include:
- Flute (and Piccolo) - Oboe & Bassoon - Trombone - Euphonium - Tuba - Mallet Percussion
Bā instruments include:
- Clarinet (and Bass Clarinet) - Tenor Sax - Trumpet
Eā instruments include:
- Alto Sax - Bari Sax - A handful of more obscure instruments
F instruments only include the (āFrenchā) Horn
| Concert Pitch | Funny Name | Bā Transposition | Eā | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bā | Barry B Benson | C | G | F |
| Eā | Edward Flatten Poe | F | C | Bā |
| Aā | Alfred | Bā | F | Eā |
| Dā | Doofensmirtz | Eā | Bā | Aā |
| Gā | Guadalupe | Aā | Eā | Dā |
| B | Benji | Dā | Aā | Gā |
| E | Earl | Gā | Dā | B |
| A | Aang | B | Gā | E |
| D | Darryl | E | B | A |
| G | Gary | A | E | D |
| C | Carlton | D | A | G |
| F | Friedrich | G | D | C |
Intonation
Just tuning?
Chords?
Music-Theory Net Practice Pages
These are helpful exercises for reviewing key signatures and scales.
Having a [Circle of 4ths handout.pdf](/assets/Circle of 4ths handout.pdf) nearby to go through this (and reviewing Understanding the Circle of 4ths if you don't recall how to utilize it) is helpful if you feel like you're just guessing
In addition to Understanding the Circle of 4ths, there are two different lessons on the website with these exercises that might be useful for you to review to help you further understand.
Note Identification
5th Grade Band
First Five Notes
5th Grade Second Phase of Range
5th Grade - Habits up to page 16
6th Grade āOn-Rampā
HS
9/17 Music Theory Net
If you are having a hard time, the practice mode has labels on the staff
Flute
Clarinet and Trumpet
Alto Sax
- Practice mode
- Assignment mode
- Additional:
- āSaxophone trainerā
- Start with Level 1, but try to work yourself to āLevel 1-3ā
- Check š¤ Fingering Charts if needing review
- Start with Level 1, but try to work yourself to āLevel 1-3ā
- Music racer
- Pick fingerings at the top and then select saxophone
- Quite a bit harder
- āSaxophone trainerā
Horn
Trombone
Percussion
All of these exercises are based around the key of your instrument, rather than the concert pitch. That means, for example, for trumpets, when itās asking about the the C Major Scale, it doesn't want the Concert Bā; it is in the key of C.
Identifying Key Signature
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade
HS
Treble (Flute/Clar/Sax/Trumpet/Horn/Perc)
You see the key signature, you tell it which key it is
Building Key Signatures
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade
HS
You get told the key youāre in, you pick the number of flats or sharps
Building Scales
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade
HS
You get the outline of the scale, you put the sharps and/or flats on the correct notes.
This is the most useful one!
- Fingering Practice resources
Flute
Saxophone
Saxophone - Try āLevel 1-2ā for 5th & 6th Grade - Level 1-4 for JH - Level 1-5 for later JH & HS MusicRacer - Not as good -
š¼Score Order
End of 21-22 music sorting
- D ā Piccolo
- Piccolo
- Flute
- Alto Flute
- Oboe
- English Horn/Cor Anglais
- Bassoon
- E ā Clarinet
- Clarinet
- Alto Clarinet
- Bass Clarinet
- Contrabassoon
- Soprano Sax
- Alto Sax
- Tenor Sax
- Bari Sax
- Harp
- Piano
- Cornet
- Trumpet
- Flugelhorn
- Horn
- Horn in Eā after Horn in F
- Trombone
- Bass Trombone
- TC Euph (Or āBaritoneā on many pieces. āTCā Could also be substituted for š or Bā)
- BC Euph (Or āBaritoneā on many pieces)
- Tuba (or āBassesā on older pieces)
- Double Bass
- Timpani
- Mallets
- Perc 1, 2ā¦
Comprehensive Music Theory Sources
- āMusic Theory for Musicians and Normal Peopleā by Toby Rush
- Covers a lot of topics in the format of a large poster for each one. Kind of fun in its approach, although itās covering some topics in a weird order or giving whole pages to relatively unimportant ideas.
- Open Music Theory
- As a website
- In other formats
- A full, college-level music theory textbook. For free. Used by at least one professor Mr. Ehler knows and respects!
Misc Topics
- āAre Cā and B the Same Noteā - a worthwhile explanation of enharmonics Is Cb the same note as B?
Many of these are a work-in-progress