MARK ALBURGER, 2018: March 1

[W.A. Mozart, finding Theory easy on Quiz 7, featuring his music, at Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, sometime after 8am, Thursday, March 8]

Consonant and Dissonant Harmony

Consonance - A simultaneity (harmony) low in the overtone series that is perceived to be stable.

Perfect Consonances (very low in overtone series)

P1, P8, P5, and some P4's (Ex. Sol - Do)

Imperfect Consonances (still fairly low in overtone series)

M3, m3, M6, m6

Dissonance - A simultaneity (harmony) higher in the overtone series that is perceived to be unstable.

M2, m2, M7, m7, tritones, and some P4's
(ex. Do-Fa... in a tonal context, Fa tends to descend to Mi or Me against the Do)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consonance_and_dissonance

Chord Tone

Member of a Chord - in Triads: Roots, 3rds, and 5ths...

Root Position Triads and Inversions - Chord Names and Figured Bass / Roman Numerals

Root Position

In a Root Position, the Root of the Chord is the lowest note (Bass) -
The other Chord Tones are 5th and 3rd above the Bass.

The Chord Name will be just the letter designation of the chord - Example: C

The formal Figured Bass designation for Root Position is 5 - the abbreviation is no figure at all.
3

In C Major, the above chord would be designated as I.

First Inversion ("Six Position")

In First Inversion, the Root of the Chord has been flipped up, at least one octave
The Third of the Chord is the lowest note (Bass)
The other Chord Tones are now a 6th and 3rd above this new Bass

The Chord Name will be the letter designation of the chord, followed by a slash, and another letter, representing the new Bass - Example: C/E

The formal Figured Bass designation for First Inversion is 6   - the abbreviation is 6
                                                                   3


In C Major, the Roman Numeral is I6

Second Inversion

In Second Inversion, the Root and the Third of the Chord have been flipped up, at least one octave
The Fifth of the Chord is the lowest note (Bass)
The other Chord Tones are now a 6th and 4th above this new Bass

Again, the Chord Name will be the letter designation of the chord, followed by a slash, and another letter, representing the new Bass - Example: C/G

The Figured Bass designation for Second Inversion is 6
4

N.B. the Root of an Inverted Triad will always be the note above the interval of a 4th
(due to the Fifth of the Chord now being below the Root)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(music)

Non-Chord / Non-Harmonic / Embellishing / Added Tones

Any Tone occuring during the expressing of a designated Chord that is not a member of same.

Non-Chord / Added Tones can appear in any Voice (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, etc)

Passing Tone

A Passing Tone is created in a melodic movement from one Chord Tone (Consonance) through a
Non-Chord / Added Tone (Dissonance) to another Chord Tone

In the above example, from Henry VIII's Pastime with Good Company (from Quiz 5) the A is clearly not a member of the intended Cm Chord (C Eb G).

The Melodic Movement is from Chord Tone Bb (Consonant, a member of Gm),
through the Passing A (Dissonant, not a member of Cm)
to a Different Chord Tone -- G (Consonant, a member of Cm)

It is possible to have several passing notes in succession -- particularly when melodic movement is between 5th and Root of a chord.

Passing bass notes are not given their own harmonizations -- instead, harmony continues from previously established chord (alternately a chord-sounding could cease, in favor of a rest).
Above example from J.S. Bach Cantata No. 140 ("Wachet Auf"): VII. Chorale bass line...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonchord_tone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sj-NKqR0tw (7th movement is @ 26:38)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wachet_auf,_ruft_uns_die_Stimme,_BWV_140

http://imslp.org/wiki/Wachet_auf,_ruft_uns_die_Stimme,_BWV_140_(Bach,_Johann_Sebastian)

Chord Tone Expression in Rhythm

Block Chords
Simultaneous presentation of Chord Tones (as examples above)

Broken or Arpeggiated Chords (Italian "Arpa" - "Harp")
Sequential presentation of Chord Tones

In Theory, the above construction is just as much an E Minor Chord (assuming Treble Clef) as it would be if presented as a simultaneously sounding collection...

A rapidly arpeggiated chord may feature the "wiggly line" arpeggio symbol below...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arpeggio

Melodic Minor Scale

Raise Minor Scale Degrees b6 and b7 on the way up (ascending) to become the Major Scale's 6 and 7
(Le back to La, and Te to Ti) using Accidentals (Naturals or Sharps, depending on Key) --
The top of Melodic Minor Scales in ascension are identical to Tonic (Parallel) Major

Re-lower on the way down (descending) to the Natural Minor - 7 and 6, relowered to b7 b6 forms
(Ti back to Te, La to Le), again using Accidentals (Naturals or Flats, depending on Key) --
Descending Melodic Minor Scales are identical to Natural Minor usage...

C Melodic Minor

Scale Degrees: Ascending 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7 1 - Descending 1 b7 b6 5 4 b3 2 1
Solfege: Ascending Do Re Me Fa Sol La Ti Do - Descending Do Te Le Sol Fa Me Re Do

Note that composers are flexible in their usage of Natural, Harmonic, and Melodic Minor -
In Melodic Minor, Te and Le tend to be used when the goal is Sol... La and Ti when the goal is Do
Minor Scales are arguably one super-scale of intuitive tendencies re the sixth and seventh degrees...

C.P.E. Bach - Solfeggietto - Cm: Arpeggiated i and V chords, and a reverse usage of Melodic Minor!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rDGc69FQcY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solfeggietto

http://imslp.org/wiki/Solfeggio_in_C_minor,_H.220_(Bach,_Carl_Philipp_Emanuel)

Seventh Chords

Any Seventh Chord contains a 7th above the Root, in addition to 3rd and 5th

Dominant Seventh Chord (7) = Major Triad + m7

This is the Seventh Chord that appears on the Fifth Degree -- V -- Dominant -- of any Major Scale
(and Harmonic Minor), hence "Dominant 7th"

Ex. G7 (appearing as V7 in C Major) --- F
                                                                    D
                                                                    B
                                                                    G

Dominant 7ths are extraordinarilly characteristic of Common Practice Tonality (c. 1650-1900)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh_chord

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant_seventh_chord

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_practice_period

Bb, Eb Major / B, F# Minor (expressed variously in Treble and Bass Clefs)

In scales, two general "rules-of-thumb" are to

1. keep the thumbs off the black notes

2. use the thumb on the next white note after leaving a black note

hence...

Recommended fingerings above for Bb, Eb Major, and F# Minor

(Bm is standard pentascale fingering - R.H. 12312345 / L.H. 54321321)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-flat_major

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-flat_major

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_minor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-sharp_minor

Keyboard-Solfege

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Sonata in C Major, K. 545: I.

(K as in Ludwig Kochel, cataloguer of W.A. Mozart, who wrote several C Major Piano Sonatas)

C: Do Mi Sol Ti Do Re Do

R.H. exercise, fingering as given in this probably-not-urtext excerpt (metronome not invented yet)
1 3 5 - reach down scale degree to B - 1 2 3 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meop0rG3tLc
(looks like a better score -
p rather than mp, no accents / fingerings / metronome mark, differing phrase marks)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._16_(Mozart)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Ritter_von_Köchel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Köchel_catalogue

Alberti Bass (after Domenico Alberti, who used such extensively)

An arpeggiated chord note succession of lowest, highest, middle, highest -
First theme of Mozart above is classic example

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberti_bass

Sonata-Allegro Form
(used in Mozart above and Beethoven below)

                  Exposition             Development    Recapitulation
                  A                                                          A'
                     a b                                                       a' b'
In Major       I V                                                      I*   I
In Minor      i   bIII (rel maj)                                    i     I

(* Mozart K. 545 a' is IV)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_form

Selected Italian Tempo Markings (first appearing in Baroque Music, c. 1600-1750)

Basic Terms

Allegro - "Happy" - Fast
Moderato - Moderate
Andante - "Walking" - Slower [although some aver faster than] than Moderato
Adagio - Slow
Lento - Slow[er than Adagio]

Modifiers

Molto - Very
Poco - Little
Assai - Very much
Rubato - "Robbing of Time" - i.e. playing with rhythmic flexibility

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metronome

Dynamics
(first appearance: Renaissance, c. 1400-1600, in Giovanni Gabrieli's Sonata Pian e Forte, 1597)

p = piano = soft (pp = pianissimo = very soft)

f = forte = loud (ff = fortissimo = very loud)

m = mezzo = half (mp = mezzo piano = half-soft; mf = mezzo forte = half loud)

cresc. = crescendo = gradually becoming louder
dim. (decresc). = diminuendo (decrecendo) = gradually becoming softer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamics_(music)

Well, there's always a quiz for the Theoreticians.

This one's 6, with musical musical examples drawn from works of Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Schutz, Purcell, Corelli, Vivaldi, and J.S. Bach.

Following this, subbing for Monte in the other section -- a trip way back to Week 1: C Major Scale, Dictation on Lowell Mason's Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Musical Spelling.