These go along with those tempo markings from the previous post.
Ritardando- to slow down
Accelerando- to speed up
Tempo Comodo- at a comfortable tempo
Tempo di ...- speed of a ...(tempo di waltz- tempo of a waltz) Tempo giusto- strict tempo Tempo semplice- simple tempo Poco- little Piu- more Molto- much, very Quasi- almost Subito- suddenly Meno- less Non troppo- not so much Mosso- movement Lentando- growing softer and slower Doppio piu lento- half speed Precipitando- hurrying
See if you can figure out what this one means
We're taking a little break from the mass of confusion that is chords and do some music notation. We'll go through tempos and the meanings of other markings you'll see in your music. This way you won't need to go ask someone when you see these in your music. Tempos from slowest to fastest- metronome markings given*
Larghissimo-19 BPM and under
Grave-20-40 BPM
Largo-40-50 BPM
Larghetto-50-55 BPM
Adagio-55-65 BPM
Adagietto-65-69 BPM
Andante Moderato-69-72 BPM
Andante-73-77 BPM
Andantino-78-83 BPM
Marcia Moderato-83-85 BPM
Moderato-86-97 BPM
Allegretto-98-109 BPM
Allegro-109-132 BPM
Vivace-132-140 BPM
Vivacissimo-140-150 BPM
Allegrissimo-150-167 BPM
Presto-168-177 BPM
Prestissimo-178 BPM and over
Gaze upon the beauty of my metronome. Actually this metronome is nice because it has some tempo markings around the center.
*Metronome markings are more suggestions than rules, the tempo will ultimately be up to the conductor. When in doubt listen to recordings and use those as a reference.
There is a lot of stuff you can do to warm up. You can decide for yourself what works for you and what doesn't.
Scales
Scales are something you should always warm up with even if you hate them, which you probably do. You can practice scales from a piece or étude, one you have been working on recently, one you need a refresher on, or a chromatic scale. A chromatic scale is a scale that goes up by half steps, hitting every note. These are nice to practice so you can get a feel for the keys or fingerboard, not very fun to listen to though.
Stretching
This might seem a little stupid to you, and it kind of is, but we stretch every day in orchestra. It helps me remember that playing requires your body not just your mind. This makes me mindful my posture and range of motion. Also kind of amusing when people see you stretching before you play and give you the weirdest looks. It's hilarious.
Old Pieces
It's fun to look back on the old things you played and get a little nostalgic...that might just be me. Either way practicing old stuff keeps your reptoire fresh just in case you need a piece for an audition or recital.
Instrument Specific Warm Ups
One thing you can do to warm up for stringed instruments is to play scales or open strings at different tempos and patterns. It helps to use simple fingerings so you can focus on having your bow arm move how it should. If you play a wind instrument you can do the same thing to warm up your lungs and tongue, except you know with your mouth.
These are built on the root, Major third, and augmented fifth above the root. There are not any naturally occurring augmented triads in a Major key, which just means you'll need an accidental to use one. This chord is kind of unsettling and not very pleasant.
Diminished Triad
These chords are built on a root, minor third, and a diminished fifth above the root. There is only one naturally occurring triad in any Major key on the seventh degree. Diminished triads sound suspenseful.
A triad is a chord with three notes, the most basic triad consists of a root, a third, and a fifth. This chord will be built on either all lines or all spaces in a row. Triads will either be Major, minor, diminished, and augmented. Sound familiar? Today we'll start with the first two, Major and minor.
Major Triads
They are built from a root, a Major third, and a perfect fifth above the root. There are three occurring triads in a Major key, built on the first, fourth, and fifth degrees. These triads sound bright and happy.
The are built from a root, a minor third, and a perfect fifth above the root. Again there are three naturally occurring triads in a minor key, but built on the second, third and sixth degrees. They sound much darker than Major triads.
Chords may not seem to matter much depending on the instrument you play, especially if you can only play one note at a time. However, chords are important because they explain more relationships between notes. Have you ever looked at the full score of a piece your band or orchestra is playing? You'll see that everyone has different notes, but they all sound good together. You could probably hear that while playing.
A chord is three or more notes played at the same time. This could be from the same instrument or different instruments. Any three notes or more notes. Ever. Needless to say some chords sound absolutely horrible, but some sound absolutely heavenly. Why is this? That's what I'm answering in this series.
Keys are like people, they have their own set of quirks and traits and they have their own relationships too. The relationships dictate how they sound together or next to one another. Here are some basics.
Parallel Relationships Ex. D Major(# #) and d minor(b) Kind of like parallel lines, they are the same but have nothing in common. Relative Relationships Ex. G Major(#) and e minor(#) These keys look different, but correspond to each other nonetheless. *One trick to find the relative minor is to find the sixth note of your major scale, and that'll be your minor key. Enharmonic Relationships B Major(# # # # #) and Cb Major(b b b b b b b) Like enharmonic notes, these keys sound the same but look different. Needless to say this relationship is less common.
Today we'll focus on the types of minor keys. Remember circle of fifths a few posts ago? That graphic shows which minor key relates to each major key, with the same number of sharps and flats. F Major and d minor will have identical key signatures. Now, you may be asking yourself why have the minor key if it is the exact same thing? The secret to the minor keys are the different types.
Natural minor has no accidentals in the scale or piece. Natural minor only really differs in it's use of notes.
In melodic minor you will raise the sixth and seventh notes of the scale on the way up. So using the example of d minor again, a d melodic minor scale would go from a Bb to a B and from a F to a F#. On the way back down you move the sixth and seventh back to normal.
My personal favorite is the harmonic minor scale. In this scale you raise the seventh note of the scale only. In a d minor scale the C would be raised up to a C#. This creates a reeeally cool exotic sound.
I'm doing practice tips throughout my blog. It'll be fun.
At one time or another everyone struggles with practicing. If you haven't, you haven't been playing long enough to. There are a couple things that makes practicing the hardest thing about learning an instrument.
First of all, it is very time consuming, if you are doing it right. Anyone can sit down pull their bow on a string or blow into a horn, but what makes practice worthwhile is the details. The notes are sometimes the least important thing. What is more important is the way in which you play, the style and musicality you put into the little black dots to make them sound like music. This takes much longer than learning a fast passage or tricky note. Don't worry there is an upside; once you have this part down the notes are so much easier.
Second, it is not exactly the most interesting thing to do in your spare time. There are sooo many other things you could be doing that are actually entertaining. Like reading, or television. Practicing is like homework. Even in your favorite subject, homework is horrible.
Stand lights are awesome, they give perfect light. Here is where it is from:
The most common* and easy major key by far is C Major. If you refer back to the chart you will find this key has no sharps and no flats. Awesome right? No need to think about where the extra half steps are going up or down. The scale for this key would be C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C etc.. Notice that the intervals aren't always the same, most are whole steps, but a few are half steps (between E and F, and B and C). This may never confuse you, but personally I had to keep an ear out. The next most common key is G Major or F major. They have one sharp (F#) and one flat (Bb) respectively. In G Major the half steps will be between B and C again, as well as between F# and G. In F Major the half steps will be between A and Bb, and E and F. I recommend warming up with these easy scales before you practice. You could also warm up with a scale in the same key as your piece.
* Depending on the instrument you play certain keys will be easier. I do know that these are the easiest for strings. I've picked these because they require the least amount of thinking.
To further my knowledge of my topic, I've picked out books about music theory. To start with I have begun Basic Music Theory: How to Read, Write, and Understand Music, written by Jonathan Harmun. I hoped this book would show me the in depth details on the most basic music theory. I also hoped this book would give me a little insight on different instruments. So far this book has delivered on the first and not yet on the second. When I started, I was disappointed on just how basic this book was, but then I discovered some little things I never thought about when I first learned music basics. For example, this book taught me what modes (different types of scales) are, which is the kind of simple thing that I had never known. The book confirmed that it is necessary to start at the beginning and be thorough even if it seems to easy. In the first chapter of the book the author goes into the history of music, which surprised me. I had never really thought about early or different* styles of music notation. It was eye opening and made me what to research this more. I was also a little surprised how much I already knew. This leads me to believe that I should move on to more complicated books when I finish with this one. A couple things I absolutely loved about this is that it is so crystal clear and the layout has review sections at the end of every chapter. I would recommend this book to those who really need basic roots or who want to teach others.
A picture of the book from the author's website
http://www.allabouttrumpet.com/BMT/
* If you want to take a look at some of these styles
Music notation in general: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Musical_notation
John Cage (wrote in a different style a lot): http://en.
wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage
Early notation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neume or
Key signature is arguably the most important aspect of music, especially when you're first seeing a piece. The key signature notates which/how many sharps or flats are played in a piece. Play a note out of key and it will stick out like a sore thumb. Sometimes the composer uses this (accidentals) to give attention to a note. Breaking the pattern of the key changes the mood. To play sharp, bring the note up a half a step, for example, going from F to F#. To play flat, bring the note down a half a step, from B to Bb. The sharps and flats will always be in a specific order. The good thing is that the order of flats is the order of sharps backwards, so you only need to remember one order very well.
Order of flats: B,E,A,D,G,C,F
Order of sharps: F,C,G,D,A,E,B
Minor keys officially have the same number of sharps and flats, but they are usually variations on the relative major key. There are different relationships between the different keys, this is another important thing to keep in mind. Next time... Common keys
Here is a a convenient chart of the major and minor keys...
Picture:
Behind the music, http://method-behind-the-music.com/theory/scalesandkeys, Ben Hollis,
Welcome, thanks for visiting! I've been playing cello for 4 1/2 years and I have realized that in order to be a better musician I should look at the ideas behind the music. You don't need to study music theory to be a good musician, just by playing an instrument you know more about it than you think, but it helps to be conscious of what's happening. I hope that anyone who wants to improve at their instrunment will get something out of this blog. It will delve into the basics of music theory. We'll start with keys and chords and the structures of classical music then go from there to be sure we're all on the same page. I appreciate any feedback or suggestions you have for me. Make sure to tell me if you want me to be more specific or more basic. Please enjoy!
